| ================================ | |
| How to submit an LLVM bug report | |
| ================================ | |
| Introduction - Got bugs? | |
| ======================== | |
| If you're working with LLVM and run into a bug, we definitely want to know | |
| about it. This document describes what you can do to increase the odds of | |
| getting it fixed quickly. | |
| Basically you have to do two things at a minimum. First, decide whether | |
| the bug `crashes the compiler`_ (or an LLVM pass), or if the | |
| compiler is `miscompiling`_ the program (i.e., the | |
| compiler successfully produces an executable, but it doesn't run right). | |
| Based on what type of bug it is, follow the instructions in the linked | |
| section to narrow down the bug so that the person who fixes it will be able | |
| to find the problem more easily. | |
| Once you have a reduced test-case, go to `the LLVM Bug Tracking System | |
| <https://bugs.llvm.org/enter_bug.cgi>`_ and fill out the form with the | |
| necessary details (note that you don't need to pick a category, just use | |
| the "new-bugs" category if you're not sure). The bug description should | |
| contain the following information: | |
| * All information necessary to reproduce the problem. | |
| * The reduced test-case that triggers the bug. | |
| * The location where you obtained LLVM (if not from our Subversion | |
| repository). | |
| Thanks for helping us make LLVM better! | |
| .. _crashes the compiler: | |
| Crashing Bugs | |
| ============= | |
| More often than not, bugs in the compiler cause it to crash---often due to | |
| an assertion failure of some sort. The most important piece of the puzzle | |
| is to figure out if it is crashing in the Clang front-end or if it is one of | |
| the LLVM libraries (e.g. the optimizer or code generator) that has | |
| problems. | |
| To figure out which component is crashing (the front-end, optimizer or code | |
| generator), run the ``clang`` command line as you were when the crash | |
| occurred, but with the following extra command line options: | |
| * ``-O0 -emit-llvm``: If ``clang`` still crashes when passed these | |
| options (which disable the optimizer and code generator), then the crash | |
| is in the front-end. Jump ahead to the section on :ref:`front-end bugs | |
| <front-end>`. | |
| * ``-emit-llvm``: If ``clang`` crashes with this option (which disables | |
| the code generator), you found an optimizer bug. Jump ahead to | |
| `compile-time optimization bugs`_. | |
| * Otherwise, you have a code generator crash. Jump ahead to `code | |
| generator bugs`_. | |
| .. _front-end bug: | |
| .. _front-end: | |
| Front-end bugs | |
| -------------- | |
| If the problem is in the front-end, you should re-run the same ``clang`` | |
| command that resulted in the crash, but add the ``-save-temps`` option. | |
| The compiler will crash again, but it will leave behind a ``foo.i`` file | |
| (containing preprocessed C source code) and possibly ``foo.s`` for each | |
| compiled ``foo.c`` file. Send us the ``foo.i`` file, along with the options | |
| you passed to ``clang``, and a brief description of the error it caused. | |
| The `delta <http://delta.tigris.org/>`_ tool helps to reduce the | |
| preprocessed file down to the smallest amount of code that still replicates | |
| the problem. You're encouraged to use delta to reduce the code to make the | |
| developers' lives easier. `This website | |
| <http://gcc.gnu.org/wiki/A_guide_to_testcase_reduction>`_ has instructions | |
| on the best way to use delta. | |
| .. _compile-time optimization bugs: | |
| Compile-time optimization bugs | |
| ------------------------------ | |
| If you find that a bug crashes in the optimizer, compile your test-case to a | |
| ``.bc`` file by passing "``-emit-llvm -O0 -c -o foo.bc``". | |
| Then run: | |
| .. code-block:: bash | |
| opt -O3 -debug-pass=Arguments foo.bc -disable-output | |
| This command should do two things: it should print out a list of passes, and | |
| then it should crash in the same way as clang. If it doesn't crash, please | |
| follow the instructions for a `front-end bug`_. | |
| If this does crash, then you should be able to debug this with the following | |
| bugpoint command: | |
| .. code-block:: bash | |
| bugpoint foo.bc <list of passes printed by opt> | |
| Please run this, then file a bug with the instructions and reduced .bc | |
| files that bugpoint emits. If something goes wrong with bugpoint, please | |
| submit the "foo.bc" file and the list of passes printed by ``opt``. | |
| .. _code generator bugs: | |
| Code generator bugs | |
| ------------------- | |
