2.3. Debugging Build Failures

The exact method for debugging build failures depends on the nature of the problem and on the system's area from which the bug originates. Standard debugging practices such as comparison against the last known working version with examination of the changes and the re-application of steps to identify the one causing the problem are valid for the Yocto Project just as they are for any other system. Even though it is impossible to detail every possible potential failure, this section provides some general tips to aid in debugging.

A useful feature for debugging is the error reporting tool. Configuring the Yocto Project to use this tool causes the OpenEmbedded build system to produce error reporting commands as part of the console output. You can enter the commands after the build completes to log error information into a common database, that can help you figure out what might be going wrong. For information on how to enable and use this feature, see the "Using the Error Reporting Tool" section in the Yocto Project Development Manual.

For discussions on debugging, see the "Debugging With the GNU Project Debugger (GDB) Remotely" and "Working within Eclipse" sections in the Yocto Project Development Manual.

Note

The remainder of this section presents many examples of the bitbake command. You can learn about BitBake by reading the BitBake User Manual.