A logical partition debugger allows debugging one logical partition in a computer system without requiring the shutdown of other logical partitions. The logical partition debugger is implemented in software in the partition manager. The logical partition debugger provides many common debug functions known in existing hardware and software debuggers, but does so in a manner that only the partition being debugged is affected.
The present invention provides for an apparatus employed to debug a program operating in a supplemental processor when the processor's registers are not readable directly by the debugging operation of a main processor. A program operating in main memory halts due to operational errors. The program code lines save to a cache. In the main processor, a pool of memory is reserved. A copy of the data from the nominally inaccessible supplementary processor registers also transfers to the reserved storage area for processing of the program needing debugging. After the program debugging is complete, a copy of the contents of the memory pool is restored to the memory of the target supplemental processor. A copy of the local store register state and remaining local store data returns to main memory.
Methods and systems to provide support for single stepping a virtual machine in a virtual machine environment are disclosed. An exemplary method may include receiving a request to transition control to a virtual machine (VM) from a virtual machine monitor (VMM), determining that a single-stepping indicator is set to a single stepping value, and transitioning control to the VM. Further, if an execution of a first instruction in the VM completes successfully, control is transitioned to the VMM following the successful completion of the execution of the first instruction.
