LD.LLD(1)

NAME
ld.lld - ELF linker from the LLVM project

SYNOPSIS
ld.lld [options] objfile ...

DESCRIPTION
A linker takes one or more object, archive, and library files, and combines them into an output file (an executable, a shared library, or another object file). It relocates code and data from the input files and resolves symbol references between them.

ld.lld is a drop-in replacement for the GNU BFD and gold linkers. It accepts most of the same command line arguments and linker scripts as GNU linkers.

ld.lld currently supports i386, x86-64, ARM, AArch64, LoongArch, PowerPC32, PowerPC64, MIPS32, MIPS64, RISC-V, AMDGPU, Hexagon and SPARC V9 targets. ld.lld acts as a Microsoft link.exe-compatible linker if invoked as lld-link and as macOS's ld if invoked as ld.ld64. All these targets are always supported however ld.lld was built, so you can always use ld.lld as a native linker as well as a cross linker.

OPTIONS
Many options have both a single-letter and long form. When using the long form options other than those beginning with the letter o may be specified using either one or two dashes preceding the option name. Long options beginning with o require two dashes to avoid confusion with the -o path option.

--allow-multiple-definition
    Do not error if a symbol is defined multiple times. The first definition will be used.

--allow-shlib-undefined
    Allow unresolved references in shared libraries. This option is enabled by default when linking a shared library.

--apply-dynamic-relocs
    Apply link-time values for dynamic relocations.

--as-needed
    Only set DT_NEEDED for shared libraries if used.

--auxiliary=value
    Set the DT_AUXILIARY field to the specified name.

--Bdynamic, --dy
    Link against shared libraries.

--Bstatic, --static, --dn
    Do not link against shared libraries.

-Bno-symbolic
    Don't bind default visibility defined symbols locally for -shared (default).

-Bsymbolic
    Bind default visibility defined symbols locally for -shared. Also set the DF_SYMBOLIC flag.

-Bsymbolic-non-weak
    Bind default visibility defined STB_GLOBAL symbols locally for -shared.

-Bsymbolic-functions
    Bind default visibility defined function symbols locally for -shared.

-Bsymbolic-non-weak-functions
    Bind default visibility defined STB_GLOBAL function symbols locally for -shared.

--be8
    Write a Big Endian ELF File using BE8 format(AArch32 only)

--branch-to-branch
    Enable the branch-to-branch optimizations: a branch whose target is another branch instruction is rewritten to point to the latter branch target (AArch64 and X86_64 only). Enabled by default at -O2.

--build-id=value
    Generate a build ID note. value may be one of fast, md5, sha1, tree, uuid, 0xhex-string, and none. tree is an alias for sha1. Build-IDs of type fast, md5, sha1, and tree are calculated from the object contents. fast is not intended to be cryptographically secure.

--build-id
    Synonym for --build-id=sha1.

--call-graph-profile-sort=algorithm
    algorithm may be:

    none
        Ignore call graph profile.
    hfsort
        Use hfsort.
    cdsort
        Use cdsort (default).

--color-diagnostics=value
    Use colors in diagnostics. value may be one of always, auto, and never. auto enables color if and only if output is to a terminal.

--color-diagnostics
    Alias for --color-diagnostics=auto.

--compress-debug-sections=value
    Compress DWARF debug sections. The sections remain uncompressed if compressed content would be larger. value may be

    none
        No compression.
    zlib
        The default compression level is 1 (fastest) as the debug info usually compresses well at that level.
    zstd
        Use the default compression level in zstd.

--compress-sections=section-glob={none,zlib,zstd}[:level]
    Compress output sections that match the glob and do not have the SHF_ALLOC flag. The matched sections remain uncompressed if compressed content would be larger. The compression level is level (if specified) or a default speed-focused level. This is like a generalized --compress-debug-sections.

--cref
    Output cross reference table. If -Map is specified, print to the map file.

--debug-names
    Generate a merged .debug_names section.

--default-script=file, -dT file
    In the absence of --script, read this default linker script.

--defsym=symbol=expression
    Define a symbol alias. expression may be another symbol or a linker script expression. For example, ‘--defsym=foo=bar’ or ‘--defsym=foo=bar+0x100’.

