KD Command-Line Options

First-time users of KD should begin with the Debugging Using KD and NTKD section.

The KD command line uses the following syntax.

kd [ -server ServerTransport | -remote ClientTransport ] 
   [-b | -x] [-d] [-bonc] [-m] [-myob] [-lines] [-n] [-r] [-s] 
   [-v] [-clines lines] [-failinc] [-noio] [-noshell] 
   [-secure] [-sdce] [-ses] [-sicv] [-sins] [-snc] [-snul]
   [-sup] [-sflags 0xNumber] [-log{a|au|o|ou} LogFile] 
   [-aExtension] [-zp PageFile] 
   [-i ImagePath] [-y SymbolPath]  [-srcpath SourcePath] 
   [-k ConnectType | -kl | -kqm | -kx ExdiOptions] [-ee {masm|c++}] 
   [-z DumpFile] [-cf "filename"] [-cfr "filename"] [-c "command"] 
   [-t PrintErrorLevel] [-version] 

kd -iu KeyString

kd -QR Server 

kd -wake PID 

kd -?

Descriptions of the KD command-line options follow. Only the -remote and -server options are case-sensitive. The initial hyphen can be replaced with a forward-slash (/). Options which do not take any additional parameters can be concatenated -- so kd -r -n -v can be written as kd -rnv.

If the -remote or -server option is used, it must appear before any other options on the command line.

Parameters

-server ServerTransport
Creates a debugging server that can be accessed by other debuggers. For an explanation of the possible ServerTransport, see Activating a Debugging Server. When this parameter is used, it must be the first parameters on the command line.

-remote ClientTransport
Creates a debugging client, and connects to a debugging server that is already running. For an explanation of the possible ClientTransport values, see Activating a Debugging Client. When this parameter is used, it must be the first parameters on the command line.

-a Extension
Sets the default extension DLL. The default is kdextx86.dll or kdexts.dll. There must be no space after the "a", and the .dll file name extension must not be included. For details, and other methods of setting this default, see Loading Debugger Extension DLLs.

-b
This option no longer supported.

-bonc
If this option is specified, the debugger will break into the target as soon as the session begins. This is especially useful when connecting to a debugging server that might not be currently broken into the target.

-c "command"
Specifies the initial debugger command to run at start-up. This command must be surrounded with quotation marks. Multiple commands can be separated with semicolons. (If you have a long command list, it may be easier to put them in a script and then use the -c option with the $<, $><, $><, $$>< (Run Script File) command.)

If you are starting a debugging client, this command must be intended for the debugging server. Client-specific commands, such as .lsrcpath, are not allowed.

-cf "filename"
Specifies the path and name of a script file. This script file is executed as soon as the debugger is started. If filename contains spaces it must be enclosed in quotation marks. If the path is omitted, the current directory is assumed. If the -cf option is not used, the file ntsd.ini in the current directory is used as the script file. If the file does not exist, no error occurs. For details, see Using Script Files.

-cfr "filename"
Specifies the path and name of a script file. This script file is executed as soon as the debugger is started, and any time the target is restarted. If filename contains spaces it must be enclosed in quotation marks. If the path is omitted, the current directory is assumed. If the file does not exist, no error occurs. For details, see Using Script Files.

-clines lines
Sets the approximate number of commands in the command history which can be accessed during remote debugging. For details, and for other ways to change this number, see Using Debugger Commands.

-d
After a reboot, the debugger will break into the target computer as soon as a kernel module is loaded. (This break is earlier than the break from the -b option.) See Crashing and Rebooting the Target Computer for details and for other methods of changing this status.

-ee {masm|c++}
Sets the default expression evaluator. If masm is specified, MASM expression syntax will be used. If c++ is specified, C++ expression syntax will be used. If the -ee option is omitted, MASM expression syntax is used as the default. See Evaluating Expressions for details.

-failinc
Causes the debugger to ignore any questionable symbols. When debugging a user-mode or kernel-mode minidump file, this option will also prevent the debugger from loading any modules whose images can't be mapped. For details and for other methods of controlling this, see SYMOPT_EXACT_SYMBOLS.

-i ImagePath
Specifies the location of the executables that generated the fault. If the path contains spaces, it should be enclosed in quotation marks.

-iu KeyString
Registers debugger remoting as an URL type so that users can auto-launch a debugger remote client with an URL. KeyString has the format remdbgeng://RemotingOption. RemotingOption is a string that defines the transport protocol as defined in the topic Activating a Debugging Client. If this action succeeds, no message is displayed; if it fails, an error message is displayed.

The -iu parameter must not be used with any other parameters. This command will not actually start KD.

-k ConnectType
Tells the debugger how to connect to the target. For details, see Debugging Using KD and NTKD.

-kl
Starts a kernel debugging session on the same machine as the debugger.

-kqm
Starts KD in quiet mode.

-kx ExdiOptions
Starts a kernel debugging session using an EXDI driver. EXDI drivers are not described in this documentation. If you have an EXDI interface to your hardware probe or hardware simulator, please contact Microsoft for debugging information.

