# Missing shared library file when pre-compiling

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/missing-shared-library-file-when-pre-compiling/104575>\
**Category:** New to Julia\
**Tags:** package\
**Created:** [October 4, 2023, 1:52pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/missing-shared-library-file-when-pre-compiling/104575 "2023-10-04T13:52:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 13\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![acnash](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/acnash/32/202248_2.png) [@acnash](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/acnash)\
**Post date:** [October 4, 2023, 1:52pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/missing-shared-library-file-when-pre-compiling/104575/1 "2023-10-04T13:52:30Z")

</div>

Hi all, I’m new to Julia but “old” regarding software development.

I’m trying to add the package BlackBoxOptim for some Julia code, but I’m having problems finding a shared C library file, “libmbedtls.so”. As far as I’m aware, the BlackBoxOptim Julia package, has a set of dependencies, one of them, MBed TLS, is the source of the missing shared C library.

I’m running Julia in a new and untouched Conda environment. It is a clean box. I added BlackBoxOptim to the julia package manager (I’m new to Julia - forgive any use of incorrect terms), but on importing the package - which pre-compiles it - I see the error:

julia\> import BlackBoxOptim  
[Info: Precompiling BlackBoxOptim [a134a8b2-14d6-55f6-9291-3336d3ab0209]  
ERROR: LoadError: InitError: could not load library “libmbedtls.so”  
libmbedx509.so.4: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory  
Stacktrace:  
[1] dlopen(s::String, flags::UInt32; throw\_error::Bool)

Within my conda environment, I found the file:

/home/shodan/miniconda3/envs/julia\_ness/lib/libmbedtls.so  
/home/shodan/miniconda3/envs/julia\_ness/lib/julia/libmbedtls.so  
/home/shodan/miniconda3/pkgs/mbedtls-3.3.0-hcb278e6\_0/lib/libmbedtls.so  
/home/shodan/miniconda3/pkgs/julia-1.9.3-h06b7c97\_0/lib/julia/libmbedtls.so

I’m new to Julia as of 1 hour ago. How do I point Julia in the direction of the correct location for this shared library file?

Many thanks and I appreciate your patience.

---

<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:** [October 4, 2023, 2:35pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/missing-shared-library-file-when-pre-compiling/104575/2 "2023-10-04T14:35:55Z")

</div>

Did you install Julia via conda-forge? If so, from which channel? Is this on Linux?

If so, please raise this as an issue on the julia-feedstock. I am personally trying to maintain this but navigating the line between Julia and conda-forge is a bit tricky.

> **[GitHub - conda-forge/julia-feedstock: A conda-smithy repository for julia.](https://github.com/conda-forge/julia-feedstock)**
>
> A conda-smithy repository for julia. Contribute to conda-forge/julia-feedstock development by creating an account on GitHub.

In particular we are trying to use mbedTLS from conda-forge: `USE_SYSTEM_MBEDTLS=1`.

> <https://github.com/conda-forge/julia-feedstock/blob/main/recipe/build.sh#L17-L19>

I believe there is an issue with the configuration of the Julia standard library [MbedTLS\_jll.jl](https://github.com/JuliaBinaryWrappers/MbedTLS_jll.jl) which must be done at build time.

The short term fix is to download Julia directly from [julialang.org](http://julialang.org) or to use [juliaup](https://github.com/JuliaLang/juliaup).

A hacky fix is to manually locate the library and its dependencies in the the conda environment and manually load them via `Libdl.dlopen` in the correct order.

---

<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:** [October 4, 2023, 2:52pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/missing-shared-library-file-when-pre-compiling/104575/3 "2023-10-04T14:52:02Z")

</div>

To confirm my diagnosis and isolate the error try this:

```julia
julia> using MbedTLS_jll

```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![johnh](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/johnh/32/3615_2.png) [@johnh](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/johnh)\
**Post date:** [October 4, 2023, 2:52pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/missing-shared-library-file-when-pre-compiling/104575/4 "2023-10-04T14:52:30Z")

</div>

Using juliap is very good advice. Give that a try.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![acnash](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/acnash/32/202248_2.png) [@acnash](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/acnash)\
**Post date:** [October 4, 2023, 2:54pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/missing-shared-library-file-when-pre-compiling/104575/5 "2023-10-04T14:54:14Z")

</div>

I see! Thanks so much for your feedback. It’s very helpful.

