1S390 Debug Feature
2==================
3
4files: arch/s390/kernel/debug.c
5       include/asm-s390/debug.h
6
7Description:
8------------
9The goal of this feature is to provide a kernel debug logging API
10where log records can be stored efficiently in memory, where each component
11(e.g. device drivers) can have one seperate debug log.
12One purpose of this is to inspect the debug logs after a production system crash
13in order to analyze the reason for the crash.
14If the system still runs but only a subcomponent which uses dbf failes,
15it is possible to look at the debug logs on a live system via the Linux proc
16filesystem.
17The debug feature may also very usefull for kernel and driver development.
18
19Design:
20-------
21Kernel components (e.g. device drivers) can register themselves at the debug
22feature with the function call debug_register(). This function initializes a
23debug log for the caller. For each debug log exists a number of debug areas
24where exactly one is active at one time.  Each debug area consists of contiguous
25pages in memory. In the debug areas there are stored debug entries (log records)
26which are written by event- and exception-calls.
27
28An event-call writes the specified debug entry to the active debug
29area and updates the log pointer for the active area. If the end
30of the active debug area is reached, a wrap around is done (ring buffer)
31and the next debug entry will be written at the beginning of the active
32debug area.
33
34An exception-call writes the specified debug entry to the log and
35switches to the next debug area. This is done in order to be sure
36that the records which describe the origin of the exception are not
37overwritten when a wrap around for the current area occurs.
38
39The debug areas itselve are also ordered in form of a ring buffer.
40When an exception is thrown in the last debug area, the following debug
41entries are then written again in the very first area.
42
43There are three versions for the event- and exception-calls: One for
44logging raw data, one for text and one for numbers.
45
46Each debug entry contains the following data:
47
48- Timestamp
49- Cpu-Number of calling task
50- Level of debug entry (0...6)
51- Return Address to caller
52- Flag, if entry is an exception or not
53
54The debug logs can be inspected in a live system through entries in
55the proc-filesystem. Under the path /proc/s390dbf there is
56a directory for each registered component, which is named like the
57corresponding component.
58
59The content of the directories are files which represent different views
60to the debug log. Each component can decide which views should be
61used through registering them with the function debug_register_view().
62Predefined views for hex/ascii, sprintf and raw binary data are provided.
63It is also possible to define other views. The content of
64a view can be inspected simply by reading the corresponding proc file.
65
66All debug logs have an an actual debug level (range from 0 to 6).
67The default level is 3. Event and Exception functions have a 'level'
68parameter. Only debug entries with a level that is lower or equal
69than the actual level are written to the log. This means that high
70priority log entries should have a low level value whereas low priority
71entries should have a high one.
72The actual debug level can be changed with the help of the proc-filesystem
73through writing a number string "x" to the 'level' proc file which is
74provided for every debug log. Debugging can be switched off completely
75by using "-" on the 'level' proc file.
76
77Example:
78
79> echo "-" > /proc/s390dbf/dasd/level
80
81Kernel Interfaces:
82------------------
83
84----------------------------------------------------------------------------
85debug_info_t *debug_register(char *name, int pages_index, int nr_areas,
86                             int buf_size);
87
88Parameter:    name:        Name of debug log (e.g. used for proc entry)
89              pages_index: 2^pages_index pages will be allocated per area
90              nr_areas:    number of debug areas
91              buf_size:    size of data area in each debug entry
92
93Return Value: Handle for generated debug area
94              NULL if register failed
95
96Description:  Allocates memory for a debug log
97              Must not be called within an interrupt handler
98
99---------------------------------------------------------------------------
100void debug_unregister (debug_info_t * id);
101
102Parameter:     id:   handle for debug log
103
104Return Value:  none
105
106Description:   frees memory for a debug log
107               Must not be called within an interrupt handler
108
109---------------------------------------------------------------------------
110void debug_set_level (debug_info_t * id, int new_level);
111
112Parameter:     id:        handle for debug log
113               new_level: new debug level
114
115Return Value:  none
116
117Description:   Sets new actual debug level if new_level is valid.
