---
name: "psupdate"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "procps"
version: "1:1.2.7-1"
release: "Debian 2.0 (Hamm)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/psupdate"
---

# psupdate(8)

update the ps database of kernel offsets

## NAME

psupdate - update the ps database of kernel offsets

## SYNOPSIS

psupdate \[path to uncompressed kernel image\]

## DESCRIPTION

**psupdate** updates the /etc/psdatabase file to correspond to the current kernel image system map file, /usr/src/linux/vmlinux by default.

### Options

If your system map file is not /usr/src/linux/vmlinux, you may give the name of an alternate map file on the command line.  This is the only argument currently supported.

## FILES

/etc/psdatabase\
 /usr/src/linux/vmlinux

## NOTE

The database produced by this version of psupdate is not compatible with the one produced by the kmem-based psupdate.  The procps version does not need some of the things contained in the kmemps database, so the procps database is slightly smaller and has a different "magic" string. Also, the kmem-based version (as of v1.2.9) is not quite as up-to-date in some respects.  If, for some obscure reason, you want to use both the proc- and kmem-based versions of the ps suites, you should keep two different databases and update both of them at boot (or kernel-compilation) time.  (Please note that kmemps, by default, puts its database in a different place anyway: /var/run.)

The ps command does not absolutely need the /etc/psdatabase file. If it is missing, then ps will examine the System.map file, if it can find it (see **[ps(1)](/ps/1.md)**).  If it cannot find the psdatabase or the System.map file, it will simply be unable to put symbolic information in the WCHAN field.

## SEE ALSO

[**ps**(1)](/ps/1.md)

## AUTHORS

Original code written by Branko Lankaster, horribly munged by Michael K. Johnson in a desperate effort to add WCHAN support to procps.  Jeff Uphoff added the code to handle ELF-compiled kernels and rewrote much of the other code.  David Mossberger-Tang wrote the generic BFD support.