# Can't install Plots on julia-1.6.0

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cant-install-plots-on-julia-1-6-0/59360>\
**Category:** General Usage\
**Created:** [April 15, 2021, 4:42pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cant-install-plots-on-julia-1-6-0/59360 "2021-04-15T16:42:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![John\_Gibson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/john_gibson/32/5321_2.png) [@John\_Gibson](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/John_Gibson)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 4:42pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cant-install-plots-on-julia-1-6-0/59360/1 "2021-04-15T16:42:29Z")

</div>

I can’t install the Plots package on julia-1.6.0. I’ve moved my ~/.julia directory and re-added the package but it fails the same way, as follows

```julia
gibson@sophist$ mv ~/.julia ~/.julia-2021-04-15
gibson@sophist$ julia
               _
   _ _ _(_)_ | Documentation: https://docs.julialang.org
  (_) | (_) (_) |
   _ _ _| |_ __ _ | Type "?" for help, "]?" for Pkg help.
  | | | | | | |/ _` | |
  | | |_| | | | (_| | | Version 1.6.0 (2021-03-24)
 _/ |\ __'_|_|_|\__'_| | Official https://julialang.org/ release
|__/ |

julia> using Pkg

julia> Pkg.add("Plots")
  Installing known registries into `~/.julia`
       Added registry `General` to `~/.julia/registries/General`
   Resolving package versions...
   Installed LaTeXStrings ───────────────── v1.2.1
   Installed Xorg_libXdmcp_jll ──────────── v1.1.3+4
   ...omit many lines here...
[3f19e933] + p7zip_jll
    Building GR → `~/.julia/scratchspaces/44cfe95a-1eb2-52ea-b672-e2afdf69b78f/82a03d9c331d181bf33c99c9af04202cc4533d48/build.log`
Precompiling project...
  Progress [========================================>] 113/113
  ✗ GR_jll
  ✗ Plots
111 dependencies successfully precompiled in 46 seconds
2 dependencies errored

julia> Pkg.build("Plots")
    Building GR → `~/.julia/scratchspaces/44cfe95a-1eb2-52ea-b672-e2afdf69b78f/82a03d9c331d181bf33c99c9af04202cc4533d48/build.log`
Precompiling project...
  Progress [========================================>] 3/3
  ✗ Plots
1 dependency successfully precompiled in 12 seconds (110 already precompiled, 1 skipped during auto due to previous errors)
1 dependency errored

shell> cat ~/.julia/scratchspaces/44cfe95a-1eb2-52ea-b672-e2afdf69b78f/82a03d9c331d181bf33c99c9af04202cc4533d48/build.log
┌ Info: Creating depsfile. GR provider is BinaryBuilder
│ provider = "BinaryBuilder"
└ depsfile = "/home/gibson/.julia/packages/GR/qSS8e/deps/deps.jl"

julia> versioninfo()
Julia Version 1.6.0
Commit f9720dc2eb (2021-03-24 12:55 UTC)
Platform Info:
  OS: Linux (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)
  CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3960X CPU @ 3.30GHz
  WORD_SIZE: 64
  LIBM: libopenlibm
  LLVM: libLLVM-11.0.1 (ORCJIT, sandybridge)

```

This is on openSUSE-15.2, x86-64. Any ideas?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mkitti](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/mkitti/32/12459_2.png) [@mkitti](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mkitti)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 5:04pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cant-install-plots-on-julia-1-6-0/59360/2 "2021-04-15T17:04:11Z")

</div>

What happens when you just try to use Plots? Do you still get an error?

