| ========== |
| VMCOREINFO |
| ========== |
| |
| What is it? |
| =========== |
| |
| VMCOREINFO is a special ELF note section. It contains various |
| information from the kernel like structure size, page size, symbol |
| values, field offsets, etc. These data are packed into an ELF note |
| section and used by user-space tools like crash and makedumpfile to |
| analyze a kernel's memory layout. |
| |
| Common variables |
| ================ |
| |
| init_uts_ns.name.release |
| ------------------------ |
| |
| The version of the Linux kernel. Used to find the corresponding source |
| code from which the kernel has been built. For example, crash uses it to |
| find the corresponding vmlinux in order to process vmcore. |
| |
| PAGE_SIZE |
| --------- |
| |
| The size of a page. It is the smallest unit of data used by the memory |
| management facilities. It is usually 4096 bytes of size and a page is |
| aligned on 4096 bytes. Used for computing page addresses. |
| |
| init_uts_ns |
| ----------- |
| |
| The UTS namespace which is used to isolate two specific elements of the |
| system that relate to the uname(2) system call. It is named after the |
| data structure used to store information returned by the uname(2) system |
| call. |
| |
| User-space tools can get the kernel name, host name, kernel release |
| number, kernel version, architecture name and OS type from it. |
| |
| (uts_namespace, name) |
| --------------------- |
| |
| Offset of the name's member. Crash Utility and Makedumpfile get |
| the start address of the init_uts_ns.name from this. |
| |
| node_online_map |
| --------------- |
| |
| An array node_states[N_ONLINE] which represents the set of online nodes |
| in a system, one bit position per node number. Used to keep track of |
| which nodes are in the system and online. |
| |
| swapper_pg_dir |
| -------------- |
| |
| The global page directory pointer of the kernel. Used to translate |
| virtual to physical addresses. |
| |
| _stext |
| ------ |
| |
| Defines the beginning of the text section. In general, _stext indicates |
| the kernel start address. Used to convert a virtual address from the |
| direct kernel map to a physical address. |
| |
| vmap_area_list |
| -------------- |
| |
| Stores the virtual area list. makedumpfile gets the vmalloc start value |
| from this variable and its value is necessary for vmalloc translation. |
| |
| mem_map |
| ------- |
| |
| Physical addresses are translated to struct pages by treating them as |
| an index into the mem_map array. Right-shifting a physical address |
| PAGE_SHIFT bits converts it into a page frame number which is an index |
| into that mem_map array. |
| |
| Used to map an address to the corresponding struct page. |
| |
| contig_page_data |
| ---------------- |
| |
| Makedumpfile gets the pglist_data structure from this symbol, which is |
| used to describe the memory layout. |
| |
| User-space tools use this to exclude free pages when dumping memory. |
| |
| mem_section|(mem_section, NR_SECTION_ROOTS)|(mem_section, section_mem_map) |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| |
| The address of the mem_section array, its length, structure size, and |
| the section_mem_map offset. |
| |
| It exists in the sparse memory mapping model, and it is also somewhat |
| similar to the mem_map variable, both of them are used to translate an |
| address. |
| |
| MAX_PHYSMEM_BITS |
| ---------------- |
| |
| Defines the maximum supported physical address space memory. |
| |
| page |
| ---- |
| |
| The size of a page structure. struct page is an important data structure |
| and it is widely used to compute contiguous memory. |
| |
| pglist_data |
| ----------- |
| |
| The size of a pglist_data structure. This value is used to check if the |
| pglist_data structure is valid. It is also used for checking the memory |
| type. |
| |
| zone |
| ---- |
| |
| The size of a zone structure. This value is used to check if the zone |
| structure has been found. It is also used for excluding free pages. |
| |
| free_area |
| --------- |
| |
| The size of a free_area structure. It indicates whether the free_area |
| structure is valid or not. Useful when excluding free pages. |
| |
| list_head |
| --------- |
| |
| The size of a list_head structure. Used when iterating lists in a |
| post-mortem analysis session. |
| |
| nodemask_t |
| ---------- |
| |
| The size of a nodemask_t type. Used to compute the number of online |
| nodes. |
| |
| (page, flags|_refcount|mapping|lru|_mapcount|private|compound_order|compound_head) |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| |
| User-space tools compute their values based on the offset of these |
