Question

I am linking a Linux executable referencing a shared library:

g++ Debug/file.o Debug/MyLib.so -o Debug/MyApp -Wl,--rpath='$ORIGIN'

The problem is that the generated MyApp file references “Debug/MyLib.so” so if I run it from the Debug directory, it does not find it. Thus, specifying -Wl,–rpath=’$ORIGIN’ does not help.

Is there a way to tell the GNU LD to use the ‘Debug/MyLib.so’ file, but record it as just ‘MyLib.so’ inside the executable?

Answer 1

If don’t want to change the name of your library, you can use the soname option when
you create it.

For example:

build the library

$> g++ -fpic -c mylib.cpp 
$> g++ -shared -o subdir/mylib.so mylib.o -Wl,-soname=mylib.so

build the program

g++ -o subdir/main main.cpp -Lsubdir -l:mylib.so -Wl,-rpath='$ORIGIN'

(Don’t forget the colon after the -l option)