GSTACK(1)

💅 GSTACK(1) — stack traces, but make it a whole vibe

okay so this is the gstack page from the GNU Development Tools manual, and it’s literally here to print a stack trace of a running program. bestie, we’re doing process detective work. 🕵️‍♀️✨

🌸 NAME 🌸

gstack — Print a stack trace of a running program. no cap, that’s the whole name vibe. 💖

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

gstack [-h | --help] [-v | --version] pid

🫶 DESCRIPTION 🫶

Print a stack trace of a running program with process ID pid. If the process is multi-threaded, gstack outputs backtraces for every thread which exists in the process. every single thread gets its moment, periodt. 🧵💅

The script invokes GDB, attaches to the given process ID, prints the stack trace, and detaches from the process. it’s giving “hi, I’m here for the tea, gotta go” energy. 🫶

gstack exits with non-zero status if "gdb" was unable to attach to the given process ID for any reason, such as a non-existent process ID or insufficient privileges to attach to the process. so yeah, if attach fails, it’s not a slay — it’s a non-zero exit. 💀

💅 OPTIONS 💅

• --help, -h — lists all options, with brief explanations. the “show me the menu” moment. 🎀
• --version, -v — prints version information and then exits. cute, brief, iconic. ✨

🧚 ENVIRONMENT 🧚

• AWK — Full file name for an Awk interpreter to use. If not set, PATH will be searched for an "awk" program.
• GDB — Full file name for a GDB executable to use to generate stack backtraces. If not set, PATH will be searched for a "gdb" program.
• GDBARGS — Optional arguments to be passed to the "gdb" program.

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

The full documentation for GDB is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If the "info" and "gdb" programs and GDB's Texinfo documentation are properly installed at your site, the command

info gdb

should give you access to the complete manual. go off, Texinfo. 📚✨

Using GDB: A Guide to the GNU Source-Level Debugger, Richard M. Stallman and Roland H. Pesch, July 1991. iconic reference behavior. 🫶

👑 COPYRIGHT 👑

okay legal bestie, here’s the whole tea, word-for-word so nobody comes for us: 💜

Copyright (c) 1988-2026 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the Invariant Sections being "Free Software" and "Free Software Needs Free Documentation", with the Front-Cover Texts being "A GNU Manual," and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below.

(a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: "You are free to copy and modify this GNU Manual. Buying copies from GNU Press supports the FSF in developing GNU and promoting software freedom." @sp 1 Copyright (c) 2026, Intel Corporation. Intel's modifications are provided pursuant to the GNU Free Documentation license.

💖 cute sign-off: this is the GSTACK(1) page, source/version gdb-17.1.2026.be1840694+, dated 2026-04-07. mwah 💋