| variables. The variables are used when excluding unnecessary pages. |
| |
| (pglist_data, node_zones|nr_zones|node_mem_map|node_start_pfn|node_spanned_pages|node_id) |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| |
| On NUMA machines, each NUMA node has a pg_data_t to describe its memory |
| layout. On UMA machines there is a single pglist_data which describes the |
| whole memory. |
| |
| These values are used to check the memory type and to compute the |
| virtual address for memory map. |
| |
| (zone, free_area|vm_stat|spanned_pages) |
| --------------------------------------- |
| |
| Each node is divided into a number of blocks called zones which |
| represent ranges within memory. A zone is described by a structure zone. |
| |
| User-space tools compute required values based on the offset of these |
| variables. |
| |
| (free_area, free_list) |
| ---------------------- |
| |
| Offset of the free_list's member. This value is used to compute the number |
| of free pages. |
| |
| Each zone has a free_area structure array called free_area[NR_PAGE_ORDERS]. |
| The free_list represents a linked list of free page blocks. |
| |
| (list_head, next|prev) |
| ---------------------- |
| |
| Offsets of the list_head's members. list_head is used to define a |
| circular linked list. User-space tools need these in order to traverse |
| lists. |
| |
| (vmap_area, va_start|list) |
| -------------------------- |
| |
| Offsets of the vmap_area's members. They carry vmalloc-specific |
| information. Makedumpfile gets the start address of the vmalloc region |
| from this. |
| |
| (zone.free_area, NR_PAGE_ORDERS) |
| -------------------------------- |
| |
| Free areas descriptor. User-space tools use this value to iterate the |
| free_area ranges. NR_PAGE_ORDERS is used by the zone buddy allocator. |
| |
| prb |
| --- |
| |
| A pointer to the printk ringbuffer (struct printk_ringbuffer). This |
| may be pointing to the static boot ringbuffer or the dynamically |
| allocated ringbuffer, depending on when the core dump occurred. |
| Used by user-space tools to read the active kernel log buffer. |
| |
| printk_rb_static |
| ---------------- |
| |
| A pointer to the static boot printk ringbuffer. If @prb has a |
| different value, this is useful for viewing the initial boot messages, |
| which may have been overwritten in the dynamically allocated |
| ringbuffer. |
| |
| clear_seq |
| --------- |
| |
| The sequence number of the printk() record after the last clear |
| command. It indicates the first record after the last |
| SYSLOG_ACTION_CLEAR, like issued by 'dmesg -c'. Used by user-space |
| tools to dump a subset of the dmesg log. |
| |
| printk_ringbuffer |
| ----------------- |
| |
| The size of a printk_ringbuffer structure. This structure contains all |
| information required for accessing the various components of the |
| kernel log buffer. |
| |
| (printk_ringbuffer, desc_ring|text_data_ring|dict_data_ring|fail) |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| |
| Offsets for the various components of the printk ringbuffer. Used by |
| user-space tools to view the kernel log buffer without requiring the |
| declaration of the structure. |
| |
| prb_desc_ring |
| ------------- |
| |
| The size of the prb_desc_ring structure. This structure contains |
| information about the set of record descriptors. |
| |
| (prb_desc_ring, count_bits|descs|head_id|tail_id) |
| ------------------------------------------------- |
| |
| Offsets for the fields describing the set of record descriptors. Used |
| by user-space tools to be able to traverse the descriptors without |
| requiring the declaration of the structure. |
| |
| prb_desc |
| -------- |
| |
| The size of the prb_desc structure. This structure contains |
| information about a single record descriptor. |
| |
| (prb_desc, info|state_var|text_blk_lpos|dict_blk_lpos) |
| ------------------------------------------------------ |
| |
| Offsets for the fields describing a record descriptors. Used by |
| user-space tools to be able to read descriptors without requiring |
| the declaration of the structure. |
| |
| prb_data_blk_lpos |
| ----------------- |
| |
| The size of the prb_data_blk_lpos structure. This structure contains |
| information about where the text or dictionary data (data block) is |
| located within the respective data ring. |
| |
| (prb_data_blk_lpos, begin|next) |
| ------------------------------- |
| |
| Offsets for the fields describing the location of a data block. Used |
| by user-space tools to be able to locate data blocks without |
| requiring the declaration of the structure. |
| |
| printk_info |
| ----------- |
