#3607 PR `open`: Update 260_EFISTUB_populate.sh¶

Labels: enhancement

gigawatts opened issue at 2026-05-11 01:42:¶

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Pull Request Details:¶

Type: Bug Fix
Impact: Normal
Reference to related issue (URL):
https://github.com/rear/rear/issues/3606
How was this pull request tested?
Modified the local script, re-ran backup, EFI file was correctly validated
Description of the changes in this pull request:
Allows several variations of the file command output for validation of EFISTUB file

codacy-production commented at 2026-05-11 01:44:¶

Up to standards ✅¶

🟢 Issues 0 issues

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lzaoral commented at 2026-05-15 07:41:¶

Isn't there some better way to detect EFI binaries? Using file is a Russian roulette because its output may change with every release.

gdha commented at 2026-05-15 07:45:¶

Isn't there some better way to detect EFI binaries? Using file is a Russian roulette because its output may change with every release.

@lzaoral Any suggestion to replace file?

jsmeix commented at 2026-05-18 12:20:¶

For the fun of it regarding

Isn't there some better way to detect EFI binaries?

I asked Google AI
"what is the best way to detect EFI binaries in Linux ?"
and it replied:

The best way to detect EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface)
binaries in Linux is by checking their file header structure.
EFI binaries use the Microsoft PE/COFF executable format,
not the standard Linux ELF format. 
Here are the most effective methods to detect them,
ordered from simplest to most advanced.

The file Command (Fastest):
The standard file utility reads the magic bytes
in the header and explicitly identifies EFI binaries. 
* Run:
  file path/to/binary
* Output for EFI:
  Look for PE32 or PE32+ followed by EFI application.
* Example:
  systemd-bootx64.efi: PE32+ executable (EFI application) x86-64, for MS Windows

The objdump Command (Most Detailed):
If you need to verify the exact target architecture,
objdump from the binutils package inspects
the binary format directly.
* Run:
  objdump -p path/to/binary | head -n 10
* Output for EFI:
  Look for file format pei-x86-64 (or pei-i386 / pei-aarch64).

Direct Hex Inspection (No Dependencies):
If you are writing a script and cannot rely on
external tools, read the first few bytes of the file.
EFI files begin with the DOS stub magic bytes MZ (hex: 4d 5a).
Further into the header, they contain the PE signature
PE\0\0 (hex: 50 45 00 00).
Command:
head -c 2 path/to/binary | xxd (Look for MZ).

[Export of Github issue for rear/rear.]

#3607 PR open: Update 260_EFISTUB_populate.sh¶