---
name: "kcov"
section: "4"
platform: "freebsd"
package: "base"
version: "16.0-CURRENT-20261027-61c70dc16a79"
release: "FreeBSD 16.0-CURRENT (2026-10-27)"
platforms: ["freebsd", "openbsd"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/kcov/4"
---

# kcov(4)

interface for collecting kernel code coverage information

## NAME

**kcov** – interface for collecting kernel code coverage information

## SYNOPSIS

To compile KCOV into the kernel, place the following lines in your kernel configuration file:

**options COVERAGE** **options KCOV**

The following header file defines the application interface provided by KCOV:

**#include \<sys/kcov.h\>**

## DESCRIPTION

**kcov** is a module that enables collection of code coverage information from the kernel. It relies on code instrumentation enabled by the COVERAGE kernel option. When **kcov** is enabled by a user-mode thread, it collects coverage information only for that thread, excluding hard interrupt handlers. As a result, **kcov** is not suited to collect comprehensive coverage data for the entire kernel; its main purpose is to provide input for coverage-guided system call fuzzers.

In typical usage, a user-mode thread first allocates a chunk of memory to be shared with **kcov**. The thread then enables coverage tracing, with coverage data being written by the kernel to the shared memory region. When tracing is disabled, the kernel relinquishes its access to the shared memory region, and the written coverage data may be consumed.

The shared memory buffer can be treated as a 64-bit unsigned integer followed by an array of records. The integer records the number of valid records and is updated by the kernel as coverage information is recorded. The state of the tracing buffer can be reset by writing the value 0 to this field. The record layout depends on the tracing mode set using the KIOENABLE ioctl.

Two tracing modes are implemented, KCOV\_MODE\_TRACE\_PC and KCOV\_MODE\_TRACE\_CMP. PC-tracing records a program counter value for each basic block executed while tracing is enabled. In this mode, each record is a single 64-bit unsigned integer containing the program counter value. Comparison tracing provides information about data flow; information about dynamic variable comparisons is recorded. Such records provide information about the results of [c(7)](/c/7.md) ‘if’ or ‘switch’ statements, for example. In this mode each record consists of four 64-bit unsigned integers. The first integer is a bitmask defining attributes of the variables involved in the comparison. KCOV\_CMP\_CONST is set if one of the variables has a constant value at compile-time, and KCOV\_CMP\_SIZE(n) specifies the width of the variables:

- KCOV\_CMP\_SIZE(0):

  a comparison of 8-bit integers

- KCOV\_CMP\_SIZE(1):

  a comparison of 16-bit integers

- KCOV\_CMP\_SIZE(2):

  a comparison of 32-bit integers

- KCOV\_CMP\_SIZE(3):

  a comparison of 64-bit integers

The second and third fields record the values of the two variables, and the fourth and final field stores the program counter value of the comparison.

## IOCTL INTERFACE

Applications interact with **kcov** using the [ioctl(2)](/ioctl/2.md) system call. Each thread making use of **kcov** must use a separate file descriptor for */dev/kcov*. The following ioctls are defined:

- KIOSETBUFSIZE *size\_t*, *entries*

  Set the size of the tracing buffer in units of KCOV\_ENTRY\_SIZE. The buffer may then be mapped into the calling thread's address space by calling [mmap(2)](/mmap/2.md) on the **kcov** device file.

- KIOENABLE *int*, *mode*

  Enable coverage tracing for the calling thread. Valid modes are KCOV\_MODE\_TRACE\_PC and KCOV\_MODE\_TRACE\_CMP.

- KIODISABLE

  Disable coverage tracing for the calling thread.

## FILES

**kcov** creates the */dev/kcov* device file.

## EXAMPLES

The following code sample collects information about basic block coverage for kernel code executed while printing ‘Hello, world’.

```
size_t sz;
uint64_t *buf;
int fd;
fd = open("/dev/kcov", O_RDWR);
if (fd == -1)
	err(1, "open(/dev/kcov)");
sz = 1ul << 20; /* 1MB */
if (ioctl(fd, KIOSETBUFSIZE, sz / KCOV_ENTRY_SIZE) != 0)
	err(1, "ioctl(KIOSETBUFSIZE)");
buf = mmap(NULL, sz, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE, MAP_SHARED, fd, 0);
if (buf == MAP_FAILED)
	err(1, "mmap");
/* Enable PC tracing. */
if (ioctl(fd, KIOENABLE, KCOV_MODE_TRACE_PC) != 0)
	err(1, "ioctl(KIOENABLE)");
/* Clear trace records from the preceding ioctl() call. */
buf[0] = 0;
printf("Hello, world!\n");
/* Disable PC tracing. */
if (ioctl(fd, KIODISABLE, 0) != 0)
	err(1, "ioctl(KIODISABLE)");
for (uint64_t i = 1; i < buf[0]; i++)
	printf("%#jx\n", (uintmax_t)buf[i]);
```

The output of this program can be approximately mapped to line numbers in kernel source code:

```
# ./kcov-test | sed 1d | addr2line -e /usr/lib/debug/boot/kernel/kernel.debug
```

## SEE ALSO

[ioctl(2)](/ioctl/2.md), [mmap(2)](/mmap/2.md)

## HISTORY

**kcov** first appeared in FreeBSD 13.0.

## BUGS

The FreeBSD implementation of **kcov** does not yet support remote tracing.