Exercise solutions: Manage shared libraries

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The exact output from the various commands will vary depending on how your system is configured.

Solution for exercise 1. List dynamically linked shared objects

Listing 1 shows one way to go.

	
[tbost@exercises ~]$ ldd /bin/mkdir
    linux-gate.so.1 =>  (0x00d19000)
    libselinux.so.1 => /lib/libselinux.so.1 (0x008e7000)
    libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x00d1d000)
    libdl.so.2 => /lib/libdl.so.2 (0x00406000)
    /lib/ld-linux.so.2 (0x00c53000)

Alternatively, the command shown in Listing 2 can list the required shared libraries from mkdir.

	
[tbost@exercises ~]$ /lib/ld-linux.so.2 --list  /bin/mkdir
    linux-gate.so.1 =>  (0x00cc6000)
    libselinux.so.1 => /lib/libselinux.so.1 (0x00110000)
    libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x0026c000)
    libdl.so.2 => /lib/libdl.so.2 (0x00ae8000)
    /lib/ld-linux.so.2 (0x00866000)

Notice a pointer for each shared object in the lib directory in the second through fourth shared object. linux-gate.so.1 is considered a virtual dynamic shared object.

Solution for exercise 2. Find statically linked executables

Listing 3 shows one correct way to accomplish this.

	
[tbost@t60 bin]$ ldd /bin/zcat
	not a dynamic executable

A statically linked executable is denoted with the not a dynamic executable output: zcat is such an example. Alternatively, you could use the command ldd /bin/* | less to obtain a reference listing for all files in the /bin directory.

Solution for exercise 3. Find information about library caching

Listing 4 shows how to proceed.

	
[tbost@exercises ld.so.conf.d]$ ldconfig -p | grep libc.so.6 
	libc.so.6 (libc6, OS ABI: Linux 2.6.32) => /lib/libc.so.6

The key point is to use ldconfig -p. With the exception of the virtual dynamic shared object, any other shared object output from the ldd /bin/mkdir command will suffice.

Solution for exercise 4. Set an alternative shared library path

Listing 5 shows the commands to use.

	
[tbost@exercises ld.so.conf.d]$ sudo mkdir -p /opt/foo/lib
[tbost@exercises ~]$ sudo touch /opt/foo/lib/foo.so
[tbost@exercises ~]$ export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/foo/lib

The sequence of steps in exercise 4 is as follows:

1. As sudo user, use the mkdir -p /opt/foo/lib command to create the parent directory foo along with the child directory lib.
2. As sudo user, use the touch command to create an empty foo.so shared object file.
3. Set the global variable LD_LIBRARY_PATH to use /opt/foo/lib with the export command.

Solution for exercise 5. Create a symbolic link to a shared library

Listing 6 shows how to accomplish this.

	
[tbost@exercises ~]$ sudo mv /opt/foo/lib/foo.so foo.so.old
[tbost@exercises ~]$ sudo ln -s /lib/libcat.so /opt/foo/lib/foo.so
[tbost@exercises ~]$ ls -l /opt/foo/lib/foo.so
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 14 May 15 13:31 /opt/foo/lib/foo.so -> /lib/libcat.so

The sequence of steps in exercise 5 is as follows:

1. As sudo, rename the original foo.so shared object to foo.so.old.
2. As sudo, use the ln -s command to symbolically link the /lib/libcat.so shared object to /opt/foo/lib/foo.so.
3. The final command verifies that /opt/foo/lib/foo.so is now symbolically linked to /lib/libcat.so.

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