How to programmatically cause a core dump in C/C++

Question

I would like to force a core dump at a specific location in my C++ application.

I know I can do it by doing something like:

int * crash = NULL;
*cras         


        

Answer 1

 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 int main()
 {
   printf("\n");
   printf("Process is aborting\n");
   abort();
   printf("Control not reaching here\n");
   return 0;
 }

use this approach wherever you want :)

Answer 2

You can use kill(2) to send signal.

#include <sys/types.h>
#include <signal.h>
int kill(pid_t pid, int sig);

So,

kill(getpid(), SIGSEGV);

Answer 3

As listed in the signal manpage, any signal with the action listed as 'core' will force a core dump. Some examples are:

SIGQUIT       3       Core    Quit from keyboard
SIGILL        4       Core    Illegal Instruction
SIGABRT       6       Core    Abort signal from abort(3)
SIGFPE        8       Core    Floating point exception
SIGSEGV      11       Core    Invalid memory reference

Make sure that you enable core dumps:

ulimit -c unlimited

Answer 4

Raising of signal number 6 (SIGABRT in Linux) is one way to do it (though keep in mind that SIGABRT is not required to be 6 in all POSIX implementations so you may want to use the SIGABRT value itself if this is anything other than quick'n'dirty debug code).

#include <signal.h>
: : :
raise (SIGABRT);

Calling abort() will also cause a core dump, and you can even do this without terminating your process by calling fork() followed by abort() in the child only - see this answer for details.