LLVM-NM(1)

📦 version 23.1.3, in centos-stream 9

💅 LLVM-NM(1) — the LLVM girlies' edition ✨

okay so bestie, this is llvm-nm, and it lives in the LLVM manual family (section 1, if you're keeping track 🎀). Pull up a chair, grab a strawberry drink 🍓, and let's get into it.

🌸 NAME 🌸

llvm-nm — lists the symbol table of LLVM bitcode files and object files. that's it, that's the vibe, no cap.

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

llvm-nm [options] [filenames...]

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

okay so the llvm-nm utility lists the names of symbols from LLVM bitcode files, object files, and archives. Every symbol gets listed with a little bit of simple info about where it came from — it's giving provenance, it's giving receipts 💅.

if you don't specify a filename, a.out is used as the input. and if you use - as a filename, llvm-nm will read a file from its standard input stream. cute!

llvm-nm's default output format is the traditional BSD nm output format. each one of those output records is made of an (optional) 8-digit hexadecimal address, then a type code character, then a name, for each symbol. one record per line bestie, fields separated by spaces. and when the address is omitted? it gets replaced by 8 spaces. iconic spacing behaviour, honestly.

so here are the supported type code characters. where both lower and upper-case characters are listed for the same meaning, a lower-case character represents a local symbol, whilst an upper-case character represents a global (external) symbol. iykyk 🧚

  • a, A — Absolute symbol.
  • b, B — Uninitialized data (bss) object.
  • C — Common symbol. Multiple definitions link together into one definition.
  • d, D — Writable data object.
  • i, I — COFF: .idata symbol or symbol in a section with IMAGE_SCN_LNK_INFO set.
  • n — ELF: local symbol from non-alloc section. COFF: debug symbol.
  • N — ELF: debug section symbol, or global symbol from non-alloc section.
  • s, S — COFF: section symbol. Mach-O: absolute symbol or symbol from a section other than __TEXT_EXEC __text, __TEXT __text, __DATA __data, or __DATA __bss.
  • r, R — Read-only data object.
  • t, T — Code (text) object.
  • u — ELF: GNU unique symbol.
  • U — Named object is undefined in this file.
  • v — ELF: Undefined weak object. It is not a link failure if the object is not defined.
  • V — ELF: Defined weak object symbol. This definition will only be used if no regular definitions exist in a link. If multiple weak definitions and no regular definitions exist, one of the weak definitions will be used.
  • w — Undefined weak symbol other than an ELF object symbol. It is not a link failure if the symbol is not defined.
  • W — Defined weak symbol other than an ELF object symbol. This definition will only be used if no regular definitions exist in a link. If multiple weak definitions and no regular definitions exist, one of the weak definitions will be used.
  • - — Mach-O: N_STAB symbol.
  • ? — Something unrecognizable. it's giving mystery, it's giving "who is she" 😭

and here's the tea about bitcode files ☕ because LLVM bitcode files typically contain objects that are not considered to have addresses until they are linked into an executable image or dynamically compiled "just-in-time", llvm-nm does not print an address for any symbol in an LLVM bitcode file — even symbols which are defined in the bitcode file. so don't come for her about missing addresses, she's literally built different.

💖 OPTIONS 💖

okay this is the big one, hydrate before reading bestie 🫶

  • -B — Use BSD output format. Alias for --format=bsd.
  • -X — Specify the type of XCOFF object file, ELF object file, or IR object file input from command line or from archive files that llvm-nm should examine. The mode must be one of the following:
    • 32 — Process only 32-bit object files.
    • 64 — Process only 64-bit object files.
    • 32_64 — Process both 32-bit and 64-bit object files.
    • any — Process all the supported object files.

On AIX OS, the default is to process 32-bit object files only and to ignore 64-bit objects. That can be changed by setting the OBJECT_MODE environment variable. For example, OBJECT_MODE=64 causes llvm-nm to process 64-bit objects and ignore 32-bit objects. The -X flag overrides the OBJECT_MODE variable.

