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NAME

       dlclose, dlopen, dlmopen - open and close a shared object

LIBRARY

       Dynamic linking library (libdl, -ldl)

SYNOPSIS

       #include <dlfcn.h>

       void *dlopen(const char *filename, int flags);
       int dlclose(void *handle);

       #define _GNU_SOURCE
       #include <dlfcn.h>

       void *dlmopen(Lmid_t lmid, const char *filename, int flags);

DESCRIPTION

   dlopen()
       The  function  dlopen() loads the dynamic shared object (shared library) file named by the
       null-terminated string filename and returns an opaque  "handle"  for  the  loaded  object.
       This  handle  is  employed  with  other  functions  in  the  dlopen API, such as dlsym(3),
       dladdr(3), dlinfo(3), and dlclose().

       If filename is NULL, then the returned handle  is  for  the  main  program.   If  filename
       contains  a  slash  ("/"),  then  it  is interpreted as a (relative or absolute) pathname.
       Otherwise, the dynamic linker searches for the object as follows (see ld.so(8) for further
       details):

       •  (ELF  only)  If  the  calling object (i.e., the shared library or executable from which
          dlopen() is called) contains a DT_RPATH tag, and does not  contain  a  DT_RUNPATH  tag,
          then the directories listed in the DT_RPATH tag are searched.

       •  If,  at the time that the program was started, the environment variable LD_LIBRARY_PATH
          was defined to contain a colon-separated list of directories, then these are  searched.
          (As  a  security  measure,  this  variable  is ignored for set-user-ID and set-group-ID
          programs.)

       •  (ELF only) If the calling object contains a DT_RUNPATH tag, then the directories listed
          in that tag are searched.

       •  The  cache  file /etc/ld.so.cache (maintained by ldconfig(8)) is checked to see whether
          it contains an entry for filename.

       •  The directories /lib and /usr/lib are searched (in that order).

       If the object specified by filename has dependencies on other shared objects,  then  these
       are  also  automatically loaded by the dynamic linker using the same rules.  (This process
       may occur recursively, if those objects in turn have dependencies, and so on.)

       One of the following two values must be included in flags:

       RTLD_LAZY
              Perform lazy binding.  Resolve symbols only as the code  that  references  them  is
              executed.   If  the  symbol  is never referenced, then it is never resolved.  (Lazy
              binding is performed only for function  references;  references  to  variables  are
              always  immediately  bound  when  the shared object is loaded.)  Since glibc 2.1.1,
              this flag is overridden by the effect of the LD_BIND_NOW environment variable.

       RTLD_NOW
              If this value is specified, or the environment variable LD_BIND_NOW  is  set  to  a
              nonempty  string,  all  undefined  symbols in the shared object are resolved before
              dlopen() returns.  If this cannot be done, an error is returned.

       Zero or more of the following values may also be ORed in flags:

       RTLD_GLOBAL
              The symbols defined by this  shared  object  will  be  made  available  for  symbol
              resolution of subsequently loaded shared objects.

       RTLD_LOCAL
              This  is the converse of RTLD_GLOBAL, and the default if neither flag is specified.
              Symbols defined in this shared object are not made available to resolve  references
              in subsequently loaded shared objects.

       RTLD_NODELETE (since glibc 2.2)
              Do  not  unload  the  shared  object  during dlclose().  Consequently, the object's
              static and global variables are not reinitialized if the object  is  reloaded  with
              dlopen() at a later time.

       RTLD_NOLOAD (since glibc 2.2)
              Don't  load  the  shared object.  This can be used to test if the object is already
              resident (dlopen() returns NULL if it is not, or  the  object's  handle  if  it  is
              resident).  This flag can also be used to promote the flags on a shared object that
              is already loaded.  For example, a shared object that was  previously  loaded  with
              RTLD_LOCAL can be reopened with RTLD_NOLOAD | RTLD_GLOBAL.

       RTLD_DEEPBIND (since glibc 2.3.4)
              Place  the  lookup  scope  of the symbols in this shared object ahead of the global
              scope.  This means that a  self-contained  object  will  use  its  own  symbols  in
              preference  to  global  symbols  with  the same name contained in objects that have
              already been loaded.

       If filename is NULL, then the returned handle is for the  main  program.   When  given  to
       dlsym(3),  this  handle  causes a search for a symbol in the main program, followed by all
       shared objects loaded at program startup, and then all shared objects loaded  by  dlopen()
       with the flag RTLD_GLOBAL.

       Symbol  references in the shared object are resolved using (in order): symbols in the link
       map of objects loaded for the main program and its dependencies; symbols in shared objects
       (and  their  dependencies) that were previously opened with dlopen() using the RTLD_GLOBAL
       flag; and definitions in the shared object itself (and any dependencies that  were  loaded
       for that object).