--demangle
    Demangle symbol names.

--disable-new-dtags
    Disable new dynamic tags.

--discard-all, -x
    Delete all local symbols.

--discard-locals, -X
    Delete temporary local symbols.

--discard-none
    Keep all symbols in the symbol table.

--dynamic-linker=value
    Specify the dynamic linker to be used for a dynamically linked executable. This is recorded in an ELF segment of type PT_INTERP.

--dynamic-list=file
    Similar to --export-dynamic-symbol-list. When creating a shared object, implies -Bsymbolic but does not set DF_SYMBOLIC

--EB
    Select the big-endian format in the OUTPUT_FORMAT command.

--EL
    Select the little-endian format in the OUTPUT_FORMAT command.

--eh-frame-hdr
    Request creation of .eh_frame_hdr section and PT_GNU_EH_FRAME segment header.

--emit-relocs, -q
    Generate relocations in the output.

--enable-new-dtags
    Enable new dynamic tags.

--enable-non-contiguous-regions
    Spill input sections to later matching output sections to avoid memory region overflow.

--end-lib
    End a grouping of objects that should be treated as if they were together in an archive.

--entry=entry
    Name of entry point symbol.

--error-limit=value
    Maximum number of errors to emit before stopping. A value of zero indicates that there is no limit.

--error-unresolved-symbols
    Report unresolved symbols as errors.

--error-handing-script=script_path
    Call script script_path upon some error, with tag as first argument, and an extra parameter as second argument. The script is expected to return 0 on success. Any other value is considered a generic error. tag may be missing-lib followed by the name of the missing library. undefined-symbol followed by the name of the undefined symbol.

--execute-only
    Mark executable sections unreadable. This option is currently only supported on AArch64.

--exclude-libs=value
    Exclude static libraries from automatic export.

--export-dynamic, -E
    Put symbols in the dynamic symbol table.

--export-dynamic-symbol=glob
    (executable) Put matched non-local defined symbols to the dynamic symbol table. (shared object) References to matched non-local STV_DEFAULT symbols shouldn't be bound to definitions within the shared object even if they would otherwise be due to -Bsymbolic , -Bsymbolic-functions or --dynamic-list

--export-dynamic-symbol-list=file
    Read a list of dynamic symbol patterns from file. Apply --export-dynamic-symbol on each pattern.

--fatal-warnings
    Treat warnings as errors.

--filter=value, -F value
    Set the DT_FILTER field to the specified value.

--fini=symbol
    Specify a finalizer function.

--force-group-allocation
    Only meaningful for -r. Section groups are discarded. If two section group members are placed to the same output section, combine their relocations as well.

--format=input-format, -b input-format
    Specify the format of the inputs following this option. input-format may be one of binary, elf, and default. default is a synonym for elf.

--gc-sections
    Enable garbage collection of unused sections.

--gdb-index
    Generate .gdb_index section.

--hash-style=value
    Specify hash style. value may be sysv, gnu, or both. both is the default.

--help
    Print a help message.

--icf=all
    Enable identical code folding.

--icf=safe
    Enable safe identical code folding.

--icf=none
    Disable identical code folding.

--ignore-data-address-equality
    Ignore address equality of data. C/C++ requires each data to have a unique address. This option allows lld to do unsafe optimization that breaks the requirement: create copies of read-only data or merge two or more read-only data that happen to have the same value.

--ignore-function-address-equality
    Ignore address equality of functions. This option allows non-PIC calls to a function with non-default visibility in a shared object. The function may have different addresses within the executable and within the shared object.

--image-base=value
    Set the base address to value.

--init=symbol
    Specify an initializer function.

--keep-unique=symbol
    Do not fold symbol during ICF.

-l libName, --library=libName
    Root name of library to use.

-L dir, --library-path=dir
    Add a directory to the library search path.

--lto-aa-pipeline=value
    AA pipeline to run during LTO. Used in conjunction with --lto-newpm-passes.

--lto-newpm-passes=value
    Passes to run during LTO.

--lto-Oopt-level
    Optimization level for LTO.

--lto-partitions=value
    Number of LTO codegen partitions.

-m value
    Set target emulation.

