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Installing Shared Libraries

• Production applications should not require the user to set LD_LIBRARY_PATH.
  
  
• Privileged users can install a shared library in one of the standard library directories:
  
  
  • /usr/lib - directory in which most standard libraries are installed
    
    
  • /lib - directory containing libraries required during system startup
    
    
  • /usr/local/lib - non-standard or experimental libraries should be installed here;

    Also useful if /usr/lib is a network mount shared among multiple systems, and we want to install a library locally.

  or in one of the directories listed in /etc/ld.so.conf.
  
  
• After installation, symbolic links for soname and linker name must be created, as relative links in the same directory.

Example installation in /usr/lib:

# mv libdemo.so.1.0.1 /usr/lib
# cd /usr/lib
# ln -s libdemo.so.1.0.1 libdemo.so.1
# ln -s libdemo.so.1 libdemo.so

(C) 2006, Michael Kerrisk