Yes, this is Ubuntu Linux (well, strictly, it’s WSL2), and I installed Julia using Conda via the conda-forge channel.

If I understand you correctly, the robust solution would be to delete this Conda environment, start a new one (so it’s a clean box), and use a downloaded version of Julia from the website rather than what Conda provides.

Thanks

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![acnash](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/acnash/32/202248_2.png) [@acnash](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/acnash)\
**Post date:** [October 4, 2023, 2:55pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/missing-shared-library-file-when-pre-compiling/104575/6 "2023-10-04T14:55:02Z")

</div>

I’m seeing:

ERROR: InitError: could not load library “libmbedtls.so”  
libmbedx509.so.4: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory  
Stacktrace:  
[1] dlopen(s::String, flags::UInt32; throw\_error::Bool)  
@ Base.Libc.Libdl ./libdl.jl:117  
[2] dlopen  
@ ./libdl.jl:116 [inlined]  
[3] dlopen(s::String)  
@ Base.Libc.Libdl ./libdl.jl:116  
[4] **init** ()  
@ MbedTLS\_jll ~/miniconda3/envs/julia\_ness/share/julia/stdlib/v1.9/MbedTLS\_jll/src/MbedTLS\_jll.jl:42  
[5] register\_restored\_modules(sv::Core.SimpleVector, pkg::Base.PkgId, path::String)  
@ Base ./loading.jl:1115  
[6] \_include\_from\_serialized(pkg::Base.PkgId, path::String, ocachepath::String, depmods::Vector{Any})  
@ Base ./loading.jl:1061  
[7] \_require\_search\_from\_serialized(pkg::Base.PkgId, sourcepath::String, build\_id::UInt128)  
@ Base ./loading.jl:1506  
[8] \_require(pkg::Base.PkgId, env::String)  
@ Base ./loading.jl:1783  
[9] \_require\_prelocked(uuidkey::Base.PkgId, env::String)  
@ Base ./loading.jl:1660  
[10] macro expansion  
@ ./loading.jl:1648 [inlined]  
[11] macro expansion  
@ ./lock.jl:267 [inlined]  
[12] require(into::Module, mod::Symbol)  
@ Base ./loading.jl:1611  
during initialization of module MbedTLS\_jll

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![acnash](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/acnash/32/202248_2.png) [@acnash](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/acnash)\
**Post date:** [October 4, 2023, 2:56pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/missing-shared-library-file-when-pre-compiling/104575/7 "2023-10-04T14:56:26Z")

</div>

I’ll give it a try. Thanks.

---

<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:** [October 4, 2023, 3:04pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/missing-shared-library-file-when-pre-compiling/104575/8 "2023-10-04T15:04:22Z")

</div>

If you only objective is to use Julia, you do not need `conda` or a conda environment.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![acnash](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/acnash/32/202248_2.png) [@acnash](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/acnash)\
**Post date:** [October 4, 2023, 3:11pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/missing-shared-library-file-when-pre-compiling/104575/9 "2023-10-04T15:11:16Z")

</div>

To confirm, I resolved this by:

(1) Removing my old conda environment.  
(2) Making a new conda (virtual environment).  
(3) Installed Juliaup following the curl installation commandline.  
(4) Reinitialised (exited and entered) my environment.  
(5) Loaded Julia on the prompt.  
(6) add BlackBoxOptim

Regarding your last question. I’m using Conda to keep environments separate as I’m working across multiple languages and various projects, each with its own dependencies.

Thank you so much for your help.

---

<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:** [October 4, 2023, 3:19pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/missing-shared-library-file-when-pre-compiling/104575/10 "2023-10-04T15:19:31Z")

</div>

Yes, I understand why you are using conda. However, I’m trying to communicate that Julia is not going to respect your virtual environment boundaries out of the box. Additionally, Julia has its own environment and package system.