--Map=file, -M file
    Print a link map to file.

--nmagic, -n
    Do not page align sections, link against static libraries.

--no-allow-shlib-undefined
    Do not allow unresolved references in shared libraries. This option is enabled by default when linking an executable.

--no-as-needed
    Always set DT_NEEDED for shared libraries.

--no-color-diagnostics
    Do not use colors in diagnostics.

--no-demangle
    Do not demangle symbol names.

--no-dynamic-linker
    Inhibit output of an .interp section.

--no-fortran-common
    Do not search archive members for definitions to override COMMON symbols.

--no-gc-sections
    Disable garbage collection of unused sections.

--no-gnu-unique
    Disable STB_GNU_UNIQUE symbol binding.

--no-merge-exidx-entries
    Disable merging .ARM.exidx entries.

--no-nmagic
    Page align sections.

--no-omagic
    Do not set the text data sections to be writable, page align sections.

--no-relax
    Disable target-specific relaxations. For x86-64 this disables R_X86_64_GOTPCRELX and R_X86_64_REX_GOTPCRELX GOT optimization.

--no-rosegment
    Do not put read-only non-executable sections in their own segment.

--undefined-version
    Do not report version scripts that refer to undefined symbols.

--no-undefined
    Report unresolved symbols even if the linker is creating a shared library.

--no-warn-mismatch
    Do not reject unknown section types.

--no-warn-symbol-ordering
    Do not warn about problems with the symbol ordering file or call graph profile.

--no-warnings, -w
    Suppress warnings and cancel --fatal-warnings.

--no-whole-archive
    Restores the default behavior of loading archive members.

--no-pie, --no-pic-executable
    Do not create a position independent executable.

--noinhibit-exec
    Retain the executable output file whenever it is still usable.

--nostdlib
    Only search directories specified on the command line.

-o path
    Write the output executable, library, or object to path. If not specified, a.out is used as a default.

-Ovalue
    Optimize output file. value may be:

    0   Disable string merging.
    1   Enable string merging.
    2   Enable string tail merging and branch-to-branch optimization.

    -O1 is the default.

--oformat=format
    Specify the format for the output object file. The only supported format is binary, which produces output with no ELF header.

--omagic, -N
    Set the text and data sections to be readable and writable, do not page align sections, link against static libraries.

--opt-remarks-filename file
    Write optimization remarks in YAML format to file.

--opt-remarks-passes pass-regex
    Filter optimization remarks by only allowing the passes matching pass-regex.

--opt-remarks-with-hotness
    Include hotness information in the optimization remarks file.

--orphan-handling=mode
    Control how orphan sections are handled. An orphan section is one not specifically mentioned in a linker script. mode may be:

    place
        Place orphan sections in suitable output sections.
    warn
        Place orphan sections as for place and also report a warning.
    error
        Place orphan sections as for place and also report an error.

    place is the default.

--pack-dyn-relocs=format
    Pack dynamic relocations in the given format. format may be:

    none
        Do not pack. Dynamic relocations are encoded in SHT_REL(A).
    android
        Pack dynamic relocations in SHT_ANDROID_REL(A).
    relr
        Pack relative relocations in SHT_RELR, and the rest of dynamic relocations in SHT_REL(A).
    android+relr
        Pack relative relocations in SHT_RELR, and the rest of dynamic relocations in SHT_ANDROID_REL(A).

    none is the default. If --use-android-relr-tags is specified, use SHT_ANDROID_RELR instead of SHT_RELR.

--package-metadata
    Emit a percent-encoded string to the .note.package section. For example, %25 decodes to a single %.

--pic-veneer
    Always generate position independent thunks.

--pie, --pic-executable
    Create a position independent executable.

--power10-stubs=mode
    Whether to use Power10 instructions in call stubs for R_PPC64_REL24_NOTOC and TOC/NOTOC interworking. mode may be:

    yes (default) Use.
    auto
        Currently the same as yes.
    no  Don't use.

--print-gc-sections
    List removed unused sections.

--print-icf-sections
    List identical folded sections.

--print-map
    Print a link map to the standard output.

--print-archive-stats=file
    Write archive usage statistics to the specified file. Print the numbers of members and fetched members for each archive.

