Advanced Concepts of Cloud Debugger

gcloud debug

NAME

The gcloud debug - commands are mainly used for interacting with the Cloud Debugger.

SYNOPSIS

glcoud debug GROUP {GLOUD_WIDE_FLAG}

DESCRIPTION

It allows the user to interact with the cloud debugger as well as allows the user to list and manipulate debugging targets, snapshots, and logpoints. One of the features of Google Cloud is a cloud debugger. It lets the user inspect the state of an application anywhere inside the code without using logging statements and without having to stop or slow the application.

Example

Run the below-mentioned command to view all of the available debug targets:

$ gcloud debug targets list
NAME           ID             DESCRIPTION
default-test   gcp:1234:5678  myproject-test-9876543
default-test2  gcp:9012:3456  myproject-test2-1234567

GCLOUD WIDE FLAGS

All the commands have these flags: –help

Run the below-mentioned command to get the details

$ gcloud help

GROUPS

Concepts

Client roles

There are two roles that are defined by the API:

Agents

It is a program that runs on the same system as the debuggee application. Its responsibilities include sending state data like the value of program variables and call stack to the cloud debugger whenever the code at the breakpoint location is executed.

It is possible to have multiple agents per debugger.

Debugger Clients

It is an application that allows the user to set as well as remove the breakpoints. It also allows the user to view the state data that is captured at a breakpoint. Cloud debugger is an example of a debugger client. 

Data model

The API data model provides different types of state data as well as entities for debuggees and breakpoints that an agent collects when code at a breakpoint location is executed.

Debuggees

It is an application that a user wants to debug. All of the tasks that comprise an application are considered to be the same debuggee and share the same debuggee ID. Whereas different versions of the application are considered to be different debuggees.

Breakpoints

It is an entity that provides the agent with information about where and when to collect the state data about an application. It also stores the state data itself.

A breakpoint specifies the below-mentioned:

• Location in the debuggee source code.
• The conditional expression used by the agent to determine when to collect the state data.
• Expressions to determine when to collect data.

When the state data is collected from the debuggee, it can include the following:

• Value of program variables.
• Call stack
• Value of already evaluated expressions.

Source locations

It defines a point in the target application in the form of file path and line number.

Variables

It contains the contents of a program object when the state data is collected by the agent. 

Status messages

It is used to provide state information about the state of the breakpoints and variables.

Agent operations

Agents are allowed to perform the below-mentioned operations by the controller interface:

The general order of operations for an agent is mentioned-below:

• The agent registers it as a debuggee using either register or RegisterDebugger method whenever the application starts.
• The agent calls either the list or ListActiveBreakpoints at intervals to retrieve the currently set breakpoints.
• The agent collects the data whenever the application reaches the code location where a breakpoint is set.

Frequently Asked Questions

Mention the protocols which Cloud Debugger API supports.

The cloud debugger API supports REST and RPC protocols.

What is used by the Cloud Debugger API for user authorization?

The cloud debugger API uses OAuth 2.0 for user authorization.

What are the uses of the discovery document?

A discovery document can be used for building client libraries, IDE plugins, and tools that can interact with the Google APIs.

Conclusion

In this article, we have extensively discussed the advanced level concepts of Cloud Debugger.

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