Run valgrind in ARM Hardware

Cross compile valgrind for ARMv7

Debian stretch:

• Install build essentials and cross-compiling tools (gnueabihf for ARMv7)

root@host:~# apt install libc6-armel-cross libc6-dev-armel-cross
root@host:~# apt install binutils-arm-linux-gnueabi
root@host:~# apt install libncurses5-dev
root@host:~# apt install gcc-arm-linux-gnueabihf
root@host:~# apt install g++-arm-linux-gnueabihf

• Download last valgrind version from http://valgrind.org/downloads/:

user@host:~/Downloads/$ tar xvf valgrind-3.13.0.tar.bz2

Valgrind compilation:

• Create configure file:

user@host:~/Downloads/valgrind-3.13.0$ CC=arm-linux-gnueabihf-gcc-6 ./configure --host=armv7-unknown-linux-gnueabihf --target=arm-none-linux-gnueabihf --prefix=$HOME/valgrind CFLAGS='-Wl,-rpath=/lib/'

• Build and install:

 user@host:~/Downloads/valgrind-3.13.0$ make
 user@host:~/Downloads/valgrind-3.13.0$ make install

• Copy the generated valgrind folder and all its contents:

user@host:~/$ tar cvf valgrind.tar valgrind/

Installation on device:

• Valgrind demands that ld-2.19-2014.04.so library contains debug symbols (see Stop compilation from removing symbols from critical shared libraries topic below)
• Copy the valgrind tarball to the home directory

  # tar xvf valgrind.tar
  

• Set the VALGRIND_LIB environment variable:

  # export VALGRIND_LIB=/data/root/valgrind/lib/valgrind
  

• Run valgrind:

  # /data/root/valgrind/bin/valgrind ./program_to_be_tested
  

• If the program is a daemon (without a debug mode), change the init line to run valgrind at start.

Example:

• funcmng is initialized in inittab (sdk/rootfs/etc/inittab):

  ttyS0::respawn:/usr/bin/funcmng
  

• changes to:

  ttyS0::respawn:/usr/bin/env VALGRIND_LIB=/data/root/valgrind/lib/valgrind /data/root/valgrind/bin/valgrind --log-file=/data/root/debug_file.log --trace-children=yes /usr/bin/funcmng
  

• The option --trace-children=yes can be removed if there is no interest in checking the children of the process.
• The output will be written in debug_file.log. If the daemon/program is not shutdown, the memory leak report will not be generated. If the service cannot be shutdown (like funcmng) one workaround is to shutdown the system with:

  # kill -TERM 1
  

• Then shut it down and switch to emergencyOS via PartnerJET
• Flash the device with a version of inittab without valgrind (otherwise it will overwrite the log) and restart it to get the log.