I think we just need Plots to try to precompile itself again.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![John\_Gibson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/john_gibson/32/5321_2.png) [@John\_Gibson](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/John_Gibson)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 5:15pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cant-install-plots-on-julia-1-6-0/59360/3 "2021-04-15T17:15:00Z")

</div>

I didn’t think to try it! It doesn’t work, however. When trying to build GR it reports an error in the GR depsfile and gives this error message

> ERROR: LoadError: LoadError: InitError: Evaluation into the closed module `GR` breaks incremental compilation because the side effects will not be permanent. This is likely due to some other module mutating `GR` with `eval` during precompilation - don’t do this.

```julia
julia> using Plots
[Info: Precompiling Plots [91a5bcdd-55d7-5caf-9e0b-520d859cae80]
Your GR installation is incomplete. Rerunning build step for GR package.
┌ Info: Switching provider to GR due to error in depsfile
└ depsfile = "/home/gibson/.julia/packages/GR/qSS8e/deps/deps.jl"
ERROR: LoadError: LoadError: InitError: Evaluation into the closed module `GR` breaks incremental compilation because the side effects will not be permanent. This is likely due to some other module mutating `GR` with `eval` during precompilation - don't do this.
Stacktrace:
  [1] eval
    @ ./boot.jl:360 [inlined]
  [2] __init__ ()
    @ GR ~/.julia/packages/GR/qSS8e/src/GR.jl:311
  [3] _include_from_serialized(path::String, depmods::Vector{Any})
    @ Base ./loading.jl:674
  [4] _require_search_from_serialized(pkg::Base.PkgId, sourcepath::String)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:760
  [5] _require(pkg::Base.PkgId)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:998
  [6] require(uuidkey::Base.PkgId)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:914
  [7] require(into::Module, mod::Symbol)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:901
  [8] include(mod::Module, _path::String)
    @ Base ./Base.jl:386
  [9] include(x::String)
    @ Plots ~/.julia/packages/Plots/SVksJ/src/Plots.jl:1
 [10] top-level scope
    @ ~/.julia/packages/Plots/SVksJ/src/Plots.jl:218
 [11] include
    @ ./Base.jl:386 [inlined]
 [12] include_package_for_output(pkg::Base.PkgId, input::String, depot_path::Vector{String}, dl_load_path::Vector{String}, load_path::Vector{String}, concrete_deps::Vector{Pair{Base.PkgId, UInt64}}, source::Nothing)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1213
 [13] top-level scope
    @ none:1
 [14] eval
    @ ./boot.jl:360 [inlined]
 [15] eval(x::Expr)
    @ Base.MainInclude ./client.jl:446
 [16] top-level scope
    @ none:1
during initialization of module GR
in expression starting at /home/gibson/.julia/packages/Plots/SVksJ/src/backends/gr.jl:6
in expression starting at /home/gibson/.julia/packages/Plots/SVksJ/src/Plots.jl:1
ERROR: Failed to precompile Plots [91a5bcdd-55d7-5caf-9e0b-520d859cae80] to /home/gibson/.julia/compiled/v1.6/Plots/jl_t5Y9EB.
Stacktrace:
 [1] error(s::String)
   @ Base ./error.jl:33
 [2] compilecache(pkg::Base.PkgId, path::String, internal_stderr::Base.TTY, internal_stdout::Base.TTY)
   @ Base ./loading.jl:1360
 [3] compilecache(pkg::Base.PkgId, path::String)
   @ Base ./loading.jl:1306
 [4] _require(pkg::Base.PkgId)
   @ Base ./loading.jl:1021
 [5] require(uuidkey::Base.PkgId)
   @ Base ./loading.jl:914
 [6] require(into::Module, mod::Symbol)
   @ Base ./loading.jl:901

shell> cat /home/gibson/.julia/packages/GR/qSS8e/deps/deps.jl
    import GR_jll

julia> 

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mkitti](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/mkitti/32/12459_2.png) [@mkitti](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mkitti)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 5:22pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cant-install-plots-on-julia-1-6-0/59360/4 "2021-04-15T17:22:12Z")

</div>

Well that just changed something, it switched the binary provider over to GR from BinaryBuilder. What happens if you try to use Plots one more time?

[https://github.com/jheinen/GR.jl/issues/390](https://github.com/jheinen/GR.jl/issues/390)

What happens if you just try `using GR`? How about `import GR_jll` ?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mkitti](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/mkitti/32/12459_2.png) [@mkitti](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mkitti)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 5:23pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cant-install-plots-on-julia-1-6-0/59360/5 "2021-04-15T17:23:59Z")

</div>

We can gain more insight into what is happening by enabling debugging.

