How to Debug Linux Kernel using GDB in qemu environment

Question

I have requirement where i wanted to debud my Linux kernel image using GDB but not sure whats is option available for it,

When I run below command

gdb ./vmlinux

 users/amit/vmlinuz-2.6.32-33-generic": not in executable format: File format not recognized

Answer 1

The z at the end of vmlinuz tells you that your kernel image is in a compressed format. To debug it, you need to have an uncompressed version. You can extract a vmlinux from your vmlinuz , but you have to make sure you have the required debug symbols somewhere (System.map?).

The easiest option is probably to rebuild your kernel with debug symbols and without compression.