[eresi-dev] ERESI debugging with the gdb protocol

[Julien Franck Vanegue]

Hey,

A nice feature that we wanted for a long time was to be able to
debug nodes of gdb-server, vmware, using boches emulation
from within ERESI, etc. 

For doing this, we needed a new library component that would
talk the GDB serial protocol. We dreamed about it, and Eric Bisolfati 
is doing it as a Master project at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale 
de Lauzanne. 

We are currently capable of putting breakpoints and continue the execution 
of gdb-server nodes, all within the command line of an ERESI interpreter.

The real project of Eric is to debug the Linux kernel running in Vmware,
which also uses the same gdb protocol. It is due to the end of the year,
so expect this amazing feature soon. Im sure Eric will keep us posted
with his report when the dev is over. All existing code is already in
the ERESI svn, and it is getting improved every week (almost every day).

A nice side-effect is that this allows us now to debug -already running
processes- ! Just like gdb, except that we use ERESI scripting, obviously
a way better alternative, since it comes with graph features, a type system
for declaring and reversing complex (including mutually recursive)
structures,
and so on.

The team is also working on various other improvements such as dynamic
data-flow analysis (read variable tracing/tainting, slightly like fenris)
and
generic static analysis based on annotation propagations. 

Keep informed !

Julien Vanegue

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