```julia
julia> ENV["JULIA_DEBUG"] = "GR"
"GR"

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mkitti](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/mkitti/32/12459_2.png) [@mkitti](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mkitti)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 5:26pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cant-install-plots-on-julia-1-6-0/59360/6 "2021-04-15T17:26:13Z")

</div>

This will try to reset you back to BinaryBuilder:

```julia
julia> ENV["GRDIR"] = ""
""

julia> ENV["JULIA_GR_PROVIDER"] = "BinaryBuilder"
"BinaryBuilder"

(@v1.6) pkg> build GR 

```

If that doesn’t work, try

```julia
julia> ENV["GRDIR"] = ""
""

julia> ENV["JULIA_GR_PROVIDER"] = "GR"
"GR"

(@v1.6) pkg> build GR

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![John\_Gibson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/john_gibson/32/5321_2.png) [@John\_Gibson](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/John_Gibson)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 5:26pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cant-install-plots-on-julia-1-6-0/59360/7 "2021-04-15T17:26:48Z")

</div>

`using GR` revealed that GR was not installed. So I did

```julia
julia> Pkg.add("GR")
    Updating registry at `~/.julia/registries/General`
   Resolving package versions...
    Updating `~/.julia/environments/v1.6/Project.toml`
  [28b8d3ca] + GR v0.57.3
  No Changes to `~/.julia/environments/v1.6/Manifest.toml`

julia> using Plots
[Info: Precompiling Plots [91a5bcdd-55d7-5caf-9e0b-520d859cae80]
Your GR installation is incomplete. Rerunning build step for GR package.
┌ Info: Switching provider to GR due to error in depsfile
└ depsfile = "/home/gibson/.julia/packages/GR/qSS8e/deps/deps.jl"
ERROR: LoadError: LoadError: InitError: Evaluation into the closed module `GR` breaks incremental compilation because the side effects will not be permanent. This is likely due to some other module mutating `GR` with `eval` during precompilation - don't do this.

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![John\_Gibson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/john_gibson/32/5321_2.png) [@John\_Gibson](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/John_Gibson)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 5:36pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cant-install-plots-on-julia-1-6-0/59360/8 "2021-04-15T17:36:43Z")

</div>

Success! I followed your first suggestion to switch back to BinaryBuilder. In the course of building GR, the build system once again changed the GR provider, but this time compilation eventually succeeded.

```julia
julia> ENV["GRDIR"] = ""
""

julia> ENV["JULIA_GR_PROVIDER"] = "BinaryBuilder"
"BinaryBuilder"
(@v1.6) pkg> build GR
    Building GR → `~/.julia/scratchspaces/44cfe95a-1eb2-52ea-b672-e2afdf69b78f/82a03d9c331d181bf33c99c9af04202cc4533d48/build.log`
Precompiling project...
  Progress [========================================>] 3/3
  ✗ Plots
1 dependency successfully precompiled in 12 seconds (110 already precompiled, 1 skipped during auto due to previous errors)
1 dependency errored

julia> using GR
Your GR installation is incomplete. Rerunning build step for GR package.
┌ Info: Switching provider to GR due to error in depsfile
└ depsfile = "/home/gibson/.julia/packages/GR/qSS8e/deps/deps.jl"
    Building GR → `~/.julia/scratchspaces/44cfe95a-1eb2-52ea-b672-e2afdf69b78f/82a03d9c331d181bf33c99c9af04202cc4533d48/build.log`
Precompiling project...
  Progress [========================================>] 3/3
  ? Plots
1 dependency successfully precompiled in 9 seconds (110 already precompiled, 1 skipped during auto due to previous errors)
1 dependency failed but may be precompilable after restarting julia
[ Info: GR was successfully rebuilt

```

After restarting

```julia
julia> using GR

julia> using Plots
[Info: Precompiling Plots [91a5bcdd-55d7-5caf-9e0b-520d859cae80]

```

and Plots works. Thank you!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mkitti](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/mkitti/32/12459_2.png) [@mkitti](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mkitti)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 5:44pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cant-install-plots-on-julia-1-6-0/59360/9 "2021-04-15T17:44:04Z")

</div>

Great.

