Using Visual Studion Code to connect to the gdb-server of the OP-TEE which is running in the QEMU

Question

I am setting up the op-tee in ARM-64. and I'm wondering if it is possible to debug it using visual studio code running under ubuntu 18.04.

So far I was able to compile and run the op-tee in QEMU. and also being able to connect the gdb-server using the command line gdb (following this link: https://www.op-tee.org/docs/debug/).

Now I would like to use some GUI instead of gdb. Since I was working wih visual studio code, so I was wondering if it is possible to configure vsCode to do so?

I have tried installing the cortex-debug extension (I'm not sure if that it the right one) and also tried c/c++ debug attach as well. But I cannot make them work!

Here is my launch.json file:

{
// Use IntelliSense to learn about possible attributes.
// Hover to view descriptions of existing attributes.
// For more information, visit: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=830387
"version": "0.2.0",
"configurations": [

    { 
        "name": "(gdb) Attach",
        "type": "cppdbg",
        "request": "attach",
        "program": "${workspaceFolder}/optee_os/out/arm/core/tee.elf",
        "miDebuggerServerAddress": "localhost:1234",
        "processId": "${command:pickProcess}",
        "MIMode": "gdb",
        "setupCommands": [
            {
                "description": "Enable pretty-printing for gdb",
                "text": "-enable-pretty-printing",
                "ignoreFailures": true
            },
            {
                "text": "optee"
            }
        ]
    },
    {
        "cwd": "${workspaceRoot}",
        "executable": "${workspaceFolder}/optee_os/out/arm/core/tee.elf",
        "name": "Debug Microcontroller",
        "request": "attach",
        "type": "cortex-debug",
        "servertype": "openocd"
    }
]

}

I expect to be able to debug the arm application by remotely connecting to the gdb-server which is running under QEMU using the Microsoft visual code.

Any suggestion of using extensions is appreciated.

Answer 1

I found the solution which works for me:

First it is needed to install the Native Debug extension for VS Code.

Then Add the following configuration into the launch.json file:

    {
        "type": "gdb",
        "request": "attach",
        "name": "Attach to QEMU",
        "executable": "${workspaceFolder}/optee_os/out/arm/core/tee.elf",
        "target": "localhost:1234",
        "remote": true,
        "cwd": "${workspaceRoot}", 
        "gdbpath": "~/devel/optee/toolchains/aarch64/bin/aarch64-linux-gnu-gdb"
    }

Notes:

• You can connect to QEMU only if the app is not running:
  • It should either be at initial state before typing c in QEMU
  • or it is stopped in a breakpoint
• There should be no other clients connected to it.

Reference:

• http://austinhanson.com/vscode-gdb-and-debugging-an-os