       Any  global  symbols  in  the executable that were placed into its dynamic symbol table by
       ld(1) can also be used to resolve  references  in  a  dynamically  loaded  shared  object.
       Symbols may be placed in the dynamic symbol table either because the executable was linked
       with the flag "-rdynamic" (or, synonymously, "--export-dynamic"), which causes all of  the
       executable's  global  symbols  to  be placed in the dynamic symbol table, or because ld(1)
       noted a dependency on a symbol in another object during static linking.

       If the same shared object is opened  again  with  dlopen(),  the  same  object  handle  is
       returned.   The  dynamic  linker  maintains  reference  counts  for  object  handles, so a
       dynamically loaded shared object is not deallocated until dlclose() has been called on  it
       as  many  times as dlopen() has succeeded on it.  Constructors (see below) are called only
       when the object is actually loaded into memory (i.e., when the reference  count  increases
       to 1).

       A  subsequent  dlopen()  call  that  loads  the same shared object with RTLD_NOW may force
       symbol resolution for a shared object earlier loaded with RTLD_LAZY.  Similarly, an object
       that  was previously opened with RTLD_LOCAL can be promoted to RTLD_GLOBAL in a subsequent
       dlopen().

       If dlopen() fails for any reason, it returns NULL.

   dlmopen()
       This function performs the same task as dlopen()—the filename and flags arguments, as well
       as the return value, are the same, except for the differences noted below.

       The  dlmopen()  function  differs from dlopen() primarily in that it accepts an additional
       argument, lmid, that specifies the link-map list (also referred  to  as  a  namespace)  in
       which  the  shared object should be loaded.  (By comparison, dlopen() adds the dynamically
       loaded shared object to the same namespace as the shared object from  which  the  dlopen()
       call is made.)  The Lmid_t type is an opaque handle that refers to a namespace.

       The  lmid  argument is either the ID of an existing namespace (which can be obtained using
       the dlinfo(3) RTLD_DI_LMID request) or one of the following special values:

       LM_ID_BASE
              Load  the  shared  object  in  the  initial  namespace  (i.e.,  the   application's
              namespace).

       LM_ID_NEWLM
              Create  a  new  namespace and load the shared object in that namespace.  The object
              must have been correctly linked to reference all of the other shared  objects  that
              it requires, since the new namespace is initially empty.

       If filename is NULL, then the only permitted value for lmid is LM_ID_BASE.

   dlclose()
       The  function  dlclose()  decrements  the reference count on the dynamically loaded shared
       object referred to by handle.

       If the object's reference count drops to zero and no symbols in this object  are  required
       by  other objects, then the object is unloaded after first calling any destructors defined
       for the object.  (Symbols in this object might be required in another object because  this
       object  was opened with the RTLD_GLOBAL flag and one of its symbols satisfied a relocation
       in another object.)

       All shared objects that were automatically loaded when dlopen() was invoked on the  object
       referred to by handle are recursively closed in the same manner.

       A  successful  return  from  dlclose() does not guarantee that the symbols associated with
       handle are removed from the caller's address space.  In addition to  references  resulting
       from  explicit  dlopen()  calls,  a  shared  object  may  have been implicitly loaded (and
       reference counted) because of  dependencies  in  other  shared  objects.   Only  when  all
       references have been released can the shared object be removed from the address space.

RETURN VALUE

       On  success,  dlopen()  and  dlmopen() return a non-NULL handle for the loaded object.  On
       error (file could not be found, was not readable, had the wrong format, or  caused  errors
       during loading), these functions return NULL.

       On success, dlclose() returns 0; on error, it returns a nonzero value.

       Errors from these functions can be diagnosed using dlerror(3).

VERSIONS

       dlopen()  and  dlclose()  are present in glibc 2.0 and later.  dlmopen() first appeared in
       glibc 2.3.4.

ATTRIBUTES

       For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see attributes(7).

       ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┬───────────────┬─────────┐
       │InterfaceAttributeValue   │
       ├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼─────────┤
       │dlopen(), dlmopen(), dlclose()                                 │ Thread safety │ MT-Safe │
       └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┴───────────────┴─────────┘

STANDARDS

       POSIX.1-2001 describes dlclose() and dlopen().  The dlmopen() function is a GNU extension.

       The RTLD_NOLOAD, RTLD_NODELETE, and RTLD_DEEPBIND flags are GNU extensions; the first  two
       of these flags are also present on Solaris.

NOTES

   dlmopen() and namespaces
       A link-map list defines an isolated namespace for the resolution of symbols by the dynamic
       linker.  Within a namespace, dependent shared objects are implicitly loaded  according  to
       the usual rules, and symbol references are likewise resolved according to the usual rules,
       but such resolution is confined to the definitions provided by the objects that have  been
       (explicitly and implicitly) loaded into the namespace.

