Linux kernel mirror (for testing) git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git
kernel os linux

kbuild: Leave objtool binary around with 'make clean'

The difference between 'make clean' and 'make mrproper' is documented in
'make help' as:

clean - Remove most generated files but keep the config and
enough build support to build external modules
mrproper - Remove all generated files + config + various backup files

After commit 68b4fe32d737 ("kbuild: Add objtool to top-level clean
target"), running 'make clean' then attempting to build an external
module with the resulting build directory fails with

$ make ARCH=x86_64 O=build clean

$ make -C build M=... MO=...
...
/bin/sh: line 1: .../build/tools/objtool/objtool: No such file or directory

as 'make clean' removes the objtool binary.

Split the objtool clean target into mrproper and clean like Kbuild does
and remove all generated artifacts with 'make clean' except for the
objtool binary, which is removed with 'make mrproper'. To avoid a small
race when running the objtool clean target through both objtool_mrproper
and objtool_clean when running 'make mrproper', modify objtool's clean
up find command to avoid using find's '-delete' command by piping the
files into 'xargs rm -f' like the rest of Kbuild does.

Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Fixes: 68b4fe32d737 ("kbuild: Add objtool to top-level clean target")
Reported-by: Michal Suchanek <msuchanek@suse.de>
Closes: https://lore.kernel.org/20260225112633.6123-1-msuchanek@suse.de/
Reported-by: Rainer Fiebig <jrf@mailbox.org>
Closes: https://lore.kernel.org/62d12399-76e5-3d40-126a-7490b4795b17@mailbox.org/
Acked-by: Josh Poimboeuf <jpoimboe@kernel.org>
Acked-by: Peter Zijlstra (Intel) <peterz@infradead.org>
Reviewed-by: Nicolas Schier <nsc@kernel.org>
Tested-by: Nicolas Schier <nsc@kernel.org>
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260227-avoid-objtool-binary-removal-clean-v1-1-122f3e55eae9@kernel.org
Signed-off-by: Nathan Chancellor <nathan@kernel.org>

+9 -7
+4 -4
Makefile
··· 1497 1497 $(Q)$(MAKE) -sC $(srctree)/tools/bpf/resolve_btfids O=$(resolve_btfids_O) clean 1498 1498 endif 1499 1499 1500 - PHONY += objtool_clean 1500 + PHONY += objtool_clean objtool_mrproper 1501 1501 1502 1502 objtool_O = $(abspath $(objtree))/tools/objtool 1503 1503 1504 - objtool_clean: 1504 + objtool_clean objtool_mrproper: 1505 1505 ifneq ($(wildcard $(objtool_O)),) 1506 - $(Q)$(MAKE) -sC $(abs_srctree)/tools/objtool O=$(objtool_O) srctree=$(abs_srctree) clean 1506 + $(Q)$(MAKE) -sC $(abs_srctree)/tools/objtool O=$(objtool_O) srctree=$(abs_srctree) $(patsubst objtool_%,%,$@) 1507 1507 endif 1508 1508 1509 1509 tools/: FORCE ··· 1686 1686 $(mrproper-dirs): 1687 1687 $(Q)$(MAKE) $(clean)=$(patsubst _mrproper_%,%,$@) 1688 1688 1689 - mrproper: clean $(mrproper-dirs) 1689 + mrproper: clean objtool_mrproper $(mrproper-dirs) 1690 1690 $(call cmd,rmfiles) 1691 1691 @find . $(RCS_FIND_IGNORE) \ 1692 1692 \( -name '*.rmeta' \) \
+5 -3
tools/objtool/Makefile
··· 142 142 $(Q)$(RM) -r -- $(LIBSUBCMD_OUTPUT) 143 143 144 144 clean: $(LIBSUBCMD)-clean 145 - $(call QUIET_CLEAN, objtool) $(RM) $(OBJTOOL) 146 - $(Q)find $(OUTPUT) -name '*.o' -delete -o -name '\.*.cmd' -delete -o -name '\.*.d' -delete 145 + $(Q)find $(OUTPUT) \( -name '*.o' -o -name '\.*.cmd' -o -name '\.*.d' \) -type f -print | xargs $(RM) 147 146 $(Q)$(RM) $(OUTPUT)arch/x86/lib/cpu-feature-names.c $(OUTPUT)fixdep 148 147 $(Q)$(RM) $(OUTPUT)arch/x86/lib/inat-tables.c $(OUTPUT)fixdep 149 148 $(Q)$(RM) -- $(OUTPUT)FEATURE-DUMP.objtool 150 149 $(Q)$(RM) -r -- $(OUTPUT)feature 151 150 151 + mrproper: clean 152 + $(call QUIET_CLEAN, objtool) $(RM) $(OBJTOOL) 153 + 152 154 FORCE: 153 155 154 - .PHONY: clean FORCE 156 + .PHONY: clean mrproper FORCE