GSTACK(1)

📦 version 17.1, in arch rolling

🎀 GSTACK(1) 🎀 (that's the gstack page, from the GNU Development Tools fam)

okay bestie, listen up — gstack is lowkey one of those underrated little tools that comes in clutch at the exact moment you need it, and i'm obsessed. let's get into it 💅

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

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

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So here's the vibe: gstack prints a stack trace of a running program with process ID pid. and if that process is multi-threaded? oh she's thorough — gstack outputs backtraces for every thread that exists in the process. no thread left behind, periodt. 🧵✨

Under the hood the script invokes GDB, attaches to the given process ID, prints the stack trace, and detaches from the process. like a polite little guest — in, look around, out. 🫶

⚠️ heads up: gstack exits with non-zero status if "gdb" was unable to attach to the given process ID for any reason — like a non-existent process ID, or insufficient privileges to attach to the process. so if you get a nonzero exit, that's your sign something blocked the attach, not that the tool ghosted you. 😭

🌸 OPTIONS 🌸

  • --help, -h — lists all the options, with brief explanations. the "what is even happening" button. 💖
  • --version, -v — prints version information and then exits. quick flex, then she's out. 👑

💜 ENVIRONMENT 💜

these are the env vars she checks, no cap:

  • AWK — full file name for an Awk interpreter to use. if it's 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 it's not set, PATH will be searched for a "gdb" program. 🔥
  • GDBARGS — optional arguments to be passed to the "gdb" program. the little extras tray. ✨

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

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

info gdb

should give you access to the complete manual. iykyk 📖✨

also on the reading list:

  • Using GDB: A Guide to the GNU Source-Level Debugger, Richard M. Stallman and Roland H. Pesch, July 1991. vintage but iconic. 🎀

Copyright (c) 1988-2025 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."

okay that's the whole thing, you're officially caught up bestie 💖 this little icon is from gdb-17.1, dated 2025-12-20, and it's the GSTACK(1) page — go forth and debug slayfully 👑🦋

📦 where this page comes from