usage: valgrind [options] prog-and-args
tool-selection option, with default in [ ]:
--tool=<name> use the Valgrind tool named <name> [memcheck]
basic user options for all Valgrind tools, with defaults in [ ]:
-h --help show this message
--help-debug show this message, plus debugging options
--version show version
-q --quiet run silently; only print error msgs
-v --verbose be more verbose -- show misc extra info
--trace-children=no|yes Valgrind-ise child processes (follow execve)? [no]
--trace-children-skip=patt1,patt2,... specifies a list of executables
that --trace-children=yes should not trace into
--trace-children-skip-by-arg=patt1,patt2,... same as --trace-children-skip=
but check the argv[] entries for children, rather
than the exe name, to make a follow/no-follow decision
--child-silent-after-fork=no|yes omit child output between fork & exec? [no]
--vgdb=no|yes|full activate gdbserver? [yes]
full is slower but provides precise watchpoint/step
--vgdb-error=<number> invoke gdbserver after <number> errors [999999999]
to get started quickly, use --vgdb-error=0
and follow the on-screen directions
--vgdb-stop-at=event1,event2,... invoke gdbserver for given events [none]
where event is one of:
startup exit valgrindabexit all none
--track-fds=no|yes track open file descriptors? [no]
--time-stamp=no|yes add timestamps to log messages? [no]
--log-fd=<number> log messages to file descriptor [2=stderr]
--log-file=<file> log messages to <file>
--log-socket=ipaddr:port log messages to socket ipaddr:port
user options for Valgrind tools that report errors:
--xml=yes emit error output in XML (some tools only)
--xml-fd=<number> XML output to file descriptor
--xml-file=<file> XML output to <file>
--xml-socket=ipaddr:port XML output to socket ipaddr:port
--xml-user-comment=STR copy STR verbatim into XML output
--demangle=no|yes automatically demangle C++ names? [yes]
--num-callers=<number> show <number> callers in stack traces [12]
--error-limit=no|yes stop showing new errors if too many? [yes]
--error-exitcode=<number> exit code to return if errors found [0=disable]
--error-markers=<begin>,<end> add lines with begin/end markers before/after
each error output in plain text mode [none]
--show-below-main=no|yes continue stack traces below main() [no]
--default-suppressions=yes|no
load default suppressions [yes]
--suppressions=<filename> suppress errors described in <filename>
--gen-suppressions=no|yes|all print suppressions for errors? [no]
--input-fd=<number> file descriptor for input [0=stdin]
--dsymutil=no|yes run dsymutil on Mac OS X when helpful? [yes]
--max-stackframe=<number> assume stack switch for SP changes larger
than <number> bytes [2000000]
--main-stacksize=<number> set size of main thread's stack (in bytes)
[min(max(current 'ulimit' value,1MB),16MB)]
user options for Valgrind tools that replace malloc:
--alignment=<number> set minimum alignment of heap allocations [not used by this tool]
--redzone-size=<number> set minimum size of redzones added before/after
heap blocks (in bytes). [not used by this tool]
uncommon user options for all Valgrind tools:
--fullpath-after= (with nothing after the '=')
show full source paths in call stacks
--fullpath-after=string like --fullpath-after=, but only show the
part of the path after 'string'. Allows removal
of path prefixes. Use this flag multiple times
to specify a set of prefixes to remove.
--extra-debuginfo-path=path absolute path to search for additional
debug symbols, in addition to existing default
well known search paths.
--debuginfo-server=ipaddr:port also query this server
(valgrind-di-server) for debug symbols
--allow-mismatched-debuginfo=no|yes [no]
for the above two flags only, accept debuginfo
objects that don't "match" the main object
--smc-check=none|stack|all|all-non-file [all-non-file]
checks for self-modifying code: none, only for
code found in stacks, for all code, or for all
code except that from file-backed mappings
--read-inline-info=yes|no read debug info about inlined function calls
and use it to do better stack traces. [yes]
on Linux/Android/Solaris for Memcheck/Helgrind/DRD
only. [no] for all other tools and platforms.
--read-var-info=yes|no read debug info on stack and global variables
and use it to print better error messages in
tools that make use of it (Memcheck, Helgrind,
DRD) [no]
--vgdb-poll=<number> gdbserver poll max every <number> basic blocks [5000]
--vgdb-shadow-registers=no|yes let gdb see the shadow registers [no]
--vgdb-prefix=<prefix> prefix for vgdb FIFOs [.../vgdb-pipe]
--run-libc-freeres=no|yes free up glibc memory at exit on Linux? [yes]
--sim-hints=hint1,hint2,... activate unusual sim behaviours [none]
where hint is one of:
lax-ioctls lax-doors fuse-compatible enable-outer
no-inner-prefix no-nptl-pthread-stackcache none
--fair-sched=no|yes|try schedule threads fairly on multicore systems [no]
--kernel-variant=variant1,variant2,...
handle non-standard kernel variants [none]
where variant is one of:
bproc android-no-hw-tls
android-gpu-sgx5xx android-gpu-adreno3xx none
--merge-recursive-frames=<number> merge frames between identical
program counters in max <number> frames) [0]
--num-transtab-sectors=<number> size of translated code cache [16]
more sectors may increase performance, but use more memory.
