Booting and Shutting Down Oracle^® Solaris 11.4 Systems

x86: How to Boot a System With the Kernel Debugger (kmdb) Enabled

This procedure shows the basics for loading the kernel debugger. The savecore feature is enabled by default.

Before You Begin

Ensure that your role has the appropriate rights profiles to perform this procedure. See Using Rights Profiles to Administer Boot Features.

1. Boot the system.
2. When the GRUB menu is displayed, type e to access the GRUB edit menu.
3. Use the arrow keys to select the $multiboot line.
4. In the GRUB edit menu, type –k at the end of the $multiboot line.

   To direct the system to stop (break) in the debugger before the kernel executes, include –d option with the –k option.

5. To exit the GRUB edit menu and boot the entry you just edited, press Control-X. If you have a system with UEFI firmware, and you are not using a serial console, pressing F10 also boots the entry.

   Typing –k loads the debugger (kmdb), then directly boots the operating system.

6. Access the kernel debugger.

   The method used to access the debugger is dependent upon the type of console that you are using to access the system.

   • If you are using a locally attached keyboard, press F1–A.

   • If you are using a serial console, send a break by using the method that is appropriate for that type of serial console.

   To access the kernel debugger (kmdb) before the system fully boots, use the –kd option.

   Using the –kd option loads the debugger and then gives you an opportunity to interact with the debugger before booting the operating system.

   A welcome message is displayed when you access the kernel debugger for the first time.

See Also

For more detailed information about interacting with the system by using kmdb, see the kmdb(1) man page.