-lines
Enables source line debugging. If this option is omitted, the .lines (Toggle Source Line Support) command will have to be used before source debugging will be allowed. For other methods of controlling this, see SYMOPT_LOAD_LINES.

-log{a|au|o|ou} LogFile
Begins logging information to a log file. If LogFile already exists, it will be overwritten if -logo is used, or output will be appended to the file if -loga is used. The -logau and -logou options operate similar to -loga and -logo respectively, except that the log file is a Unicode file. For more details, see Keeping a Log File in KD.

-m
Indicates that the serial port is connected to a modem. Instructs the debugger to watch for the carrier-detect signal.

-myob
If there is a version mismatch with dbghelp.dll, the debugger will continue to run. (Without the -myob switch, this is considered a fatal error.)

A secondary effect of this option is that the warning that normally appears when breaking into the target computer is suppressed.

-n
Noisy symbol load: Enables verbose output from symbol handler. For details and for other methods of controlling this, see SYMOPT_DEBUG.

-noio
Prevents the debugging server from being used for input or output. Input will only be accepted from the debugging client (plus any initial command or command script specified by the -c command-line option).

All output will be directed to the debugging client. For more details, see Activating a Debugging Server.

-noshell
Prohibits all .shell commands. This prohibition will last as long as the debugger is running, even if a new debugging session is begun. For details, and for other ways to disable shell commands, see Using Shell Commands.

-QR Server
Lists all debugging servers running on the specified network server. The double backslash (\\) preceding Server is optional. See Searching for Debugging Servers for details.

The -QR parameter must not be used with any other parameters. This command will not actually start KD.

-r
Displays registers.

-s
Disables lazy symbol loading. This will slow down process startup. For details and for other methods of controlling this, see SYMOPT_DEFERRED_LOADS.

-sdce
Causes the debugger to display File access error dialog boxes during symbol load. For details and for other methods of controlling this, see SYMOPT_FAIL_CRITICAL_ERRORS.

-secure
Activates Secure Mode.

-ses
Causes the debugger to perform a strict evaluation of all symbol files and ignore any questionable symbols. For details and for other methods of controlling this, see SYMOPT_EXACT_SYMBOLS.

-sflags 0xNumber
Sets all the symbol handler options at once. Number should be a hexadecimal number prefixed with 0x -- a decimal without the 0x is permitted, but the symbol options are binary flags and therefore hexadecimal is recommended. This option should be used with care, since it will override all the symbol handler defaults. For details, see Setting Symbol Options.

-sicv
Causes the symbol handler to ignore the CV record. For details and for other methods of controlling this, see SYMOPT_IGNORE_CVREC.

-sins
Causes the debugger to ignore the symbol path and executable image path environment variables. For details, see SYMOPT_IGNORE_NT_SYMPATH.

-snc
Causes the debugger to turn off C++ translation. For details and for other methods of controlling this, see SYMOPT_NO_CPP.

-snul
Disables automatic symbol loading for unqualified names. For details and for other methods of controlling this, see SYMOPT_NO_UNQUALIFIED_LOADS.

-srcpath SourcePath
Specifies the source file search path. Separate multiple paths with a semicolon (;). If the path contains spaces, it should be enclosed in quotation marks. For details, and for other ways to change this path, see Source Path.

-sup
Causes the symbol handler to search the public symbol table during every symbol search. For details and for other methods of controlling this, see SYMOPT_AUTO_PUBLICS.

-t PrintErrorLevel
Specifies the error level that will cause the debugger to display an error message. This is a decimal number equal to 0, 1, 2, or 3. The values are described as follows:

This error level only has meaning in checked builds of Microsoft Windows. The default value is 1. Checked builds were available on older versions of Windows, before Windows 10 version 1803.

-v
Generates verbose messages for loads, deferred loads, and unloads.

-version
Prints the debugger version string.

-wake PID
Causes sleep mode to end for the user-mode debugger whose process ID is specified by PID. This command must be issued on the target machine during sleep mode. See Controlling the User-Mode Debugger from the Kernel Debugger for details.

The -wake parameter must not be used with any other parameters. This command will not actually start KD.

-x
Causes the debugger to break in when an exception first occurs, rather than letting the application or module that caused the exception deal with it. (Same as -b, except with an initial eb nt!NtGlobalFlag 9;g command.)

-y SymbolPath
Specifies the symbol search path. Separate multiple paths with a semicolon (;). If the path contains spaces, it should be enclosed in quotation marks. For details, and for other ways to change this path, see Symbol Path.

-z DumpFile
Specifies the name of a crash dump file to debug. If the path and file name contain spaces, this must be surrounded by quotation marks. It is possible to open several dump files at once by including multiple -z options, each followed by a different DumpFile value. For details, see Analyzing a Kernel-Mode Dump File with KD.

-zp PageFile
Specifies the name of a modified page file. This is useful if you are debugging a dump file and want to use the .pagein (Page In Memory) command. You cannot use -zp with a standard Windows page file—only specially-modified page files can be used.

-?
Displays command-line help text.

KD will automatically detect the platform on which the target is running. You do not need to specify the target on the KD command line. The older syntax (using the name I386KD or IA64KD) is obsolete.