You will notice that Julia has created a depot outside of your `$CONDA_PREFIX` at `~/.julia`. Basically, Julia knows nothing about your conda “virtual environment”.

You can address this partially by manually installing an activate script to let Julia operate within the prefix. For an example, see the following script.

> <https://github.com/conda-forge/julia-feedstock/blob/main/recipe/scripts/activate.sh>

Also see the corresponding deactivate script.

---

<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:** [October 4, 2023, 9:09pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/missing-shared-library-file-when-pre-compiling/104575/11 "2023-10-04T21:09:39Z")

</div>

I created an issue here:

> <https://github.com/conda-forge/julia-feedstock/issues/260>
>
> \### Solution to issue cannot be found in the documentation.
> 
> \- \[X\] I checked the… documentation.
> 
> \### Issue
> 
> xref: https://discourse.julialang.org/t/missing-shared-library-file-when-pre-compiling/104575
> 
> \`\`\`
> julia\> using MbedTLS\_jll
> ERROR: InitError: could not load library “libmbedtls.so”
> libmbedx509.so.4: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
> Stacktrace:
> \[1\] dlopen(s::String, flags::UInt32; throw\_error::Bool)
> @ Base.Libc.Libdl ./libdl.jl:117
> \[2\] dlopen
> @ ./libdl.jl:116 \[inlined\]
> \[3\] dlopen(s::String)
> @ Base.Libc.Libdl ./libdl.jl:116
> \[4\] init()
> @ MbedTLS\_jll ~/miniconda3/envs/julia\_ness/share/julia/stdlib/v1.9/MbedTLS\_jll/src/MbedTLS\_jll.jl:42
> \[5\] register\_restored\_modules(sv::Core.SimpleVector, pkg::Base.PkgId, path::String)
> @ Base ./loading.jl:1115
> \[6\] \_include\_from\_serialized(pkg::Base.PkgId, path::String, ocachepath::String, depmods::Vector{Any})
> @ Base ./loading.jl:1061
> \[7\] \_require\_search\_from\_serialized(pkg::Base.PkgId, sourcepath::String, build\_id::UInt128)
> @ Base ./loading.jl:1506
> \[8\] \_require(pkg::Base.PkgId, env::String)
> @ Base ./loading.jl:1783
> \[9\] \_require\_prelocked(uuidkey::Base.PkgId, env::String)
> @ Base ./loading.jl:1660
> \[10\] macro expansion
> @ ./loading.jl:1648 \[inlined\]
> \[11\] macro expansion
> @ ./lock.jl:267 \[inlined\]
> \[12\] require(into::Module, mod::Symbol)
> @ Base ./loading.jl:1611
> during initialization of module MbedTLS\_jll
> \`\`\`
> 
> \### Installed packages
> 
> \`\`\`shell
> n/a
> \`\`\`
> 
> 
> \### Environment info
> 
> \`\`\`shell
> n/a
> \`\`\`

Note that the conda-forge packaging is not an official packaging by the Julia project. At the moment it is a best effort exercise by me and and [`ngam`](https://github.com/ngam). Volunteers are needed to help with this effort.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![asan\_emirsaleh](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/asan_emirsaleh/32/204470_2.png) [@asan\_emirsaleh](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/asan_emirsaleh)\
**Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 3:49pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/missing-shared-library-file-when-pre-compiling/104575/12 "2023-11-26T15:49:39Z")

</div>

Hello!  
I faced the same issue.  
library is in conda, OS is Arch

```bash
$ sudo find / -name libmbedx509.so.4
/home/asan/micromamba/pkgs/mbedtls-3.3.0-hcb278e6_0/lib/libmbedx509.so.4
/home/asan/miniconda3/pkgs/mbedtls-3.3.0-hcb278e6_0/lib/libmbedx509.so.4
/home/asan/miniconda3/envs/julia-env/lib/libmbedx509.so.4