| If you find a bug that crashes clang in the code generator, compile your | |
| source file to a .bc file by passing "``-emit-llvm -c -o foo.bc``" to | |
| clang (in addition to the options you already pass). Once your have | |
| foo.bc, one of the following commands should fail: | |
| #. ``llc foo.bc`` | |
| #. ``llc foo.bc -relocation-model=pic`` | |
| #. ``llc foo.bc -relocation-model=static`` | |
| If none of these crash, please follow the instructions for a `front-end | |
| bug`_. If one of these do crash, you should be able to reduce this with | |
| one of the following bugpoint command lines (use the one corresponding to | |
| the command above that failed): | |
| #. ``bugpoint -run-llc foo.bc`` | |
| #. ``bugpoint -run-llc foo.bc --tool-args -relocation-model=pic`` | |
| #. ``bugpoint -run-llc foo.bc --tool-args -relocation-model=static`` | |
| Please run this, then file a bug with the instructions and reduced .bc file | |
| that bugpoint emits. If something goes wrong with bugpoint, please submit | |
| the "foo.bc" file and the option that llc crashes with. | |
| .. _miscompiling: | |
| Miscompilations | |
| =============== | |
| If clang successfully produces an executable, but that executable | |
| doesn't run right, this is either a bug in the code or a bug in the | |
| compiler. The first thing to check is to make sure it is not using | |
| undefined behavior (e.g. reading a variable before it is defined). In | |
| particular, check to see if the program `valgrind | |
| <http://valgrind.org/>`_'s clean, passes purify, or some other memory | |
| checker tool. Many of the "LLVM bugs" that we have chased down ended up | |
| being bugs in the program being compiled, not LLVM. | |
| Once you determine that the program itself is not buggy, you should choose | |
| which code generator you wish to compile the program with (e.g. LLC or the JIT) | |
| and optionally a series of LLVM passes to run. For example: | |
| .. code-block:: bash | |
| bugpoint -run-llc [... optzn passes ...] file-to-test.bc --args -- [program arguments] | |
| bugpoint will try to narrow down your list of passes to the one pass that | |
| causes an error, and simplify the bitcode file as much as it can to assist | |
| you. It will print a message letting you know how to reproduce the | |
| resulting error. | |
| Incorrect code generation | |
| ========================= | |
| Similarly to debugging incorrect compilation by mis-behaving passes, you | |
| can debug incorrect code generation by either LLC or the JIT, using | |
| ``bugpoint``. The process ``bugpoint`` follows in this case is to try to | |
| narrow the code down to a function that is miscompiled by one or the other | |
| method, but since for correctness, the entire program must be run, | |
| ``bugpoint`` will compile the code it deems to not be affected with the C | |
| Backend, and then link in the shared object it generates. | |
| To debug the JIT: | |
| .. code-block:: bash | |
| bugpoint -run-jit -output=[correct output file] [bitcode file] \ | |
| --tool-args -- [arguments to pass to lli] \ | |
| --args -- [program arguments] | |
| Similarly, to debug the LLC, one would run: | |
| .. code-block:: bash | |
| bugpoint -run-llc -output=[correct output file] [bitcode file] \ | |
| --tool-args -- [arguments to pass to llc] \ | |
| --args -- [program arguments] | |
| **Special note:** if you are debugging MultiSource or SPEC tests that | |
| already exist in the ``llvm/test`` hierarchy, there is an easier way to | |
| debug the JIT, LLC, and CBE, using the pre-written Makefile targets, which | |
| will pass the program options specified in the Makefiles: | |
| .. code-block:: bash | |
| cd llvm/test/../../program | |
| make bugpoint-jit | |
| At the end of a successful ``bugpoint`` run, you will be presented | |
| with two bitcode files: a *safe* file which can be compiled with the C | |
| backend and the *test* file which either LLC or the JIT | |
| mis-codegenerates, and thus causes the error. | |
| To reproduce the error that ``bugpoint`` found, it is sufficient to do | |
| the following: | |
| #. Regenerate the shared object from the safe bitcode file: | |
| .. code-block:: bash | |
| llc -march=c safe.bc -o safe.c | |
| gcc -shared safe.c -o safe.so | |
| #. If debugging LLC, compile test bitcode native and link with the shared | |
| object: | |
| .. code-block:: bash | |
| llc test.bc -o test.s | |
| gcc test.s safe.so -o test.llc | |
| ./test.llc [program options] | |
| #. If debugging the JIT, load the shared object and supply the test | |
| bitcode: | |
| .. code-block:: bash | |
| lli -load=safe.so test.bc [program options] |