xref: /freebsd/sbin/ldconfig/ldconfig.8 (revision 0de89efe5c443f213c7ea28773ef2dc6cf3af2ed)
1.\"
2.\" Copyright (c) 1993 Paul Kranenburg
3.\" All rights reserved.
4.\"
5.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
6.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
7.\" are met:
8.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
9.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
10.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
11.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
12.\"    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
13.\" 3. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software
14.\"    must display the following acknowledgement:
15.\"      This product includes software developed by Paul Kranenburg.
16.\" 3. The name of the author may not be used to endorse or promote products
17.\"    derived from this software without specific prior written permission
18.\"
19.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR
20.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES
21.\" OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED.
22.\" IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT,
23.\" INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT
24.\" NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
25.\" DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
26.\" THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
27.\" (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF
28.\" THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
29.\"
30.\"	$Id: ldconfig.8,v 1.13 1997/07/11 14:45:40 jkh Exp $
31.\"
32.Dd October 3, 1993
33.Dt LDCONFIG 8
34.Os FreeBSD
35.Sh NAME
36.Nm ldconfig
37.Nd configure the shared library cache
38.Sh SYNOPSIS
39.Nm ldconfig
40.Op Fl Rmrsv
41.Op Fl f Ar hints_file
42.Op Ar directory | file Ar ...
43.Sh DESCRIPTION
44.Nm
45is used to prepare a set of
46.Dq hints
47for use by the run-time linker
48.Xr ld.so 1
49to facilitate quick lookup of shared libraries available in multiple
50directories.  It scans a set of built-in system directories and any
51.Ar directories
52specified on the command line (in the given order) looking for shared
53libraries and stores the results in the file
54.Pa /var/run/ld.so.hints
55to forestall the overhead that would otherwise result from the
56directory search operations
57.Xr ld.so 1
58would have to perform to load the required shared libraries.
59.Pp
60Files named on the command line are expected to contain directories
61to scan for shared libraries.  Each directory's pathname must start on a new
62line.  Blank lines and lines starting with the comment character
63.Ql \&#
64are ignored.  A standard name for this file is
65.Xr /etc/ld.so.conf.
66.Pp
67The shared libraries so found will be automatically available for loading
68if needed by the program being prepared for execution. This obviates the need
69for storing search paths within the executable.
70.Pp
71The
72.Ev LD_LIBRARY_PATH
73environment variable can be used to override the use of
74directories (or the order thereof) from the cache or to specify additional
75directories where shared libraries might be found.
76.Ev LD_LIBRARY_PATH
77is a
78.Sq \:
79separated list of directory paths which are searched by
80.Xr ld.so 1
81when it needs to load a shared library. It can be viewed as the run-time
82equivalent of the
83.Fl L
84switch of
85.Xr ld 1 .
86.Pp
87.Nm Ldconfig
88is typically run as part of the boot sequence.
89.Pp
90The following options recognized by
91.Nm ldconfig:
92.Bl -tag -width indent
93.It Fl R
94Rescan the previously configured directories.  This opens the previous hints
95file and fetches the directory list from the header.  Any additional pathnames
96on the command line are also processed.
97.It Fl f Ar hints_file
98Read and/or update the specified hints file, instead of
99.Pa /var/run/ld.so.hints .
100This option is provided primarily for testing.
101.It Fl m
102Instead of replacing the contents of the hints file
103with those found in the directories specified,
104.Dq merge
105in new entries.
106Directories recorded in the hints file by previous runs of
107.Nm
108are also rescanned for new shared libraries.
109.It Fl r
110List the current contents of the hints file
111on the standard output. The hints file is not modified.  The list of
112directories stored in the hints file is included.
113.It Fl s
114Do not scan the built-in system directory
115.Pq Dq /usr/lib
116for shared libraries.
117.It Fl v
118Switch on verbose mode.
119.Sh Security
120Special care must be taken when loading shared libraries into the address
121space of
122.Ev set-user-Id
123programs. Whenever such a program is run,
124.Nm ld.so
125will only load shared libraries from the hints
126file. In particular, the
127.Ev LD_LIBRARY_PATH
128is not used to search for libraries. Thus, the role of ldconfig is dual. In
129addition to building a set of hints for quick lookup, it also serves to
130specify the trusted collection of directories from which shared objects can
131be safely loaded. It is presumed that the set of directories specified to
132.Nm ldconfig
133are under control of the system's administrator.
134.Sh FILES
135.Bl -tag -width /var/run/ld.so.hintsxxx -compact
136.It Pa /var/run/ld.so.hints
137Default
138.Dq hints
139file.
140.It Pa /etc/ld.so.conf
141Standard configuration file.
142.Sh SEE ALSO
143.Xr ld 1 ,
144.Xr link 5
145.Sh HISTORY
146A
147.Nm
148utility first appeared in SunOS 4.0, it appeared in its current form
149in FreeBSD 1.1.
150