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LDCONFIG(8)            DragonFly System Manager's Manual           LDCONFIG(8)

NAME
     ldconfig -- configure the shared library cache

SYNOPSIS
     ldconfig [-elf] [-Rimr] [-f hints_file] [directory | file ...]

DESCRIPTION
     The ldconfig utility is used to prepare a set of ``hints'' for use by the
     dynamic linker to facilitate quick lookup of shared libraries available
     in multiple directories.  It scans a set of built-in system directories
     and any directories specified on the command line (in the given order)
     looking for shared libraries and stores the results in a system file to
     forestall the overhead that would otherwise result from the directory
     search operations the dynamic linker would have to perform to load the
     required shared libraries.

     Alternatively, files may be specified; these are expected to contain
     directories to scan for shared libraries.  Each directory's pathname must
     start on a new line.  Blank lines and lines starting with the comment
     character `#' are ignored.  Filenames must conform to the lib*.so.[0-9]
     pattern in order to be added to the hints file.

     For security reasons, directories which are world or group-writable or
     which are not owned by root produce warning messages and are skipped,
     unless the -i option is present.

     The shared libraries which are found will be automatically available for
     loading if needed by the program being prepared for execution.  This
     obviates the need for storing search paths within the executable.

     The LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable can be used to override the use
     of directories (or the order thereof) from the cache or to specify
     additional directories where shared libraries might be found.
     LD_LIBRARY_PATH is a `:' separated list of directory paths which are
     searched by the dynamic linker when it needs to load a shared library.
     It can be viewed as the run-time equivalent of the -L switch of ld(1).

     The ldconfig utility is typically run as part of the boot sequence.

     The following options are recognized by ldconfig:

     -elf    Generate the hints for ELF format shared libraries.

     -R      Rescan the previously configured directories.  This opens the
             previous hints file and fetches the directory list from the
             header.  Any additional pathnames on the command line are also
             processed.  This is the default action when no parameters are
             given.

     -f hints_file
             Read and/or update the specified hints file, instead of the
             standard file.  This option is provided primarily for testing.

     -i      Run in insecure mode.  The security checks will not be performed.

     -m      Instead of replacing the contents of the hints file with those
             found in the directories specified, ``merge'' in new entries.
             Directories recorded in the hints file by previous runs of
             ldconfig are also rescanned for new shared libraries.

     -r      List the current contents of the hints file on the standard
             output.  The hints file is not modified.  The list of directories
             stored in the hints file is included.

     -s      Ignored for compatibility with other operating systems.

SECURITY
     Special care must be taken when loading shared libraries into the address
     space of set-user-Id programs.  Whenever such a program is run by any
     user except the owner of the program, the dynamic linker will only load
     shared libraries from the hints file.  In particular, the LD_LIBRARY_PATH
     is not used to search for libraries.  Thus, the role of ldconfig is dual.
     In addition to building a set of hints for quick lookup, it also serves
     to specify the trusted collection of directories from which shared
     objects can be safely loaded.

FILES
     /var/run/ld-elf.so.hints     Standard hints file for the ELF dynamic
                                  linker.
     /etc/ld-elf.so.conf          Conventional configuration file containing
                                  directory names for invocations with -elf.

SEE ALSO
     ld(1), link(5)

HISTORY
     A ldconfig utility first appeared in SunOS 4.0, it appeared in its
     current form in FreeBSD 1.1.

DragonFly 4.9                   January 6, 2018                  DragonFly 4.9