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Matthieu Baerts (NGI0) 1e5c009126 selftests/bpf: Remove hexdump dependency
The verification signature header generation requires converting a
binary certificate to a C array. Previously this only worked with xxd,
and a switch to hexdump has been done in commit b640d556a2
("selftests/bpf: Remove xxd util dependency").

hexdump is a more common utility program, yet it might not be installed
by default. When it is not installed, BPF selftests build without
errors, but tests_progs is unusable: it exits with the 255 code and
without any error messages. When manually reproducing the issue, it is
not too hard to find out that the generated verification_cert.h file is
incorrect, but that's time consuming. When digging the BPF selftests
build logs, this line can be seen amongst thousands others, but ignored:

  /bin/sh: 2: hexdump: not found

Here, od is used instead of hexdump. od is coming from the coreutils
package, and this new od command produces the same output when using od
from GNU coreutils, uutils, and even busybox. This is more portable, and
it produces a similar results to what was done before with hexdump:
there is an extra comma at the end instead of trailing whitespaces,
but the C code is not impacted.

Fixes: b640d556a2 ("selftests/bpf: Remove xxd util dependency")
Signed-off-by: Matthieu Baerts (NGI0) <matttbe@kernel.org>
Tested-by: Alan Maguire <alan.maguire@oracle.com>
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20260218-bpf-sft-hexdump-od-v2-1-2f9b3ee5ab86@kernel.org
Signed-off-by: Alexei Starovoitov <ast@kernel.org>
2026-02-18 15:11:20 -08:00
arch bpf, riscv: add fsession support for trampolines 2026-02-13 14:14:27 -08:00
block mm.git review status for linus..mm-stable 2026-02-12 11:32:37 -08:00
certs mm.git review status for linus..mm-nonmm-stable 2026-02-12 12:13:01 -08:00
crypto mm.git review status for linus..mm-nonmm-stable 2026-02-12 12:13:01 -08:00
Documentation virtio,vhost,vdpa: features, fixes 2026-02-13 12:02:18 -08:00
drivers virtio,vhost,vdpa: features, fixes 2026-02-13 12:02:18 -08:00
fs Three MM hotfixes, all three are cc:stable. 2026-02-13 12:13:27 -08:00
include virtio,vhost,vdpa: features, fixes 2026-02-13 12:02:18 -08:00
init mm.git review status for linus..mm-nonmm-stable 2026-02-12 12:13:01 -08:00
io_uring for-7.0/io_uring-zcrx-large-buffers-20260206 2026-02-12 15:07:50 -08:00
ipc mm.git review status for linus..mm-nonmm-stable 2026-02-12 12:13:01 -08:00
kernel bpf: Add a map/btf from a fd array more consistently 2026-02-13 14:37:02 -08:00
lib mm.git review status for linus..mm-nonmm-stable 2026-02-12 12:13:01 -08:00
LICENSES LICENSES: Add modern form of the LGPL-2.1 tags to the usage guide section 2025-10-22 07:58:19 +02:00
mm Three MM hotfixes, all three are cc:stable. 2026-02-13 12:13:27 -08:00
net virtio,vhost,vdpa: features, fixes 2026-02-13 12:02:18 -08:00
rust configfs changes for v7.0 2026-02-12 14:01:38 -08:00
samples configfs changes for v7.0 2026-02-12 14:01:38 -08:00
scripts virtio,vhost,vdpa: features, fixes 2026-02-13 12:02:18 -08:00
security mm.git review status for linus..mm-nonmm-stable 2026-02-12 12:13:01 -08:00
sound mm.git review status for linus..mm-nonmm-stable 2026-02-12 12:13:01 -08:00
tools selftests/bpf: Remove hexdump dependency 2026-02-18 15:11:20 -08:00
usr kbuild: uapi: drop dependency on CC_CAN_LINK 2026-01-16 15:02:11 -07:00
virt Merge tag 'kvm-x86-pmu-6.20' of https://github.com/kvm-x86/linux into HEAD 2026-02-11 12:45:40 -05:00
.clang-format Devicetree updates for v7.0: 2026-02-11 18:27:08 -08:00
.clippy.toml rust: clean Rust 1.88.0's warning about clippy::disallowed_macros configuration 2025-05-07 00:11:47 +02:00
.cocciconfig scripts: add Linux .cocciconfig for coccinelle 2016-07-22 12:13:39 +02:00
.editorconfig editorconfig: add rst extension 2026-01-26 19:07:09 -08:00
.get_maintainer.ignore MAINTAINERS: remove Alyssa Rosenzweig 2025-09-18 21:17:31 +02:00
.gitattributes .gitattributes: set diff driver for Rust source code files 2023-05-31 17:48:25 +02:00
.gitignore rust: kbuild: add proc macro library support 2025-11-24 17:15:36 +01:00
.mailmap Landlock update for v7.0-rc1 2026-02-11 15:57:08 -08:00
.pylintrc docs: Move the python libraries to tools/lib/python 2025-11-18 09:22:40 -07:00
.rustfmt.toml rust: add .rustfmt.toml 2022-09-28 09:02:20 +02:00
COPYING COPYING: state that all contributions really are covered by this file 2020-02-10 13:32:20 -08:00
CREDITS Networking changes for 7.0 2026-02-11 19:31:52 -08:00
Kbuild sched: Make migrate_{en,dis}able() inline 2025-09-25 09:57:16 +02:00
Kconfig io_uring: Rename KConfig to Kconfig 2025-02-19 14:53:27 -07:00
MAINTAINERS Loongarch: 2026-02-13 11:31:15 -08:00
Makefile Devicetree updates for v7.0: 2026-02-11 18:27:08 -08:00
README docs: add AI Coding Assistants documentation 2026-01-06 14:55:06 -07:00

Linux kernel
============

The Linux kernel is the core of any Linux operating system. It manages hardware,
system resources, and provides the fundamental services for all other software.

