source: chapter08/binutils.xml@ b6ff6a8

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  <!ENTITY % general-entities SYSTEM "../general.ent">
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<sect1 id="ch-system-binutils" role="wrap">
  <?dbhtml filename="binutils.html"?>

  <sect1info condition="script">
    <productname>binutils</productname>
    <productnumber>&binutils-version;</productnumber>
    <address>&binutils-url;</address>
  </sect1info>

  <title>Binutils-&binutils-version;</title>

  <indexterm zone="ch-system-binutils">
    <primary sortas="a-Binutils">Binutils</primary>
  </indexterm>

  <sect2 role="package">
    <title/>

    <para>The Binutils package contains a linker, an assembler, and other
    tools for handling object files.</para>

    <segmentedlist>
      <segtitle>&buildtime;</segtitle>
      <segtitle>&diskspace;</segtitle>

      <seglistitem>
        <seg>&binutils-fin-sbu;</seg>
        <seg>&binutils-fin-du;</seg>
      </seglistitem>
    </segmentedlist>

  </sect2>

  <sect2 role="installation">
    <title>Installation of Binutils</title>

    <para>The Binutils documentation recommends building Binutils
    in a dedicated build directory:</para>

<screen><userinput remap="pre">mkdir -v build
cd       build</userinput></screen>

    <para>Prepare Binutils for compilation:</para>

<screen><userinput remap="configure">../configure --prefix=/usr       \
             --sysconfdir=/etc   \
             --enable-gold       \
             --enable-ld=default \
             --enable-plugins    \
             --enable-shared     \
             --disable-werror    \
             --enable-64-bit-bfd \
             --with-system-zlib</userinput></screen>
    <variablelist>
      <title>The meaning of the configure parameters:</title>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><parameter>--enable-gold</parameter></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Build the gold linker and install it as ld.gold (alongside the
          default linker).</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><parameter>--enable-ld=default</parameter></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Build the original bfd linker and install it as both ld (the
          default linker) and ld.bfd.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><parameter>--enable-plugins</parameter></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Enables plugin support for the linker.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><parameter>--enable-64-bit-bfd</parameter></term>
        <listitem>
           <para>Enables 64-bit support (on hosts with narrower word sizes).
           May not be needed on 64-bit systems, but does no harm.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><parameter>--with-system-zlib</parameter></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Use the installed zlib library instead of building the
          included version.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

    </variablelist>

    <para>Compile the package:</para>

<screen><userinput remap="make">make tooldir=/usr</userinput></screen>

    <variablelist>
      <title>The meaning of the make parameter:</title>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><parameter>tooldir=/usr</parameter></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Normally, the tooldir (the directory where the executables will
          ultimately be located) is set to <filename
          class="directory">$(exec_prefix)/$(target_alias)</filename>. For
          example, ARM64 machines would expand that to <filename
          class="directory">/usr/aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu</filename>. Because this is
          a custom system, this target-specific directory in <filename
          class="directory">/usr</filename> is not required. <filename
          class="directory">$(exec_prefix)/$(target_alias)</filename> would be
          used if the system were used to cross-compile (for example, compiling a
          package on an Intel machine that generates code that can be executed
          on PowerPC machines).</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

    </variablelist>

    <important>
      <para>The test suite for Binutils in this section is considered critical.
      Do not skip it under any circumstances.</para>
    </important>

    <para>Test the results:</para>

<screen><userinput remap="test">make -k check</userinput></screen>

    <para>For a list of failed tests, run:</para>

<screen><userinput remap="test">grep '^FAIL:' $(find -name '*.log')</userinput></screen>

    <para>Three tests in the gprofng suite are known to fail.</para>

    <para>Install the package:</para>

<screen><userinput remap="install">make tooldir=/usr install</userinput></screen>

    <para>Remove useless static libraries:</para>

<screen><userinput remap="install">rm -fv /usr/lib/lib{bfd,ctf,ctf-nobfd,gprofng,opcodes,sframe}.a</userinput></screen>

  </sect2>

  <sect2 id="contents-binutils" role="content">
    <title>Contents of Binutils</title>

    <segmentedlist>
      <segtitle>Installed programs</segtitle>
      <segtitle>Installed libraries</segtitle>
      <segtitle>Installed directory</segtitle>

      <seglistitem>
        <seg>addr2line, ar, as, c++filt, dwp, elfedit, gprof, gprofng, ld, ld.bfd, ld.gold, nm,
        objcopy, objdump, ranlib, readelf, size, strings, and strip</seg>
        <seg>libbfd.so, libctf.so, libctf-nobfd.so, libgprofng.so,
        libopcodes.so, and libsframe.so</seg>
        <seg>/usr/lib/ldscripts</seg>
      </seglistitem>
    </segmentedlist>

    <variablelist>
      <bridgehead renderas="sect3">Short Descriptions</bridgehead>
      <?dbfo list-presentation="list"?>
      <?dbhtml list-presentation="table"?>

