About
Strings scans a file for runs of printable characters and prints them. Often the quickest hint about an unknown binary. Use it on executables, memory dumps or disk images.
Install it
pkg install binutils
Run this inside Termux. If the package is already present, pkg will say so and
do nothing.
Commands worth knowing
5 of the invocations you will actually reach for. Tap the copy button to put one on your clipboard.
strings program Print every run of printable characters at the default length or longer. A first look at the text a binary holds. strings -n 8 program Raise the minimum run length, so only longer stretches show. Short fragments are cut out. strings -t x program Prefix each result with its offset in hexadecimal. Jump straight to it in a hex viewer. strings -e l program Assume sixteen-bit little-endian characters. Needed for some Windows or embedded binaries. strings -a program Scan the whole file, not only its loaded sections. Useful for raw dumps and disk images. Worked example
Run strings -n 6 program and this is what you should see.
$ strings -n 6 program
/lib/ld-linux-aarch64.so.1
libc.so.6
Usage: %s [options] file
unknown option The same text a disassembler would show, minus the code around it.
Developed by
The GNU Project .