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IDA 9.0
IDA 9.0
  • Welcome to Hex-Rays docs
    • What's new?
  • Getting Started
    • Install IDA
    • Licensing
    • Basic Usage
    • What's next?
  • User Guide
    • User Interface
      • Menu Bar
        • File
          • Load file
          • Script File
          • Script command
          • Produce output files
          • Invoke OS Shell
          • Take database snapshot
          • Save database
          • Save database as...
          • Abort IDA
          • Exit IDA
        • Edit
          • Export data
          • Undo an action
          • Redo an action
          • Clear undo history
          • Disable undo
          • Convert to instruction
          • Convert to data
          • Convert to string literal
          • Convert to array
          • Undefine a byte
          • Give Name to the Location
          • Operand types
            • Offset
            • Number
            • Perform en masse operation
            • Convert operand to character
            • Convert operand to segment
            • Complex Offset Expression
            • Convert operand to symbolic constant (enum)
            • Convert operand to stack variable
            • Change operand sign
            • Bitwise negate operand
            • User-defined operand
            • Set operand type
          • Comments
          • Functions
          • Structs
          • Segments
          • Patch core
          • Other
            • Rename Any Address
          • Plugins
        • Jump
          • Center current line in window
          • Problems List
        • Search
          • REGULAR EXPRESSION SYNTAX SUMMARY
        • View
          • Open subviews
          • Graphs
          • Message Window
          • Arrows window
          • Database snapshot manager
          • Highlighting identifiers
          • Browser options
          • Lumina options
          • Assembler level and C level types
          • C++ type details
          • Bookmarks window
          • Calculator
          • View segment registers
          • View Internal Flags
          • Hide
          • Unhide
          • Del hidden range
          • Hide all items
          • Unhide all items
          • Setup hidden items
        • Debugger
          • Debugger window
          • Process Control
            • Start process
            • Process options
            • Pause process
            • Terminate process
            • Step into
            • Step over
            • Run to cursor
            • Run until return
            • Attach to process
            • Detach from process
            • Set current ip
            • Show application screen
          • Breakpoints
          • Watches
          • Tracing
          • Source code view
            • Watch view (source level)
          • Process Memory
            • Take memory snapshot
            • Manual memory regions
            • Refresh memory
          • Thread list
          • Module list
          • Stack trace
          • Exceptions
          • Debugger options
          • Switch debugger
        • Lumina
        • Options
          • Low & High Suspicious Operand Limits
        • Windows
          • Rename a stack variable
          • Miscellanous Options
          • Environment variables
          • Reset Hidden Messages
          • Various dialog help messages
        • List of all menu options
      • Desktops
      • Command line
      • How To Use List Viewers in IDA
      • Licenses
        • Apache License for Ghidra
        • Apache License for LLVM
        • Common Public License Version 1.0
        • APPLE PUBLIC SOURCE LICENSE
        • PCRE2 LICENCE
        • GNU Lesser General Public License v2.1 for libiberty
      • Database conversion from idb to i64
    • Disassembler
      • Interactivity
      • Background Analysis
      • Graph view
        • Graphing tutorial
      • Proximity view
      • Navigation
        • Anchor
        • How to Enter a Segment Value
        • How to Enter a Number
        • How to Enter an Identifier
        • How to enter text
        • How to Enter an Address
      • Disassembly Gallery
        • Philips 51XA-G3
        • 6502 and 65C02 Disassembler
        • 6301, 6303, 6800, 6801 and 6803 Disassembler
        • 68040, Amiga
        • 6805 Disassembler
        • 6808 Disassembler
        • 6809 OS9 Flex Disassembler
        • 6809 Disassembler
        • 6811 Disassembler
        • 68HC12 Disassembler
