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Debugging
Cloud Debugger lets you inspect the state of an application, at any code location, without stopping or slowing down the running application.
Cloud Debugger is supported in all Google Cloud runtime environments (except for Cloud Functions) and can also be used when running applications in non-Google Cloud environments (on-premises, other clouds).
gcloud services enable clouddebugger.googleapis.com
A Snapshot can introspect the context information on a given line of code as user go through the code flow.

Example of a Snapshot
A Logpoint can add additional log messages to a running application without modifying the code nor redeploying the code.

Example of a Logpoint
In both Snapshot and Logpoint, you can specify conditionals so you can capture specific information for a specific request (e.g., match against a session ID, or request ID).
Cloud Debugger works by adding a Java agent to your JVM startup argument, and the agent can communicate with the Cloud Debugger service in the Cloud. Through the Cloud Console, you can then instruct your JVM instances to take a Snapshot of the application state at a specific line of code, or to add an additional log message on a specific line.
There are 2 types of Cloud Debugger Java agents that authenticates with Cloud Debugger service differently:
Type | When to use? | Latest Version | Versioned URL |
Machine Credentials | Google Cloud runtime environments | https://storage.googleapis.com/cloud-debugger/archive/java/${VERSION}/cdbg_java_agent_gce.tar.gz | |
Service Account Key | Non-Google Cloud environments | https://storage.googleapis.com/cloud-debugger/archive/java/${VERSION}/cdbg_java_agent_service_account.tar.gz |
You can find all the versions in the cloud-debug-java GitHub repository. For example, Cloud Debugger agent version
2.25
using Machine Credentials can be downloaded with URL: https://storage.googleapis.com/cloud-debugger/archive/java/2.25/cdbg_java_agent_gce.tar.gzTo use the agent, you'll need to configure the JVM command line using the standard
-agentpath
, e.g.:java -agentpath:/opt/cdbg/cdbg_java_agent.so \
-jar ...
Rather than hard coding the startup command line, you can also configure it with the
JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS
environmental variable:JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS="-agentpath:/opt/cdbg/cdbg_java_agent.so"
java -jar ...
There are additional flags you can pass to the Java agent using Java's system properties.
System Properties | Description | Required |
com.google.cdbg .module | The name of your application. | Not required for Cloud Run or App Engine. |
com.google.cdbg .version | The version of your application. | Not required for Cloud Run or App Engine. |
com.google.cdbg .breakpoints .enable_canary | true or false .Whether to turn on debugger for a subset of the running instances. See Canary snapshots and logpoints documentation. | Not required and defaults to false . |
com.google.cdbg .auth.serviceaccount.enable | true or false . Whether to authenticate with a Service Account key file. | Required when running outside of Google Cloud. |
com.google.cdbg.auth .serviceaccount.jsonfile | File path to the Service Account key file. | Required when running outside of Google Cloud. |
For example, you can enable the snapshot using the system property:
JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS="-agentpath:/opt/cdbg/cdbg_java_agent.so \
-Dcom.google.cdbg.breakpoints.enable_canary=true"
By default the Cloud Debugger agent writes its logs to
cdbg_java_agent.INFO
file in the default logging directory. You can overwrite the log file path:java -agentpath:/opt/cdbg/cdbg_java_agent.so=--log_dir=/tmp/cdbg.log \
-jar ...
Alternatively you can make the Java Cloud Debugger log to
stderr
:java -agentpath:/opt/cdbg/cdbg_java_agent.so=--logtostderr=1 \
-jar ...
App Engine
Cloud Run
Kubernetes Engine
Compute Engine
Non-Google Cloud Environment
Cloud Debugger agent is automatically added to your App Engine application.
In Cloud Debugger console, you can see the Default service in the drop down:

