ESP32 Arduino Core Debug Environment

Docker container with ESP IDF + ESP32 Arduino Core with full debugging symbols

Building the container

docker build -t wokwi/esp32-arduino-debug .

Using the container

First, you need to compile the Arduino project using the copy of arduino-cli installed in the container.

Assuming that your Sketch directory is /home/uri/projects/blink, run the following command:

docker run -v /home/uri/projects:/workspace wokwi/esp32-arduino-debug arduino-cli compile -e -b esp32:esp32:esp32doit-devkit-v1 /workspace/blink

You can replace esp32:esp32:esp32doit-devkit-v1 with the FQBN (fully qualified board name) you want to compile your project for.

The compiled binary file (and the ELF file with the symbols) will reside in /home/uri/projects/blink/build/esp32.esp32.esp32doit-devkit-v1.

Then, run GDB as follows:

docker run -it -v /home/uri/projects:/workspace wokwi/esp32-arduino-debug xtensa-esp32-elf-gdb -ex "file /workspace/blink/esp32.esp32.esp32doit-devkit-v1/blink.ino.elf"

You can use a different GDB version (e.g. xtensa-esp32s2-elf-gdb or xtensa-esp32s3-elf-gdb), depending on the MCU you are working with.