        • 68HC16 Disassembler
        • 68k Amiga Disassembler
        • 68k Mac OS
        • 68k Palm Pilot
        • Unix COFF
        • NEC 78k0 and 78k0s Processor
        • 80196 Processor
        • 8051 Disassembler
        • Analog Devices 218x.
        • Alpha Processor – NT COFF
        • Alpha Processor – Unix ELF
        • Android ARM Executables (.elf)
        • ARC Processor
        • ARM Processor EPOC App
        • ARM Processor EPOC PE File
        • ARM Processor EPOC ROMFile
        • EPOC SIS File Handler
        • ARM Processor iOS (iPhone): Unlock
        • ARM Processor iOS (iPhone): Objective-C metadata
        • ARM Processor iOS (iPhone): Objective-C Instance variables
        • ARM Processor iOS (iPhone): Parameter Identification & Tracking (PIT)
        • ARM Processor iOS (iPhone): Start
        • ARM Processor iOS (iPhone): Switch statements
        • ARM Processor iOS (iPhone): C++ signatures
        • ARM Processor iOS (iPhone): Write
        • ARM Processor: Linux ELF
        • ARM Processor: AOF SDK
        • ARM Processor: Windows CE COFF Format
        • ARM Processor: Windows CE PE Format
        • ATMEL AVR Disassembler
        • C166 Processor
        • C166 Processor with ELF file
        • Rockwell C39
        • Microsoft .NET CLI Disassembler. VisualBasic library
        • CR16
        • Android Dalvik Executables (.dex)
        • Microsoft .NET CLI Disassembler
        • DSP56K
        • Fujitsu FR (.elf)
        • Gameboy
        • H8 300: COFF FILE Format
        • H8 300s: COFF FILE Format
        • H8 500
        • HPPA Risc Processor: HP-UX SOM
        • i51
        • i860
        • Intel i960
        • Intel IA-64 (Itanium)
        • Java Bytecode
        • Angstrem KR 1878
        • Renesas/Hitachi M16C
        • Renesas/Hitachi M32R
        • M740
        • M7700
        • M7900
        • MIPS Processor: Nintendo N64
        • MIPS R5900 Processor : Sony bin
        • MIPS Processor: Sony ELF
        • MIPS Processor: Sony PSX
        • MIPS Processor: Sony PSX
        • MIPS Processor: Unix COFF File Format
        • MIPS Processor: Unix ELF File Format
        • MIPS Processor: Windows CE PE File Format
        • MIPS Processor: Windows CE PE2 File Format
        • Panasonic MN102
        • Atmel OAK DSP
        • 80×86 Architecture: DOS Extender
        • 80×86 Architecture: Watcom Runtime
        • 80×86 Architecture: Geos APP
        • 80×86 Architecture: Geos DRV
        • 80×86 Architecture: Geos LIB
        • 80×86 Architecture: GNU COFF Format
        • 80×86 Architecture: OS/2 Linear Executable Format
        • 80×86 Architecture: Netware NLM
        • 80×86 Architecture: QNX Executable
        • 80×86 Architecture: Watcom Runtime
        • 80×86 Architecture: Windows OMF
        • 80×86 Architecture: Windows Portable Executable Format
        • 80×86 Architecture: Windows Virtual Device Driver
        • 80×86 Architecture: Windows 16 bits DLL
        • X-Box Disassembler
        • PDP 11: SAV File
        • PIC
        • PIC 12xx
        • Power PC AIF ECOFF file Format
        • Power PC Linux ELF
        • Mac OS PEF File
        • Mac OS X File
        • Windows NT PE File
        • Hitachi SH-1 Processor
        • Hitachi SH-3 Processor: Windows CE COFF format
        • Hitachi SH-3 Processor: Windows CE PE format
        • Hitachi SH-4 Processor: ELF File Format
        • Hitachi SH-4 Processor: Windows CE PE File Format
        • Super Nintendo Entertainement System (SNES)
        • SPARC Solaris COFF
        • SPARC Solaris ELF
        • SPARC Sun ELF
        • SPARC Sun ELF SO
        • ST 20C4
        • ST 7
        • ST 9
        • Toshiba TLCS 900
        • TMS 320c2 COFF
        • TMS 320c5
        • TMS 320c54
        • TMS 320c6 COFF File Format
        • TRICORE
        • SunPlus unSP
        • NEC V850
        • Z180 COFF File Format
        • Z380 COFF File Format
        • Z8
        • Z80
      • Supported processors
      • Supported file formats
        • Windmp file loader
      • Bitfields
        • Bit Fields tutorial
      • Structures tutorial
      • Union tutorial
      • Variable length structures tutorial
      • Data types, operands and constructs
      • Packed executables
    • Decompiler
      • Prerequisites
      • Quick primer
      • Exception handler
      • Introduction to Decompilation vs. Disassembly
        • Comparisons of ARM disassembly and decompilation
        • Comparisons of PowerPC disassembly and decompilation
