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Valgrind Cheatsheet

Installation Guide

Linux

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt-get install valgrind

# Fedora/RHEL
sudo dnf install valgrind

# Build from source
wget https://sourceware.org/pub/valgrind/valgrind-VERSION.tar.bz2
tar -xjf valgrind-VERSION.tar.bz2
cd valgrind-VERSION
./configure
make
sudo make install

Basic Tools and Commands

Memcheck (Memory Error Detector)

Command Usage Purpose
valgrind valgrind --tool=memcheck ./program Basic memory check
--leak-check valgrind --leak-check=full ./program Detailed leak check
--show-reachable --show-reachable=yes Show reachable leaks
--track-origins --track-origins=yes Track uninitialized values
--xml --xml=yes --xml-file=report.xml XML output

Cachegrind (Cache Profiler)

Command Usage Purpose
cachegrind valgrind --tool=cachegrind ./program Cache analysis
cg_annotate cg_annotate cachegrind.out.pid Analyze output
--branch-sim --branch-sim=yes Branch prediction sim
--cache-sim --cache-sim=yes Cache simulation

Callgrind (Call Graph Generator)

Command Usage Purpose
callgrind valgrind --tool=callgrind ./program Profile execution
callgrind_control callgrind_control -d Dump profile data
callgrind_annotate callgrind_annotate callgrind.out.pid Analyze profile
--dump-instr --dump-instr=yes Dump instruction info

Massif (Heap Profiler)

Command Usage Purpose
massif valgrind --tool=massif ./program Heap profiling
ms_print ms_print massif.out.pid Print heap profile
--heap --heap=yes Profile heap
--detailed-freq --detailed-freq=10 Detail frequency

Helgrind (Thread Debugger)

Command Usage Purpose
helgrind valgrind --tool=helgrind ./program Thread error check
--history-level --history-level=full Lock order history
--conflict-cache-size --conflict-cache-size=2097152 Cache size

Common Options for All Tools

# Suppress errors
--suppressions=supp.file

# Track file descriptors
--track-fds=yes

# Child process debugging
--trace-children=yes

# Time stamp logging
--time-stamp=yes

# Only show errors
--quiet

# Verbose output
-v

Error Types and Meanings

Memory Errors

Invalid read/write
Uninitialized value
Memory leak
Invalid free
Mismatched free/delete
Double free
Overlap in memcpy

Thread Errors

Data race
Lock order violation
Thread exit with locked mutex
Invalid mutex operation

Suppression File Format

{
   <suppression_name>
   <tool_name>:MemCheck
   ...
   fun:function_name
   obj:object_file
}

Best Practices

  1. Always use --leak-check=full
  2. Enable --track-origins for uninitialized values
  3. Create suppressions for known issues
  4. Use --gen-suppressions=all to generate suppressions
  5. Run with optimized binaries for accurate profiling
  6. Use --xml output for automated analysis
  7. Regular profiling during development

Performance Tips

  1. Use --num-callers to reduce stack trace size
  2. Disable expensive checks when not needed
  3. Use selective instrumentation
  4. Profile specific functions with --toggle-collect
  5. Use --max-stackframe for large stack frames
  6. Optimize suppression files
  7. Use --time-stamp for long-running programs

Debugging Examples

# Basic memory check
valgrind --tool=memcheck --leak-check=full --show-leak-kinds=all ./program

# Profile with callgraph
valgrind --tool=callgrind --dump-instr=yes --collect-jumps=yes ./program

# Thread check with history
valgrind --tool=helgrind --history-level=full ./program

# Heap profile
valgrind --tool=massif --heap=yes --detailed-freq=10 ./program

# Cache analysis
valgrind --tool=cachegrind --branch-sim=yes ./program