       The  dlmopen()  function permits object-load isolation—the ability to load a shared object
       in a new namespace without exposing the rest  of  the  application  to  the  symbols  made
       available  by  the new object.  Note that the use of the RTLD_LOCAL flag is not sufficient
       for this purpose, since it prevents a shared object's symbols from being available to  any
       other  shared  object.   In  some  cases,  we  may  want to make the symbols provided by a
       dynamically loaded shared object available to (a subset of) other shared  objects  without
       exposing  those  symbols  to  the  entire  application.   This  can be achieved by using a
       separate namespace and the RTLD_GLOBAL flag.

       The dlmopen() function also can be used to provide better isolation  than  the  RTLD_LOCAL
       flag.  In particular, shared objects loaded with RTLD_LOCAL may be promoted to RTLD_GLOBAL
       if they are  dependencies  of  another  shared  object  loaded  with  RTLD_GLOBAL.   Thus,
       RTLD_LOCAL is insufficient to isolate a loaded shared object except in the (uncommon) case
       where one has explicit control over all shared object dependencies.

       Possible uses of dlmopen() are plugins where the author of  the  plugin-loading  framework
       can't  trust  the  plugin  authors and does not wish any undefined symbols from the plugin
       framework to be resolved to plugin symbols.  Another use is to load the same  object  more
       than  once.   Without  the  use  of dlmopen(), this would require the creation of distinct
       copies of the shared object file.  Using dlmopen(), this can be achieved  by  loading  the
       same shared object file into different namespaces.

       The glibc implementation supports a maximum of 16 namespaces.

   Initialization and finalization functions
       Shared   objects   may   export   functions  using  the  __attribute__((constructor))  and
       __attribute__((destructor))  function  attributes.   Constructor  functions  are  executed
       before  dlopen()  returns, and destructor functions are executed before dlclose() returns.
       A shared object may export multiple constructors and destructors, and  priorities  can  be
       associated  with each function to determine the order in which they are executed.  See the
       gcc info pages (under "Function attributes") for further information.

       An older method of (partially) achieving the same result is via the  use  of  two  special
       symbols  recognized by the linker: _init and _fini.  If a dynamically loaded shared object
       exports a routine named _init(), then that code is executed after loading a shared object,
       before  dlopen() returns.  If the shared object exports a routine named _fini(), then that
       routine is called just before the object is  unloaded.   In  this  case,  one  must  avoid
       linking  against  the system startup files, which contain default versions of these files;
       this can be done by using the gcc(1) -nostartfiles command-line option.

       Use of _init and _fini is now deprecated in favor of the aforementioned  constructors  and
       destructors, which among other advantages, permit multiple initialization and finalization
       functions to be defined.

       Since glibc 2.2.3, atexit(3) can be used to register an exit handler that is automatically
       called when a shared object is unloaded.

   History
       These functions are part of the dlopen API, derived from SunOS.

BUGS

       As  at  glibc  2.24,  specifying  the RTLD_GLOBAL flag when calling dlmopen() generates an
       error.  Furthermore, specifying RTLD_GLOBAL when calling dlopen()  results  in  a  program
       crash  (SIGSEGV)  if the call is made from any object loaded in a namespace other than the
       initial namespace.

EXAMPLES

       The program below loads the (glibc) math library, looks  up  the  address  of  the  cos(3)
       function,  and  prints  the  cosine  of  2.0.  The following is an example of building and
       running the program:

           $ cc dlopen_demo.c -ldl
           $ ./a.out
           -0.416147

   Program source

       #include <dlfcn.h>
       #include <stdio.h>
       #include <stdlib.h>

       #include <gnu/lib-names.h>  /* Defines LIBM_SO (which will be a
                                      string such as "libm.so.6") */
       int
       main(void)
       {
           void *handle;
           double (*cosine)(double);
           char *error;

           handle = dlopen(LIBM_SO, RTLD_LAZY);
           if (!handle) {
               fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", dlerror());
               exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
           }

           dlerror();    /* Clear any existing error */

           cosine = (double (*)(double)) dlsym(handle, "cos");

           /* According to the ISO C standard, casting between function
              pointers and 'void *', as done above, produces undefined results.
              POSIX.1-2001 and POSIX.1-2008 accepted this state of affairs and
              proposed the following workaround:

                  *(void **) (&cosine) = dlsym(handle, "cos");

              This (clumsy) cast conforms with the ISO C standard and will
              avoid any compiler warnings.

              The 2013 Technical Corrigendum 1 to POSIX.1-2008 improved matters
              by requiring that conforming implementations support casting
              'void *' to a function pointer.  Nevertheless, some compilers
              (e.g., gcc with the '-pedantic' option) may complain about the
              cast used in this program. */

           error = dlerror();
           if (error != NULL) {
               fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", error);
               exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
           }

           printf("%f\n", (*cosine)(2.0));
           dlclose(handle);
           exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
       }

SEE ALSO

       ld(1), ldd(1), pldd(1), dl_iterate_phdr(3), dladdr(3),  dlerror(3),  dlinfo(3),  dlsym(3),
       rtld-audit(7), ld.so(8), ldconfig(8)

       gcc info pages, ld info pages