Enabling Stack Dumping in Linux Kernel

From Texas Instruments Embedded Processors Wiki

Contents 1 Purpose 2 Enabling in Kernel Config 3 Using dump_stack() 4 Conclusion

Purpose

It can often be useful when debugging the kernel to be able to print the stack (and call trace) in the Linux kernel. While you could force a kernel panic to make this happen that is often less than desirable. Instead you would want to use the dump_stack() function which will give you a call trace. This function is not enabled in the default kernel and must be enabled. This article will cover how to enable and use the dump_stack() function.

Enabling in Kernel Config

To enable the dump_stack() function in the kernel config the following options must be set. You can use make menuconfig or make xconfig to do this.

1. Kernel hacking -> Kernel debugging
2. Kernel hacking -> Verbose kernel error messages

Enabling these two options will change the dump_stack() function from a do nothing function to dumping the stack.

You need to rebuild your Linux kernel image after enabling these options.

Using dump_stack()

Using the dump_stack() function is as easy as calling dump_stack() wherever you wish to print out the stack. This will cause a stack trace to be printed at that point.

Conclusion

This is a useful way to print out the stack while leaving the kernel unharmed.

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