--push-state
    Save the current state of --as-needed, --static, and --whole-archive.

--pop-state
    Restore the states saved by --push-state.

--randomize-section-padding=seed
    Randomly insert padding between input sections and at the start of each segment using the given seed. Padding is inserted into output sections with names matching the following patterns: .bss, .data, .data.rel.ro, .lbss, .ldata, .lrodata, .ltext, .rodata and .text*.

---relax-gp
    Enable global pointer relaxation for RISC-V.

--relocatable, -r
    Create relocatable object file.

--remap-inputs=from-glob=to-file
    Input files matching from-glob are mapped to to-file. Use /dev/null to ignore an input file.

--remap-inputs-file=file
    Remap input files based on patterns in file. Each line in the remap file is of the format from-glob=to-file or a comment starting with #.

--reproduce=path
    Write a tar file to path, containing all the input files needed to reproduce the link, a text file called response.txt containing the command line options and a text file called version.txt containing the output of ld.lld --version. The archive when unpacked can be used to re-run the linker with the same options and input files.

--retain-symbols-file=file
    Retain only the symbols listed in the file.

--rpath=value, -R value
    Add a DT_RUNPATH to the output.

--rsp-quoting=value
    Quoting style for response files. The supported values are windows and posix.

--script=file, -T file
    Read linker script from file. If multiple linker scripts are given, they are processed as if they were concatenated in the order they appeared on the command line.

--section-start=section=address
    Set address of section.

--shared, --Bsharable
    Build a shared object.

--shuffle-sections=seed
    Shuffle matched sections using the given seed before mapping them to the output sections. If -1, reverse the section order. If 0, use a random seed.

--soname=value, -h value
    Set DT_SONAME to value.

--sort-common
    This option is ignored for GNU compatibility.

--sort-section=value
    Specifies sections sorting rule when linkerscript is used.

--start-lib
    Start a grouping of objects that should be treated as if they were together in an archive.

--strip-all, -s
    Strip all symbols. Implies --strip-debug.

--strip-debug, -S
    Strip debugging information.

--symbol-ordering-file=file
    Lay out sections in the order specified by file.

--sysroot=value
    Set the system root.

--target1-abs
    Interpret R_ARM_TARGET1 as R_ARM_ABS32.

--target1-rel
    Interpret R_ARM_TARGET1 as R_ARM_REL32.

--target2=type
    Interpret R_ARM_TARGET2 as type, where type is one of rel, abs, or got-rel.

--Tbss=value
    Same as --section-start with .bss as the sectionname.

--Tdata=value
    Same as --section-start with .data as the sectionname.

--Ttext=value
    Same as --section-start with .text as the sectionname.

--thinlto-cache-dir=value
    Path to ThinLTO cached object file directory.

--thinlto-cache-policy=value
    Pruning policy for the ThinLTO cache.

--thinlto-jobs=value
    Number of ThinLTO jobs.

--threads=N
    Number of threads. all (default) means all of concurrent threads supported. 1 disables multi-threading.

--fat-lto-objects
    Use the .llvm.lto section, which contains LLVM bitcode, in fat LTO object files to perform LTO.

--no-fat-lto-objects
    Ignore the .llvm.lto section in relocatable object files (default).

--time-trace
    Record time trace.

--time-trace-file=file
    Write time trace output to file.

--time-trace-granularity=value
    Minimum time granularity (in microseconds) traced by time profiler.

--trace
    Print the names of the input files.

--trace-symbol=symbol, -y symbol
    Trace references to symbol.

--undefined=symbol, -u symbol
    If symbol is not defined after symbol resolution, and there's a static library that contains an object file defining the symbol, load the member to include the object file in the output file.

--undefined-glob=pattern
    Synonym for --undefined, except that it takes a glob pattern. In a glob pattern, * matches zero or more characters,? matches any single character, and [...] matches the characters within brackets. All symbols that match a given pattern are handled as if they were given as arguments of --undefined.

--unique
    Creates a separate output section for every orphan input section.

--unresolved-symbols=value
    Determine how to handle unresolved symbols.

--use-android-relr-tags
    Use SHT_ANDROID_RELR / DT_ANDROID_RELR* tags instead of SHT_RELR / DT_RELR*.