| |
| The size of the printk_info structure. This structure contains all |
| the meta-data for a record. |
| |
| (printk_info, seq|ts_nsec|text_len|dict_len|caller_id) |
| ------------------------------------------------------ |
| |
| Offsets for the fields providing the meta-data for a record. Used by |
| user-space tools to be able to read the information without requiring |
| the declaration of the structure. |
| |
| prb_data_ring |
| ------------- |
| |
| The size of the prb_data_ring structure. This structure contains |
| information about a set of data blocks. |
| |
| (prb_data_ring, size_bits|data|head_lpos|tail_lpos) |
| --------------------------------------------------- |
| |
| Offsets for the fields describing a set of data blocks. Used by |
| user-space tools to be able to access the data blocks without |
| requiring the declaration of the structure. |
| |
| atomic_long_t |
| ------------- |
| |
| The size of the atomic_long_t structure. Used by user-space tools to |
| be able to copy the full structure, regardless of its |
| architecture-specific implementation. |
| |
| (atomic_long_t, counter) |
| ------------------------ |
| |
| Offset for the long value of an atomic_long_t variable. Used by |
| user-space tools to access the long value without requiring the |
| architecture-specific declaration. |
| |
| (free_area.free_list, MIGRATE_TYPES) |
| ------------------------------------ |
| |
| The number of migrate types for pages. The free_list is described by the |
| array. Used by tools to compute the number of free pages. |
| |
| NR_FREE_PAGES |
| ------------- |
| |
| On linux-2.6.21 or later, the number of free pages is in |
| vm_stat[NR_FREE_PAGES]. Used to get the number of free pages. |
| |
| PG_lru|PG_private|PG_swapcache|PG_swapbacked|PG_slab|PG_hwpoision|PG_head_mask|PG_hugetlb |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| |
| Page attributes. These flags are used to filter various unnecessary for |
| dumping pages. |
| |
| PAGE_BUDDY_MAPCOUNT_VALUE(~PG_buddy)|PAGE_OFFLINE_MAPCOUNT_VALUE(~PG_offline) |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| |
| More page attributes. These flags are used to filter various unnecessary for |
| dumping pages. |
| |
| |
| x86_64 |
| ====== |
| |
| phys_base |
| --------- |
| |
| Used to convert the virtual address of an exported kernel symbol to its |
| corresponding physical address. |
| |
| init_top_pgt |
| ------------ |
| |
| Used to walk through the whole page table and convert virtual addresses |
| to physical addresses. The init_top_pgt is somewhat similar to |
| swapper_pg_dir, but it is only used in x86_64. |
| |
| pgtable_l5_enabled |
| ------------------ |
| |
| User-space tools need to know whether the crash kernel was in 5-level |
| paging mode. |
| |
| node_data |
| --------- |
| |
| This is a struct pglist_data array and stores all NUMA nodes |
| information. Makedumpfile gets the pglist_data structure from it. |
| |
| (node_data, MAX_NUMNODES) |
| ------------------------- |
| |
| The maximum number of nodes in system. |
| |
| KERNELOFFSET |
| ------------ |
| |
| The kernel randomization offset. Used to compute the page offset. If |
| KASLR is disabled, this value is zero. |
| |
| KERNEL_IMAGE_SIZE |
| ----------------- |
| |
| Currently unused by Makedumpfile. Used to compute the module virtual |
| address by Crash. |
| |
| sme_mask |
| -------- |
| |
| AMD-specific with SME support: it indicates the secure memory encryption |
| mask. Makedumpfile tools need to know whether the crash kernel was |
| encrypted. If SME is enabled in the first kernel, the crash kernel's |
| page table entries (pgd/pud/pmd/pte) contain the memory encryption |
| mask. This is used to remove the SME mask and obtain the true physical |
| address. |
| |
| Currently, sme_mask stores the value of the C-bit position. If needed, |
| additional SME-relevant info can be placed in that variable. |
| |
| For example:: |
| |
| [ misc ][ enc bit ][ other misc SME info ] |
| 0000_0000_0000_0000_1000_0000_0000_0000_0000_0000_..._0000 |
| 63 59 55 51 47 43 39 35 31 27 ... 3 |
| |
| x86_32 |
| ====== |
| |
| X86_PAE |
| ------- |
| |
| Denotes whether physical address extensions are enabled. It has the cost |
| of a higher page table lookup overhead, and also consumes more page |
| table space per process. Used to check whether PAE was enabled in the |
| crash kernel when converting virtual addresses to physical addresses. |
| |
| ARM64 |
| ===== |
| |
| VA_BITS |
| ------- |
| |
| The maximum number of bits for virtual addresses. Used to compute the |
| virtual memory ranges. |
| |
| kimage_voffset |
| -------------- |
| |
