linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH] scripts/decode_stacktrace.sh update usage to show vmlinux is mandatory

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Message-Id: <DFNAUPRS23JF.1IM2BY5O66493@bootlin.com>
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2026 08:57:03 +0100
From: "Luca Ceresoli" <luca.ceresoli@...tlin.com>
To: "Jinchao Wang" <wangjinchao600@...il.com>, "Andrew Morton"
 <akpm@...ux-foundation.org>, "Matthieu Baerts (NGI0)" <matttbe@...nel.org>,
 "Carlos Llamas" <cmllamas@...gle.com>, <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>
Subject: Re: [PATCH] scripts/decode_stacktrace.sh update usage to show
 vmlinux is mandatory

Hello Jinchao,

On Mon Jan 12, 2026 at 10:10 AM CET, Jinchao Wang wrote:
> The script currently errors out if vmlinux is not provided, but the
> usage string implies it is optional. Remove the square brackets to
> correctly indicate that <vmlinux> is a required argument.
>
> Signed-off-by: Jinchao Wang <wangjinchao600@...il.com>

Thanks for your patch, but it is not correct.

The vmlinux argument is optional when debuginfod info is found:

        # Can we use debuginfod-find?
        if type debuginfod-find >/dev/null 2>&1 ; then
                debuginfod=${1-only}
        fi

        if [[ $vmlinux == "" && -z $debuginfod ]] ; then
                echo "ERROR! vmlinux image must be specified" >&2
                usage
                exit 1
        fi

(https://elixir.bootlin.com/linux/v6.19-rc4/source/scripts/decode_stacktrace.sh#L65-L74)

However I realize improving the error message might make sense, something
like:

                echo "ERROR! vmlinux image must be specified or debuginfo must be accessible" >&2

Best regards,
Luca

--
Luca Ceresoli, Bootlin
Embedded Linux and Kernel engineering
https://bootlin.com