objcopy

Copy data to another file

$ objcopy [path/to/source_file] [path/to/target_file]

$ objcopy --input-target=[input_format] --output-target [output_format] [path/to/source_file] [path/to/target_file]

$ objcopy --strip-all [path/to/source_file] [path/to/target_file]

$ objcopy --strip-debug [path/to/source_file] [path/to/target_file]

$ objcopy --only-section [section] [path/to/source_file] [path/to/target_file]

objcopy [-F bfdname | --target=bfdname] [-I bfdname | --input-target=bfdname] [-O bfdname | --output-target=bfdname] [options] infile [outfile]

objcopy copies the contents of an object file to another, optionally transforming it in the process. It uses the GNU BFD library to read and write object files in various formats including ELF, COFF, S-records, and raw binary.
Common uses include: stripping symbols to reduce binary size, extracting debug information to separate files, converting between executable formats (e.g., ELF to raw binary for embedded systems), and copying or removing specific sections from object files.

-I bfdname, --input-target=bfdname

Consider the source file's object format to be bfdname

Write the output file using the object format bfdname

Use bfdname as the format for both input and output

Copy only the specified section to the output

Remove the specified section from the output

Remove all symbol and relocation information

Remove debugging symbols only

Strip everything except debugging information

Add a .gnudebuglink section linking to file_

Dump contents of section name to file

Rename section old to new with optional flags

Set architecture when input is binary format

List all available BFD target formats

Cannot change the endianness of input files; target format must match source endianness or have no endianness (like S-records). Copying relocatable object files between formats may not preserve all information correctly. Fully linked executables copy more reliably across formats.

Part of GNU Binutils, first released in 1991 alongside other binary utilities like objdump and nm. Developed to complement the GNU toolchain (GCC, GAS, ld) for cross-platform development and embedded systems programming.

objdump(1), strip(1), readelf(1), nm(1), ld(1)