1STRIP(1) GNU Development Tools STRIP(1)
2
6 strip - discard symbols and other data from object files
7
9 strip [-F bfdname |--target=bfdname]
10 [-I bfdname |--input-target=bfdname]
11 [-O bfdname |--output-target=bfdname]
12 [-s|--strip-all]
13 [-S|-g|-d|--strip-debug]
14 [--strip-dwo]
15 [-K symbolname|--keep-symbol=symbolname]
16 [-M|--merge-notes][--no-merge-notes]
17 [-N symbolname |--strip-symbol=symbolname]
18 [-w|--wildcard]
19 [-x|--discard-all] [-X |--discard-locals]
20 [-R sectionname |--remove-section=sectionname]
21 [--keep-section=sectionpattern]
22 [--remove-relocations=sectionpattern]
23 [-o file] [-p|--preserve-dates]
24 [-D|--enable-deterministic-archives]
25 [-U|--disable-deterministic-archives]
26 [--keep-section-symbols]
27 [--keep-file-symbols]
28 [--only-keep-debug]
29 [-v |--verbose] [-V|--version]
30 [--help] [--info]
31 objfile...
32
34 GNU strip discards all symbols from object files objfile. The list of
35 object files may include archives. At least one object file must be
36 given.
37 strip modifies the files named in its argument, rather than writing
39 modified copies under different names.
40
42 -F bfdname
43 --target=bfdname
44 Treat the original objfile as a file with the object code format
45 bfdname, and rewrite it in the same format.
46 --help
48 Show a summary of the options to strip and exit.
49 --info
51 Display a list showing all architectures and object formats
52 available.
53 -I bfdname
55 --input-target=bfdname
56 Treat the original objfile as a file with the object code format
57 bfdname.
58 -O bfdname
60 --output-target=bfdname
61 Replace objfile with a file in the output format bfdname.
62 -R sectionname
64 --remove-section=sectionname
65 Remove any section named sectionname from the output file, in
66 addition to whatever sections would otherwise be removed. This
67 option may be given more than once. Note that using this option
68 inappropriately may make the output file unusable. The wildcard
69 character * may be given at the end of sectionname. If so, then
70 any section starting with sectionname will be removed.
71 If the first character of sectionpattern is the exclamation point
73 (!) then matching sections will not be removed even if an earlier
74 use of --remove-section on the same command line would otherwise
75 remove it. For example:
76 --remove-section=.text.* --remove-section=!.text.foo
78 will remove all sections matching the pattern '.text.*', but will
80 not remove the section '.text.foo'.
81 --keep-section=sectionpattern
83 When removing sections from the output file, keep sections that
84 match sectionpattern.
85 --remove-relocations=sectionpattern
87 Remove relocations from the output file for any section matching
88 sectionpattern. This option may be given more than once. Note
89 that using this option inappropriately may make the output file
90 unusable. Wildcard characters are accepted in sectionpattern. For
91 example:
92 --remove-relocations=.text.*
94 will remove the relocations for all sections matching the patter
96 '.text.*'.
97 If the first character of sectionpattern is the exclamation point
99 (!) then matching sections will not have their relocation removed
100 even if an earlier use of --remove-relocations on the same command
101 line would otherwise cause the relocations to be removed. For
102 example:
103 --remove-relocations=.text.* --remove-relocations=!.text.foo
105 will remove all relocations for sections matching the pattern
107 '.text.*', but will not remove relocations for the section
108 '.text.foo'.
109 -s
111 --strip-all
112 Remove all symbols.
113 -g
115 -S
116 -d
117 --strip-debug
118 Remove debugging symbols only.
119 --strip-dwo
121 Remove the contents of all DWARF .dwo sections, leaving the
122 remaining debugging sections and all symbols intact. See the
123 description of this option in the objcopy section for more
124 information.
125 --strip-unneeded
127 Remove all symbols that are not needed for relocation processing in
128 addition to debugging symbols and sections stripped by
129 --strip-debug.
130 -K symbolname
132 --keep-symbol=symbolname
133 When stripping symbols, keep symbol symbolname even if it would
134 normally be stripped. This option may be given more than once.
135 -M
137 --merge-notes
138 --no-merge-notes
139 For ELF files, attempt (or do not attempt) to reduce the size of
140 any SHT_NOTE type sections by removing duplicate notes. The
141 default is to attempt this reduction unless stripping debug or DWO
142 information.
143 -N symbolname
145 --strip-symbol=symbolname
146 Remove symbol symbolname from the source file. This option may be
147 given more than once, and may be combined with strip options other
148 than -K.
149 -o file
151 Put the stripped output in file, rather than replacing the existing
152 file. When this argument is used, only one objfile argument may be
153 specified.
