Debugging The Kernel Remotely; Overview; Setting Up The Host Machine - HP Integrity BL890c - i2 Server Software Manual

2 Debugging the kernel remotely

If you have programmed on the Windows operating system for any length of time, you are
probably familiar with user-mode debuggers and aware of kernel-mode debuggers. User-mode
debuggers help developers to debug applications. Kernel-mode debuggers are used mostly by
driver writers to debug device drivers and by support professionals to analyze system crashes.
This chapter describes how to debug the operating system kernel remotely on HP Integrity
servers. In a remote debugging environment, you are not physically located near the server you
want to debug. You use a host machine, typically a laptop, that has the Windows debugging
software installed on it. You connect the host machine to the server across a LAN and begin the
debugging process.
NOTE:
You can use the remote debugging procedures given in this chapter only on the following
servers:
• HP Integrity rx7640 servers
• HP Integrity rx8640 servers
• HP Superdome servers with the sx2000 chipset
If you do not have one of these servers, you must use the local debugging methods described in
Chapter 1.

Overview

A typical remote kernel debugging environment for Windows consists of a host machine (which
runs the debugging software), an Integrity server target machine, and a LAN that provides a
connection between the two. The host is usually a laptop or desktop system with Microsoft
Debugging Tools for Windows (x86) software installed. The target is always an HP Integrity
server for the purposes of this guide.
The following sections provide instructions for setting up the host and target machines. Setting
up the host involves installing the debugging tools. Setting up the target involves adding a boot
configuration option to the operating system, enabling IPMI LAN access and the debugging
option, and, finally, connecting to the server and starting a session.
IMPORTANT:
problems is beyond the scope of this document. Debugging the kernel requires deep knowledge
of operating system internals and familiarity with the architecture of the HP Integrity servers.
This is best done by someone with expertise in both areas.

Setting up the host machine

The host is a machine that runs the debugging session. In a typical environment, the host is the
computer that is connected to the target (the machine being debugged) and that runs the debug
tools.
Microsoft provides the Debugging Tools for Windows software, which is a package of extensible
tools for debugging user-mode and kernel-model programs on the Windows family of operating
systems. The Debugging Tools for Windows package contains four debuggers: CDB, NTSD, KD,
and WinDbg.
• Console Debugger (CDB) and NT Symbolic Debugger (NTSD) are console applications
that can debug user-mode programs. These two debuggers are nearly identical except in
the manner in which they are launched.
• Kernel Debugger (KD) is a character-based console application that enables in-depth analysis
of kernel-mode activity on all operating systems based on Windows NT. You can use KD (
Using the Microsoft Debugging Tools for Windows software to debug kernel
Overview 29