ASF(8)			  BSD System Manager's Manual			ASF(8)

NAME
     asf — add symbol files

SYNOPSIS
     asf [-afKksVx] [-M core] [-N system] [-o outfile] [-X suffix]
	 [modules-path [outfile]]

DESCRIPTION
     By default, asf reads kldstat(8) output from standard input and writes to
     the .asf file a list of gdb(1) commands to add symbol files from KLDs in
     subdirectories of the subdirectory modules of the current directory,
     which is intended to be a kernel build directory.	This allows gdb(1) to
     load the symbols into the debugging environment.

     An optional modules-path argument can specify a semicolon-separated list
     of directory pathnames similar to the kern.module_path sysctl.  Each
     directory in the list will be searched in turn for modules.  The default
     list consists of just one element, modules, which is suitable if the cur‐
     rent directory is a kernel build directory.

     If outfile is specified, asf writes to it instead of .asf.  If outfile is
     a single dash (‘-’), standard output is used.

OPTIONS
     The following options modify the function of asf:

     -a      When writing to an explicit outfile, append to the file rather
	     than overwriting it.

     -f      Instead of trying to simplistically guess the path for each mod‐
	     ule, perform a traversal in the same way that find(1) does to
	     locate an exact path for each module, no matter where in
	     modules-path it is located.

     -K      Instead of reading from standard input, use the conventional sys‐
	     tem interface to get the list of modules currently loaded.

     -k      Instead of reading from standard input, start a kldstat(8) and
	     read the information from it.

     -M      Specify the core file for kvm(3).	Implies -V.

     -N      Specify the system file for kvm(3).  Implies -V.

     -o      Specify the file for asf to write or append its output to.  If
	     outfile is a single dash (‘-’), standard output is used.

     -s      Do not prepend a (guessed) subdirectory of the module path.

     -V      Instead of reading from standard input, use the kvm(3) interface
	     to get the list of modules.  This interface allows for inspecting
	     system crash dumps, as well as the live system.  The -M and -N
	     options will be of use if inspecting a crash dump.  Elevated
	     privileges, e.g., those of a superuser, may be needed to use this
	     option.

     -X      Add suffix to the list of suffixes asf tries to append to KLD
	     file names.  The default list consists of .debug, .symbols, and
	     the null suffix.  The null suffix always stays at the list tail,
	     after the suffix added.  Should it be needed in the middle of the
	     list, a blank suffix can be specified to -X instead.

     -x      Clear the list of suffixes asf tries to append to KLD file names.
	     Only the null suffix is left in the list.

EXAMPLES
     To add symbol files from the system search path specified by the
     kern.module_path sysctl, the following command can be used:

	   asf -s `sysctl -n kern.module_path`

SEE ALSO
     gdb(1), kvm(3), kld(4), kldstat(8), sysctl(8)

HISTORY
     The asf utility first appeared in FreeBSD 5.2.

AUTHORS
     Greg Lehey ⟨grog@FreeBSD.org⟩

BUGS
     Module paths are guessed in a rather naive way by default.  It is likely
     to lag behind the changes to the build tree layout.  Using -f is recom‐
     mended.

BSD			       December 20, 2006			   BSD