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Is there a way to specify a custom dynamic library search path for an executable?

I want /usr/bin/python to reference /usr/lib64/libpython2.7.so and /usr/local/bin/python2.7 to use /usr/local/lib/libpython2.7.so.

Currently, I have Python 2.7.5 as /usr/bin/python (old, used by CentOS) and Python 2.7.13 as /usr/local/bin/python2.7 (new, for development). However, both executables give me Python 2.7.13.

 $ /usr/bin/python2.7 --version # Python 2.7.5 Python 2.7.13 ← WRONG!!! $ /usr/local/bin/python2.7 --version # Python 2.7.13 Python 2.7.13

They are definitely separate executables.

-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 7136 Nov 5 2016 /usr/bin/python2.7 -rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 11368 May 13 18:21 /usr/local/bin/python2.7

This was perplexing until I realized they both dynamically link to libpython2.7.so, and both are searching for it in /usr/local/lib. This was confirmed using ldd. I can get the old Python by modifying /etc/ld.so.conf or $LD_LIBRARY_PATH.

$ LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/lib64 /usr/bin/python --version # Python 2.7.5 Python 2.7.5 $ LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/lib64 /usr/local/bin/python --version # Python 2.7.13 Python 2.7.5 ← WRONG!!!

This is a problem because yum depends on the system Python. If I fix that (e.g., by modifying /etc/ld.so.conf), it breaks Python 2.7.13 and things that depend on this newer libpython2.7.so (e.g., Vim with embedded Python). My /etc/ld.so.conf contains /usr/local/lib.

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  • The man page for ld gives the list of paths searched for required shared libraries. I suspect the solution may involve $RD_RUN_PATH or the -rpath or -rpath-link options to the linker (ld). This HOWTO guide on installing Python on CentOS suggests passing LDFLAGS="-Wl,-rpath /usr/local/lib" to ./configure. That seems pointless since /usr/local/lib is already in /etc/ld.so.conf. …Or is it safe to remove it from /etc/ld/so.conf? This is not solved. Commented May 18, 2017 at 16:22

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Add this to your .bashrc :

alias yum='LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/lib64 yum'

That will ensure that when running yum (and yum only), the system will search for shared objects (dynamic libraries) first in /usr/lib64 , and not /usr/local/lib. It's a hack, but as far as I can tell, it is unavoidable.

Important: This solution is only applicable if your problem is due to having 2.7.x in /usr/bin and 2.7.y in /usr/local/bin (e.g., 2.7.5 and 2.7.13). If your problem is due to 2.x and 2.y conflicting (e.g., 2.4 and 2.7), then this probably won't help, and might even make things worse for you. Good luck!

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