Permanently Set LD_LIBRARY_PATH

[talkinggoat]

I am installing OpenSSL into a custom location and I'd like to permanently set the LD_LIBRARY_PATH to /custom/opt/apache/openssl/lib, without having to set the variable, every time. I'm not a dev, I'm in ops and we need this in a custom location, for now; please forgive me for not fully understanding. I need the openssl binary in /custom/opt/apache/openssl/bin to always look for its library files in its own folder, by default, if possible. The OpenSSL binary we have custom installs lives in /custom/opt/apache/openssl/bin

Unless I set the variable, either manually or in .profile, I get the error:

/custom/opt/apache/openssl/bin $> ./openssl version
exec(): 0509-036 Cannot load program ./openssl because of the following errors:
0509-150   Dependent module /usr/lib/libssl.a(libssl64.so.3) could not be loaded.
0509-152   Member libssl64.so.3 is not found in archive

For example, without the variable, it queries the system's distro of OpenSSL:

$> openssl version -a
OpenSSL 3.0.10 1 Aug 2023 (Library: OpenSSL 3.0.10 1 Aug 2023)
built on: Tue Jan 16 12:13:04 2024 UTC
platform: aix-xlc_r
options:  bn(64,32)
compiler: xlc_r -qpic -q32 -qmaxmem=16384 -qro -qroconst -qthreaded -O -DB_ENDIAN -DOPENSSL_PIC -D_THREAD_SAFE -DOPENSSL_BUILDING_OPENSSL -DNDEBUG -DSSL_ALLOW_ADH -DAIXSSL_IBM_VERSION=3.0.10.1002
OPENSSLDIR: "/var/ssl"
ENGINESDIR: "/usr/lib/engines-3"
MODULESDIR: "/usr/lib/ossl-modules/32"
Seeding source: os-specific
CPUINFO: N/A

Setting LD_LIBRARY_PATH gives me the correct response:

./openssl version -a
OpenSSL 3.2.1 30 Jan 2024 (Library: OpenSSL 3.2.1 30 Jan 2024)
built on: Fri Feb 16 20:59:37 2024 UTC
platform: aix64-gcc
options:  bn(64,64)
compiler: gcc -maix64 -pthread -O -DB_ENDIAN -DOPENSSL_PIC -DOPENSSL_BUILDING_OPENSSL -DNDEBUG
OPENSSLDIR: "/custom/opt/apache/openssl"
ENGINESDIR: "/custom /opt/apache/openssl/lib/engines-3"
MODULESDIR: "/custom /opt/apache/openssl/lib/ossl-modules"
Seeding source: os-specific
CPUINFO: N/A

[talkinggoat]

I guess I should add the --prefix and --openssldir flags are set to /custom/opt/apache/openssl

[kroeckx]

If LD_LIBRARY_PATH or equivalent with a config file is not an option, you'll have to use an rpath for all the applications that you want to make use of the libraries from that path.

[nhorman]

You can set LD_LIBRARY_PATH permanently for a user in your shells startup script (.bashrc or .bash_profile) or globally for all users of a shell in the corresponding config located in /etc (names may vary depending on your distribution). However, thats not recommended if you have other application that rely on libraries being in different locations. As @kroeckx notes building your application with -Wl,-rpath=/path/to/openssl would be preferred as that would be application specific.