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GDB Basics

The GNU Debugger (GDB) allows you to connect to and debug a wide variety of target devices.

It consists of a pair of command-line tools: a GDB server, and a GDB client. These two tools are used together to locally or remotely analyze your program and asssembly code, and single step through the program.

To use GDB, you start a GDB server which physically connects to the target device, and then connect to the server with a GDB client, allowing you to interact with the target device.

Required Client Version

CFS includes a pre-configured version of GDB, so you don’t need to install it separately. For best results, it is recommended to use GDB 7.12+ or later:

  • GDB 7.12+ – Supports modern debugging features, including inline breakpoints.
  • GDB 8.x+ – Adds improvements and bug fixes for a better debugging experience.

Note

You can check the GDB version by running show version in the VS Code debug console.