gdb attach to a process without stop

Question

Everytime I attach to a process using gdb, it will stop the target program, and I need to type 'cont' to let it go. Is there a way to attach to a process without stopping it? This makes things easier if the process will behave differently if it stops for a while.

Why would you attach and continue immediately? My use case has been attach > Set a breakpoint > continue. — talekeDskobeDa, Jun 17 '20 at 10:48
@talekeDskobeDa You attach and continue immediately to catch a crash in the debugger. In this case, there is no need for a breakpoint, and stopping the program can have side effects. — Graham Leggett, Mar 08 '23 at 21:49

score 48 · Answer 1 · answered May 02 '13 at 15:07

48

I know there is already a fine answer for this, but I prefer not using an additional file.

Here is another answer:

gdb attach $(pidof process_name) -ex cont

answered May 02 '13 at 15:07

dashesy

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I had to disable pagination, because on attach there were too many threads, and gdb did not perform 'continue' before user intervention: `gdb -iex "set pagination off" -q -ex cont -p $PID` – Alex Cohn Apr 27 '22 at 14:19

score 15 · Accepted Answer · edited Nov 20 '13 at 20:27

15

You can't make it not stop. You can however instantly continue... Create a simple batch script which will attach to a specific process and instantly continuing execution after attaching:

gdb attach $1 -x <(echo "cont")

./attach PID

edited Nov 20 '13 at 20:27

Community

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answered Mar 17 '12 at 00:35

QuantumBlack

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score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 11 '17 at 19:24

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For when you don't know the PID of the process...

gdb attach $(pgrep -f myApp) -ex cont

answered Jan 11 '17 at 19:24

Dan

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gdb attach to a process without stop

3 Answers3

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