154 -p
156 --preserve-dates
157 Preserve the access and modification dates of the file.
158 -D
160 --enable-deterministic-archives
161 Operate in deterministic mode. When copying archive members and
162 writing the archive index, use zero for UIDs, GIDs, timestamps, and
163 use consistent file modes for all files.
164 If binutils was configured with --enable-deterministic-archives,
166 then this mode is on by default. It can be disabled with the -U
167 option, below.
168 -U
170 --disable-deterministic-archives
171 Do not operate in deterministic mode. This is the inverse of the
172 -D option, above: when copying archive members and writing the
173 archive index, use their actual UID, GID, timestamp, and file mode
174 values.
175 This is the default unless binutils was configured with
177 --enable-deterministic-archives.
178 -w
180 --wildcard
181 Permit regular expressions in symbolnames used in other command
182 line options. The question mark (?), asterisk (*), backslash (\)
183 and square brackets ([]) operators can be used anywhere in the
184 symbol name. If the first character of the symbol name is the
185 exclamation point (!) then the sense of the switch is reversed for
186 that symbol. For example:
187 -w -K !foo -K fo*
189 would cause strip to only keep symbols that start with the letters
191 "fo", but to discard the symbol "foo".
192 -x
194 --discard-all
195 Remove non-global symbols.
196 -X
198 --discard-locals
199 Remove compiler-generated local symbols. (These usually start with
200 L or ..)
201 --keep-section-symbols
203 When stripping a file, perhaps with --strip-debug or
204 --strip-unneeded, retain any symbols specifying section names,
205 which would otherwise get stripped.
206 --keep-file-symbols
208 When stripping a file, perhaps with --strip-debug or
209 --strip-unneeded, retain any symbols specifying source file names,
210 which would otherwise get stripped.
211 --only-keep-debug
213 Strip a file, emptying the contents of any sections that would not
214 be stripped by --strip-debug and leaving the debugging sections
215 intact. In ELF files, this preserves all the note sections in the
216 output as well.
217 Note - the section headers of the stripped sections are preserved,
219 including their sizes, but the contents of the section are
220 discarded. The section headers are preserved so that other tools
221 can match up the debuginfo file with the real executable, even if
222 that executable has been relocated to a different address space.
223 The intention is that this option will be used in conjunction with
225 --add-gnu-debuglink to create a two part executable. One a
226 stripped binary which will occupy less space in RAM and in a
227 distribution and the second a debugging information file which is
228 only needed if debugging abilities are required. The suggested
229 procedure to create these files is as follows:
230 1.<Link the executable as normal. Assuming that it is called>
232 "foo" then...
233 1.<Run "objcopy --only-keep-debug foo foo.dbg" to>
235 create a file containing the debugging info.
236 1.<Run "objcopy --strip-debug foo" to create a>
238 stripped executable.
239 1.<Run "objcopy --add-gnu-debuglink=foo.dbg foo">
241 to add a link to the debugging info into the stripped
242 executable.
243 Note---the choice of ".dbg" as an extension for the debug info file
245 is arbitrary. Also the "--only-keep-debug" step is optional. You
246 could instead do this:
247 1.<Link the executable as normal.>
249 1.<Copy "foo" to "foo.full">
250 1.<Run "strip --strip-debug foo">
251 1.<Run "objcopy --add-gnu-debuglink=foo.full foo">
252 i.e., the file pointed to by the --add-gnu-debuglink can be the
254 full executable. It does not have to be a file created by the
255 --only-keep-debug switch.
256 Note---this switch is only intended for use on fully linked files.
258 It does not make sense to use it on object files where the
259 debugging information may be incomplete. Besides the gnu_debuglink
260 feature currently only supports the presence of one filename
261 containing debugging information, not multiple filenames on a one-
262 per-object-file basis.
263 -V
265 --version
266 Show the version number for strip.
267 -v
269 --verbose
270 Verbose output: list all object files modified. In the case of
271 archives, strip -v lists all members of the archive.
272 @file
274 Read command-line options from file. The options read are inserted
275 in place of the original @file option. If file does not exist, or
276 cannot be read, then the option will be treated literally, and not
277 removed.
278 Options in file are separated by whitespace. A whitespace
280 character may be included in an option by surrounding the entire
281 option in either single or double quotes. Any character (including
282 a backslash) may be included by prefixing the character to be
283 included with a backslash. The file may itself contain additional
284 @file options; any such options will be processed recursively.
285
287 the Info entries for binutils.
288
290 Copyright (c) 1991-2023 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
291 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
293 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or
294 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
295 Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover
296 Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU
297 Free Documentation License".
298binutils-2.40.00 2023-07-19 STRIP(1)