2.5.2 Using Valgrind to Detect Memory Access Errors and Leaks

The software described in this documentation is either in Extended Support or Sustaining Support. See https://www.oracle.com/us/support/library/enterprise-linux-support-policies-069172.pdf for more information.
Oracle recommends that you upgrade the software described by this documentation as soon as possible.

2.5.2 Using Valgrind to Detect Memory Access Errors and Leaks

Valgrind is a open-source memory access error and leak detection tool.

To use Valgrind, perform the following steps:

Compile the code with the -g flag, for example:
```
$ gcc -g -O1 test.c
```
An optimization level of 1 is generally faster than level 0, although it can cause incorrect line numbers to be reported.
An optimization level higher than 1 can cause spurious uninitialised-value errors to be reported.
Use the valgrind as a wrapper for running the binary and perform stress testing:
```
$ valgrind --leak-check=yes --log-file=valgrind.rpt a.out
```
Memory access checking is enabled by default. The --leak-check option runs the memory leak detector when the binary exits. If you specify its value as summary, it reports how many leaks occurred. A value of full or yes displays the details of each individual leak.

For more information about using Valgrind, see the valgrind(1) manual page and the Valgrind Documentation at https://www.valgrind.org/docs/manual/index.html.