Linker Options

LINK is a tool that links Common Object File Format (COFF) object files and libraries to create a executable (.exe) file or dynamic-link library (DLL).

The table that follows is a comprehensive list of options for LINK.exe. This section also includes information about:

• Compiler-Controlled LINK Options

• LINK Input Files

• LINK Output

• Reserved Words

Linker options specified on the command line are not case sensitive: /base and /BASE mean the same thing.

You can specify some linker options by using the comment pragma.

Option	Purpose
@	Specifies a response file
/ALIGN	Specifies the alignment of each section
/ALLOWBIND	Specifies that a DLL cannot be bound
/ALLOWISOLATION	Specifies behavior for manifest lookup.
/ASSEMBLYDEBUG	Adds the DebuggableAttribute to a managed image.
/ASSEMBLYLINKRESOURCE	Create a link to a managed resource.
/ASSEMBLYMODULE	Specifies that a Microsoft intermediate language (MSIL) module should be imported into the assembly
/ASSEMBLYRESOURCE	Embeds a managed resource file to an assembly
/BASE	Sets a base address for the program
/CLRIMAGETYPE	Sets the type (IJW, pure, or safe) of a CLR image.
/CLRSUPPORTLASTERROR	Preserves the last error code of functions called through the P/Invoke mechanism.
/CLRTHREADATTRIBUTE	Specify which threading attribute you want applied to the entry point of your CLR program.
/CLRUNMANAGEDCODECHECK	/CLRUNMANAGEDCODECHECK specifies whether the linker will apply the SuppressUnmanagedCodeSecurity attribute to linker-generated PInvoke stubs that call from managed code into native DLLs.
/DEBUG	Creates debugging information
/DEF	Passes a module-definition (.def) file to the linker
/DEFAULTLIB	Searches the specified library when resolving external references
/DELAY	Controls the delayed loading of DLLs
/DELAYLOAD	Causes the delayed loading of the specified DLL
/DELAYSIGN	Partially sign an assembly.
/DLL	Builds a DLL
/DRIVER	Creates a Windows NT kernel mode driver
/DYNAMICBASE	Specifies whether to generate an executable image that can be randomly rebased at load-time by using the address space layout randomization (ASLR) feature of Windows Vista.
/ENTRY	Sets the starting address
/errorReport	Report internal linker errors to Microsoft.
/EXPORT	Exports a function
/FIXED	Creates a program that can be loaded only at its preferred base address
/FORCE	Forces a link to complete even with unresolved or symbols defined more than once
/FUNCTIONPADMIN	Creates a hotpatchable image.
/HEAP	Sets the size of the heap in bytes
/IDLOUT	Specifies the name of the .idl file and other MIDL output files
/IGNOREIDL	Prevents processing attribute information into an .idl file
/IMPLIB	Overrides the default import library name
/INCLUDE	Forces symbol references
/INCREMENTAL	Controls incremental linking
/KEYCONTAINER	Specify a key container to sign an assembly.
/KEYFILE	Specify key or key pair to sign an assembly.
/LARGEADDRESSAWARE	Tells the compiler that the application supports addresses larger than two gigabytes
/LIBPATH	Allows the user to override the environmental library path
/LTCG	Specifies link-time code generation
/MACHINE	Specifies the target platform
/MANIFEST	Create a side-by-side manifest file.
/MANIFESTDEPENDENCY	Specify a <dependentAssembly> section in your manifest file.
/MANIFESTFILE (Name Manifest File)	Change the default name of the manifest file.
/MANIFESTUAC	Specifies whether User Account Control (UAC) information is embedded in the program manifest.
/MAP	Creates a mapfile
/MAPINFO	Includes the specified information in the mapfile
/MERGE	Combines sections
/MIDL	Specifies MIDL command-line options
/NOASSEMBLY	Suppresses the creation of a .NET Framework assembly
/NODEFAULTLIB	Ignores all (or specified) default libraries when resolving external references
/NOENTRY	Creates a resource-only DLL
/NOLOGO	Suppresses startup banner
/NXCOMPAT	Marks an executable as tested to be compatible with Windows Data Execution Prevention feature.
/OPT	Controls LINK optimizations
/ORDER	Places COMDATs into the image in a predetermined order
/OUT	Specifies the output file name
/PDB	Creates a program database (PDB) file
/PDBSTRIPPED	Creates a program database (PDB) file that has no private symbols
/PGD	Specify .pgd file for profile guided optionizations.
/PROFILE	Produces an output file that can be used with the Performance Tools profiler.
/RELEASE	Sets the Checksum in the .exe header
/SAFESEH	Specify that the image will contain a table of safe exception handlers.
/SECTION	Overrides the attributes of a section
/STACK	Sets the size of the stack in bytes
/STUB	Attaches an MS-DOS stub program to a Win32 program
/SUBSYSTEM	Tells the operating system how to run the .exe file
/SWAPRUN	Tells the operating system to copy the linker output to a swap file before it is run
/TLBID	Allows you to specify the resource ID of the linker-generated type library
/TLBOUT	Specifies the name of the .tlb file and other MIDL output files
/TSAWARE	Creates an application that is designed specifically to run under Terminal Server
/VERBOSE	Prints linker progress messages
/VERSION	Assigns a version number
/WX	Treat linker warnings as errors.

For more information, see Compiler-Controlled LINK Options.

See Also

Reference

Setting Linker Options

Frequently Asked Questions on Building

Other Resources

C/C++ Building Reference