--retain-symbols-file=filename
Retain only the symbols listed in the file filename, discarding all others. filename is simply a flat file, with one symbol name per line. This option is especially useful in environments (such as VxWorks) where a large global symbol table is accumulated gradually, to conserve run-time memory.
Note: though documentation says "--retain-symbols-file does not discard undefined symbols, or symbols needed for relocations.", both bfd and gold do that, and this patch too, like testcase show.