Ease of Use

Making GDB easier to use.

There are a few commands gdb uses to make the debugging experience better. These don't provide any extra information, but they make debugging quicker.

aliases

GEF overrides the typical gdb aliasing mechanism (which is done via alias).

Use aliases add <alias> <command> to add an alias. Use aliases rm <alias> to remove an alias.

gef➤  aliases add p64 x/gx
gef➤  aliases rm p64

Use aliases ls to view the current alias list.

gef➤  aliases ls 
[+] Aliases defined:
ctx                             →  context
telescope                       →  dereference
flags                           →  edit-flags
start                           →  entry-break
fmtstr-helper                   →  format-string-helper
hl                              →  highlight
highlight set                   →  highlight add
hla                             →  highlight add
hlc                             →  highlight clear
highlight ls                    →  highlight list
hll                             →  highlight list
highlight delete                →  highlight remove
highlight del                   →  highlight remove
highlight unset                 →  highlight remove
highlight rm                    →  highlight remove
hlr                             →  highlight remove
nb                              →  name-break
pattern offset                  →  pattern search
pf                              →  print-format
ps                              →  process-search
status                          →  process-status
lookup                          →  scan
grep                            →  search-pattern
xref                            →  search-pattern
sc-get                          →  shellcode get
sc-search                       →  shellcode search
screen-setup                    →  tmux-setup

Aliases are stored in ~/.gef.rc. You can edit the aliases directly in this file.

config

This command shows the current GEF configuration. It reads from ~/.gef.rc and the gef section of ~/.gdbinit.

gef➤  gef config
─────────── GEF configuration settings ───────────
assemble.default_architecture (str) = "X86"
assemble.default_mode (str) = "64"
capstone-disassemble.use-capstone (bool) = False
context.clear_screen (bool) = True
context.enable (bool) = True
context.grow_stack_down (bool) = False
...
...
theme.source_current_line (str) = "green"
theme.table_heading (str) = "blue"
trace-run.max_tracing_recursion (int) = 1
trace-run.tracefile_prefix (str) = "./gef-trace-"
unicorn-emulate.show_disassembly (bool) = False
unicorn-emulate.verbose (bool) = False
vereference.max_recursion (int) = 7

You can set a value in this configuration with gef config <key> <value>. For example, gef config context.enable False will disable the context.

Changing the Configuration

These changes are temporary. You can restore the original configuration using:

gef➤  gef restore
[+] Configuration from '/home/joybuzzer/.gef.rc' restored

You can make permanent changes by editing ~/.gef.rc or using gef save.

gef➤  gef save
[+] Configuration saved to '/home/joybuzzer/.gef.rc'