Dynamically linked libraries are linked and loaded at run time, either by “ld.so” or “ld-linux.so”, depending on how it was compiled: in a.out or ELF format.
Every program whenever they need a library, look through a known list of places to find the needed library. One place they look is “/etc/ld.so.cache”, which contains an ordered list of libraries to be searched for the needed module.
To find the libraries needed for a program, use the command “ldd”
Example:
# ldd /usr/bin/gimp
linux-gate.so.1 => (0x00110000)
libgimpwidgets-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libgimpwidgets-2.0.so.0 (0x04b9a000)
libgimpmodule-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libgimpmodule-2.0.so.0 (0x00a7a000)
libgimpcolor-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libgimpcolor-2.0.so.0 (0x00a6d000)
libgimpthumb-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libgimpthumb-2.0.so.0 (0x00264000)
libgimpmath-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libgimpmath-2.0.so.0 (0x00a1e000)
libgimpconfig-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libgimpconfig-2.0.so.0 (0x00a5d000)
libgimpbase-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libgimpbase-2.0.so.0 (0x00a07000)
libgtk-x11-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libgtk-x11-2.0.so.0 (0x06192000)
libgdk-x11-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libgdk-x11-2.0.so.0 (0x06532000)
libatk-1.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libatk-1.0.so.0 (0x005fd000)
libgdk_pixbuf-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libgdk_pixbuf-2.0.so.0 (0x00430000)
libpng12.so.0 => /usr/lib/libpng12.so.0 (0x06169000)
libm.so.6 => /lib/libm.so.6 (0x00bff000)
libpangocairo-1.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libpangocairo-1.0.so.0 (0x00425000)
libcairo.so.2 => /usr/lib/libcairo.so.2 (0x0049e000)
libgthread-2.0.so.0 => /lib/libgthread-2.0.so.0 (0x00710000)
librt.so.1 => /lib/librt.so.1 (0x0098c000)
libart_lgpl_2.so.2 => /usr/lib/libart_lgpl_2.so.2 (0x0040c000)
libpangoft2-1.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libpangoft2-1.0.so.0 (0x00449000)
libpango-1.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libpango-1.0.so.0 (0x005b9000)
libgmodule-2.0.so.0 => /lib/libgmodule-2.0.so.0 (0x001ad000)
libdl.so.2 => /lib/libdl.so.2 (0x00c2a000)
libfontconfig.so.1 => /usr/lib/libfontconfig.so.1 (0x00dce000)
libfreetype.so.6 => /usr/lib/libfreetype.so.6 (0x00111000)
libdbus-glib-1.so.2 => /usr/lib/libdbus-glib-1.so.2 (0x0082f000)
libdbus-1.so.3 => /lib/libdbus-1.so.3 (0x00854000)
libgobject-2.0.so.0 => /lib/libgobject-2.0.so.0 (0x00375000)
libglib-2.0.so.0 => /lib/libglib-2.0.so.0 (0x001c3000)
libpthread.so.0 => /lib/libpthread.so.0 (0x00c46000)
libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x00aa9000)
libX11.so.6 => /usr/lib/libX11.so.6 (0x00c6d000)
libXfixes.so.3 => /usr/lib/libXfixes.so.3 (0x0019b000)
libXext.so.6 => /usr/lib/libXext.so.6 (0x00d71000)
libXrender.so.1 => /usr/lib/libXrender.so.1 (0x001a0000)
libXinerama.so.1 => /usr/lib/libXinerama.so.1 (0x001a9000)
libXi.so.6 => /usr/lib/libXi.so.6 (0x00493000)
libXrandr.so.2 => /usr/lib/libXrandr.so.2 (0x001b0000)
libXcursor.so.1 => /usr/lib/libXcursor.so.1 (0x001b7000)
libz.so.1 => /lib/libz.so.1 (0x00c31000)
/lib/ld-linux.so.2 (0x00a8a000)
libexpat.so.0 => /lib/libexpat.so.0 (0x00d83000)
libnsl.so.1 => /lib/libnsl.so.1 (0x00814000)
libcap.so.1 => /lib/libcap.so.1 (0x00a29000)
libXau.so.6 => /usr/lib/libXau.so.6 (0x00c68000)
libXdmcp.so.6 => /usr/lib/libXdmcp.so.6 (0x00c60000)
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ld.so.cache contains a complete list of all the shared object libraries that ld.so or ld-linux.so will search in machine readable format.
Suppose that I install a new application in my machine. I also add a library, say, libZYZ.so.2 needed for that application under the location /usr/local/lib/XYZ/lib/ directory. But if “/etc/ld.so.conf file doesn’t contain a reference to that directory, the library will never get into the cache “/etc/ld.so.cache”, and “ld.so” and “ld-linux.so” will never be able to access that library from cache for running the newly installed application.
How to fix the above said problem?
Simple. Add the directory “/usr/local/lib/XYZ/lib/” to the “/etc/ld.so.conf” file and then – as root – run the “ldconfig” program so it rebuilds the cache “/etc/ld.so.cache”.
To view the contents of “ld.so.cache” use the command “ldconfig -p”. This will give the output with the following kind of first line “1301 libs found in cache `/etc/ld.so.cache'”
On Linux, run “/sbin/ldconfig -v” as root to see all the shared libraries that applications make use of day in and day out
If you need further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.