Quick Start
-----------

* Report a bug: See Documentation/admin-guide/reporting-issues.rst
* Get the latest kernel: https://kernel.org
* Build the kernel: See Documentation/admin-guide/quickly-build-trimmed-linux.rst
* Join the community: https://lore.kernel.org/

Essential Documentation
-----------------------

All users should be familiar with:

* Building requirements: Documentation/process/changes.rst
* Code of Conduct: Documentation/process/code-of-conduct.rst
* License: See COPYING

Documentation can be built with make htmldocs or viewed online at:
https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/


Who Are You?
============

Find your role below:

* New Kernel Developer - Getting started with kernel development
* Academic Researcher - Studying kernel internals and architecture
* Security Expert - Hardening and vulnerability analysis
* Backport/Maintenance Engineer - Maintaining stable kernels
* System Administrator - Configuring and troubleshooting
* Maintainer - Leading subsystems and reviewing patches
* Hardware Vendor - Writing drivers for new hardware
* Distribution Maintainer - Packaging kernels for distros
* AI Coding Assistant - LLMs and AI-powered development tools


For Specific Users
==================

New Kernel Developer
--------------------

Welcome! Start your kernel development journey here:

* Getting Started: Documentation/process/development-process.rst
* Your First Patch: Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
* Coding Style: Documentation/process/coding-style.rst
* Build System: Documentation/kbuild/index.rst
* Development Tools: Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst
* Kernel Hacking Guide: Documentation/kernel-hacking/hacking.rst
* Core APIs: Documentation/core-api/index.rst

Academic Researcher
-------------------

Explore the kernel's architecture and internals:

* Researcher Guidelines: Documentation/process/researcher-guidelines.rst
* Memory Management: Documentation/mm/index.rst
* Scheduler: Documentation/scheduler/index.rst
* Networking Stack: Documentation/networking/index.rst
* Filesystems: Documentation/filesystems/index.rst
* RCU (Read-Copy Update): Documentation/RCU/index.rst
* Locking Primitives: Documentation/locking/index.rst
* Power Management: Documentation/power/index.rst

Security Expert
---------------

Security documentation and hardening guides:

* Security Documentation: Documentation/security/index.rst
* LSM Development: Documentation/security/lsm-development.rst
* Self Protection: Documentation/security/self-protection.rst
* Reporting Vulnerabilities: Documentation/process/security-bugs.rst
* CVE Procedures: Documentation/process/cve.rst
* Embargoed Hardware Issues: Documentation/process/embargoed-hardware-issues.rst
* Security Features: Documentation/userspace-api/seccomp_filter.rst

Backport/Maintenance Engineer
-----------------------------

Maintain and stabilize kernel versions:

* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst
* Backporting Guide: Documentation/process/backporting.rst
* Applying Patches: Documentation/process/applying-patches.rst
* Subsystem Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst
* Git for Maintainers: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst

System Administrator
--------------------

Configure, tune, and troubleshoot Linux systems:

* Admin Guide: Documentation/admin-guide/index.rst
* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst
* Sysctl Tuning: Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/index.rst
* Tracing/Debugging: Documentation/trace/index.rst
* Performance Security: Documentation/admin-guide/perf-security.rst
* Hardware Monitoring: Documentation/hwmon/index.rst

Maintainer
----------

Lead kernel subsystems and manage contributions:

* Maintainer Handbook: Documentation/maintainer/index.rst
* Pull Requests: Documentation/maintainer/pull-requests.rst
* Managing Patches: Documentation/maintainer/modifying-patches.rst
* Rebasing and Merging: Documentation/maintainer/rebasing-and-merging.rst
* Development Process: Documentation/process/maintainer-handbooks.rst
* Maintainer Entry Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst
* Git Configuration: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst

Hardware Vendor
---------------

Write drivers and support new hardware:

* Driver API Guide: Documentation/driver-api/index.rst
* Driver Model: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/driver.rst
* Device Drivers: Documentation/driver-api/infrastructure.rst
* Bus Types: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/bus.rst
* Device Tree Bindings: Documentation/devicetree/bindings/
* Power Management: Documentation/driver-api/pm/index.rst
* DMA API: Documentation/core-api/dma-api.rst

Distribution Maintainer
-----------------------

Package and distribute the kernel:

* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst
* ABI Documentation: Documentation/ABI/README
* Kernel Configuration: Documentation/kbuild/kconfig.rst
* Module Signing: Documentation/admin-guide/module-signing.rst
* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst
* Tainted Kernels: Documentation/admin-guide/tainted-kernels.rst

AI Coding Assistant
-------------------

CRITICAL: If you are an LLM or AI-powered coding assistant, you MUST read and
follow the AI coding assistants documentation before contributing to the Linux
kernel:

* Documentation/process/coding-assistants.rst

This documentation contains essential requirements about licensing, attribution,
and the Developer Certificate of Origin that all AI tools must comply with.


Communication and Support
=========================

* Mailing Lists: https://lore.kernel.org/
* IRC: #kernelnewbies on irc.oftc.net
* Bugzilla: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/
* MAINTAINERS file: Lists subsystem maintainers and mailing lists
* Email Clients: Documentation/process/email-clients.rst