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@gmail.com>
---
 scripts/decode_stacktrace.sh | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/scripts/decode_stacktrace.sh b/scripts/decode_stacktrace.sh
index 8d01b741de62..83478a42d749 100755
--- a/scripts/decode_stacktrace.sh
+++ b/scripts/decode_stacktrace.sh
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 usage() {
 	echo "Usage:"
 	echo "	$0 -r <release>"
-	echo "	$0 [<vmlinux> [<base_path>|auto [<modules_path>]]]"
+	echo "	$0 <vmlinux> [<base_path>|auto [<modules_path>]]"
 	echo "	$0 -h"
 }
 
-- 
2.43.0

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@gmail.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

On Tue, Jan 13, 2026 at 08:57:03AM +0100, Luca Ceresoli wrote:
> 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@gmail.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

Thanks for the feedback. That sounds reasonable to me.
> 
> Best regards,
> Luca
> 
> --
> Luca Ceresoli, Bootlin
> Embedded Linux and Kernel engineering
> https://bootlin.com