Strip (Unix)

strip is a shell command for removing information from binary executable programs and object files that is not required for execution – typically including debugging data, symbol tables, relocation information, and other metadata. The resulting file generally has a smaller size and potentially has increased performance. The resulting file is known as a stripped binary.^[1]

strip
Original author(s)	Dennis Ritchie (AT&T Bell Laboratories)
Developer(s)	Various open-source and commercial developers
Initial release	June 12, 1972; 53 years ago (1972-06-12)
Written in	C
Operating system	Unix, Unix-like, Plan 9, Microsoft Windows
Platform	Cross-platform
Type	Command
License	Plan 9: MIT License

Using strip can enhance the security of an executable by making it more difficult to reverse-engineer. The absence of symbol and debugging information complicates the program analysis of the binary.

The effect of strip can also be achieved via a compiler or linker to perform the same process.^[2] For example, in the GNU C compiler (gcc), this is done via the -s option.^[2]

The command is available in Unix, Plan 9, and Unix-like systems. The GNU Project includes an implementation in the GNU Binutils package. The command has been implemented in to other operating systems including Windows.

See also

• Free and open-source software portal

• Dead code elimination – Compiler optimization to remove code which does not affect the program resultsPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
• Debug symbol – Type of identifier in computer science
• Executable compression – Means of compressing an executable file
• List of POSIX commands
• strings (Unix) – Shell command for extracting printable text from a binary file
• Symbol table – Data structure used by a language translator such as a compiler or interpreter