HOWTO use Valgrind to debug memory problems: Difference between revisions
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Memory leaks or errors can be found with [http://www.valgrind.org Valgrind]. Support for valgrind is built into the ./waf system by typing: | Memory leaks or errors can be found with [http://www.valgrind.org Valgrind]. Support for valgrind is built into the ./waf system by typing: | ||
./ | ./ns3 run --command-template="valgrind [options] %s" ns-3-program-name | ||
for example: | for example: | ||
./ | ./ns3 run --command-template="valgrind --leak-check=full --show-reachable=yes %s" main-propagation-loss | ||
== Supported platforms and configurations == | == Supported platforms and configurations == | ||
Valgrind should be used on debug, dynamically linked code (the default in ns-3) and not on statically linked or optimized code; | Valgrind should be preferentially used on debug, dynamically linked code (the default in ns-3) and not on statically linked or optimized code; it has been reported to give false positives sometimes on optimized code. | ||
Valgrind for ns-3 is known to work on recent Linux systems that do not have gtk enabled. In particular, there seems to be a leak in some libraries related to gtk, which is used in ns-3 for the GTK Config Store component. It may be possible to add some suppressions, but it is likely easier to try to disable gtk when you want to use valgrind. | Valgrind for ns-3 is known to work on recent Linux systems that do not have gtk enabled. In particular, there seems to be a leak in some libraries related to gtk, which is used in ns-3 for the GTK Config Store component. It may be possible to add some suppressions, but it is likely easier to try to disable gtk when you want to use valgrind. | ||
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To disable gtk (even if it is on your system), provide the "--disable-gtk" option at configure time; e.g.: | To disable gtk (even if it is on your system), provide the "--disable-gtk" option at configure time; e.g.: | ||
./ | ./ns3 configure --disable-gtk --enable-examples --enable-tests | ||
An example of clean valgrind output for the "first" tutorial example is below: | An example of clean valgrind output for the "first" tutorial example is below: | ||
./ | ./ns3 run --valgrind first | ||
==154077== Memcheck, a memory error detector | |||
==154077== Copyright (C) 2002-2017, and GNU GPL'd, by Julian Seward et al. | |||
==154077== Using Valgrind-3.15.0 and LibVEX; rerun with -h for copyright info | |||
==154077== Command: /home/tomh/temp/ns-3-dev/build/examples/tutorial/ns3-dev-first-debug | |||
==154077== | |||
At time +2s client sent 1024 bytes to 10.1.1.2 port 9 | |||
At time +2.00369s server received 1024 bytes from 10.1.1.1 port 49153 | |||
At time +2.00369s server sent 1024 bytes to 10.1.1.1 port 49153 | |||
At time +2.00737s client received 1024 bytes from 10.1.1.2 port 9 | |||
==154077== | |||
==154077== HEAP SUMMARY: | |||
==154077== in use at exit: 0 bytes in 0 blocks | |||
==154077== total heap usage: 14,980 allocs, 14,980 frees, 1,224,372 bytes allocated | |||
==154077== | |||
==154077== All heap blocks were freed -- no leaks are possible | |||
==154077== | |||
==154077== For lists of detected and suppressed errors, rerun with: -s | |||
==154077== ERROR SUMMARY: 0 errors from 0 contexts (suppressed: 0 from 0) | |||
If gtk is not disabled, you may get notifications of leaks that exist in third-party libraries, such as: | If gtk is not disabled, you may get notifications of leaks that exist in third-party libraries, such as: | ||
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=== Failure to call Simulator::Destroy() === | === Failure to call Simulator::Destroy() === | ||
Simulator::Destroy() will free memory that is created with the ns-3 object system. Forgetting to call Simulator::Destroy () when you are done will lead to reachable memory being reported by valgrind, such as this trace of the main-propagation-loss example: | Simulator::Destroy() will free memory that is created with the ns-3 object system. Forgetting to call Simulator::Destroy () when you are done will lead to reachable memory being reported by valgrind, such as this trace of the main-propagation-loss example (from before it was fixed): | ||
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The syntax is: | The syntax is: | ||
./ | ./ns3 run --command-template="valgrind [options] %s [test-runner options]" test-runner | ||
For example, to isolate and check the 'isotropic-antenna-model' test suite, one can invoke: | For example, to isolate and check the 'isotropic-antenna-model' test suite, one can invoke: | ||
./ | ./ns3 run --command-template="valgrind --leak-check=full --show-reachable=yes --track-origins=yes %s --suite=isotropic-antenna-model" test-runner | ||
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Memory leaks or errors can be found with Valgrind. Support for valgrind is built into the ./waf system by typing:
./ns3 run --command-template="valgrind [options] %s" ns-3-program-name
for example:
./ns3 run --command-template="valgrind --leak-check=full --show-reachable=yes %s" main-propagation-loss
Supported platforms and configurations
Valgrind should be preferentially used on debug, dynamically linked code (the default in ns-3) and not on statically linked or optimized code; it has been reported to give false positives sometimes on optimized code.
Valgrind for ns-3 is known to work on recent Linux systems that do not have gtk enabled. In particular, there seems to be a leak in some libraries related to gtk, which is used in ns-3 for the GTK Config Store component. It may be possible to add some suppressions, but it is likely easier to try to disable gtk when you want to use valgrind.
