Debugging Tips
Make sure your mutt is built with debugging support enabled: run mutt -v and look for +DEBUG If it isn't, you'll have to rebuild mutt with debugging support:
Building a debuggable mutt
- pass the --enable-debug flag to configure along with any other flags you need.
- it can also be useful to run make as make CFLAGS=-ggdb in order to get better debugging symbols
Generating a trace file
To produce a debug trace, run mutt with the -d2 flag. -d takes a number from 1-5, corresponding to increasing levels of verbosity:
- errors
- network tracing, important state changes
- less important information
- log spam, e.g. status updates from functions that are called very often
- everything, even very confidential information like passwords
For most purposes, level 2 provides the right amount of detail for a bug report. It may also include some confidential information (email addresses, server URLs), so you should read it over before you send it to anyone. Feel free to sanitize it -- we'll ask for further information if necessary.
Analyzing a crash
We'd love to see a debugger back trace.
If you have a core file
If mutt has produced a core file, run gdb /path/to/mutt <core file>, then enter backtrace at the (gdb) prompt and cut and paste the output.
If you don't
One common reason for not getting a core dump when mutt crashes is ulimit. If running ulimit -c returns 0, that means core dumps are disabled in your login session. Try executing ulimit -c unlimited, then running mutt again.
If you still don't have a core dump, you can always run mutt inside of gdb, then generate the backtrace when it crashes:
- gdb /path/to/mutt
- (gdb) run -d2 [other arguments you use]
- (make mutt crash)
- backtrace
