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STRIP(1)                     GNU Development Tools                    STRIP(1)

NAME
       strip - Discard symbols from object files.
SYNOPSIS
       strip [-F bfdname |--target=bfdname]
             [-I bfdname |--input-target=bfdname]
             [-O bfdname |--output-target=bfdname]
             [-s|--strip-all]
             [-S|-g|-d|--strip-debug]
             [--strip-dwo]
             [-K symbolname |--keep-symbol=symbolname]
             [-N symbolname |--strip-symbol=symbolname]
             [-w|--wildcard]
             [-x|--discard-all] [-X |--discard-locals]
             [-R sectionname |--remove-section=sectionname]
             [-o file] [-p|--preserve-dates]
             [-D|--enable-deterministic-archives]
             [-U|--disable-deterministic-archives]
             [--keep-file-symbols]
             [--only-keep-debug]
             [-v |--verbose] [-V|--version]
             [--help] [--info]
             objfile...
DESCRIPTION
       GNU strip discards all symbols from object files objfile.  The list of
       object files may include archives.  At least one object file must be
       given.
       strip modifies the files named in its argument, rather than writing
       modified copies under different names.
OPTIONS
       -F bfdname
       --target=bfdname
           Treat the original objfile as a file with the object code format
           bfdname, and rewrite it in the same format.
       --help
           Show a summary of the options to strip and exit.
       --info
           Display a list showing all architectures and object formats
           available.
       -I bfdname
       --input-target=bfdname
           Treat the original objfile as a file with the object code format
           bfdname.
       -O bfdname
       --output-target=bfdname
           Replace objfile with a file in the output format bfdname.
       -R sectionname
       --remove-section=sectionname
           Remove any section named sectionname from the output file, in
           addition to whatever sections would otherwise be removed.  This
           option may be given more than once.  Note that using this option
           inappropriately may make the output file unusable.  The wildcard
           character * may be given at the end of sectionname.  If so, then
           any section starting with sectionname will be removed.
       -s
       --strip-all
           Remove all symbols.
       -g
       -S
       -d
       --strip-debug
           Remove debugging symbols only.
       --strip-dwo
           Remove the contents of all DWARF .dwo sections, leaving the
           remaining debugging sections and all symbols intact.  See the
           description of this option in the objcopy section for more
           information.
       --strip-unneeded
           Remove all symbols that are not needed for relocation processing.
       -K symbolname
       --keep-symbol=symbolname
           When stripping symbols, keep symbol symbolname even if it would
           normally be stripped.  This option may be given more than once.
       -N symbolname
       --strip-symbol=symbolname
           Remove symbol symbolname from the source file. This option may be
           given more than once, and may be combined with strip options other
           than -K.
       -o file
           Put the stripped output in file, rather than replacing the existing
           file.  When this argument is used, only one objfile argument may be
           specified.
       -p
       --preserve-dates
           Preserve the access and modification dates of the file.
       -D
       --enable-deterministic-archives
           Operate in deterministic mode.  When copying archive members and
           writing the archive index, use zero for UIDs, GIDs, timestamps, and
           use consistent file modes for all files.
           If binutils was configured with --enable-deterministic-archives,
           then this mode is on by default.  It can be disabled with the -U
           option, below.
       -U
       --disable-deterministic-archives
           Do not operate in deterministic mode.  This is the inverse of the
           -D option, above: when copying archive members and writing the
           archive index, use their actual UID, GID, timestamp, and file mode
           values.
           This is the default unless binutils was configured with
           --enable-deterministic-archives.
       -w
       --wildcard
           Permit regular expressions in symbolnames used in other command
           line options.  The question mark (?), asterisk (*), backslash (\)
           and square brackets ([]) operators can be used anywhere in the
           symbol name.  If the first character of the symbol name is the
           exclamation point (!) then the sense of the switch is reversed for
           that symbol.  For example:
                     -w -K !foo -K fo*
           would cause strip to only keep symbols that start with the letters
           "fo", but to discard the symbol "foo".
       -x
       --discard-all
           Remove non-global symbols.
       -X
       --discard-locals
           Remove compiler-generated local symbols.  (These usually start with
           L or ..)
       --keep-file-symbols
           When stripping a file, perhaps with --strip-debug or
           --strip-unneeded, retain any symbols specifying source file names,
           which would otherwise get stripped.
       --only-keep-debug
           Strip a file, emptying the contents of any sections that would not
           be stripped by --strip-debug and leaving the debugging sections
           intact.  In ELF files, this preserves all the note sections in the
           output as well.
           Note - the section headers of the stripped sections are preserved,
           including their sizes, but the contents of the section are
           discarded.  The section headers are preserved so that other tools
           can match up the debuginfo file with the real executable, even if
           that executable has been relocated to a different address space.
           The intention is that this option will be used in conjunction with
           --add-gnu-debuglink to create a two part executable.  One a
           stripped binary which will occupy less space in RAM and in a
           distribution and the second a debugging information file which is
           only needed if debugging abilities are required.  The suggested
           procedure to create these files is as follows:
           1.<Link the executable as normal.  Assuming that is is called>
               "foo" then...
           1.<Run "objcopy --only-keep-debug foo foo.dbg" to>
               create a file containing the debugging info.
           1.<Run "objcopy --strip-debug foo" to create a>
               stripped executable.
           1.<Run "objcopy --add-gnu-debuglink=foo.dbg foo">
               to add a link to the debugging info into the stripped
               executable.
           Note---the choice of ".dbg" as an extension for the debug info file
           is arbitrary.  Also the "--only-keep-debug" step is optional.  You
           could instead do this:
           1.<Link the executable as normal.>
           1.<Copy "foo" to "foo.full">
           1.<Run "strip --strip-debug foo">
           1.<Run "objcopy --add-gnu-debuglink=foo.full foo">
           i.e., the file pointed to by the --add-gnu-debuglink can be the
           full executable.  It does not have to be a file created by the
           --only-keep-debug switch.
           Note---this switch is only intended for use on fully linked files.
           It does not make sense to use it on object files where the
           debugging information may be incomplete.  Besides the gnu_debuglink
           feature currently only supports the presence of one filename
           containing debugging information, not multiple filenames on a one-
           per-object-file basis.
       -V
       --version
           Show the version number for strip.
       -v
       --verbose
           Verbose output: list all object files modified.  In the case of
           archives, strip -v lists all members of the archive.
       @file
           Read command-line options from file.  The options read are inserted
           in place of the original @file option.  If file does not exist, or
           cannot be read, then the option will be treated literally, and not
           removed.
           Options in file are separated by whitespace.  A whitespace
           character may be included in an option by surrounding the entire
           option in either single or double quotes.  Any character (including
           a backslash) may be included by prefixing the character to be
           included with a backslash.  The file may itself contain additional
           @file options; any such options will be processed recursively.
SEE ALSO
       the Info entries for binutils.
COPYRIGHT
       Copyright (c) 1991-2016 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
       Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
       under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or
       any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
       Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover
       Texts.  A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU
       Free Documentation License".

binutils-2.27                     2023-10-09                          STRIP(1)