PowerFlex: SDC Installation Fails on Debian with a Kernel Module Build Error dirname: missing operand

Summary: While installing the PowerFlex Storage Data Client (SDC) on a Debian-based system, the build_driver.sh script may misleadingly indicate progress, but ultimately fails to compile the scini driver with the error "dirname: missing operand.” ...

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Symptoms

  • Performing On-Demand Compilation of the PowerFlex SDC Driver as described in the following Dell KB: PowerFlex: On-Demand Compilation Of The PowerFlex SDC Driver
  • SDC installation fails on Debian-based systems when running the build_driver.sh script. Despite the script printing informational messages suggesting progress, the actual build process does not succeed:  
    root@debian-venus:/tmp/build# ./build_driver.sh 
12-May-2025 12:03:38 INFO: Started.
....
12-May-2025 12:03:39 INFO: Checking /usr/src/linux-headers-6.1.0-34-amd64/include/generated/utsrelease.h ...
12-May-2025 12:03:39 INFO: Found fitting utsrelease.h in /usr/src/linux-headers-6.1.0-34-amd64
12-May-2025 12:03:39 INFO: Found include /usr/src/linux-headers-6.1.0-34-common/Makefile in /usr/src/linux-headers-6.1.0-34-amd64/Makefile
realpath: /usr/src/linux-headers-6.1.0-34-amd64//usr/src/linux-headers-6.1.0-34-common/Makefile: No such file or directory
dirname: missing operand
Try 'dirname --help' for more information.
12-May-2025 12:03:39 INFO: Kernel source dir is determined as
12-May-2025 12:03:39 WARNING: Didn't find /Kconfig
....
make: Entering directory '/usr/src/linux-headers-6.1.0-34-amd64'
grep: ./include/linux/net.h: No such file or directory
..
make[1]: *** [/usr/src/linux-headers-6.1.0-34-common/scripts/Makefile.build:255: /tmp/build/ini/./linux/api/api_mos.o] Error 1
make: *** [/usr/src/linux-headers-6.1.0-34-common/Makefile:2038: /tmp/build/ini] Error 2
make: Leaving directory '/usr/src/linux-headers-6.1.0-34-amd64'
12-May-2025 12:03:43 INFO: Success.

 

Impact

The scini Kernel module fails to compile due to missing header dependencies, resulting in the SDC installation being incomplete or aborted. As a result, the system cannot function as an SDC.

Cause

The SDC installation script (build_driver.sh) attempts to auto-detect the Kernel source and headers using realpath and dirname, but fails when Debian provides Kernel headers in a split directory structure:

  • /usr/src/linux-headers-<version>-amd64/

  • /usr/src/linux-headers-<version>-common/

Resolution

Run the build_driver.sh script with explicit -o and -s flags to correctly set the object and source directories:

./build_driver.sh -o /usr/src/linux-headers-<version>-amd64 -s /usr/src/linux-headers-<version>-common

 

Example:

./build_driver.sh -o /usr/src/linux-headers-6.1.0-34-amd64 -s /usr/src/linux-headers-6.1.0-34-common

 

Impacted Versions

PowerFlex SDC 3.x.x

PowerFlex SDC 4.x.x

Fixed In Version

PowerFlex SDC 3.6.6

PowerFlex SDC 4.5.5

PowerFlex SDC 5.0

Affected Products

PowerFlex rack, ScaleIO
Article Properties
Article Number: 000351002
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 31 Jul 2025
Version:  1
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