--avg-transtab-entry-size=<number> avg size in bytes of a translated
basic block [0, meaning use tool provided default]
--aspace-minaddr=0xPP avoid mapping memory below 0xPP [guessed]
--valgrind-stacksize=<number> size of valgrind (host) thread's stack
(in bytes) [1048576]
--show-emwarns=no|yes show warnings about emulation limits? [no]
--require-text-symbol=:sonamepattern:symbolpattern abort run if the
stated shared object doesn't have the stated
text symbol. Patterns can contain ? and *.
--soname-synonyms=syn1=pattern1,syn2=pattern2,... synonym soname
specify patterns for function wrapping or replacement.
To use a non-libc malloc library that is
in the main exe: --soname-synonyms=somalloc=NONE
in libxyzzy.so: --soname-synonyms=somalloc=libxyzzy.so
--sigill-diagnostics=yes|no warn about illegal instructions? [yes]
--unw-stack-scan-thresh=<number> Enable stack-scan unwind if fewer
than <number> good frames found [0, meaning "disabled"]
NOTE: stack scanning is only available on arm-linux.
--unw-stack-scan-frames=<number> Max number of frames that can be
recovered by stack scanning [5]
--resync-filter=no|yes|verbose [yes on MacOS, no on other OSes]
attempt to avoid expensive address-space-resync operations
--max-threads=<number> maximum number of threads that valgrind can
handle [500]
user options for Nulgrind:
(none)
debugging options for all Valgrind tools:
-d show verbose debugging output
--stats=no|yes show tool and core statistics [no]
--sanity-level=<number> level of sanity checking to do [1]
--trace-flags=<XXXXXXXX> show generated code? (X = 0|1) [00000000]
--profile-flags=<XXXXXXXX> ditto, but for profiling (X = 0|1) [00000000]
--profile-interval=<number> show profile every <number> event checks
[0, meaning only at the end of the run]
--trace-notbelow=<number> only show BBs above <number> [999999999]
--trace-notabove=<number> only show BBs below <number> [0]
--trace-syscalls=no|yes show all system calls? [no]
--trace-signals=no|yes show signal handling details? [no]
--trace-symtab=no|yes show symbol table details? [no]
--trace-symtab-patt=<patt> limit debuginfo tracing to obj name <patt>
--trace-cfi=no|yes show call-frame-info details? [no]
--debug-dump=syms mimic /usr/bin/readelf --syms
--debug-dump=line mimic /usr/bin/readelf --debug-dump=line
--debug-dump=frames mimic /usr/bin/readelf --debug-dump=frames
--trace-redir=no|yes show redirection details? [no]
--trace-sched=no|yes show thread scheduler details? [no]
--profile-heap=no|yes profile Valgrind's own space use
--core-redzone-size=<number> set minimum size of redzones added before/after
heap blocks allocated for Valgrind internal use (in bytes) [4]
--wait-for-gdb=yes|no pause on startup to wait for gdb attach
--sym-offsets=yes|no show syms in form 'name+offset' ? [no]
--command-line-only=no|yes only use command line options [no]
Vex options for all Valgrind tools:
--vex-iropt-verbosity=<0..9> [0]
--vex-iropt-level=<0..2> [2]
--vex-iropt-unroll-thresh=<0..400> [120]
--vex-guest-max-insns=<1..100> [50]
--vex-guest-chase-thresh=<0..99> [10]
--vex-guest-chase-cond=no|yes [no]
Precise exception control. Possible values for 'mode' are as follows
and specify the minimum set of registers guaranteed to be correct
immediately prior to memory access instructions:
sp-at-mem-access stack pointer only
unwindregs-at-mem-access registers needed for stack unwinding
allregs-at-mem-access all registers
allregs-at-each-insn all registers are always correct
Default value for all 3 following flags is [unwindregs-at-mem-access].
--vex-iropt-register-updates=mode setting to use by default
--px-default=mode synonym for --vex-iropt-register-updates
--px-file-backed=mode optional setting for file-backed (non-JIT) code
Tracing and profile control:
--trace-flags and --profile-flags values (omit the middle space):
1000 0000 show conversion into IR
0100 0000 show after initial opt
0010 0000 show after instrumentation
0001 0000 show after second opt
0000 1000 show after tree building
0000 0100 show selecting insns
0000 0010 show after reg-alloc
0000 0001 show final assembly
0000 0000 show summary profile only
(Nb: you need --trace-notbelow and/or --trace-notabove
with --trace-flags for full details)
debugging options for Valgrind tools that report errors
--dump-error=<number> show translation for basic block associated
with <number>'th error context [0=show none]
debugging options for Valgrind tools that replace malloc:
--trace-malloc=no|yes show client malloc details? [no]
debugging options for Nulgrind:
(none)
Extra options read from ~/.valgrindrc, $VALGRIND_OPTS, ./.valgrindrc
Nulgrind is Copyright (C) 2002-2015, and GNU GPL'd, by Nicholas Nethercote.
Valgrind is Copyright (C) 2000-2015, and GNU GPL'd, by Julian Seward et al.
LibVEX is Copyright (C) 2004-2015, and GNU GPL'd, by OpenWorks LLP et al.
Bug reports, feedback, admiration, abuse, etc, to: www.valgrind.org.