linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH bpf-next] bpf, docs: Update pahole to 1.28 for selftests

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Message-ID: <bcd23277-a18e-4bb5-ba76-3416c84511c2@linux.dev>
Date: Fri, 2 Jan 2026 07:33:50 -0800
From: Ihor Solodrai <ihor.solodrai@...ux.dev>
To: Hemanth Malla <vmalla@...ux.microsoft.com>, bpf@...r.kernel.org,
 linux-doc@...r.kernel.org, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org
Cc: ast@...nel.org, daniel@...earbox.net, andrii@...nel.org,
 martin.lau@...ux.dev, eddyz87@...il.com, song@...nel.org,
 yonghong.song@...ux.dev, john.fastabend@...il.com, kpsingh@...nel.org,
 sdf@...ichev.me, haoluo@...gle.com, jolsa@...nel.org, vmalla@...rosoft.com,
 corbet@....net, Alan Maguire <alan.maguire@...cle.com>,
 dwarves <dwarves@...r.kernel.org>
Subject: Re: [PATCH bpf-next] bpf, docs: Update pahole to 1.28 for selftests

On 1/2/26 3:13 AM, Hemanth Malla wrote:
> From: Hemanth Malla <vmalla@...rosoft.com>
> 
> pahole 1.16 doesn't seem to be to sufficient anymore for running bpf
> selftests.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Hemanth Malla <vmalla@...rosoft.com>
> ---
>  Documentation/bpf/bpf_devel_QA.rst | 5 +----
>  1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 4 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/Documentation/bpf/bpf_devel_QA.rst b/Documentation/bpf/bpf_devel_QA.rst
> index 0acb4c9b8d90..3a147b6c780e 100644
> --- a/Documentation/bpf/bpf_devel_QA.rst
> +++ b/Documentation/bpf/bpf_devel_QA.rst
> @@ -482,7 +482,7 @@ under test should match the config file fragment in
>  tools/testing/selftests/bpf as closely as possible.
>  
>  Finally to ensure support for latest BPF Type Format features -
> -discussed in Documentation/bpf/btf.rst - pahole version 1.16
> +discussed in Documentation/bpf/btf.rst - pahole version 1.28

Hi Hemanth, thanks for the patch.

Acked-by: Ihor Solodrai <ihor.solodrai@...ux.dev>

1.28 is needed for --distilled_base [1], which is only a requirement
for tests using modules. Many other tests are likely to work with
older versions, but the minimum for the kernel build is 1.22 now [2].

Not sure if it's worth it to add this nuance to the QA doc, although
in general we should recommend people running the selftests to use the
latest pahole release. Maybe add a comment?

[1] https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/tree/Documentation/bpf/btf.rst?h=v6.18#n986
[2] https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20251219181825.1289460-1-ihor.solodrai@linux.dev/

>  is required for kernels built with CONFIG_DEBUG_INFO_BTF=y.
>  pahole is delivered in the dwarves package or can be built
>  from source at
> @@ -502,9 +502,6 @@ codes from
>  
>  https://fedorapeople.org/~acme/dwarves
>  
> -Some distros have pahole version 1.16 packaged already, e.g.
> -Fedora, Gentoo.
> -
>  Q: Which BPF kernel selftests version should I run my kernel against?
>  ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>  A: If you run a kernel ``xyz``, then always run the BPF kernel selftests