        • Comparisons of MIPS disassembly and decompilation
        • Hex-Rays v7.4 vs. v7.3 Decompiler Comparison Page
        • Hex-Rays v7.3 vs. v7.2 Decompiler Comparison Page
        • Hex-Rays v7.2 vs. v7.1 Decompiler Comparison Page
      • Interactive operation
        • Rename
        • Set type
        • Set number representation
        • Edit indented comment
        • Edit block comment
        • Hide/unhide C statements
        • Split/unsplit expression
        • Force call type
        • Set call type
        • Add/del variadic arguments
        • Del function argument
        • Add/delete function return type
        • Jump to cross reference
        • Jump to cross reference globally
        • Generate HTML file
        • Mark/unmark as decompiled
        • Copy to assembly
        • Show/hide casts
        • Reset pointer type
        • Convert to struct *
        • Create new struct type
        • Split variable
        • Select union field
        • Jump to paired paren
        • Collapse/uncollapse item
        • Map to another variable
      • Batch operation
      • Configuration
      • Third party plugins
      • Floating point support
      • Support for intrinsic functions
      • Overlapped variables
      • gooMBA
      • Failures and troubleshooting
      • FAQ
      • Limitations
      • Tips and tricks
    • Debugger
      • Instant debugger
      • Remote debugging
        • Remote iOS Debugger
        • Android debugger
        • Dalvik debugger
        • Remote GDB Debugger
          • Remote GDB Debugger options
          • Debugging with gdbserver
          • Debugging with VMWare
          • Debugging with OpenOCD
          • Debugging with QEMU
          • External programs and GDB Debugger
          • Debugging code snippets with QEMU
        • PIN debugger
          • Building the PIN tool
          • Connecting a remote PIN tool instance from IDA
          • PIN support for MacOSX
        • Replayer debugger
        • Bochs debugger
          • Bochs Disk Image operation mode
          • Bochs IDB operation mode
          • Bochs PE operation mode
          • Bochs debugger FAQ
      • Local debugging
        • WinDbg Debugger
        • Linux debugger
        • Intel/ARM macOS debugger
      • Debugger tutorials
        • Debugging Dalvik Programs
        • IDA Win32 Local Debugging
        • IDA Linux Local Debugging
        • IDA Linux to Win64 Debugging
        • IDA Win32 to Linux Debugging
        • Debugging Mac OSX Applications with IDA Pro
        • Debugging iOS Applications using CoreDevice (iOS 17 and up)
        • Debugging iOS Applications with IDA Pro
        • Debugging Linux Applications locally
        • Debugging Linux/Windows Applications with PIN Tracer module
        • Debugging Windows Applications with IDA Bochs Plugin
        • Debugging Windows Applications with IDA WinDbg Plugin
        • Using the Bochs debugger plugin in Linux
        • Debugging Windows Kernel with VMWare and IDA WinDbg Plugin
        • Debugging Linux Kernel under VMWare using IDA GDB debugger
        • Windows Debugger Hub
        • Linux Debugger
        • Debugging a Windows executable locally and remotely
        • Debugging the XNU Kernel with IDA Pro
        • Remote debugging with IDA Pro
        • IDA Scriptable Debugger: overview
          • IDA Scriptable Debugger: scriptability
        • Debugging code snippets with QEMU debugger (a la IDA Bochs debugger)
        • Trace Replayer and managing traces
        • Using IDA Pro's tracing features
        • Working with PIN
        • Appcall
    • Creating Signatures
      • FLIRT
        • IDA F.L.I.R.T. Technology: In-Depth
        • Generate FLIRT signature file
        • Supported Compilers
          • Turbo Pascal
          • Delphi
      • Makesig
    • Creating Type Libraries
      • IDAClang
      • TILIB
    • Configuration
      • Configuration files
      • Command line switches
      • Keyboard macros
      • UI/Fonts/Themes
      • Shortcuts
      • Customizing IDA
      • CSS-based styling
    • Teams
      • IDA Teams Licenses
      • Diffing and Merging Databases with IDA Teams
      • Teams lc command reference manual
      • hv command reference manual
      • Hex-Rays Vault’s visual client user manual
    • Lumina
      • lc command reference manual
    • Plugins
      • Open Plugin Architecture
      • Plugin options
      • Plugins Shipped with IDA
        • Swift plugin
        • Golang plugin
        • Rust plugin
        • picture_search
