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]
             [-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]
             [--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.  This option may be given more than  once.
           Note that using this option inappropriately may make the output file unusable.

       -s
       --strip-all
           Remove all symbols.

       -g
       -S
       -d
       --strip-debug
           Remove debugging symbols only.

       --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.

       -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,  removing  contents  of  any sections that would not be stripped by --strip-debug and
           leaving the debugging sections intact.  In ELF files, this preserves all note sections in the output.

           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">

           ie 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, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003,  2004,  2005,
       2006, 2007 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 1.1 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".