Can I use "Reverse Debugging" in core dump file?

Question

after GDB 7.0, the Reverse Debugging is supported.

when a core dump is generated, can I use Reverse Debugging commands?

How can I do that?

score 3 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:48

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You can't. A core file is a snapshot of a program's state at a point in time. To move backwards in that state, you'd need an earlier snapshot of the program state. GDB can do this by keeping this history when you're debugging a live program, but this info is not present in a core file.

Please see this question for a full description of how reverse debugging works in GDB.

edited May 23 '17 at 11:48

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answered Aug 07 '12 at 18:42

Dark Falcon

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score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 12 '12 at 18:24

See http://jakob.engbloms.se/archives/1547 for a more in-depth discussion on reverse execution. Fundamentally, you need to have seen the past to get back to it, you cannot semantically reverse a computer program. That said, given a more capable reverse system than gdb, you can indeed reverse execute your way out of a program crash or even system crash. It is just a matter of having the reversible debugger applied when you run the failing case.

Can I use "Reverse Debugging" in core dump file?

2 Answers2