        • Objective-C Analysis Plugin
        • DYLD Shared Cache Utils
        • Borland RTTI descriptors plugin
        • DWARF plugin
        • Patfind plugin
        • IDA Feeds
          • FLIRT Signature Bundle
      • Plugin Contest
      • How to write your own plugin?
    • Helper Tools
    • idalib
  • Developer Guide
    • C++ SDK
      • Getting Started with C++ SDK
      • C++ SDK Reference
      • Using the Decompiler SDK: Decompiler plugin
      • C++ SDK examples
      • How to create a plugin in C++?
      • C++ SDK Porting Guide from IDA 8.x to 9.0
    • IDAPython
      • Getting started with IDAPython
      • IDAPython API Reference
      • IDAPython examples
      • How to create a plugin in IDAPython?
      • IDAPython Porting Guide from IDA 8.x to 9.0
    • IDC
      • Core concepts
        • Expressions
        • Statements
        • Functions
        • Variables
        • Constants
        • Exceptions
        • Classes
        • Predefined symbols
        • loader_input_t class
        • Slices
      • IDC API Reference
        • Index of debugger related IDC functions
        • Alphabetical list of IDC functions
          • is_member_id
          • load_type
          • get_member_by_idx
          • get_ordinal_limit
          • set_selector
          • enable_tracing
          • get_prev_fixup_ea
          • del_segm
          • get_bmask_cmt
          • end_type_updating
          • Find
          • toggle_bnot
          • patch_byte
          • get_module_info
          • set_member_name
          • create_float
          • del_struc_member
          • read_dbg_memory
          • get_enum_width
          • getn_thread_name
          • del_struc
          • filelength
          • set_manual_insn
          • is_value...() functions
          • get_ip_val
          • del_extra_cmt
          • create_insn
          • op_offset_high16
          • get_cmt
          • expand_struc
          • get_idb_path
          • set_frame_size
          • get_file_ext
          • has_value
          • readshort
          • sanitize_file_name
          • get_member_flag
          • create_struct
          • ARM specific
          • set_enum_member_cmt
          • rename
          • set_ida_state
          • get_member_size
          • msg
          • qbasename
          • get_enum_member_enum
          • auto_mark_range
          • plan_to_apply_idasgn
          • set_named_type
          • op_offset
          • rename_entry
          • strlen
          • get_extra_cmt
          • get_enum_flag
          • fgetc
          • op_stkvar
          • get_last_index
          • get_field_ea
          • get_struc_id
          • select_thread
          • create_array
          • get_struc_cmt
          • set_array_string
          • set_func_attr
          • set_storage_type
          • get_struc_size
          • demangle_name
          • get_next_fixup_ea
          • get_next_bmask
          • delattr
          • gen_simple_call_chart
          • patch_qword
          • get_enum_name
          • loader_input_t.getc
          • get_debugger_event_cond
          • read_dbg_qword
          • define_local_var
          • generate_disasm_line
          • add_idc_hotkey
          • tolower
          • del_selector
          • set_debugger_event_cond
          • get_imagebase
          • gen_file
          • get_entry
          • find_custom_data_format
          • get_debug_name_ea
          • add_default_til
          • set_func_end
          • exit_process
          • delete_array
          • xtol
          • get_exception_code
          • detach_process
          • set_enum_cmt
          • get_wide_word
          • put_bookmark
          • is_loaded
          • add_enum_member
          • parse_decls
          • readstr
          • get_entry_qty
          • ord
          • sprintf
          • get_root_filename
          • get_enum_member_cmt
          • create_word
          • set_func_flags
          • loader_input_t.tell
          • create_align
          • read_dbg_dword
          • next_addr
          • get_bytes
          • batch
          • start_process
          • process_config_line
          • del_user_info
          • qmakefile
          • set_struc_name
          • print_decls
          • create_custom_data
          • del_enum_member
          • format_cdata
          • get_fixup_target_sel
          • get_item_size
          • loader_input_t.gets
          • get_last_bmask
          • Step Tracing Options