```

While installing IJulia, error occured:

```julia
precompile
Precompiling project...
  ✗ MbedTLS
  ✗ IJulia
  0 dependencies successfully precompiled in 5 seconds. 14 already precompiled.

ERROR: The following 1 direct dependency failed to precompile:

IJulia [7073ff75-c697-5162-941a-fcdaad2a7d2a]

Failed to precompile IJulia [7073ff75-c697-5162-941a-fcdaad2a7d2a] to "/home/asan/miniconda3/envs/julia-env/share/julia/compiled/v1.9/IJulia/jl_puWdCi".
ERROR: LoadError: InitError: could not load library "libmbedtls.so"
libmbedx509.so.4: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Stacktrace:
  [1] dlopen(s::String, flags::UInt32; throw_error::Bool)
    @ Base.Libc.Libdl ./libdl.jl:117
  [2] dlopen
    @ ./libdl.jl:116 [inlined]
  [3] dlopen(s::String)
    @ Base.Libc.Libdl ./libdl.jl:116
  [4] __init__ ()
    @ MbedTLS_jll ~/miniconda3/envs/julia-env/share/julia/stdlib/v1.9/MbedTLS_jll/src/MbedTLS_jll.jl:42
  [5] register_restored_modules(sv::Core.SimpleVector, pkg::Base.PkgId, path::String)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1115
  [6] _include_from_serialized(pkg::Base.PkgId, path::String, ocachepath::String, depmods::Vector{Any})
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1061
  [7] _require_search_from_serialized(pkg::Base.PkgId, sourcepath::String, build_id::UInt128)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1506
  [8] _require(pkg::Base.PkgId, env::String)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1783
  [9] _require_prelocked(uuidkey::Base.PkgId, env::String)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1660
 [10] macro expansion
    @ ./loading.jl:1648 [inlined]
 [11] macro expansion
    @ ./lock.jl:267 [inlined]
 [12] require(into::Module, mod::Symbol)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1611
 [13] include
    @ ./Base.jl:457 [inlined]
 [14] 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, UInt128}}, source::String)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:2049
 [15] top-level scope
    @ stdin:3
during initialization of module MbedTLS_jll
in expression starting at /home/asan/miniconda3/envs/julia-env/share/julia/packages/MbedTLS/lqmet/src/MbedTLS.jl:1
in expression starting at stdin:3
ERROR: LoadError: Failed to precompile MbedTLS [739be429-bea8-5141-9913-cc70e7f3736d] to "/home/asan/miniconda3/envs/julia-env/share/julia/compiled/v1.9/MbedTLS/jl_FMQBYx".
Stacktrace:
  [1] error(s::String)
    @ Base ./error.jl:35
  [2] compilecache(pkg::Base.PkgId, path::String, internal_stderr::IO, internal_stdout::IO, keep_loaded_modules::Bool)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:2300
  [3] compilecache
    @ ./loading.jl:2167 [inlined]
  [4] _require(pkg::Base.PkgId, env::String)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1805
  [5] _require_prelocked(uuidkey::Base.PkgId, env::String)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1660
  [6] macro expansion
    @ ./loading.jl:1648 [inlined]
  [7] macro expansion
    @ ./lock.jl:267 [inlined]
  [8] require(into::Module, mod::Symbol)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1611
  [9] include(mod::Module, _path::String)
    @ Base ./Base.jl:457
 [10] include(x::String)
    @ IJulia ~/miniconda3/envs/julia-env/share/julia/packages/IJulia/AQu2H/src/IJulia.jl:33
 [11] top-level scope
    @ ~/miniconda3/envs/julia-env/share/julia/packages/IJulia/AQu2H/src/IJulia.jl:309
 [12] include
    @ ./Base.jl:457 [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, UInt128}}, source::Nothing)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:2049
 [14] top-level scope
    @ stdin:3
in expression starting at /home/asan/miniconda3/envs/julia-env/share/julia/packages/IJulia/AQu2H/src/hmac.jl:1
in expression starting at /home/asan/miniconda3/envs/julia-env/share/julia/packages/IJulia/AQu2H/src/IJulia.jl:1
in expression starting at stdin:3

```

---

<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:** [November 26, 2023, 6:26pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/missing-shared-library-file-when-pre-compiling/104575/13 "2023-11-26T18:26:13Z")

</div>

Hi asan,

Can you see if the official Julia binaries work? This issue is specific to conda-forge.