Add the Cloud Debugger Java agent to the container, and configure the agent in the startup command line.
# Clone the sample repository manually
git clone https://github.com/saturnism/jvm-helloworld-by-example
cd jvm-helloworld-by-example/helloworld-springboot-tomcat
In the Dockerfile, download the Cloud Debugger and build it as part of the container image:
Dockerfile
FROM openjdk:11
# Create a directory for the Debugger. Add and unzip the agent in the directory.
RUN mkdir /opt/cdbg && \
wget -qO- https://storage.googleapis.com/cloud-debugger/compute-java/debian-wheezy/cdbg_java_agent_gce.tar.gz | \
tar xvz -C /opt/cdbg
COPY target/helloworld.jar /app.jar
ENTRYPOINT ["java", "-jar", "/app.jar"]
Then build and push the container:
mvn package
PROJECT_ID=$(gcloud config get-value project)
docker build -t gcr.io/${PROJECT_ID}/helloworld .
docker push gcr.io/${PROJECT_ID}/helloworld
Download the Cloud Debugger Java agent into
src/main/jib
directory so that Jib can include the agent files as part of the container image:# Make a directory to store the Java agent
mkdir -p src/main/jib/opt/cdbg
# Download and extract the Java agent to the directory
wget -qO- https://storage.googleapis.com/cloud-debugger/compute-java/debian-wheezy/cdbg_java_agent_gce.tar.gz | \
tar xvz -C src/main/jib/opt/cdbg
Create the container image with Jib:
PROJECT_ID=$(gcloud config get-value project)
mvn compile com.google.cloud.tools:jib-maven-plugin:2.4.0:build \
-Dimage=gcr.io/${PROJECT_ID}/helloworld
Deploy to Cloud Run with Debugger Enabled using the environmental variable:
gcloud run deploy helloworld \
--region=us-central1 \
--platform=managed \
--allow-unauthenticated \
--set-env-vars='JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS="-agentpath:/opt/cdbg/cdbg_java_agent.so=--logtostderr=1"' \
--image=gcr.io/${PROJECT_ID}/helloworld
In Cloud Debugger console, you can see the
helloworld
service in the drop down:
Add the Cloud Debugger Java agent to the container, and configure the agent in the startup command line.
# Clone the sample repository manually
git clone https://github.com/saturnism/jvm-helloworld-by-example
cd jvm-helloworld-by-example/helloworld-springboot-tomcat
In the Dockerfile, download the Cloud Debugger and build it as part of the container image:
Dockerfile
FROM openjdk:11
# Create a directory for the Debugger. Add and unzip the agent in the directory.
RUN mkdir /opt/cdbg && \
wget -qO- https://storage.googleapis.com/cloud-debugger/compute-java/debian-wheezy/cdbg_java_agent_gce.tar.gz | \
tar xvz -C /opt/cdbg
COPY target/helloworld.jar /app.jar
ENTRYPOINT ["java", "-jar", "/app.jar"]
Then build and push the container:
mvn package
PROJECT_ID=$(gcloud config get-value project)
docker build -t gcr.io/${PROJECT_ID}/helloworld .
docker push gcr.io/${PROJECT_ID}/helloworld
Download the Cloud Debugger Java agent into
src/main/jib
directory so that Jib can include the agent files as part of the container image:# Make a directory to store the Java agent
mkdir -p src/main/jib/opt/cdbg
# Download and extract the Java agent to the directory
wget -qO- https://storage.googleapis.com/cloud-debugger/compute-java/debian-wheezy/cdbg_java_agent_gce.tar.gz | \
tar xvz -C src/main/jib/opt/cdbg
Create the image with Jib:
PROJECT_ID=$(gcloud config get-value project)
mvn compile com.google.cloud.tools:jib-maven-plugin:2.4.0:build \
-Dimage=gcr.io/${PROJECT_ID}/helloworld
Deploy to Kubernetes Engine with Debugger Enabled using the environmental variable using a Deployment YAML:
# Make a directory to store Kubernetes YAMLs
mkdir k8s/
Create a Deployment YAML file and configure the environmental variable:
k8s/deployment.yaml
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
labels:
app: helloworld
name: helloworld
spec:
replicas: 1
selector:
matchLabels:
app: helloworld
template:
metadata:
labels:
app: helloworld
spec:
containers:
- image: gcr.io/YOUR_PROJECT_ID/helloworld
name: helloworld
env:
- name: JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS
value: "-agentpath:/opt/cdbg/cdbg_java_agent.so=--logtostderr=1 -Dcom.google.cdbg.module=helloworld-gke -Dcom.google.cdbg.version=1.0"
Deploy the YAML file:
kubectl apply -f k8s/deployment.yaml
In Cloud Debugger console, you can see the
helloworld-gke
service in the drop down:
SSH into the Compute Engine instance:
gcloud compute ssh helloworld
From the Compute Engine instance, download the Java agent:
sudo mkdir -p /opt/cdbg
curl -s -o- https://storage.googleapis.com/cloud-debugger/compute-java/debian-wheezy/cdbg_java_agent_gce.tar.gz \
| sudo tar xvz -C /opt/cdbg
Run the Java application with the Cloud Debugger agent:
java -agentpath:/opt/cdbg/cdbg_java_agent.so=--logtostderr=1 \
-Dcom.google.cdbg.module=helloworld-gce \
-Dcom.google.cdbg.version=1.0 \
-jar helloworld.jar
In Cloud Debugger console, you can see the
helloworld-gce
service in the drop down:
You can attach the Cloud Debugger agent to any Java application even if it runs outside of the Google Cloud environment (whether it's in a container, or on your local laptop, or in another cloud). Authentication has to be done using Service Account key file rather than using the Machine Credentials.
This only works on a Linux x86 based system.
# Clone the sample repository manually
git clone https://github.com/saturnism/jvm-helloworld-by-example
cd jvm-helloworld-by-example/helloworld-springboot-tomcat
mvn package
sudo mkdir -p /opt/cdbg
curl -s -o- https://storage.googleapis.com/cloud-debugger/compute-java/debian-wheezy/cdbg_java_agent_gce.tar.gz \
| sudo tar xvz -C /opt/cdbg
PROJECT_ID=$(gcloud config get-value project)
gcloud iam service-accounts create helloworld-app
PROJECT_ID=$(gcloud config get-value project)
gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding ${PROJECT_ID} \
--member serviceAccount:helloworld-app@${PROJECT_ID}.iam.gserviceaccount.com \
--role roles/clouddebugger.agent
PROJECT_ID=$(gcloud config get-value project)
gcloud iam service-accounts keys create \
$HOME/helloworld-app-sa.json \
--iam-account helloworld-app@${PROJECT_ID}.iam.gserviceaccount.com
java -agentpath:/opt/cdbg/cdbg_java_agent.so=--logtostderr=1 \
-Dcom.google.cdbg.module=helloworld-local \
-Dcom.google.cdbg.version=1.0 \
-Dcom.google.cdbg.auth.serviceaccount.enable=true \
-Dcom.google.cdbg.auth.serviceaccount.jsonfile=$HOME/hellworld-app-sa.json \
-jar target/helloworld.jar
Cloud Debugger needs to have access to the application's source code in order for you to add a Snapshot or Logpoint from the Cloud Debugger console. There are severals ways to associating the source code:
- Existing Git Repository
- Source code capture / upload
- Git repository reference from
git.properties
- IntelliJ Cloud Code plugin
From Cloud Debugger console, navigate to Deployed Files > Add source code.