          • selector_by_name
          • get_enum_cmt
          • next_not_tail
          • prev_head
          • set_color
          • set_numbered_type
          • get_member_name
          • auto_wait
          • get_enum_member_bmask
          • fseek
          • get_segm_start
          • attach_process
          • Trace file functions
          • get_enum_member_value
          • op_stroff
          • get_next_offset
          • set_processor_type
          • get_bookmark_desc
          • create_data
          • lastattr
          • get_operand_value
          • collect_stack_trace
          • toupper
          • get_fixup_target_dis
          • set_cmt
          • add_entry
          • set_segm_addressing
          • qmake_full_path
          • get_source_linnum
          • fputc
          • resume_thread
          • get_func_attr
          • get_first_enum_member
          • add_sourcefile
          • get_first_bmask
          • read_selection_start
          • hasattr
          • get_member_cmt
          • gen_flow_graph
          • get_array_element
          • get_tinfo
          • loader_input_t
          • tinfo_errstr
          • TRUNC
          • add_segm_ex
          • Local types information and manipulation helpers
          • set_source_linnum
          • get_next_enum_member
          • loader_input_t.readbytes
          • set_array_params
          • jumpto
          • get_bookmark
          • set_enum_bf
          • prev_not_tail
          • toggle_sign
          • loader_input_t.size
          • Trace events functions
          • get_func_flags
          • get_gotea
          • set_segm_attr
          • get_item_head
          • set_default_sreg_value
          • print_insn_mnem
          • set_member_cmt
          • get_ordinal_qty
          • set_target_assembler
          • add_user_stkpnt
          • set_local_type
          • Hidden ranges
          • del_items
          • compile_idc_text
          • Dalvik debugger extension functions
          • byte_value
          • create_dword
          • is_code
          • del_func
          • get_enum
          • make_array
          • rotate_left
          • recalc_spd
          • search_path
          • CommonBits
          • get_processor_name
          • set_func_cmt
          • get_prev_bmask
          • Hashes
          • split_sreg_range
          • process_ui_action
          • set_fixup
          • get_fixup_target_type
          • create_oword
          • get_flags
          • get_func_name
          • create_strlit
          • add_struc
          • atol
          • load_debugger
          • mkdir
          • sizeof
          • get_enum_member_by_name
          • save_database
          • guess_type
          • get_segm_name
          • print_operand
          • qisabspath
          • get_member_qty
          • set_struc_cmt
          • get_fixup_target_flags
          • idadir
          • object.retrieve
          • add_auto_stkpnt
          • get_numbered_type_name
          • get_enum_member_name
          • get_next_index
          • prev_addr
          • get_name_ea
          • get_sp_delta
          • set_bmask_cmt
          • readlong
          • set_segm_name
          • get_prev_offset
          • set_segm_alignment
          • get_strlit_contents
          • forget_exception
          • get_item_end
          • add_func
          • get_name
          • Asks
          • get_spd
          • Debugger: control
          • get_wide_byte
          • plan_and_wait
          • set_enum_flag
          • RunPythonStatement
          • del_sourcefile
          • find_selector
          • get_frame_regs_size
          • op_num
          • define_exception
          • create_double
          • create_byte
          • read_selection_end
          • OpTypes
          • op_plain_offset
          • move_segm
          • get_member_id
          • set_segm_combination
          • get_current_thread
          • trim
          • Debugger: options
          • getn_thread
          • get_frame_id
          • typeinfo.print
          • to_ea
          • rebase_program
          • add_struc_member
          • get_exception_qty
          • get_first_index
          • import_type
          • set_segm_type
          • find_custom_data_type
          • get_next_seg
          • find_func_end
          • get_last_enum_member
          • getattr
          • get_frame_size
          • get_screen_ea
          • loader_input_t.read
          • set_reg_value
          • Debugger: modules
