The tvdsvr Command and Its Options

tvdsvr allows TotalView to control and debug a program on a remote machine. To accomplish this, the tvdsvr program must run on the remote machine, and it must have access to the executables being debugged. These executables must have the same absolute path name as the executable that TotalView is debugging, or the PATH environment variable for tvdsvr must include the directories containing the executables.

You must specify a -server, -callback, or -serial option with the tvdsvr command. By default, TotalView automatically launches tvdsvr using the -callback option, and the server establishes a connection with TotalView. (Automatically launching the server is called autolaunching.)

If you prefer not to automatically launch the server, you can start tvdsvr manually and specify the -server option. Be sure to note the password that tvdsvr prints out with the message:

pw = hexnumhigh:hexnumlow

TotalView will prompt you for hexnumhigh:hexnumlow later. By default, tvdsvr automatically generates a password that it uses when establishing connections. If desired, you can set your own password by using the -set_pw option.

To connect to the tvdsvr from TotalView, you use the File > New Program Dialog Box and must specify the host name and TCP/IP port number, hostname:portnumber on which tvdsvr is running. Then, TotalView prompts you for the password for tvdsvr.

The following options name the port numbers and passwords that TotalView uses to connect with tvdsvr.

(Autolaunch feature only) Immediately establishes a connection with a TotalView process running on hostname and listening on port, where hostname is either a host name or TCP/IP address. If tvdsvr cannot connect with TotalView, it exits.

If you use the -port, -search_port, or -server options with this option, tvdsvr ignores them.

Names the host upon which the callback is made. The hostname argument indicates the machine upon which TotalView is running. This option is most often used with a bulk launch.

Names the ports on the host machines that are used for callbacks. The port-list argument contains a comma-separated list of the host names and TCP/IP port numbers (hostname:port,hostname:port...) on which TotalView is listening for connections from tvdsvr. This option is most often used with a bulk launch.

For more information, see Chapter 4, “Setting Up Remote Debugging Sessions” in the TotalView Users Guide.

Redirects TotalView Debugger Server console output to a file named console_outputfile.

If console_outputfile is the string UNIQUE, the filename tv_dump.hostname.pid is used. If console_outputfile contains the string '$$' (note the escaping single quotes), hostname.pid is substituted. UNIQUE and '$$' are useful for separating the console output when running multiple tvdsvr processes.

Explicitly tells tvdsvr how many nodes the server supports and how many licenses it needs. This is only used for the Cray XT3.

Sets the TCP/IP port number on which tvdsvr should communicate with TotalView. If this port is busy, tvdsvr does not select an alternate port number (that is, it won’t communicate with anything) unless you also specify -search_port.

Uses the ORNL implementation of the Parallel Virtual Machine (PVM) library process as its input channel and registers itself as the ORNL PVM tasker.

This option is not intended for users launching tvdsvr manually. When you enable PVM support within TotalView, TotalView automatically uses this option when it launches tvdsvr.

Searches for an available TCP/IP port number, beginning with the default port (4142) or the port set with the -port option and continuing until one is found. When the port number is set, tvdsvr displays the chosen port number with the following message:

Be sure that you remember this port number, since you will need it when you are connecting to this server from TotalView.

Waits for a serial line connection from TotalView. For device, specifies the device name of a serial line, such as /dev/com1. The only option you can specify is the baud rate, which defaults to 38400. For more information on debugging over a serial line, see “Debugging Over a Serial Line” in Chapter 4 of the TotalView Users Guide.

Using -server can be a security problem. Consequently, you must explicitly enable this feature by placing an empty file named tvdsvr.conf in your /etc directory. This file must be owned by user ID 0 (root). When tvdsvr encounters this option, it checks if this file exists. This file’s contents are ignored.

You can use a different port by using one of the following options: -search_port or -port. To stop tvdsvr from listening and accepting network connections, you must terminate it by pressing Ctrl+C in the terminal window from which it was started or by using the kill command.

Sets the password to the 64-bit number specified by the hexnumhigh and hexnumlow 32-bit numbers. When a connection is established between tvdsvr and TotalView, the 64-bit password passed by TotalView must match this password set with this option. tvdsvr displays the selected number in the following message:

If necessary, you can disable password checking by specifying the “-set_pw 0:0” option with the tvdsvr command. Disabling password checking is dangerous; it allows anyone to connect to your server and start programs, including shell commands, using your UID. Therefore, we do not recommend disabling password checking.

Sets 64-bit passwords. TotalView must supply these passwords when tvdsvr establishes the connection with it. The argument to this command is a comma-separated list of passwords that TotalView automatically generates. This option is most often used with a bulk launch.

For more information, see Chapter 4, “Setting Up Remote Debugging Sessions” in the TotalView Users Guide.

Sets the verbosity level of TotalView Debugger Server-generated messages to level, which may be one of silent, error, warning, or info.

Note that the command assumes that the host machine and the target machine mount identical file systems. That is, the path name of the directory to which TotalView is connected must be identical on both the host and target machines.