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Settings

There are many settings that can be set for Validation layers. This is a brief overview of how to use them.

There are 4 ways to configure the settings: vkconfig, application defined, vk_layer_settings.txt, environment variables

VkConfig

We suggest people to use VkConfig.

The GUI comes with the SDK, and takes the VkLayer_khronos_validation.json file and does everything for you!

Application Defined

The application can now use the VK_EXT_layer_settings extension to do everything at vkCreateInstance time. (Don't worry, we implement the extension, so it will be supported 100% of the time!).

// Example how to turn on verbose mode for DebugPrintf
const VkBool32 verbose_value = true;
const VkLayerSettingEXT layer_setting = {"VK_LAYER_KHRONOS_validation", "printf_verbose", VK_LAYER_SETTING_TYPE_BOOL32_EXT, 1, &verbose_value};
VkLayerSettingsCreateInfoEXT layer_settings_create_info = {VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_LAYER_SETTINGS_CREATE_INFO_EXT, nullptr, 1, &layer_setting};

VkInstanceCreateInfo instance_ci = GetYourCreateInfo();
instance_ci.pNext = &layer_settings_create_info;

vk_layer_settings.txt

There is info elsewhere to describe this file, but the short answer is to set the VK_LAYER_SETTINGS_PATH like the following:

# windows
set VK_LAYER_SETTINGS_PATH=C:\path\to\vk_layer_settings.txt

# linux
export VK_LAYER_SETTINGS_PATH=/path/to/vk_layer_settings.txt

and it will set things for you in that file. We have a default example file you can start with.

Environment Variables

This is done for us via the vkuCreateLayerSettingSet call in the Vulkan-Utility-Libraries.

As an example, in our VkLayer_khronos_validation.json file you will find something like "key": "message_id_filter",.

From here you just need to adjust it the naming and prefix depending on your platform:

# Windows
set VK_LAYER_MESSAGE_ID_FILTER=VUID-VkInstanceCreateInfo-pNext-pNext

# Linux
export VK_LAYER_MESSAGE_ID_FILTER=VUID-VkInstanceCreateInfo-pNext-pNext

# Android
adb setprop debug.vulkan.khronos_validation.message_id_filter=VUID-VkInstanceCreateInfo-pNext-pNext

Finding available settings

How we suggest finding them:

  1. Check VkConfig
  2. View VkLayer_khronos_validation.json (it is where we define them all)
  3. In layer_options.cpp (it is where we parse and set the settings)

Legacy

This is only here to document the legacy of how we got to this situation.

Long ago validation created its own system to parse environmental variables as well as the vk_layer_settings.txt flow.

Then we created VK_EXT_validation_features as way to set things at vkCreateInstance time. VK_EXT_validation_flags was also created after with the same goals in mind.

As more and more layers basically needed to do what Validation Layers were doing, we just ended up creating VK_EXT_layer_settings as a final solution. This extension has been the way forward to a better system of creating settings for layers.

Unfortunately, we still support some legacy names, so this prevents us from making everything consistent.