Crashupload

A high-performance crash dump collection and upload service for RDK platforms. Automatically discovers, compresses, and securely uploads minidumps and coredumps to centralized crash analysis servers with built-in rate limiting and privacy controls.

Overview

Crashupload is designed for embedded RDK devices (broadband, video, extenders, media clients) to efficiently handle crash diagnostics. The v2.0 migration from shell scripts to compiled C code delivers 37% fewer decision points, 35% smaller binary size, and 40% faster startup while maintaining full backward compatibility.

Key Features

• Multi-format Support: Handles minidumps (.dmp) and coredumps (core.*, .core)
• Smart Compression: Direct compression with automatic /tmp fallback for space-constrained systems
• Type-Aware Retry: Aggressive retry for minidumps (5×3s), conservative for coredumps (3×10s)
• Rate Limiting: 10 uploads per 10 minutes with crashloop detection (5 uploads/minute)
• Privacy Controls: Telemetry opt-out + RBUS privacy mode integration
• Secure Upload: TLS 1.2 with OCSP stapling support via libcurl
• Zero Script Dependencies: Pure C implementation with ioctl-based networking

Architecture

crashupload
├── c_sourcecode/          # Main C implementation (v2.0)
│   ├── common/            # Shared types, constants, error codes
│   ├── include/           # Public header files
│   └── src/               # Source modules
│       ├── main.c         # 7-step optimized flow
│       ├── config/        # Multi-source config manager
│       ├── scanner/       # Multi-format dump discovery
│       ├── archive/       # Smart compression engine
│       ├── upload/        # TLS 1.2 upload with retry
│       ├── ratelimit/     # Unified rate limiter
│       ├── utils/         # File, network, system utilities
│       └── *Interface/    # RBUS, RFC, T2 telemetry
├── unittest/              # GTest suite (69 test cases)
├── docs/                  # HLD, LLD, diagrams, requirements
└── test/                  # Functional tests

Performance: 100-120ms startup | 6-8MB memory | ~35KB binary

Optimized Design

1. Consolidated Init: Single system_initialize() call (3 steps → 1)
2. Combined Prerequisites: Network + time validation in one check
3. Unified Privacy: Opt-out + privacy mode combined decision
4. Smart Archive: Direct compression → /tmp fallback optimization
5. Type-Aware Upload: Minidump vs coredump specific retry policies
6. Unified Rate Limit: Recovery mode + 10/10min limit in single check
7. Batch Cleanup: Single directory scan for all cleanup operations

Building

Prerequisites

# Dependencies
- GCC 4.9+ with C11 support
- Autotools (autoconf, automake, libtool)
- OpenSSL 1.0+ (libcrypto for SHA1)
- libcurl 7.0+ with TLS 1.2
- RDK libraries: rdkloggers, rbus, rfc, breakpad, t2

Build Instructions

# Navigate to C source directory
cd c_sourcecode

# Generate build system
autoreconf -fi

# Configure
./configure --prefix=/usr --sysconfdir=/etc

# Build
make

# Install
sudo make install

Compiler Flags

CFLAGS="-Wall -Werror -O2 -DT2_EVENT_ENABLED"

Usage

Systemd Service (Minidump on Startup)

# Enable and start timer
systemctl enable minidump-on-bootup-upload.timer
systemctl start minidump-on-bootup-upload.timer

# Manual trigger
systemctl start minidump-on-bootup-upload.service

Coredump Upload Path

# Triggered by systemd path unit
systemctl enable coredump-upload.path
systemctl start coredump-upload.path

Manual Execution

# Minidump mode
crashupload --type minidump --path /minidumps

# Coredump mode
crashupload --type coredump --path /var/lib/systemd/coredump

# Recovery mode (bypass rate limit for reboot)
crashupload --recovery

Configuration

Configuration is loaded from multiple sources with priority override:

1. Command-line arguments (highest priority)
2. RFC configuration (via TR-181 parameters)
3. Device properties (/etc/device.properties)
4. Default values (fallback)

Key Configuration Parameters

Parameter	Default	Description
upload_url	Platform-specific	Crash upload server URL
dump_path	/minidumps (minidump) /var/lib/systemd/coredump (coredump)	Dump file location
upload_timeout	45s	HTTP upload timeout
ratelimit_max	10	Max uploads per window
ratelimit_window	600s	Rate limit window (10 min)

Privacy Control (RBUS)

# Check current privacy mode
dmcli eRT getv Device.X_RDKCENTRAL-COM_Privacy.PrivacyMode

# Set to DO_NOT_SHARE (blocks uploads)
dmcli eRT setv Device.X_RDKCENTRAL-COM_Privacy.PrivacyMode string DO_NOT_SHARE

Testing

Unit Tests (GTest)

cd unittest

# Generate build system
autoreconf -fi

# Configure
./configure

# Build and run tests
make check

# View results
cat test-suite.log

Test Coverage: 69 comprehensive test cases across all modules

• Network utilities: 10 tests
• File utilities: 13 tests
• System utilities: 11 tests
• Scanner: 11 tests
• Archive: 11 tests
• Rate limiter: 13 tests

L1 Unit Testing Coverage

Current code coverage metrics from GTest suite:

Lines......: 90.5% (1903 of 2102 lines)
Functions..: 100.0% (89 of 89 functions)
Branches...: 84.3% (1086 of 1288 branches)

