---
title: Add symbols for native frames
description: To see function names and line numbers in traces of applications written in programming languages that compile to native code (C, C++, Rust, Go, etc.),...
url: https://www.elastic.co/docs/solutions/observability/infra-and-hosts/add-symbols-for-native-frames
products:
  - Elastic Observability
applies_to:
  - Elastic Cloud Serverless: Unavailable
  - Elastic Stack: Generally available
---

# Add symbols for native frames
To see function names and line numbers in traces of applications written in programming languages that compile to native code (C, C++, Rust, Go, etc.), you need to push symbols to the cluster using the `symbtool` CLI utility.

## Download the `symbtool` binary

Click the appropriate link for your system to download the `symbtool` binary:
- [x86_64](https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/prodfiler/symbtool-9.3.3-linux-x86_64.tar.gz)
- [ARM64](https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/prodfiler/symbtool-9.3.3-linux-arm64.tar.gz)

<note>
  The `symbtool` binary currently requires a Linux machine.
</note>


## Use the `symbtool` binary

Before using the `symbtool` binary, create an [Elasticsearch API token](/docs/deploy-manage/api-keys/elasticsearch-api-keys#create-api-key). Pass this token using the `-t` or `--api-key` argument.
You also need to copy the **Symbols** endpoint from the deployment overview page. Pass this URL using the `-u` or `--url` argument.
![profiling symbolizer url](https://www.elastic.co/docs/solutions/images/observability-profiling-symbolizer-url.png)


## Custom C, C++, Go and Rust applications

C/C++ applications must be built with debug symbols (`-g`) for symbolization to work. Rust applications must be built with [`debug = 1`](https://doc.rust-lang.org/cargo/reference/profiles.html#debug) (or higher). Go binaries will not require any special compiler flags and come with debug information by default. The debug info doesn’t have to be deployed to production, but it does have to be present temporarily to push it to the Elastic cluster.
If you don’t mind deploying your applications with debug symbols, run:
```bash
./symbtool push-symbols executable -e ./my-app -u <symbolizer url> -t <API token>
```

If you don’t want debug symbols in production, copy the executable and strip the copy. You can then use the `-d` argument to instruct the tool to read the symbols from the original unstripped binary while still calculating the file ID from the final stripped binary. After the symbols have been pushed, you can remove the unstripped binary:
```bash
cp ./my-app ./my-stripped-app
strip ./my-stripped-app
./symbtool push-symbols executable -e ./my-stripped-app -d ./my-app -u <symbolizer url> -t <API token>
rm ./my-app
```

<warning>
  Pushing debug information and then stripping the binary later **does not work**. The executable passed using the `-e` argument is used to calculate the file ID that associates stack traces with their symbols and stripping the binary later changes that ID.
</warning>


## Linux distribution packages

Elastic hosts a public service with symbol information for all packages in the repositories for various popular Linux distributions. Applications installed from these repositories are automatically symbolized without any action required on the user’s side.
Elastic supports the following Linux distributions:
- Alpine Linux
- Amazon Linux
- Debian
- Fedora
- Ubuntu