118---------------------------------------------------------------------------
119debug_entry_t* debug_event (debug_info_t* id, int level, void* data,
120                            int length);
121
122Parameter:     id:     handle for debug log
123               level:  debug level
124               data:   pointer to data for debug entry
125               length: length of data in bytes
126
127Return Value:  Address of written debug entry
128
129Description:   writes debug entry to active debug area (if level <= actual
130               debug level)
131
132---------------------------------------------------------------------------
133debug_entry_t* debug_int_event (debug_info_t * id, int level,
134                                unsigned int data);
135debug_entry_t* debug_long_event(debug_info_t * id, int level,
136                                unsigned long data);
137
138Parameter:     id:     handle for debug log
139               level:  debug level
140               data:   integer value for debug entry
141
142Return Value:  Address of written debug entry
143
144Description:   writes debug entry to active debug area (if level <= actual
145               debug level)
146
147---------------------------------------------------------------------------
148debug_entry_t* debug_text_event (debug_info_t * id, int level,
149                                 const char* data);
150
151Parameter:     id:     handle for debug log
152               level:  debug level
153               data:   string for debug entry
154
155Return Value:  Address of written debug entry
156
157Description:   writes debug entry in ascii format to active debug area
158               (if level <= actual debug level)
159
160---------------------------------------------------------------------------
161debug_entry_t* debug_sprintf_event (debug_info_t * id, int level,
162                                    char* string,...);
163
164Parameter:     id:    handle for debug log
165               level: debug level
166               string: format string for debug entry
167               ...: varargs used as in sprintf()
168
169Return Value:  Address of written debug entry
170
171Description:   writes debug entry with format string and varargs (longs) to
172               active debug area (if level $<=$ actual debug level).
173               floats and long long datatypes cannot be used as varargs.
174
175---------------------------------------------------------------------------
176
177debug_entry_t* debug_exception (debug_info_t* id, int level, void* data,
178                                int length);
179
180Parameter:     id:     handle for debug log
181               level:  debug level
182               data:   pointer to data for debug entry
183               length: length of data in bytes
184
185Return Value:  Address of written debug entry
186
187Description:   writes debug entry to active debug area (if level <= actual
188               debug level) and switches to next debug area
189
190---------------------------------------------------------------------------
191debug_entry_t* debug_int_exception (debug_info_t * id, int level,
192                                    unsigned int data);
193debug_entry_t* debug_long_exception(debug_info_t * id, int level,
194                                    unsigned long data);
195
196Parameter:     id:     handle for debug log
197               level:  debug level
198               data:   integer value for debug entry
199
200Return Value:  Address of written debug entry
201
202Description:   writes debug entry to active debug area (if level <= actual
203               debug level) and switches to next debug area
204
205---------------------------------------------------------------------------
206debug_entry_t* debug_text_exception (debug_info_t * id, int level,
207                                     const char* data);
208
209Parameter:     id:     handle for debug log
210               level:  debug level
211               data:   string for debug entry
212
213Return Value:  Address of written debug entry
214
215Description:   writes debug entry in ascii format to active debug area
216               (if level <= actual debug level) and switches to next debug
217               area
218
219---------------------------------------------------------------------------
220debug_entry_t* debug_sprintf_exception (debug_info_t * id, int level,
221                                        char* string,...);
222
223Parameter:     id:    handle for debug log
224               level: debug level
225               string: format string for debug entry
226               ...: varargs used as in sprintf()
227
228Return Value:  Address of written debug entry
229
230Description:   writes debug entry with format string and varargs (longs) to
231               active debug area (if level $<=$ actual debug level) and
232               switches to next debug area.
233               floats and long long datatypes cannot be used as varargs.
234
235---------------------------------------------------------------------------
236
237int debug_register_view (debug_info_t * id, struct debug_view *view);
238
239Parameter:     id:    handle for debug log
240               view:  pointer to debug view struct
241
242Return Value:  0  : ok
243               < 0: Error
244
245Description:   registers new debug view and creates proc dir entry
246
247---------------------------------------------------------------------------
248int debug_unregister_view (debug_info_t * id, struct debug_view *view);
249
250Parameter:     id:    handle for debug log
251               view:  pointer to debug view struct
252
253Return Value:  0  : ok
254               < 0: Error
255
256Description:   unregisters debug view and removes proc dir entry
257
258
259
260Predefined views:
261-----------------
262
263extern struct debug_view debug_hex_ascii_view;
264extern struct debug_view debug_raw_view;
265extern struct debug_view debug_sprintf_view;
266
267Examples
268--------
269
270/*
271 * hex_ascii- + raw-view Example
272 */
273
274#include <linux/module.h>
275#include <asm/debug.h>
276
277static debug_info_t* debug_info;
278
279int init_module(void)
280{
281    /* register 4 debug areas with one page each and 4 byte data field */
282
283    debug_info = debug_register ("test", 0, 4, 4 );
284    debug_register_view(debug_info,&debug_hex_ascii_view);
285    debug_register_view(debug_info,&debug_raw_view);
286
287    debug_text_event(debug_info, 4 , "one ");
288    debug_int_exception(debug_info, 4, 4711);
289    debug_event(debug_info, 3, &debug_info, 4);
290
291    return 0;
292}
293
294void cleanup_module(void)
295{
296    debug_unregister (debug_info);
297}
298
299---------------------------------------------------------------------------
300
301/*
302 * sprintf-view Example
303 */
304
305#include <linux/module.h>
306#include <asm/debug.h>
307
308static debug_info_t* debug_info;
309
310int init_module(void)
311{
312    /* register 4 debug areas with one page each and data field for */
313    /* format string pointer + 2 varargs (= 3 * sizeof(long))       */
314
315    debug_info = debug_register ("test", 0, 4, sizeof(long) * 3);
316    debug_register_view(debug_info,&debug_sprintf_view);
317
318    debug_sprintf_event(debug_info, 2 , "first event in %s:%i\n",__FILE__,__LINE__);
319    debug_sprintf_exception(debug_info, 1, "pointer to debug info: %p\n",&debug_info);
320
321    return 0;
322}
323
324void cleanup_module(void)
325{
326    debug_unregister (debug_info);
327}
328
329
330
331ProcFS Interface
332----------------
333Views to the debug logs can be investigated through reading the corresponding
334proc-files:
335
336Example:
337
338> ls /proc/s390dbf/dasd
339flush  hex_ascii  level      raw
340> cat /proc/s390dbf/dasd/hex_ascii | sort +1
34100 00974733272:680099 2 - 02 0006ad7e  07 ea 4a 90 | ....
