docs: Windows build intructions result in a large binary #30593

1. 
   vostrnad commented at 8:07 am on August 6, 2024: none

   Following the intructions in doc/build-windows.md results in a bitcoind binary that’s almost 440 MB. For comparison, the latest release binary is around 15 MB. Are the instructions perhaps missing a flag to create a release build or something like that? I’m using WSL.
2. 
   fanquake commented at 8:20 am on August 6, 2024: member

   It’s the debug symbols. If you run strip src/bitcoind.exe you’ll end up with a ~15mb binary.
3. 
   hebasto commented at 8:20 am on August 6, 2024: member

   For comparison, the latest release binary is around 15 MB.

   The release binaries are stripped of debug info.

4. 
   vostrnad commented at 8:39 am on August 6, 2024: none

   Thank you, that was it. It this something worth noting in the docs?
5. 
   willcl-ark commented at 1:31 pm on August 6, 2024: member

   In a post-cmake world this is the type of thing I would expect developers to add to their own cmakuserpresets.json, although I don’t see any reason it couldn’t be documented too. Compiling without debug symbols is already documented in build-unix.md:

   https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/43740f4971f45cd5499470b6a085b3ecd8b96d28/doc/build-unix.md?plain=1#L30

   But even building with CFLAGS and CXXFLAGS leaves some info strip is able to remove to further reduce binary size.

6. 
   evehash commented at 1:35 pm on August 15, 2024: none

   Same issue when compiling 27.1 to build my own docker images in alpine. Same process, just switching tags.

    0 make HOST=$(gcc -dumpmachine) NO_QT=1 NO_ZMQ=1 NO_WALLET=1 NO_BDB=1 NO_SQLITE=1 \
    1  && ./autogen.sh \
    2  && ./configure \
    3    --prefix=$PWD/depends/$(gcc -dumpmachine) LDFLAGS="-static-libstdc++"  \
    4    --disable-bench \
    5    --disable-cli \
    6    --disable-debug \
    7    --disable-man \
    8    --disable-tests \
    9    --disable-upnp \
   10    --disable-wallet \
   11    --disable-zmq \
   12    --with-qrencode=no \
   13    --enable-fuzz-binary=no \
   14    --enable-strip \
   15    --without-gui \
   16    --without-bdb \
   17    --with-sqlite=no \    
   18  && make
   

   0REPOSITORY       TAG           IMAGE ID       CREATED         SIZE
   1bitcoind         27.1          7a14ec692f8c   2 days ago      149MB
   2bitcoind         26.2          6fc0c7867196   4 days ago      80.1MB
   

   Just adding the option “-s” or “–strip-all”. Example: LDFLAGS="-static-libstdc++ -s" reduces the binary in 27.1 to 79 MB.

7. 
   davidgumberg commented at 6:53 am on September 9, 2024: contributor

   +1 to adding a note in doc/build-windows.md
8. fanquake added the label Docs on Mar 5, 2025
9. fanquake added the label Build system on Mar 5, 2025
10. hebasto closed this on Mar 8, 2025

    ---

11. hebasto referenced this in commit 4637cb1eec on Mar 8, 2025

Contributors
vostrnad fanquake hebasto willcl-ark evehash davidgumberg

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