gdb-pounce 0.0.16

attach to a process precisely after a successful execve() / execveat()

gdb-pounce

Wait until a process with a certain name starts and attach to it with gdb. While for many use cases

while ! pidof "$NAME"; do :; done; gdb -p "$(pidof "$NAME")"

is sufficient, gdb-pounce will stop right at the loader entry point, as if the process was started under gdb in the first place.

Usage

python3 -m pip install --upgrade --user gdb-pounce
sudo env "PATH=$PATH" gdb-pounce [GDB OPTION]... [NAME]

When is this useful?

When an interesting process (usually a part of some complex software) starts in a non-trivial environment, for example:

• As a specific user.

• In a specific namespace.

• With additional environment variables.

• With additional file descriptors.

• While another process is in a specific state.

and we need to debug its initialization.

Prerequisites

• bcc >= 0.15.0

• gdb

• linux kernel >= 5.3 (>= 5.5 for the container support)

• nsenter (for the container support, optional)

• python3 >= 3.7

pounce?

gdb-pounce lies in wait for its victim process. The very moment the process appears, gdb-pounce pounces at it and seizes it, leaving it no chance to react.