          • create_pack_real
          • writestr
          • exec_idc
          • get_enum_size
          • set_enum_name
          • create_tbyte
          • sel2para
          • atoa
          • loader_input_t.close
          • add_enum
          • ltoa
          • substr
          • del_idc_hotkey
          • Breakpoint handling functions
          • loader_input_t.seek
          • cleanup_appcall
          • object.store
          • get_type
          • qexit
          • get_debug_name
          • get_array_id
          • Can't Open File
          • suspend_process
          • process_config_directive
          • get_entry_name
          • get_last_member
          • get_struc_name
          • clear_selection
          • fclose
          • firstattr
          • create_yword
          • dbg_appcall
          • get_qword
          • patch_dword
          • begin_type_updating
          • read_dbg_byte
          • get_fpnum
          • qsleep
          • get_first_member
          • get_nsec_stamp
          • del_stkpnt
          • eval
          • savefile
          • eval_python
          • Xrefs
          • strstr
          • writeshort
          • get_sreg
          • get_segm_end
          • get_func_off_str
          • set_func_start
          • del_array_element
          • get_full_flags
          • set_exception_flags
          • rename_array
          • get_frame_args_size
          • op_flt
          • get_min_spd_ea
          • apply_type
          • get_prev_index
          • loadfile
          • retrieve_input_file_md5
          • get_wide_dword
          • patch_dbg_byte
          • Functions provided by the WinDbg debugger
          • get_original_byte
          • get_member_strid
          • call_system
          • writelong
          • get_thread_qty
          • nextattr
          • send_dbg_command
          • get_first_seg
          • get_processes
          • patch_word
          • get_manual_insn
          • ftell
          • get_entry_ordinal
          • set_array_long
          • delete_all_segments
          • TO_LONG
          • Function chunk related functions
          • Debugger: events
          • get_prev_func
          • op_seg
          • validate_idb_names
          • fprintf
          • fopen
          • strfill
          • del_fixup
          • get_bmask_name
          • inf_attr
          • is_bf
          • read_dbg_word
          • qdirname
          • get_segm_attr
          • func_contains
          • del_source_linnum
          • get_sourcefile
          • clr_database_flag
          • set_name
          • Refresh Screen
          • op_enum
          • getn_enum
          • get_db_byte
          • setattr
          • get_forced_operand
          • op_bin
          • Functions provided by the replayer debugger
          • prevattr
          • update_extra_cmt
          • get_str_type
          • op_man
          • choose_func
          • set_bmask_name
          • get_curline
          • decode_insn
          • set_segment_bounds
          • set_segm_class
          • write_dbg_memory
          • get_exception_name
          • get_enum_member
          • is_mapped
          • del_enum
          • get_frame_lvar_size
          • get_operand_type
          • set_root_filename
          • compile_idc_file
          • typeinfo.size
          • get_local_tinfo
          • get_fixup_target_off
          • is_union
          • unlink
          • get_segm_by_sel
          • set_enum_width
          • take_memory_snapshot
          • exec_python
          • get_next_func
          • get_member_offset
          • get_func_cmt
          • parse_decl
          • create_qword
          • next_head
          • suspend_thread
          • loader_input_t.getz
          • get_color
          • get_reg_value
          • load_and_run_plugin
          • set_database_flag
          • set_enum_member_name
          • set_member_type
          • get_prev_enum_member
      • IDC examples
        • Analyzing encrypted code
  • Admin Guide
    • Lumina server
    • Teams server
    • License server
      • Hex-Rays License Server Migration Guide
  • Release Notes
    • IDA 9.0
    • IDA 8.4sp2
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On this page
  • Introduction
  • PIN support for MacOSX
  • Building the PIN tool
  • Building on Windows
  • Building on Linux
  • Start process
  • Attach to an existing process
  • Remote debugging
  • Starting the remote PIN backend
  • Connecting IDA to the backend