Cloud Debugger console and find "Add source code"
Choose an Alternative source code.

Alternative source code choices
For example, using an existing GitHub repository:

Select source from GitHub.com
Once selected, the contents of the Git repository will be available to navigate.
From Cloud Debugger console, navigate to Deployed Files > Add source code.

Cloud Debugger console and find "Add source code"
Choose an Alternative source code.

Click on Local files's Select Source, then simply select the folder/directory that contains the source code.
You can use
gcloud
CLI to upload the source code into a Source Captures repository.Create a Source Captures repository:
# Enable API
gcloud services enable sourcerepo.googleapis.com
# Create a source capture repository
gcloud source repos create google-source-captures
In the Alternative source code choices, scroll to the very bottom is Upload a source code capture to Google servers.
Do not click on Select source yet.

Alternative source code choices
Use the command line to upload the source code (for example, if you deployed the Helloworld Application):
# Clone the sample repository manually
git clone https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/java-docs-samples
cd java-docs-samples/appengine-java11/springboot-helloworld
# Upload just the `src/` directory.
# Note that the `branch` value is important and you must use the same value
# that's shown in the UI
gcloud beta debug source upload \
--project=<FROM THE UI> \
--branch=<FROM THE UI> \
src/
Once uploaded, click Select source.
You can associate a Git repository using the
git-commit-plugin
that generates a git.properties
file, which contains the information to the Git repository. This only works if the repository is publicly accessible.<plugin>
<groupId>pl.project13.maven</groupId>
<artifactId>git-commit-id-plugin</artifactId>
<version>4.0.1</version>
<executions>
<execution>
<goals>
<goal>revision</goal>
</goals>
</execution>
</executions>
</plugin>
Cloud Debugger service will automatically examine this file, and clone the code, and checkout the corresponding revision.
You can use the Cloud Code plugin to directly add a Snapshot point without using the Cloud Debugger console.
Navigate to Tools > Cloud Code > Attach Cloud Debugger.

Once configured the IntelliJ profile, you can add Snapshot to source code directly from the IDE.

Debug in the Cloud
Last modified 3yr ago