I would be interested in figuring out what the output of the following commands looks like on your machine.

```julia
julia> import Pkg; Pkg.add("GR_jll"); import GR_jll
   Resolving package versions...
  No Changes to `C:\Users\kittisopikulm\.julia\environments\v1.6\Project.toml`
  No Changes to `C:\Users\kittisopikulm\.julia\environments\v1.6\Manifest.toml`

```

It looks like the GR\_jll.jl provided binaries are not working whereas the GR provided tarball is working.

> **[GitHub - JuliaBinaryWrappers/GR\_jll.jl](https://github.com/JuliaBinaryWrappers/GR_jll.jl)**
>
> Contribute to JuliaBinaryWrappers/GR\_jll.jl development by creating an account on GitHub.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![John\_Gibson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/john_gibson/32/5321_2.png) [@John\_Gibson](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/John_Gibson)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 5:59pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cant-install-plots-on-julia-1-6-0/59360/10 "2021-04-15T17:59:43Z")

</div>

Hmmm. Maybe it is that my OS Qt5 version is 5.12 rather than 5.15?

```julia
julia> import Pkg; Pkg.add("GR_jll"); import GR_jll
    Updating registry at `~/.julia/registries/General`
   Resolving package versions...
    Updating `~/.julia/environments/v1.6/Project.toml`
  [d2c73de3] + GR_jll v0.57.2+0
  No Changes to `~/.julia/environments/v1.6/Manifest.toml`
[Info: Precompiling GR_jll [d2c73de3-f751-5644-a686-071e5b155ba9]
ERROR: LoadError: LoadError: InitError: could not load library "/home/gibson/.julia/artifacts/7835210e9722f2d04d4e74972925b5c43d9cfcaa/lib/libQt5Concurrent.so"
/usr/lib64/libQt5Core.so.5: version `Qt_5.15' not found (required by /home/gibson/.julia/artifacts/7835210e9722f2d04d4e74972925b5c43d9cfcaa/lib/libQt5Concurrent.so)
Stacktrace:
  [1] dlopen(s::String, flags::UInt32; throw_error::Bool)
    @ Base.Libc.Libdl ./libdl.jl:114
  [2] dlopen(s::String, flags::UInt32)
    @ Base.Libc.Libdl ./libdl.jl:114
  [3] macro expansion
    @ ~/.julia/packages/JLLWrappers/WnWcZ/src/products/library_generators.jl:63 [inlined]
  [4] __init__ ()
    @ Qt5Base_jll ~/.julia/packages/Qt5Base_jll/Ks8eF/src/wrappers/x86_64-linux-gnu-cxx11.jl:31
  [5] _include_from_serialized(path::String, depmods::Vector{Any})
    @ Base ./loading.jl:674
  [6] _require_search_from_serialized(pkg::Base.PkgId, sourcepath::String)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:760
  [7] _require(pkg::Base.PkgId)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:998
  [8] require(uuidkey::Base.PkgId)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:914
  [9] require(into::Module, mod::Symbol)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:901
 [10] include(mod::Module, _path::String)
    @ Base ./Base.jl:386
 [11] top-level scope
    @ ~/.julia/packages/JLLWrappers/WnWcZ/src/toplevel_generators.jl:170
 [12] include
    @ ./Base.jl:386 [inlined]
 [13] include_package_for_output(pkg::Base.PkgId, input::String, depot_path::Vector{String}, dl_load_path::Vector{String}, load_path::Vector{String}, concrete_deps::Vector{Pair{Base.PkgId, UInt64}}, source::Nothing)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1213
 [14] top-level scope
    @ none:1
 [15] eval
    @ ./boot.jl:360 [inlined]
 [16] eval(x::Expr)
    @ Base.MainInclude ./client.jl:446
 [17] top-level scope
    @ none:1
during initialization of module Qt5Base_jll
in expression starting at /home/gibson/.julia/packages/GR_jll/lXOy4/src/wrappers/x86_64-linux-gnu-cxx11.jl:13
in expression starting at /home/gibson/.julia/packages/GR_jll/lXOy4/src/GR_jll.jl:2
ERROR: Failed to precompile GR_jll [d2c73de3-f751-5644-a686-071e5b155ba9] to /home/gibson/.julia/compiled/v1.6/GR_jll/jl_JK86kc.
Stacktrace:
 [1] error(s::String)
   @ Base ./error.jl:33
 [2] compilecache(pkg::Base.PkgId, path::String, internal_stderr::Base.TTY, internal_stdout::Base.TTY)
   @ Base ./loading.jl:1360
 [3] compilecache(pkg::Base.PkgId, path::String)
   @ Base ./loading.jl:1306
 [4] _require(pkg::Base.PkgId)
   @ Base ./loading.jl:1021
 [5] require(uuidkey::Base.PkgId)
   @ Base ./loading.jl:914
 [6] require(into::Module, mod::Symbol)
   @ Base ./loading.jl:901

