Zxdb is a console debugger for native code compiled with DWARF symbols (C, C++ and Rust). The frontend runs on the host computer and connects to the on-device debug_agent. This document describes how to set up these processes.
The debug_agent is run on the target device along with the port number that it should listen to for incoming client connections. Typically this command will be run from a console after ssh-ing in to the system:
run fuchsia-pkg://fuchsia.com/debug_agent#meta/debug_agent.cmx --port=2345
The zxdb client program is run on the host computer. It can be connected to the debug_agent via the interactive connect debugger command or it can automatically connect based on a command-line flag. Both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses are supported (see ffx to find the address). The port should match the port number passed to the agent.
zxdb -c "[f370::5051:ff:1e53:589a%qemu]:2345"
Scripts may want to automatically launch the agent and client automatically. The script should wait for the port to be open on the target system before launching the client. Automatic retry is not yet implemented in the client.
To clean up the debug agent gracefully when the client exits, pass the --quit-agent-on-exit command-line flag to the client.
The debugger expects unstripped ELF files to be available on the local host system. Symbols on the target are not used. The location where the local build stores symbols must be passed to the zxdb client.
For more information on how to specify symbol paths, see set the symbol location