On other operating systems, the default is to process all object files: the OBJECT_MODE environment variable is not supported. (she said "not on my watch" 💀)

  • --debug-syms, -a — Show all symbols, even those usually suppressed.
  • --defined-only, -U — Print only symbols defined in this file.
  • --demangle, -C — Demangle symbol names.
  • --dynamic, -D — Display dynamic symbols instead of normal symbols.
  • --export-symbols — Print sorted symbols with their visibility (if applicable), with duplicates removed.
  • --extern-only, -g — Print only symbols whose definitions are external; that is, accessible from other files.
  • --format=<format>, -f — Select an output format; format may be sysv, posix, darwin, bsd or just-symbols. The default is bsd.
  • --help, -h — Print a summary of command-line options and their meanings.
  • -j — Print just the symbol names. Alias for --format=just-symbols.
  • --line-numbers, -l — Use debugging information to print the filenames and line numbers where symbols are defined. Undefined symbols have the location of their first relocation printed instead.
  • -m — Use Darwin format. Alias for --format=darwin.
  • --no-demangle — Don't demangle symbol names. This is the default.
  • --no-llvm-bc — Disable the LLVM bitcode reader.
  • --no-sort, -p — Show symbols in the order encountered.
  • --no-weak, -W — Don't print weak symbols.
  • --numeric-sort, -n, -v — Sort symbols by address.
  • --portability, -P — Use POSIX.2 output format. Alias for --format=posix.
  • --print-armap — Print the archive symbol table, in addition to the symbols.
  • --print-file-name, -A, -o — Precede each symbol with the file it came from.
  • --print-size, -S — Show symbol size as well as address (not applicable for Mach-O).
  • --quiet — Suppress 'no symbols' diagnostic.
  • --radix=<RADIX>, -t — Specify the radix of the symbol address(es). Values accepted are d (decimal), x (hexadecimal) and o (octal).
  • --reverse-sort, -r — Sort symbols in reverse order.
  • --size-sort — Sort symbols by size.
  • --special-syms — Do not filter special symbols from the output.
  • --undefined-only, -u — Print only undefined symbols.
  • --version, -V — Display the version of the llvm-nm executable, then exit. Does not stack with other commands.
  • @<FILE> — Read command-line options from response file FILE.

🍓 MACH-O SPECIFIC OPTIONS 🍓

apple girlies this section is for you 🎀

  • --add-dyldinfo — Add symbols from the dyldinfo, if they are not already in the symbol table. This is the default.
  • --add-inlinedinfo — Add symbols from the inlined libraries, TBD file inputs only.
  • --arch=<arch1[,arch2,...]> — Dump the symbols from the specified architecture(s).
  • --dyldinfo-only — Dump only symbols from the dyldinfo.
  • --no-dyldinfo — Do not add any symbols from the dyldinfo.
  • -s <segment> <section> — Dump only symbols from this segment and section name.
  • -x — Print symbol entry in hex.

🧚 XCOFF SPECIFIC OPTIONS 🧚

  • --no-rsrc — Exclude resource file symbols (__rsrc) from export symbol list.

💀 BUGS 💀

  • llvm-nm does not support the full set of arguments that GNU nm does. so if your GNU-era tutorial isn't working, that's why bestie, not you 🙈

⭐ EXIT STATUS ⭐

llvm-nm exits with an exit code of zero. always slaying, always succeeding, no drama 💅

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

llvm-ar(1), llvm-objdump(1), llvm-readelf(1), llvm-readobj(1) — go read those next, they're the friend group 🫶

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Maintained by the LLVM Team (https://llvm.org/).

2003-2026, LLVM Project

and that's the whole page bestie! 💖 this edition you just read is from source 23, dated 2026-10-06, straight outta the LLVM crew — mwah, go list some symbols, you're gonna ate 🎀✨🔥

📦 where this page comes from