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Table of Contents

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This is a memo on how to change the pane split ratio through context settings when using pwntools’ debugging features with WSL2 and Windows Terminal.

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As a bonus, I also summarize a workaround for the issue where register information becomes unavailable when using pwntools together with gdb-peda in a WSL2 & Windows Terminal environment.

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How to change the pane split width

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When using pwntools’ gdb.debug() on WSL2 & Windows Terminal, it seems the debug terminal is launched with the following command by default.

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['/mnt/c/Windows/system32/cmd.exe', '/c', 'start', 'wt.exe', '-w', '0', 'split-pane', '-d', '.', 'wsl.exe', '-d', 'Ubuntu', 'bash', '-c', '/tmp/tmpnhyc4xx1']
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In this context, wt.exe -w 0 split-pane -d . launches a pane-split terminal inside the currently open window using the default profile.

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Reference: Windows Terminal command-line arguments | Microsoft Learn

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However, as-is, the window split ratio is forced to 5:5 and cannot be changed afterward, which is a little inconvenient for debugging.

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Therefore, by adding the split ratio to the context with the -s option of Windows Terminal’s split-pane feature, you can make the debug window larger.

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The context I actually use is shown below.

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context.terminal = [\"/mnt/c/Windows/system32/cmd.exe\", \"/c\", \"start\", \"wt.exe\", \"-w\", \"0\", \"sp\", \"-s\", \".7\", \"-d\", \".\", \"wsl.exe\", '-d', \"Ubuntu\", \"bash\", \"-c\"]
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By defining this setting inside the Python script that uses pwntools, you can make the split ratio 3:7 when splitting the screen as shown below, giving the debug window more space.

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Bonus: an issue when using pwntools and gdb-peda with WSL2 & Windows Terminal

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Although I have no idea what the cause is, in a Windows Terminal and WSL2 environment, using pwntools’ gdb.debug() causes gdb-peda’s register view to stop working.

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Workaround 1: use tmux

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I have not been able to identify the cause, but I confirmed that using tmux avoids the problem for now.

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First, start tmux in the terminal where you run the pwntools script.

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Then run a pwntools script with context.terminal replaced as follows.

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context.terminal =  [\"tmux\", \"splitw\", \"-h\"]
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With this, you can view gdb-peda’s register information even in a WSL2 & Windows Terminal environment.

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