-v, -V
    Display the version number and proceed with linking if object files are specified.

--version
    Display the version number and exit.

--verbose
    Verbose mode.

--version-script=file
    Read version script from file.

--warn-backrefs
    Warn about reverse or cyclic dependencies to or between static archives. This can be used to ensure linker invocation remains compatible with traditional Unix-like linkers.

--warn-backrefs-exclude=glob
    Glob describing an archive (or an object file within --start-lib) which should be ignored for --warn-backrefs

--warn-common
    Warn about duplicate common symbols.

--warn-ifunc-textrel
    Warn about using ifunc symbols in conjunction with text relocations. Older versions of glibc library (2.28 and earlier) has a bug that causes the segment that includes ifunc symbols to be marked as not executable when they are relocated. As a result, although the program compiles and links successfully, it gives segmentation fault when the instruction pointer reaches an ifunc symbol. Use -warn-ifunc-textrel to let lld give a warning, if the code may include ifunc symbols, may do text relocations and be linked with an older glibc version. Otherwise, there is no need to use it, as the default value does not give a warning. This flag has been introduced in late 2018, has no counter part in ld and gold linkers, and may be removed in the future.

--warn-unresolved-symbols
    Report unresolved symbols as warnings.

--whole-archive
    Force load of all members in a static library.

--why-extract=file
    Print to a file about why archive members are extracted.

--why-live=glob
    Report a chain of references preventing garbage collection for each symbol matching the glob.

--wrap=symbol
    Redirect symbol references to __wrap_symbol and __real_symbol references to symbol.

-z option
    Linker option extensions.

    dead-reloc-in-nonalloc=section_glob=value
        Resolve a relocation in a matched non-SHF_ALLOC section referencing a discarded symbol to value Accepts globs, in the event of a section matching more than one option, the last option takes precedence. An order of least specific to most specific match is recommended.

    execstack
        Make the main stack executable. Stack permissions are recorded in the PT_GNU_STACK segment.

    bti-report=[none|warning|error]
        Specify how to report the missing GNU_PROPERTY_AARCH64_FEATURE_1_BTI property. none is the default, linker will not report the missing property otherwise will be reported as a warning or an error.

    cet-report=[none|warning|error]
        Specify how to report the missing GNU_PROPERTY_X86_FEATURE_1_IBT or GNU_PROPERTY_X86_FEATURE_1_SHSTK properties. none is the default, linker will not report the missing property otherwise will be reported as a warning or an error.

    dynamic-undefined-weak
        Make undefined weak symbols dynamic when the dynamic symbol table is present, if they are referenced from relocatable object files and not forced local by symbol visibility or versioning. Do not make them dynamic when nodynamic-undefined-weak is specified. dynamic-undefined-weak is the default when building a shared object, or when an input shared object is present.

    pauth-report=[none|warning|error]
        Specify how to report the missing GNU_PROPERTY_AARCH64_FEATURE_PAUTH property. none is the default, linker will not report the missing property otherwise will be reported as a warning or an error.

    force-bti
        Force enable AArch64 BTI instruction in PLT, warn if Input ELF file does not have GNU_PROPERTY_AARCH64_FEATURE_1_BTI property.

    force-ibt
        Force enable Intel Indirect Branch Tracking in PLT, warn if an input ELF file does not have GNU_PROPERTY_X86_FEATURE_1_IBT property.

    global
        Sets the DF_1_GLOBAL flag in the DYNAMIC section. Different loaders can decide how to handle this flag on their own.

    ifunc-noplt
        Do not emit PLT entries for ifunc symbols. Instead, emit text relocations referencing the resolver. This is an experimental optimization and only suitable for standalone environments where text relocations do not have the usual drawbacks. This option must be combined with the -z notext option.

    initfirst
        Sets the DF_1_INITFIRST flag to indicate the module should be initialized first.

    interpose
        Set the DF_1_INTERPOSE flag to indicate to the runtime linker that the object is an interposer. During symbol resolution interposers are searched after the application but before other dependencies.

    lrodata-after-bss
        Place .lrodata after .bss.

