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  1. Dynamic code analysis
  2. Valgrind memcheck

Valgrind memcheck

Last modified: 08 April 2022

OS: Linux / macOS / Windows via WSL

Project format: CMake/Makefile/compilation database with custom build targets/Gradle

Toolchain: local / remote/WSL/Docker

Valgrind Memcheck is a tool for detecting memory-usage problems such as leaks, invalid memory access, incorrect freeing, and referencing undefined values.

Valgrind integration in CLion works on Linux, macOS, and Windows via WSL (see Valgrind on WSL).

Configure Valgrind

  1. Install Valgrind on your system.

    For WSL, install Valgrind on your WSL instance (sudo apt-get install valgrind) and provide CLion with the path to the executable (see next steps).

  2. In CLion, go to Settings / Preferences | Build, Execution, Deployment | Dynamic Analysis Tools | Valgrind.

  3. CLion will attempt to detect the Valgrind binary by searching in standard locations defined in the system PATH variable.

    In case of a non-standard Valgrind location, set the path manually in the Valgrind executable field.

  4. Specify analysis options or use the default ones.

  5. Optionally, configure the list of the suppression files. For example, you may want to add a suppression file to turn off the Valgrind checks for some particular libraries.

Valgrind settings

Run targets

To run a target (application or test) with Valgrind Memcheck, do one of the following:

  • Click the App actions execute gutter icon and select Run 'your_target_name' with Valgrind Memcheck option from the menu:

    Cl run valgrind gutter

  • Select the desired Run/Debug configuration and call Run | Run 'your_target_name' with Valgrind Memcheck from the main menu or click the dedicated toolbar icon:

    Cl valgrind run icon

If Valgrind was not configured previously, CLion will open the configuration dialog.

tip

Valgrind might not work correctly when run on a project with Google sanitizers. CLion will warn you about that:

Warning about Valgrind with Google Sanitizers

Explore results

  • When the launch is finished, open the Valgrind tab in the Run tool window.

    Valgrind Memcheck output

  • The left-hand pane shows the list of all problems found by Valgrind Memcheck. Each entry includes the instruction pointer, problematic function name, and (if possible) the source file where the problem is located.

  • In the right-hand pane, you can find full stack frame description and the corresponding code preview (when possible).

    tip

    Press F4 to jump back to the source code.

Export and import results

  • To export the results, click the Export Cl valgrindexport b icon in the left pane of the Valgrind tab and specify the destination XML file:

    Export Valgrind results

    Note that the Export button is unavailable during execution.

  • To import the results, select Run | Import Valgrind XML Results from the main menu and choose the XML file to import from.