slimtoolkit/slim · error

file is not a binary

Error message

file is not a binary

What it means

ErrFileNotBin is returned by sodeps.AllDependencies when the binfile.Detected check indicates the target file is not a binary (executable or shared object). ldd-based dependency resolution only makes sense on ELF binaries, so the inspector rejects anything else up front.

Source

Thrown at pkg/app/sensor/inspector/sodeps/sodeps.go:19

package sodeps

import (
	"bytes"
	"errors"
	"os"
	"os/exec"
	"path/filepath"
	"strings"

	"github.com/slimtoolkit/slim/pkg/app/sensor/detector/binfile"

	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
)

// Inspector errors
var (
	ErrFilePathNotAbs      = errors.New("file path is not absolute")
	ErrFileNotBin          = errors.New("file is not a binary")
	ErrDepResolverNotFound = errors.New("dependency resolver not found")
)

const (
	resolverExeName = "ldd"
)

func AllExeDependencies(exeFileName string, find bool) ([]string, error) {
	if !strings.HasPrefix(exeFileName, "/") {
		if !find {
			return nil, ErrFilePathNotAbs
		}

		exePath, err := exec.LookPath(exeFileName)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}

View on GitHub (pinned to 81940d17fa)

Solutions

1. Point the API at the actual ELF executable or .so file (e.g., /usr/bin/python3 rather than the script)
2. Verify the file with 'file <path>' — it should report ELF executable or shared object
3. If the binary is packed or unrecognized, check binfile.Detected behavior or inspect dependencies differently
4. Fix app_name/app_entrypoint config so it targets the real binary, not a wrapper script

Example fix

// before
deps, err := sodeps.AllDependencies("/app/run.sh")
// after
deps, err := sodeps.AllDependencies("/bin/sh") // or the real ELF binary that runs your app

// Go: check the file is an ELF binary before dependency inspection
props, err := binfile.Detected(binPath)
if err != nil || props == nil || !props.IsBin {
    return fmt.Errorf("%s is not a binary", binPath)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling AllDependencies (or AllExeDependencies after path resolution) on a script (#!/bin/sh), a text/config file, a symlink target that is not a binary, or a corrupted/statically-unrecognizable file.

Common situations: Pointing the sensor at an interpreted app (Python/Node scripts) instead of its interpreter binary; app_name resolves to a shell wrapper; inspecting data files by mistake.

Related errors

• file path is not absolute
• dependency resolver not found
• invalid ESCAPE '%s'. Must be ` or \
• podPort cannot be empty
• sensor shutdown before monitor stop

AI-assisted analysis of slimtoolkit/slim@81940d17fa (2026-08-31). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b96c03e055448952. Report an issue: GitHub.