```

```julia
gibson@sophist$ rpm -qif /usr/lib64/libQt5Core.so.5
Name : libQt5Core5
Version : 5.12.7
Release : lp152.3.16.1
Architecture: x86_64
Install Date: Mon 21 Dec 2020 12:05:46 PM EST
Group : Development/Libraries/X11
Size : 5937956
License : LGPL-2.1-with-Qt-Company-Qt-exception-1.1 or LGPL-3.0-only
Signature : RSA/SHA256, Thu 17 Dec 2020 06:04:14 PM EST, Key ID b88b2fd43dbdc284
Source RPM : libqt5-qtbase-5.12.7-lp152.3.16.1.src.rpm
Build Date : Thu 17 Dec 2020 05:55:01 PM EST
Build Host : goat05
Relocations : (not relocatable)
Packager : http://bugs.opensuse.org
Vendor : openSUSE
URL : https://www.qt.io
Summary : Qt 5 Core Library
Distribution: openSUSE Leap 15.2

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mkitti](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/mkitti/32/12459_2.png) [@mkitti](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mkitti)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 6:05pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cant-install-plots-on-julia-1-6-0/59360/11 "2021-04-15T18:05:28Z")

</div>

> [@John\_Gibson](#):
>
> ```julia
> could not load library "/home/gibson/.julia/artifacts/7835210e9722f2d04d4e74972925b5c43d9cfcaa/lib/libQt5Concurrent.so"
> 
> ```

Yea that does not look good. It should not be using your system Qt at all actually. It should be using the one from [GitHub - JuliaBinaryWrappers/Qt5Base\_jll.jl](https://github.com/JuliaBinaryWrappers/Qt5Base_jll.jl) , so you might want to file an issue there.

Pinging @barche and @giordano .

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![juliohm](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/juliohm/32/215266_2.png) [@juliohm](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/juliohm)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 6:07pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cant-install-plots-on-julia-1-6-0/59360/12 "2021-04-15T18:07:34Z")

</div>

@John_Gibson any chance you are on Mac OS? I reported this bug some days ago because GitHub Actions is consistently failing on Mac OS with a similar error message: [[BUG] Precompilation failing on GitHub Actions (MacOS) · Issue #3431 · JuliaPlots/Plots.jl · GitHub](https://github.com/JuliaPlots/Plots.jl/issues/3431)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![giordano](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/giordano/32/2166_2.png) [@giordano](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/giordano)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 6:13pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cant-install-plots-on-julia-1-6-0/59360/13 "2021-04-15T18:13:10Z")

</div>

Does the error happen if you try to install `Plots` in a clean julia session? What’s the value of the `LD_LIBRARY_PATH` environment variable inside julia?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mkitti](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/mkitti/32/12459_2.png) [@mkitti](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mkitti)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 6:14pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cant-install-plots-on-julia-1-6-0/59360/14 "2021-04-15T18:14:58Z")

</div>

He’s on openSUSE-15.2 running on Intel.

Check this [Slack thread](https://julialang.slack.com/archives/C674ELDNX/p1617875557245800).

Also see [LoadError: InitError: Evaluation into the closed module `GR` breaks incremental compilation · Issue #390 · jheinen/GR.jl · GitHub](https://github.com/jheinen/GR.jl/issues/390)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![John\_Gibson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/john_gibson/32/5321_2.png) [@John\_Gibson](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/John_Gibson)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 6:30pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cant-install-plots-on-julia-1-6-0/59360/15 "2021-04-15T18:30:04Z")

</div>

Yes, I’m running openSUE-15.2 Linux on x86-64. The error happened first on my working julia-1.6.0 and then just the same way when I removed ~/.julia and did Pkg.add(“Plots”) as the first statement after starting Julia.

LD\_LIBRARY\_PATH in Julia ENV is /usr/lib64:/usr/lib64/mpi/gcc/openmpi/lib64:/home/gibson/channelflow-master/lib:/home/gibson/lib

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![giordano](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/giordano/32/2166_2.png) [@giordano](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/giordano)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 6:40pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cant-install-plots-on-julia-1-6-0/59360/16 "2021-04-15T18:40:54Z")

</div>

> [@John\_Gibson](#):
>
> LD\_LIBRARY\_PATH in Julia ENV is /usr/lib64:/usr/lib64/mpi/gcc/openmpi/lib64:/home/gibson/channelflow-master/lib:/home/gibson/lib

That’s the issue. Empty the variable when running julia, for example with

