strip(1) User Commands strip(1)
NAME
strip - strip symbol table, debugging and line number information from
an object file
SYNOPSIS
strip [-lVx] [-c [!]class1,[!]class2,...] file...
DESCRIPTION
The strip command removes sections from ELF object files. By default,
the symbol table SHT_SYMTAB and its associated string table, symbol
sort sections, debugging information, and line number information is
removed.
The default set of candidate sections corresponds to the debug and sym-
bol class identifiers to the -c option. The -c, -l, or -x options can
be used to select a different set of candidate sections.
Once this stripping process has been done, limited symbolic debugging
access is available for that file. Therefore, this command is normally
run only on production modules that have been debugged and tested.
If strip is executed on a common archive file (see ar.h(3HEAD)) in ad-
dition to processing the members, strip removes the archive symbol ta-
ble. The archive symbol table must be restored by executing the ar(1)
command with the -s option before the archive can be linked by the
ld(1) command.
strip is used to reduce the file storage overhead taken by the object
file.
OPTIONS
The following options are supported:
-c=[!]class1,[!]class2,...
Strip a specific class of section. This option provides fine
grained control over the sections to be removed.
The strip class descriptions that follow only apply to non-allocat-
able sections.
Some classes cause other classes to be implicitly included, or en-
capsulated. Such cases are noted in the class descriptions below.
Each class token can be prepended with a '!' to indicate that the
class should not be removed. This definition can be useful to pre-
vent a class from including another normally encapsulated class.
For example, while the nonalloc class encapsulates all non-alloca-
ble sections, -c nonalloc,!note removes all non-allocatable sec-
tions except for the note section.
Stripped sections are completely removed from the output object.
The following classes of section can be defined.
nonalloc
Strip any non-allocatable section. These sections are identi-
fied as not including the SHF_ALLOC section flag. This class
encapsulates all of the other classes, except for the symbol
class. The nonalloc class is often sufficient by itself to re-
move any unwanted sections.
annotate
Strip any annotation section. These sections provide informa-
tion that is used by memory access tools, and coverage related
tools. These sections are identified by having a SHT_SUNW_ANNO-
TATE section type.
comment
Strip any comment section. These sections are identified by
having a .comment section name. Alternatively, the mcs(1) util-
ity is commonly used to manipulate comment sections.
compcom
Strip any compiler commentary section. These sections are iden-
tified by having a .compcom section name.
ctf
Strip CTF (Compact C Type Format) sections. These sections are
identified by having a .SUNW_ctf section name, and also by hav-
ing a SHT_SUNW_ctf section type.
debug
Strip sections commonly used to contain debugging data. These
sections are identified by having a .debug*, .stab*, or .zde-
bug* section name. These sections are also identified by having
a section type of SHT_SUNW_DEBUG or SHT_SUNW_DEBUGSTR. This
class also encapsulates the compcom, and line classes.
exclude
Strip any excludable section. These sections are identified by
having a SHF_EXCLUDE section flag. This class can be useful
when manipulating a relocatable object. By default, such sec-
tions are automatically excluded when a dynamic object, or ker-
nel module, is created, and are retained when creating a relo-
catable object.
line
Strip line number debug section. These sections are named
.line.
note
Strip any note section. These sections are identified by having
a SHT_NOTE section type.
sort_sym_addr, sort_sym_name
sort, sort_addr, sort_name, sort_sym
Strip the symbol sort sections associated to the SHT_SYMTAB
symbol table. Each of these symbol tables typically have asso-
ciated symbol sort sections, sorted by address, and by name.
sort_sym_addr By-address .symtab symbol sort sections
(SHT_SUNW_symsort, SHT_SUNW_tlssort).
sort_sym_name By-name .symtab symbol sort sections
(SHT_SUNW_symnsort).
The remaining symbol sort section class tokens provide combina-
tions of the previous items, and are provided for convenience.
sort, sort_sym sort_sym_addr, and sort_sym_name.
sort_addr sort_sym_addr.
sort_name sort_sym_name.
symbol
Strip any non-allocatable symbol table, providing the file is
not a relocatable object. These sections are identified by hav-
ing a SHT_SYMTAB section type. This class also encapsulates the
sort_sym classes. Any associated string table, symbol sort sec-
tions, or CTF section are also removed.
-l
Strip line number information only. This option is equivalent to
using the -c option with the line class identifier.
-V
--version
Print version information.
-x
Does not strip the symbol table. This option is equivalent to using
the -c option with the !symbol class identifier.
-?
--help
Print usage message and immediately exit.
OPERANDS
The following operand is supported:
file A path name referring to an executable file.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
See environ(7) for descriptions of the following environment variables
that affect the execution of strip: LANG, LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, LC_MES-
SAGES, and NLSPATH.
EXIT STATUS
The following exit values are returned:
0 Successful completion.
>0 An error occurred.
FILES
/tmp/strip_* Temporary files
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(7) for descriptions of the following attributes:
+------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
+------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| Availability |developer/base-developer-utilities |
+------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| Interface Stability |Committed |
+------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| Standard |See standards(7). |
+------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
SEE ALSO
ar(1), as(1), elfcompress(1), ld(1), mcs(1), tmpnam(3C), elf(3ELF),
ar.h(3HEAD), a.out(5), attributes(7), environ(7), standards(7)
NOTES
The strip command is used to remove a standard predefined set of sec-
tions from an ELF object file. To remove a user specified section by
name, see mcs(1).
The strip command is unable to modify core files, or ancillary objects.
The strip -c option corresponds to the ld -z strip-class option. Per-
forming this operation at link-edit time, rather than using strip to
post process objects is more efficient, but otherwise equivalent. See
ld(1).
Oracle Solaris 11.4 28 May 2024 strip(1)