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  1. User Guide
  2. Debugger
  3. Debugger tutorials

Debugging Linux/Windows Applications with PIN Tracer module

Last updated 6 months ago

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Introduction

The PIN tracer is a remote debugger plugin used to record execution traces. It allows to record traces on Linux and Windows (x86 and x86_64) from any of the supported IDA platforms (Windows, Linux and MacOSX). Support for MacOSX targets is not yet available.

PIN support for MacOSX

Recording traces on MacOSX target is not supported yet.

However, it’s possible to record traces from a Linux or Windows target using the MacOSX version of IDA.

Building the PIN tool

Before using the PIN tracer the PIN tool module (distributed only in source code form) must be built as the Intel PIN license disallows redistributing PIN tools in binary form.

First of all download PIN from , and unpack it on your hard drive.

the PIN tools are a little sensitive to spaces in paths. Therefore, we recommend unpacking in a no-space path. E.g., "C:\pin", but not "C:\Program Files (x86)\.

The building process of the PIN tool is different for Windows and Linux.

Building on Windows

  1. Install Visual Studio. It is possible to build the PIN tool with the Express version of Visual Studio for C++.

  2. Download the IDA pintool sources from: (*)

    pintool 6.9 and higher should be built with PIN version 3.0 and higher, for earlier versions of pintool you should use PIN build 65163.

  3. Unpack the .zip file into /path/to/pin/source/tools/

  4. Open /path/to/pin/source/tools/idapin/IDADBG.sln in Visual Studio, select the correct build configuration (either Win32 or x64) and build the solution.

Alternatively you can use GNU make:

  1. Install GNU make as a part of cygwin or MinGW package

  2. Unpack the .zip file into /path/to/pin/source/tools/

  3. Prepare Visual Studio environment (e.g. %VCINSTALLDIR%\Auxiliary\Build\vcvars32.bat for 32-bit pintool or %VCINSTALLDIR%\Auxiliary\Build\vcvars64.bat for 64-bit one)

  4. cd /path/to/pin/source/tools/idapin

  5. make

Building on Linux

  1. Install GCC 3.4 or later

  2. Unpack the .zip file into /path/to/pin/source/tools/

  3. Open a console, and do the following (only for versions of PIN prior to 3.0):

    1. cd /path/to/pin/ia32/runtime

    2. ln -s libelf.so.0.8.13 libelf.so

    3. cd /path/to/pin/intel64/runtime

    4. ln -s libelf.so.0.8.13 libelf.so

    5. cd /path/to/pin/source/tools/Utils

    6. ls testGccVersion 2>/dev/null || ln -s ../testGccVersion testGccVersion

  4. cd /path/to/pin/source/tools/idapin

$ make TARGET=ia32

for building the x86 version, or

$ make TARGET=intel64

for the x64 version.

Pintool 6.9 and higher are compatible with versions 6.5-6.8 of IDA so currently you can use them.

