ldconfig(8) - man - phpman

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Configure symlinks and cache for shared library dependencies.

Update symlinks and rebuild the cache (usually run when a new library is installed)
sudo ldconfig
Update the symlinks for a given directory
sudo ldconfig -n {{path/to/directory}}
Print the libraries in the cache and check whether a given library is present
ldconfig {{-p|--print-cache}} | grep {{library_name}}

LDCONFIG(8) Linux Programmer's Manual LDCONFIG(8)

NAME
ldconfig - configure dynamic linker run-time bindings

SYNOPSIS
/sbin/ldconfig [-nNvXV] [-f conf] [-C cache] [-r root] directory...
/sbin/ldconfig -l [-v] library...
/sbin/ldconfig -p

DESCRIPTION
ldconfig creates the necessary links and cache to the most recent shared libraries found in
the directories specified on the command line, in the file /etc/ld.so.conf, and in the
trusted directories, /lib and /usr/lib (on some 64-bit architectures such as x86-64, /lib and
/usr/lib are the trusted directories for 32-bit libraries, while /lib64 and /usr/lib64 are
used for 64-bit libraries).

The cache is used by the run-time linker, ld.so or ld-linux.so. ldconfig checks the header
and filenames of the libraries it encounters when determining which versions should have
their links updated.

ldconfig will attempt to deduce the type of ELF libraries (i.e., libc5 or libc6/glibc) based
on what C libraries, if any, the library was linked against.

Some existing libraries do not contain enough information to allow the deduction of their
type. Therefore, the /etc/ld.so.conf file format allows the specification of an expected
type. This is used only for those ELF libraries which we can not work out. The format is
"dirname=TYPE", where TYPE can be libc4, libc5, or libc6. (This syntax also works on the
command line.) Spaces are not allowed. Also see the -p option. ldconfig should normally be
run by the superuser as it may require write permission on some root owned directories and
files.

Note that ldconfig will only look at files that are named lib*.so* (for regular shared ob‐
jects) or ld-*.so* (for the dynamic loader itself). Other files will be ignored. Also, ld‐‐
config expects a certain pattern to how the symlinks are set up, like this example, where the
middle file (libfoo.so.1 here) is the SONAME for the library:

libfoo.so -> libfoo.so.1 -> libfoo.so.1.12

Failure to follow this pattern may result in compatibility issues after an upgrade.

OPTIONS
-c fmt, --format=fmt
(Since glibc 2.2) Cache format to use: old, new, or compat. Since glibc 2.32, the de‐
fault is new. Before that, it was compat.

-C cache
Use cache instead of /etc/ld.so.cache.

-f conf
Use conf instead of /etc/ld.so.conf.

-i, --ignore-aux-cache
(Since glibc 2.7) Ignore auxiliary cache file.

-l (Since glibc 2.2) Library mode. Manually link individual libraries. Intended for use
by experts only.

-n Process only the directories specified on the command line. Don't process the trusted
directories, nor those specified in /etc/ld.so.conf. Implies -N.

-N Don't rebuild the cache. Unless -X is also specified, links are still updated.

-p, --print-cache
Print the lists of directories and candidate libraries stored in the current cache.

-r root
Change to and use root as the root directory.

-v, --verbose
Verbose mode. Print current version number, the name of each directory as it is
scanned, and any links that are created. Overrides quiet mode.

-V, --version
Print program version.

-X Don't update links. Unless -N is also specified, the cache is still rebuilt.

FILES
/lib/ld.so
Run-time linker/loader.
/etc/ld.so.conf
File containing a list of directories, one per line, in which to search for libraries.
/etc/ld.so.cache
File containing an ordered list of libraries found in the directories specified in
/etc/ld.so.conf, as well as those found in the trusted directories.