      <varlistentry id="addr2line">
        <term><command>addr2line</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Translates program addresses to file names and line numbers;
          given an address and the name of an executable, it uses the debugging
          information in the executable to determine which source file and line
          number are associated with the address</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-binutils addr2line">
            <primary sortas="b-addr2line">addr2line</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="ar">
        <term><command>ar</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Creates, modifies, and extracts from archives</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-binutils ar">
            <primary sortas="b-ar">ar</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="as">
        <term><command>as</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>An assembler that assembles the output of <command>gcc</command>
          into object files</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-binutils as">
            <primary sortas="b-as">as</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="c-filt">
        <term><command>c++filt</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Used by the linker to de-mangle C++ and Java symbols and to keep
          overloaded functions from clashing</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-binutils c-filt">
            <primary sortas="b-c++filt">c++filt</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="dwp">
        <term><command>dwp</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>The DWARF packaging utility</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-binutils dwp">
            <primary sortas="dwp">dwp</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="elfedit">
        <term><command>elfedit</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Updates the ELF headers of ELF files</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-binutils elfedit">
            <primary sortas="b-elfedit">elfedit</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="gprof">
        <term><command>gprof</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Displays call graph profile data</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-binutils gprof">
            <primary sortas="b-gprof">gprof</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="gprofng">
        <term><command>gprofng</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Gathers and analyzes performance data</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-binutils gprofng">
            <primary sortas="b-gprofng">gprofng</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="ld">
        <term><command>ld</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>A linker that combines a number of object and archive files
          into a single file, relocating their data and tying up symbol
          references</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-binutils ld">
            <primary sortas="b-ld">ld</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="ld.gold">
        <term><command>ld.gold</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>A cut down version of ld that only supports the
          elf object file format</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-binutils ld.gold">
            <primary sortas="b-ld.gold">ld.gold</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="ld.bfd">
        <term><command>ld.bfd</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>A hard link to <command>ld</command></para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-binutils ld.bfd">
            <primary sortas="b-ld.bfd">ld.bfd</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="nm">
        <term><command>nm</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Lists the symbols occurring in a given object file</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-binutils nm">
            <primary sortas="b-nm">nm</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="objcopy">
        <term><command>objcopy</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Translates one type of object file into another</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-binutils objcopy">
            <primary sortas="b-objcopy">objcopy</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="objdump">
        <term><command>objdump</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Displays information about the given object file, with options
          controlling the particular information to display; the information
          shown is useful to programmers who are working on the compilation
          tools</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-binutils objdump">
            <primary sortas="b-objdump">objdump</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="ranlib">
        <term><command>ranlib</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Generates an index of the contents of an archive and stores it
          in the archive; the index lists all of the symbols defined by archive
          members that are relocatable object files</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-binutils ranlib">
            <primary sortas="b-ranlib">ranlib</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="readelf">
        <term><command>readelf</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Displays information about ELF type binaries</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-binutils readelf">
            <primary sortas="b-readelf">readelf</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="size">
        <term><command>size</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Lists the section sizes and the total size for the given
          object files</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-binutils size">
            <primary sortas="b-size">size</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="strings">
        <term><command>strings</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Outputs, for each given file, the sequences of printable
          characters that are of at least the specified length (defaulting to
          four); for object files, it prints, by default, only the strings from
          the initializing and loading sections while for other types of files, it
          scans the entire file</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-binutils strings">
            <primary sortas="b-strings">strings</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="strip">
        <term><command>strip</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Discards symbols from object files</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-binutils strip">
            <primary sortas="b-strip">strip</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="libbfd">
        <term><filename class="libraryfile">libbfd</filename></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>The Binary File Descriptor library</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-binutils libbfd">
            <primary sortas="c-libbfd">libbfd</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="libctf">
        <term><filename class="libraryfile">libctf</filename></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>The Compat ANSI-C Type Format debugging support library</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-binutils libctf">
            <primary sortas="c-libctf">libctf</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="libctf-nobfd">
        <term><filename class="libraryfile">libctf-nobfd</filename></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>A libctf variant which does not use libbfd functionality</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-binutils libctf-nobfd">
            <primary sortas="c-libctf-nobfd">libctf-nobfd</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="libgprofng">
        <term><filename class="libraryfile">libgprofng</filename></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>A library containing most routines used by
          <command>gprofng</command></para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-binutils libgprofng">
            <primary sortas="c-libgprofng">libgprofng</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="libopcodes">
        <term><filename class="libraryfile">libopcodes</filename></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>A library for dealing with opcodes&mdash;the <quote>readable
          text</quote> versions of instructions for the processor;
          it is used for building utilities like
          <command>objdump</command></para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-binutils libopcodes">
            <primary sortas="c-libopcodes">libopcodes</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="libsframe">
        <term><filename class="libraryfile">libsframe</filename></term>
        <listitem>
           <para>A library to support online backtracing using a 
           simple unwinder</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-binutils libsframe">
            <primary sortas="c-libsframe">libsframe</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

    </variablelist>

  </sect2>

</sect1>