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