Coverage Target: Maintain >90% line coverage, 100% function coverage, >80% branches coverage

L2 Functional Tests

cd test/functional-tests

# Run test suite
./run_tests.sh

Test Status:

Module	Feature File	Status
Argument parsing (TC-008)	arg_parsing.feature	✅ Complete
Failure return codes	failure_return.feature	✅ Complete
Reboot flag / log output	reboot_and_log_scenario.feature	✅ Complete
Config & path selection (TC-006/007/009)	config_and_path.feature	✅ Complete
Dump detection & platform baseline (TC-019–028)	config_checks_and_baseline.feature	✅ Complete
Unsupported device types (TC-004/005/017/018)	unsupported_device_types.feature	✅ Complete
Broadband archive behaviour (TC-067)	broadband_env.feature	✅ Complete
No dumps exit (NODMP-01..04)	no_dumps_exit.feature	✅ Complete
Upload deferral (TC-035/036/037)	upload_deferral.feature	✅ Complete
Lock and exit (TC-012/013/015/085)	test_lock_and_exit.feature	✅ Complete
Lock and wait	test_lock_and_wait.feature	✅ Complete
Lock lifecycle (TC-011/014/016)	lock_lifecycle.feature	✅ Complete
Signal lock cleanup (SIG-01/02)	signal_lock_cleanup.feature	✅ Complete
Startup cleanup batch (TC-041–047)	cleanup_batch.feature	✅ Complete
Rate limiting — block (TC-049/051/055)	ratelimit.feature	✅ Complete
Rate limiting — allow (TC-048/050/052–054)	ratelimit.feature	✅ Complete
Telemetry opt-out (TC-038/039/040)	telemetry_optout.feature	✅ Complete
Crash telemetry (TC-072/073)	crash_telemetry.feature	✅ Complete
Scanner / filename sanitisation (TC-057–059/064)	scanner_behaviour.feature	✅ Complete
Dump processing (TC-060/071)	dump_processing.feature	✅ Complete
Archive naming (TC-061/062/063)	archive_naming.feature	✅ Complete
Archive content (TC-065/066/075/078–080)	archive_content.feature	✅ Complete
Single successful upload (TC-081)	upload.feature	✅ Complete
Upload retry (TC-082/083)	upload_retry.feature	✅ Complete

Coverage: 66 / 66 applicable TCs implemented (19 not applicable — see L2_TESTS.md)

Rate Limiting & Recovery Mode

Normal Operation

• Limit: 10 uploads per 10-minute window
• Crashloop Detection: 5 uploads per 1-minute window
• State Tracking: /tmp/.crashupload_ratelimit

Recovery Mode (On Reboot)

• Bypasses rate limit for first dump after boot
• Enables upload of crash from previous session
• Self-clears after successful upload

Telemetry Events (T2)

When T2 telemetry is enabled:

• SYST_INFO_CrashUpload_Success: Successful upload
• SYST_INFO_CrashUpload_Failed: Upload failure
• SYST_WARN_NoMinidump: No dumps found when expected
• SYST_ERR_RateLimit_Exceeded: Rate limit triggered

Directory Structure

/minidumps/                           # Minidump storage
/var/lib/systemd/coredump/            # Coredump storage
/opt/logs/crashupload.log             # Application logs
/tmp/.crashupload_ratelimit           # Rate limit state
/tmp/.crashupload_recovery            # Recovery mode flag
/tmp/.deny_dump_uploads_till          # Temporary upload block
/var/run/crashupload.lock             # Process lock file

Legacy Shell Scripts (v1.x)

For backward compatibility, legacy implementation remains:

• uploadDumps.sh: Original shell-based implementation
• uploadDumpsUtils.sh: Utility functions
• runDumpUpload.sh: Wrapper script

Note: These are deprecated and will be removed in v3.0.

Documentation

• High-Level Design
• Low-Level Design
• Architecture Diagrams
• Requirements
• Implementation Summary
• Changelog

Troubleshooting

No dumps being uploaded

1. Check privacy settings: cat /opt/tmtryoptout (should not exist or be "false")
2. Verify RBUS privacy mode: dmcli eRT getv Device.X_RDKCENTRAL-COM_Privacy.PrivacyMode
3. Check rate limit state: cat /tmp/.crashupload_ratelimit
4. Review logs: cat /opt/logs/crashupload.log

Rate limit exceeded

# Clear rate limit state (emergency only)
rm /tmp/.crashupload_ratelimit

# Restart service
systemctl restart minidump-on-bootup-upload.service

Upload failures

1. Verify network connectivity
2. Check upload URL configuration
3. Test TLS handshake: curl -v https://upload-server
4. Review certificate validity

TODO

• RDKEMW-14022
• Implement Minidump Upload test cases
• Implement Coredump Upload test cases
• Implement Ratelimit test cases
• Implement Startup Cleanup test cases
• Implement OptOut test cases

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

All contributors must sign the RDK Contributor License Agreement (CLA).

License

Copyright 2025 RDK Management

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. See LICENSE for details.

Support

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Documentation: RDK Central Wiki
• Email: support@rdkcentral.com

Credits

Developed by RDK Management for the RDK community.

Special thanks to all contributors who helped migrate from shell scripts to optimized C implementation.