The Embedded Systems Lab at Lanzhou University, China, has published three detailed, example-filled articles about Linux kernel debugging tools and tactics. The papers cover GCOV code coverage tools, kernel function instrumentation, and runtime debugging, and were written by Nicholas McGuire, who now teaches at Lanzhou… University.

McGuire says he wrote the articles based on material developed for University courses in Linux kernel development. Hence, they do not assume too high a level of understanding of Linux kernel internals, and are suitable for those new to embedded Linux development, or kernel development in general.

The papers include the following three, which are available here for download (pdf files):

• GCOV — tool analysis
• Kernel function instrumentation — tool analysis
• Runtime debugging in embedded systems — available tools and usage

McGuire has more than a decade of experience working with Linux, and especially real-time Linux. He is the official maintainer of RTLinux/GPL, and formerly worked as an engineer at FSMLabs.

McGuire is from Austria, and is perhaps better known as “Der Herr Hofrat,” a nickname derived from the “hofr.at” Internet address where he receives mail. He has given talks, seminars, and workshops on real-time Linux throughout the world, and organizes the annual Real-time Linux Workshop, which celebrated its seventh annual event in France last November.

The papers are published by Lanzhou University under version 1.2 of the GNU free documentation license.

 
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