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".