strip

remove debug information from executable files 

Command

SYNOPSIS

strip [-fm] file ...

DESCRIPTION

Some linkers can write symbol tables into executable files for the aid of debuggers and other programming tools.

strip removes symbolic information (and other information not required for execution) from an executable file with a view to conserving disk space for production (that is, already debugged) programs. The Windows executable headers indicate how much data should be in an executable file. strip removes all data that should not be there. Thus it should successfully remove any symbol table; however, any executable which uses data outside its executable image, fails.

Normally, attempting to use strip on an executable which contains a digital certificate results in an error. You can use -f to avoid this error, although this is not recommended.

Options

-f 

forces the executable to be stripped even if a digital certificate is present.

-m 

preserves the timestamp of file.

DIAGNOSTICS

Possible exit status values are:

0 

Successful completion.

1 

Failure due to any of the following:

— file could not be opened
— an error occurred while reading file
— file is not an executable file
— file is executable, but appears corrupted
2 

No file was specified on the command line.

Messages

file "name": system error 

The named executable file does not exist or is unreadable.

Cannot create temporary file 
Output error (no space) on file 

There is insufficient disk space to hold a temporary copy of the executable file. For implementation reasons, strip makes a copy of each file being stripped.

File "name": not in executable format 

This is a warning that file name is not modified.

PORTABILITY

POSIX.2. x/OPEN Portability Guide 4.0. All UNIX systems. Windows 10. Windows Server 2016. Windows Server 2019. Windows 11. Windows Server 2022. Windows Server 2025.

AVAILABILITY

PTC MKS Toolkit for Developers
PTC MKS Toolkit for Interoperability
PTC MKS Toolkit for Professional Developers
PTC MKS Toolkit for Professional Developers 64-Bit Edition
PTC MKS Toolkit for Enterprise Developers
PTC MKS Toolkit for Enterprise Developers 64-Bit Edition

PTC MKS Toolkit 10.5 Documentation Build 40.