    muldefs
        Do not error if a symbol is defined multiple times. The first definition will be used. This is a synonym for --allow-multiple-definition.

    nocombreloc
        Disable combining and sorting multiple relocation sections.

    nocopyreloc
        Disable the creation of copy relocations.

    nodefaultlib
        Set the DF_1_NODEFLIB flag to indicate that default library search paths should be ignored.

    nodelete
        Set the DF_1_NODELETE flag to indicate that the object cannot be unloaded from a process.

    nodlopen
        Set the DF_1_NOOPEN flag to indicate that the object may not be opened by dlopen(3).

    nognustack
        Do not emit the PT_GNU_STACK segment.

    norelro
        Do not indicate that portions of the object should be mapped read-only after initial relocation processing. The object will omit the PT_GNU_RELRO segment.

    nosectionheader
        Don't generate the section header table.

    notext
        Allow relocations against read-only segments. Sets the DT_TEXTREL flag in the DYNAMIC section.

    now Set the DF_BIND_NOW flag to indicate that the run-time loader should perform all relocation processing as part of object initialization. By default relocations may be performed on demand.

    origin
        Set the DF_ORIGIN flag to indicate that the object requires $ORIGIN processing.

    pac-plt
        AArch64 only, use pointer authentication in PLT.

    pack-relative-relocs
        Similar to -pack-dyn-relocs=relr , but synthesizes the GLIBC_ABI_DT_RELR version dependency if there is a GLIBC_2.* version dependency. glibc ld.so rejects loading a dynamically linked object without the GLIBC_ABI_DT_RELR version dependency.

    rel Use REL format for dynamic relocations.

    rela
        Use RELA format for dynamic relocations.

    retpolineplt
        Emit retpoline format PLT entries as a mitigation for CVE-2017-5715.

    rodynamic
        Make the .dynamic section read-only. The DT_DEBUG tag will not be emitted.

    separate-loadable-segments
    separate-code
    noseparate-code
        Specify whether two adjacent PT_LOAD segments are allowed to overlap in pages. noseparate-code (default) allows overlap. separate-code allows overlap between two executable segments, or two non-executable segments. separate-loadable-segments disallows overlap.

    shstk
        x86 only, use shadow stack.

    stack-size=size
        Set the main thread's stack size to size. The stack size is recorded as the size of the size. PT_GNU_STACK program segment.

    start-stop-gc
        Don't let __start_/__stop_ references retain the associated C identifier name sections (default).

    nostart-stop-gc
        Let __start_/__stop_ references retain the associated C identifier name sections.

    text
        Do not allow relocations against read-only segments. This is the default.

    nobtcfi
        Create a PT_OPENBSD_NOBTCFI segment.

    wxneeded
        Create a PT_OPENBSD_WXNEEDED segment.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

LLD_REPRODUCE
    Create a reproduce tarball with the specified filename. If --reproduce is specified, --reproduce takes precedence.

LLD_VERSION
    ld.lld creates a section named .comment containing the LLD version string. The version string can be overridden by this environment variable, which is useful to eliminate differences in the binary caused by LLD version number differences.

IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
ld.lld's handing of archive files (those with a.a file extension) is different from traditional linkers used on Unix-like systems.

Traditional linkers maintain a set of undefined symbols during linking. The linker processes each file in the order in which it appears on the command line, until the set of undefined symbols becomes empty. An object file is linked into the output object when it is encountered, with its undefined symbols added to the set. Upon encountering an archive file a traditional linker searches the objects contained therein, and processes those that satisfy symbols in the unresolved set.

Handling mutually dependent archives may be awkward when using a traditional linker. Archive files may have to be specified multiple times, or the special command line options --start-group and --end-group may be used to have the linker loop over the files in the group until no new symbols are added to the set.

ld.lld records all symbols found in objects and archives as it iterates over command line arguments. When ld.lld encounters an undefined symbol that can be resolved by an object file contained in a previously processed archive file, it immediately extracts and links it into the output object.

With certain archive inputs ld.lld may produce different results compared to traditional linkers. In practice, large bodies of third party software have been linked with ld.lld without material issues.

The --warn-backrefs option may be used to identify a linker invocation that may be incompatible with traditional Unix-like linker behavior.