34200 00974733272:682210 2 - 02 0006ade6  46 52 45 45 | FREE
34300 00974733272:682213 2 - 02 0006adf6  07 ea 4a 90 | ....
34400 00974733272:682281 1 * 02 0006ab08  41 4c 4c 43 | EXCP
34501 00974733272:682284 2 - 02 0006ab16  45 43 4b 44 | ECKD
34601 00974733272:682287 2 - 02 0006ab28  00 00 00 04 | ....
34701 00974733272:682289 2 - 02 0006ab3e  00 00 00 20 | ...
34801 00974733272:682297 2 - 02 0006ad7e  07 ea 4a 90 | ....
34901 00974733272:684384 2 - 00 0006ade6  46 52 45 45 | FREE
35001 00974733272:684388 2 - 00 0006adf6  07 ea 4a 90 | ....
351
352See section about predefined views for explanation of the above output!
353
354Changing the debug level
355------------------------
356
357Example:
358
359
360> cat /proc/s390dbf/dasd/level
3613
362> echo "5" > /proc/s390dbf/dasd/level
363> cat /proc/s390dbf/dasd/level
3645
365
366Flushing debug areas
367--------------------
368Debug areas can be flushed with piping the number of the desired
369area (0...n) to the proc file "flush". When using "-" all debug areas
370are flushed.
371
372Examples:
373
3741. Flush debug area 0:
375> echo "0" > /proc/s390dbf/dasd/flush
376
3772. Flush all debug areas:
378> echo "-" > /proc/s390dbf/dasd/flush
379
380lcrash Interface
381----------------
382It is planned that the dump analysis tool lcrash gets an additional command
383's390dbf' to display all the debug logs. With this tool it will be possible
384to investigate the debug logs on a live system and with a memory dump after
385a system crash.
386
387Investigating raw memory
388------------------------
389One last possibility to investigate the debug logs at a live
390system and after a system crash is to look at the raw memory
391under VM or at the Service Element.
392It is possible to find the anker of the debug-logs through
393the 'debug_area_first' symbol in the System map. Then one has
394to follow the correct pointers of the data-structures defined
395in debug.h and find the debug-areas in memory.
396Normally modules which use the debug feature will also have
397a global variable with the pointer to the debug-logs. Following
398this pointer it will also be possible to find the debug logs in
399memory.
400
401For this method it is recommended to use '16 * x + 4' byte (x = 0..n)
402for the length of the data field in debug_register() in
403order to see the debug entries well formatted.
404
405
406Predefined Views
407----------------
408
409There are three predefined views: hex_ascii, raw and sprintf.
410The hex_ascii view shows the data field in hex and ascii representation
411(e.g. '45 43 4b 44 | ECKD').
412The raw view returns a bytestream as the debug areas are stored in memory.
413
414The sprintf view formats the debug entries in the same way as the sprintf
415function would do. The sprintf event/expection fuctions write to the
416debug entry a pointer to the format string (size = sizeof(long))
417and for each vararg a long value. So e.g. for a debug entry with a format
418string plus two varargs one would need to allocate a (3 * sizeof(long))
419byte data area in the debug_register() function.
420
421
422NOTE: If using the sprintf view do NOT use other event/exception functions
423than the sprintf-event and -exception functions.
