CONFIG_DEBUG_INFO Impact Analysis

Build Size Comparison

Runtime Impact

Tools That Benefit from DEBUG_INFO

Crash Analysis Tools

• crash utility can analyze vmcore dumps
• addr2line can resolve addresses to source lines
• objdump -S shows interleaved source/assembly
• gdb provides full source-level debugging

Profiling Tools

• perf can show function names and line numbers
• SystemTap can hook into specific source lines
• kgdb can do live kernel debugging

Example: perf with DEBUG_INFO

# Without DEBUG_INFO - only addresses
$ perf report
# Overhead  Command  Symbol
    45.23%  my_app   [kernel] [k] 0xffffffff81234567
    12.34%  my_app   [kernel] [k] 0xffffffff82345678

# With DEBUG_INFO - function names and source info
$ perf report
# Overhead  Command  Symbol
    45.23%  my_app   [kernel] [k] my_driver_interrupt  my_driver.c:234
    12.34%  my_app   [kernel] [k] kmalloc               slab.c:3456
        

When to Enable DEBUG_INFO

✅ Enable When:

• Developing kernel modules
• Debugging kernel crashes
• Profiling kernel performance
• Using crash dump analysis
• Learning kernel internals

❌ Don't Enable When:

• Building production kernels
• Limited disk space
• Only running stable, tested code
• Build time is critical

Suboptions of DEBUG_INFO