Debugging With the Kernel Memory Allocator

The Solaris kernel memory (kmem) allocator provides a powerful set of debugging features that can facilitate analysis of a kernel crash dump. This chapter discusses these debugging features, and the MDB dcmds and walkers designed specifically for the allocator. Bonwick (see Related Books and Papers) provides an overview of the principles of the allocator itself. Refer to the header file <sys/kmem_impl.h> for the definitions of allocator data structures. The kmem debugging features can be enabled on a production system to enhance problem analysis, or on development systems to aid in debugging kernel software and device drivers.

Note - MDB exposes kernel implementation details that are subject to change at any time. This guide reflects the Solaris kernel implementation as of the date of publication of this guide. Information provided in this guide about the kernel memory allocator might not be correct or applicable to past or future Solaris releases.