VSCode: Debugger for C++ does not launch nor attach properly - c++

Question

I am using:
Ubuntu 16.04 (I know it is not supported officially)
Latest VSCode version
Latest "C/C++ for VSCode" version
My project is a C++ project and the structure looks like this:
/home/lvier/mainProject/fooProject (source code)
/home/lvier/mainProject/build/fooProject (binaries)
I am working in the sub-project "/home/lvier/mainProject/fooProject" and in "/home/lvier/mainProject/build/fooProject" there are many sub programs (lets say "foo", "foo_sub1", "foo_sub2" ...).
My goal:
I want to start the program "foo" (which starts all other foo_sub-programs) and then, I want to debug a certain sub program (let's say "foo_sub1") by attaching to it. I am also fine with starting and debugging in the same time as long as I can debug the sub-program "foo_sub1". The main project itself does not contain any executables.
Some months ago, debugging was working with "attach". For me it is not working anymore (because of VSCode updates and/or C/C++ extension updates). Here are my problems:
Assume that "foo" is running.
When using the "C++ Attach"-config and setting "request": "attach" (which is getting highlighted as "not an accepted value"), it will ask for the property "processId" if it is not set. If I set "processId", the error "Attach not supported" pops up.
If I use the "C++ Attach"-config with "request": "launch" (in the beginning this was autogenerated by the C/C++-extension), then the program finds the process id, tries to attach but then aborts with the message "Unable to start debugging. Commands are only accepted when the process is stopped." - what a surprise.
Assume that "foo" is not running yet.
When using the "C++ Launch"-config, the program starts but no UI elements appear. Instead, it starts with a new terminal popping up which says "warning gdb failed to set controlling terminal operation not permitted" for a brief moment and in the internal console of VSCode, it states that it stops at a certain line of code (a breakpoint not defined by me) and prints
"Stopped due to shared library event (no libraries added or removed)
Loaded '/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2'. Symbols loaded.
[Thread debugging using libthread_db enabled]
Using host libthread_db library "/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libthread_db.so.1"."
From there I can't continue further and I have to manually terminate the program.
When I use GDB without VSCode, i.e. just by native terminal, my program is starting properly but with VSCode, there seem to be some issues currently.
This is my current, autogenerated config where I only edited the "cwd" and "program" paths (assume that the environment variable "${env.build_foo}" is set to "/home/lvier/mainProject/build/fooProject"):
{
"version": "0.2.0",
"configurations": [
{
"name": "C++ Launch",
"type": "cppdbg",
"request": "launch",
"targetArchitecture": "x64",
"program": "${env.build_foo}/foo",
"args": [],
"stopAtEntry": false,
"cwd": "${workspaceRoot}",
"environment": [],
"externalConsole": true,
"linux": {
"MIMode": "gdb"
},
"osx": {
"MIMode": "lldb"
},
"windows": {
"MIMode": "gdb"
}
},
{
"name": "C++ Attach",
"type": "cppdbg",
"targetArchitecture": "x64",
"request": "launch", // <-- "attach" is not allowed (anymore)! :(
"program": "${env.build_foo}/foo_sub1",
"args": [],
"stopAtEntry": false,
"cwd": "${workspaceRoot}",
"environment": [],
"processId": "${command.pickProcess}",
"externalConsole": false,
"linux": {
"MIMode": "gdb"
},
"osx": {
"MIMode": "lldb"
},
"windows": {
"MIMode": "gdb"
}
}
]
}
So far I am really frustrated and still don't want to give up on VSCode (I don't want to switch to another IDE yet). I have searched a lot for other issues and also tried to set some other config-properties but none of it helped.
Does anyone else also have such issues with the debugger or is this a general problem with the extension (... and Ubuntu 16.04)?
I am happy for any help or convenient workaround. Thanks in advance!
Note:
I have also created a thread on the related github page (see https://github.com/Microsoft/vscppsamples/issues/115)
Update 07/26/2016:
It seems like there is a bug with the C/C++ extension (see comments in the github link above). It is still being investigated though.

Answer 1

Here solution:
...Debugging works for me now after I removed the GCC -s flag (strip symbol table and relocation information) from the linker settings...
Got it from last answer of the next link (thanks HorstBaerbel):
https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode-cpptools/issues/115#issuecomment-299334301