---
~~Title: Recompiling with Debug Symbols~~
---

# Recompiling with Debug Symbols #

A standard installation of Enlightenment or EFL is compiled without *debug symbols*, meaning that debugging tools are unable to extract much information. In order that a backtrace, Valgrind or any any other collection method provides good-quality information the program must be recompiled with debugging symbols activated.

Debugging symbols can be added using the ``-g`` flag during compilation. If you have already configured your own custom compiler flags you will need to add ``-g`` to them. If you do not use any custom compiler flags you can set sensible defaults for debugging with the following command: 

```bash
export CFLAGS="-O -march=native -g"
```

Recompile each of the individual libraries, and Enlightenment itself if required, with:

```bash
make clean distclean
./autogen.sh
make
make install
```

If your build environment has a different workflow, alter the above steps accordingly while remembering to retain the ``distclean`` option.