424
425The format of the hex_ascii and sprintf view is as follows:
426- Number of area
427- Timestamp (formatted as seconds and microseconds since 00:00:00 Coordinated
428  Universal Time (UTC), January 1, 1970)
429- level of debug entry
430- Exception flag (* = Exception)
431- Cpu-Number of calling task
432- Return Address to caller
433- data field
434
435The format of the raw view is:
436- Header as described in debug.h
437- datafield
438
439A typical line of the hex_ascii view will look like the following (first line
440is only for explanation and will not be displayed when 'cating' the view):
441
442area  time           level exception cpu caller    data (hex + ascii)
443--------------------------------------------------------------------------
44400    00964419409:440690 1 -         00  88023fe
445
446
447Defining views
448--------------
449
450Views are specified with the 'debug_view' structure. There are defined
451callback functions which are used for reading and writing the proc files:
452
453struct debug_view {
454        char name[DEBUG_MAX_PROCF_LEN];
455        debug_prolog_proc_t* prolog_proc;
456        debug_header_proc_t* header_proc;
457        debug_format_proc_t* format_proc;
458        debug_input_proc_t*  input_proc;
459	void*                private_data;
460};
461
462where
463
464typedef int (debug_header_proc_t) (debug_info_t* id,
465                                   struct debug_view* view,
466                                   int area,
467                                   debug_entry_t* entry,
468                                   char* out_buf);
469
470typedef int (debug_format_proc_t) (debug_info_t* id,
471                                   struct debug_view* view, char* out_buf,
472                                   const char* in_buf);
473typedef int (debug_prolog_proc_t) (debug_info_t* id,
474                                   struct debug_view* view,
475                                   char* out_buf);
476typedef int (debug_input_proc_t) (debug_info_t* id,
477                                  struct debug_view* view,
478                                  struct file* file, const char* user_buf,
479                                  size_t in_buf_size, loff_t* offset);
480
481
482The "private_data" member can be used as pointer to view specific data.
483It is not used by the debug feature itself.
484
485The output when reading a debug-proc file is structured like this:
486
487"prolog_proc output"
488
489"header_proc output 1"  "format_proc output 1"
490"header_proc output 2"  "format_proc output 2"
491"header_proc output 3"  "format_proc output 3"
492...
493
494When a view is read from the proc fs, the Debug Feature calls the
495'prolog_proc' once for writing the prolog.
496Then 'header_proc' and 'format_proc' are called for each
497existing debug entry.
498
499The input_proc can be used to implement functionality when it is written to
500the view (e.g. like with 'echo "0" > /proc/s390dbf/dasd/level).
501
502For header_proc there can be used the default function
503debug_dflt_header_fn() which is defined in in debug.h.
504and which produces the same header output as the predefined views.
505E.g:
50600 00964419409:440761 2 - 00 88023ec
507
508In order to see how to use the callback functions check the implementation
509of the default views!
510
511Example
512
513#include <asm/debug.h>
514
515#define UNKNOWNSTR "data: %08x"
516
517const char* messages[] =
518{"This error...........\n",
519 "That error...........\n",
520 "Problem..............\n",
521 "Something went wrong.\n",
522 "Everything ok........\n",
523 NULL
524};
525
526static int debug_test_format_fn(
527   debug_info_t * id, struct debug_view *view,
528   char *out_buf, const char *in_buf
529)
530{
531  int i, rc = 0;
532
533  if(id->buf_size >= 4) {
534     int msg_nr = *((int*)in_buf);
535     if(msg_nr < sizeof(messages)/sizeof(char*) - 1)
536        rc += sprintf(out_buf, "%s", messages[msg_nr]);
537     else
538        rc += sprintf(out_buf, UNKNOWNSTR, msg_nr);
539  }
540 out:
541   return rc;
542}
543
544struct debug_view debug_test_view = {
545  "myview",                 /* name of view */
546  NULL,                     /* no prolog */
547  &debug_dflt_header_fn,    /* default header for each entry */
548  &debug_test_format_fn,    /* our own format function */
549  NULL,                     /* no input function */
550  NULL                      /* no private data */
551};
552
553=====
554test:
555=====
556debug_info_t *debug_info;
557...
558debug_info = debug_register ("test", 0, 4, 4 ));
559debug_register_view(debug_info, &debug_test_view);
560for(i = 0; i < 10; i ++) debug_int_event(debug_info, 1, i);
561
562> cat /proc/s390dbf/test/myview
56300 00964419734:611402 1 - 00 88042ca   This error...........
56400 00964419734:611405 1 - 00 88042ca   That error...........
56500 00964419734:611408 1 - 00 88042ca   Problem..............
56600 00964419734:611411 1 - 00 88042ca   Something went wrong.
56700 00964419734:611414 1 - 00 88042ca   Everything ok........
56800 00964419734:611417 1 - 00 88042ca   data: 00000005
56900 00964419734:611419 1 - 00 88042ca   data: 00000006
57000 00964419734:611422 1 - 00 88042ca   data: 00000007
57100 00964419734:611425 1 - 00 88042ca   data: 00000008
57200 00964419734:611428 1 - 00 88042ca   data: 00000009
573