```julia
LD_LIBRARY_PATH="" julia

```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![John\_Gibson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/john_gibson/32/5321_2.png) [@John\_Gibson](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/John_Gibson)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 6:51pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cant-install-plots-on-julia-1-6-0/59360/17 "2021-04-15T18:51:10Z")

</div>

GR\_jll successfully loads and compiles after emptying LD\_LIBRARY\_PATH as you suggested. Should julia always be run with empty LD\_LIBRARY\_PATH? Should I have known this?

Starting with `LD_LIBRARY_PATH="" julia` at bash prompt

```julia
julia> ENV["LD_LIBRARY_PATH"]
""
julia> import Pkg; Pkg.add("GR_jll"); import GR_jll
    Updating registry at `~/.julia/registries/General`
   Resolving package versions...
  No Changes to `~/.julia/environments/v1.6/Project.toml`
  No Changes to `~/.julia/environments/v1.6/Manifest.toml`
[Info: Precompiling GR_jll [d2c73de3-f751-5644-a686-071e5b155ba9]

```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![giordano](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/giordano/32/2166_2.png) [@giordano](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/giordano)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 6:54pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cant-install-plots-on-julia-1-6-0/59360/18 "2021-04-15T18:54:58Z")

</div>

> [@John\_Gibson](#):
>
> Should julia always be run with empty LD\_LIBRARY\_PATH?

The official Julia binaries and all the packages ending with `_jll` vendor the binary libraries, so that users don’t need to figure out how to install them. `LD_LIBRARY_PATH` overrides that mechanism. So in general I’d recommend to never set `LD_LIBRARY_PATH` when running julia, unless you perfectly know what you’re doing.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![barche](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/barche/32/79_2.png) [@barche](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/barche)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 7:06pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cant-install-plots-on-julia-1-6-0/59360/19 "2021-04-15T19:06:10Z")

</div>

> [@John\_Gibson](#):
>
> and then just the same way when I removed ~/.julia

Seems the main issue was solved by @giordano, but just a tip to avoid removing your `.julia` for this kind of debugging: you can use `JULIA_DEPOT_PATH` to use a temporary directory, and it will be as if you run a clean julia installation, e.g:

```bash
JULIA_DEPOT_PATH=/home/user/tmp/depot_grtest julia

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![John\_Gibson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/john_gibson/32/5321_2.png) [@John\_Gibson](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/John_Gibson)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 7:41pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cant-install-plots-on-julia-1-6-0/59360/20 "2021-04-15T19:41:50Z")

</div>

Thanks. I actually just renamed ~/.julia to something and so accomplished the same, but the JULIA\_DEPOT\_PATH approach is cleaner.

I’ve long used LD\_LIBRARY\_PATH to help applications find shared libraries, particularly software that I build myself. I will revisit whether this is really necessary.

Thanks everyone for your help!

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