Start process

Once the PIN tool module is built we can use it in IDA. Open a binary in IDA and wait for the initial analysis to finish. When it’s done select the PIN tracer module from the debuggers drop down list or via Debugger > Select debugger:

After selecting the PIN tracer module select the menu Debugger > Debugger options > Set specific options. The following new dialog will be displayed:

In this dialog at least the following options are mandatory:

  1. PIN executable: This is the full path to the PIN binary (including the “pin.exe” or “pin” file name). In some versions “pin.sh” may exist – in this case you should use it.

  2. Directory with idadbg: This is the directory where the idadbg.so or idadbg.dll PIN tool resides. Please note that only the directory must be specified.

Fill the form with the correct paths and press OK in this dialog and enable option Autolaunch PIN for localhost.

We can interact with the PIN tracer like with any other debugger module: add breakpoints and step into or step over functions by pressing F7 or F8 alternatively.

Now we put a breakpoint in the very first instruction of function main

and launch the debugger by pressing the F9 key or by clicking the Start button in the debugger toolbar.

Make several steps by pressing F8. We can see all the instructions that were executed changed their color:

Now let the application run and finish by pressing F9 again. After a while the process will terminate and IDA will display a dialog telling us that is reading the recorded trace. Once IDA reads the trace the debugger will stop and the instructions executed will be highlighted (like with the built-in tracing engine) as in the following picture:

We can see in the graph view mode the complete path the application took in some specific function by switching to the graph view, pressing space bar and then pressing “w” to zoom out:

Attach to an existing process

Instead of launching a new process we could attach to a running process and debug it. For that we could have selected the "Debugger > Attach to process…​" menu item. IDA will display a list of active processes.

We just select the process we want to attach to. IDA will then attach to the selected process, and leave it suspended at the place it was when it was attached to:

Remote debugging

In case of remote debugging you can run IDA and PIN backend on different platforms.

Starting the remote PIN backend

The first thing to do, is to start the PIN debugging backend on the target machine. Command line depends of bitness of the target application.

$ <path-to-pin> -t <path-to-pintool> -p <port> -- <application> <application-options>

For example, a 64-bit application ls would be started for debugging by the following comand:

$ /usr/local/pin/pin \
  -t /usr/local/pin/source/tools/idapin/obj-intel64/idadbg64.so \
  -p 23947 -- \
  /bin/ls

whereas a 32-bit one hello32 as follows:

/usr/local/pin/pin \
  -t /usr/local/pin/source/tools/idapin/obj-ia32/idadbg.so \
  -p 23947 -- \
  ./hello32

there is a more complicated way to start an application regardless bitness:

/usr/local/pin/pin \
  -t64 /usr/local/pin/source/tools/idapin/obj-intel64/idadbg64.so \
  -t /usr/local/pin/source/tools/idapin/obj-ia32/idadbg.so \
  -p 23947 -- \
  /usr/bin/ls

Also you can attach to already running programs:

$ <path-to-pin> -pid <pid-to-attach> -t <path-to-pintool> -p <port> --

For example:

Connecting IDA to the backend

The next step is to select PIN tracer module in IDA via Debugger > Select debugger and switch IDA to remote PIN backend. For this you should disable option Autolaunch PIN for localhost in the PIN options dialod (Debugger > Debugger options > Set specific options):

and then tell IDA about the backend endpoint, through the menu action Debugger > Process options…​

Once IDA knows what host to contact (and on what port), debugging an application remotely behaves exactly the same way as if you were debugging it locally.

Download the IDA pintool sources from: (*)

(*) Where '$(IDAMAJMIN)' is the IDA version major/minor. E.g., for IDA 7.6, the final URL would be:

http://www.pintool.org
https://hex-rays.com/hubfs/freefile/idapin76.zip
https://hex-rays.com/hubfs/freefile/idapin76.zip
https://hex-rays.com/hubfs/freefile/idapin76.zip
pin debugger select
pin options
pin bpt in main
pin starting debug session
pin debug several steps
pin ended debug session
pin execution flow
pin attaching to process
pin attached to process
pin attaching remote64
pin options remote
pin setting process options