To disable gtk (even if it is on your system), provide the "--disable-gtk" option at configure time; e.g.:
./ns3 configure --disable-gtk --enable-examples --enable-tests
An example of clean valgrind output for the "first" tutorial example is below:
./ns3 run --valgrind first ==154077== Memcheck, a memory error detector ==154077== Copyright (C) 2002-2017, and GNU GPL'd, by Julian Seward et al. ==154077== Using Valgrind-3.15.0 and LibVEX; rerun with -h for copyright info ==154077== Command: /home/tomh/temp/ns-3-dev/build/examples/tutorial/ns3-dev-first-debug ==154077== At time +2s client sent 1024 bytes to 10.1.1.2 port 9 At time +2.00369s server received 1024 bytes from 10.1.1.1 port 49153 At time +2.00369s server sent 1024 bytes to 10.1.1.1 port 49153 At time +2.00737s client received 1024 bytes from 10.1.1.2 port 9 ==154077== ==154077== HEAP SUMMARY: ==154077== in use at exit: 0 bytes in 0 blocks ==154077== total heap usage: 14,980 allocs, 14,980 frees, 1,224,372 bytes allocated ==154077== ==154077== All heap blocks were freed -- no leaks are possible ==154077== ==154077== For lists of detected and suppressed errors, rerun with: -s ==154077== ERROR SUMMARY: 0 errors from 0 contexts (suppressed: 0 from 0)
If gtk is not disabled, you may get notifications of leaks that exist in third-party libraries, such as:
==891== 2,072 bytes in 1 blocks are still reachable in loss record 242 of 246 ==891== at 0x4C28409: malloc (in /usr/lib64/valgrind/vgpreload_memcheck-amd64-linux.so) ==891== by 0xE010EFA: ??? (in /usr/lib64/libpixman-1.so.0.30.0) ==891== by 0xE029ABF: ??? (in /usr/lib64/libpixman-1.so.0.30.0) ==891== by 0xE0001F5: ??? (in /usr/lib64/libpixman-1.so.0.30.0) ==891== by 0xE01160B: ??? (in /usr/lib64/libpixman-1.so.0.30.0) ==891== by 0xDFC3508: ??? (in /usr/lib64/libpixman-1.so.0.30.0) ==891== by 0x400F4F2: _dl_init (in /usr/lib64/ld-2.17.so) ==891== by 0x4001459: ??? (in /usr/lib64/ld-2.17.so)
Common errors
Please list hints here as to what kind of errors have known resolution.
Failure to call Simulator::Destroy()
Simulator::Destroy() will free memory that is created with the ns-3 object system. Forgetting to call Simulator::Destroy () when you are done will lead to reachable memory being reported by valgrind, such as this trace of the main-propagation-loss example (from before it was fixed):
==16325== 88 bytes in 1 blocks are still reachable in loss record 4 of 4 ==16325== at 0x4A069D5: operator new(unsigned long) (vg_replace_malloc.c:261) ==16325== by 0x4C87A6B: ns3::TypeId ns3::TypeId::AddConstructor<ns3::DefaultSimulatorImpl>()::Maker::Create() (type-id.h:429) ==16325== by 0x4C778A3: ns3::FunctorCallbackImpl<ns3::ObjectBase* (*)(), ns3::ObjectBase*, ns3::empty, ns3::empty, ns3::empty, ns3::empty, ns3::empty, ns3::empty, ns3::empty, ns3::empty, ns3::empty>::operator()() (callback.h:166) ==16325== by 0x4CBF22C: ns3::Callback<ns3::ObjectBase*, ns3::empty, ns3::empty, ns3::empty, ns3::empty, ns3::empty, ns3::empty, ns3::empty, ns3::empty, ns3::empty>::operator()() const (callback.h:407) ==16325== by 0x4CBE05E: ns3::ObjectFactory::Create() const (object-factory.cc:69) ==16325== by 0x4C8569E: ns3::Ptr<ns3::SimulatorImpl> ns3::ObjectFactory::Create<ns3::SimulatorImpl>() const (object-factory.h:110) ==16325== by 0x4C823FB: ns3::GetImpl() (simulator.cc:93) ==16325== by 0x4C831B1: ns3::Simulator::Stop(ns3::Time const&) (simulator.cc:184) ==16325== by 0x404157: TestDeterministic(ns3::Ptr<ns3::PropagationLossModel>) (main-propagation-loss.cc:83) ==16325== by 0x405CC1: main (main-propagation-loss.cc:225) ==16325== ==16325== LEAK SUMMARY: ==16325== definitely lost: 0 bytes in 0 blocks ==16325== indirectly lost: 0 bytes in 0 blocks ==16325== possibly lost: 0 bytes in 0 blocks ==16325== still reachable: 200 bytes in 4 blocks ==16325== suppressed: 0 bytes in 0 blocks ==16325== ==16325== For counts of detected and suppressed errors, rerun with: -v ==16325== ERROR SUMMARY: 0 errors from 0 contexts (suppressed: 7 from 7)
Here, the clue is the line that says "ns3::Ptr<ns3::SimulatorImpl> ns3::ObjectFactory::Create<ns3::SimulatorImpl>() const (object-factory.h:110)" and the lines above it. If you see an error such as that reporting "still reachable" blocks, it is often the case that you forgot to call Simulator::Destroy() to free objects that have been created as factory objects.
test.py memory leaks
If a memory leak pop up on a test program (the ones enabled by "configure --enable-tests" and launched with "./test.py -g something"), they can be valgrind debugged by the test-runner program.
The syntax is:
./ns3 run --command-template="valgrind [options] %s [test-runner options]" test-runner
For example, to isolate and check the 'isotropic-antenna-model' test suite, one can invoke:
./ns3 run --command-template="valgrind --leak-check=full --show-reachable=yes --track-origins=yes %s --suite=isotropic-antenna-model" test-runner