Visualinux: Visual Debugging for the Linux Kernel

Debugging the Linux kernel is challenging because script-based debuggers present overwhelming, unstructured textual information. To address this, we present Visualinux, a system designed to make the kernel state visually tractable. Visualinux introduces two domain-specific languages: ViewCL, for constructing reduced object graphs at controllable abstraction levels, and ViewQL, for customizing these graphs to meet specific debugging objectives. Furthermore, Visualinux can visualize differences between kernel state snapshots, helping developers track changes in data structures over time. Our evaluation shows that Visualinux can effectively visualize complex kernel components and assist in diagnosing sophisticated kernel bugs.