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]
             [--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
           Keep only symbol symbolname from the source file.  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 ..)

       --only-keep-debug
           Strip a file, removing any sections  that  would  be  stripped  by  --strip-debug  and
           leaving the debugging sections.

           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.

       -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.

SEE ALSO

       the Info entries for binutils.

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (c) 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997,  1998,  1999,  2000,  2001,  2002,
       2003, 2004 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''.