| The offset between the kernel virtual and physical mappings. Used to |
| translate virtual to physical addresses. |
| |
| PHYS_OFFSET |
| ----------- |
| |
| Indicates the physical address of the start of memory. Similar to |
| kimage_voffset, which is used to translate virtual to physical |
| addresses. |
| |
| KERNELOFFSET |
| ------------ |
| |
| The kernel randomization offset. Used to compute the page offset. If |
| KASLR is disabled, this value is zero. |
| |
| KERNELPACMASK |
| ------------- |
| |
| The mask to extract the Pointer Authentication Code from a kernel virtual |
| address. |
| |
| TCR_EL1.T1SZ |
| ------------ |
| |
| Indicates the size offset of the memory region addressed by TTBR1_EL1. |
| The region size is 2^(64-T1SZ) bytes. |
| |
| TTBR1_EL1 is the table base address register specified by ARMv8-A |
| architecture which is used to lookup the page-tables for the Virtual |
| addresses in the higher VA range (refer to ARMv8 ARM document for |
| more details). |
| |
| MODULES_VADDR|MODULES_END|VMALLOC_START|VMALLOC_END|VMEMMAP_START|VMEMMAP_END |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| |
| Used to get the correct ranges: |
| MODULES_VADDR ~ MODULES_END-1 : Kernel module space. |
| VMALLOC_START ~ VMALLOC_END-1 : vmalloc() / ioremap() space. |
| VMEMMAP_START ~ VMEMMAP_END-1 : vmemmap region, used for struct page array. |
| |
| arm |
| === |
| |
| ARM_LPAE |
| -------- |
| |
| It indicates whether the crash kernel supports large physical address |
| extensions. Used to translate virtual to physical addresses. |
| |
| s390 |
| ==== |
| |
| lowcore_ptr |
| ----------- |
| |
| An array with a pointer to the lowcore of every CPU. Used to print the |
| psw and all registers information. |
| |
| high_memory |
| ----------- |
| |
| Used to get the vmalloc_start address from the high_memory symbol. |
| |
| (lowcore_ptr, NR_CPUS) |
| ---------------------- |
| |
| The maximum number of CPUs. |
| |
| powerpc |
| ======= |
| |
| |
| node_data|(node_data, MAX_NUMNODES) |
| ----------------------------------- |
| |
| See above. |
| |
| contig_page_data |
| ---------------- |
| |
| See above. |
| |
| vmemmap_list |
| ------------ |
| |
| The vmemmap_list maintains the entire vmemmap physical mapping. Used |
| to get vmemmap list count and populated vmemmap regions info. If the |
| vmemmap address translation information is stored in the crash kernel, |
| it is used to translate vmemmap kernel virtual addresses. |
| |
| mmu_vmemmap_psize |
| ----------------- |
| |
| The size of a page. Used to translate virtual to physical addresses. |
| |
| mmu_psize_defs |
| -------------- |
| |
| Page size definitions, i.e. 4k, 64k, or 16M. |
| |
| Used to make vtop translations. |
| |
| vmemmap_backing|(vmemmap_backing, list)|(vmemmap_backing, phys)|(vmemmap_backing, virt_addr) |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| |
| The vmemmap virtual address space management does not have a traditional |
| page table to track which virtual struct pages are backed by a physical |
| mapping. The virtual to physical mappings are tracked in a simple linked |
| list format. |
| |
| User-space tools need to know the offset of list, phys and virt_addr |
| when computing the count of vmemmap regions. |
| |
| mmu_psize_def|(mmu_psize_def, shift) |
| ------------------------------------ |
| |
| The size of a struct mmu_psize_def and the offset of mmu_psize_def's |
| member. |
| |
| Used in vtop translations. |
| |
| sh |
| == |
| |
| node_data|(node_data, MAX_NUMNODES) |
| ----------------------------------- |
| |
| See above. |
| |
| X2TLB |
| ----- |
| |
| Indicates whether the crashed kernel enabled SH extended mode. |
| |
| RISCV64 |
| ======= |
| |
| VA_BITS |
| ------- |
| |
| The maximum number of bits for virtual addresses. Used to compute the |
| virtual memory ranges. |
| |
| PAGE_OFFSET |
| ----------- |
| |
| Indicates the virtual kernel start address of the direct-mapped RAM region. |
| |
| phys_ram_base |
| ------------- |
| |
| Indicates the start physical RAM address. |
| |
| MODULES_VADDR|MODULES_END|VMALLOC_START|VMALLOC_END|VMEMMAP_START|VMEMMAP_END|KERNEL_LINK_ADDR |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| |
| Used to get the correct ranges: |
| |
| * MODULES_VADDR ~ MODULES_END : Kernel module space. |
| * VMALLOC_START ~ VMALLOC_END : vmalloc() / ioremap() space. |
| * VMEMMAP_START ~ VMEMMAP_END : vmemmap space, used for struct page array. |
| * KERNEL_LINK_ADDR : start address of Kernel link and BPF |
| |
| va_kernel_pa_offset |
| ------------------- |
| |
| Indicates the offset between the kernel virtual and physical mappings. |
| Used to translate virtual to physical addresses. |