1PATCHELF(1) User Manuals PATCHELF(1)
2
6 patchelf - Modify ELF files
7
10 patchelf OPTION FILE ...
11
14 PatchELF is a simple utility for modifying existing ELF executables and
15 libraries. It can change the dynamic loader ("ELF interpreter") of ex‐
16 ecutables and change the RPATH of executables and libraries.
17
20 The single option given operates on each FILE, editing in place.
21 Any option taking a string argument can also take a file by prefixing
23 the argument with the @ symbol. See EXAMPLES
24 --page-size SIZE
27 Uses the given page size instead of the default.
28 --set-interpreter INTERPRETER
31 Change the dynamic loader ("ELF interpreter") of executable
32 given to INTERPRETER.
33 --print-interpreter
36 Prints the ELF interpreter of the executable.
37 --print-os-abi
40 Prints the OS ABI of the executable (EI_OSABI field of an ELF
41 file).
42 --set-os-abi ABI
45 Changes the OS ABI of the executable (EI_OSABI field of an ELF
46 file). The ABI parameter is pretty flexible. For example, you
47 can specify it as a "Linux", "linux", or even "lInUx" - all
48 those names will set EI_OSABI field of the ELF header to the
49 value "3", which corresponds to Linux OS ABI. The same applies
50 to other ABI names - System V, FreeBSD, Solaris, etc.
51 --print-soname
54 Prints DT_SONAME entry of .dynamic section. Raises an error if
55 DT_SONAME doesn't exist.
56 --set-soname SONAME
59 Sets DT_SONAME entry of a library to SONAME.
60 --set-rpath RUNPATH
63 Change the DT_RUNPATH of the executable or library to RUNPATH.
64 --add-rpath RUNPATH
67 Add RUNPATH to the existing DT_RUNPATH of the executable or li‐
68 brary.
69 --remove-rpath
72 Removes the DT_RPATH or DT_RUNPATH entry of the executable or
73 library.
74 --shrink-rpath
77 Remove from the DT_RUNPATH or DT_RPATH all directories that do
78 not contain a library referenced by DT_NEEDED fields of the exe‐
79 cutable or library.
80 For instance, if an executable references one library libfoo.so,
82 has an RPATH "/lib:/usr/lib:/foo/lib", and libfoo.so can only be
83 found in /foo/lib, then the new RPATH will be "/foo/lib".
84 --allowed-rpath-prefixes PREFIXES
87 Combined with the "--shrink-rpath" option, this can be used for
88 further rpath tuning. For instance, if an executable has an
89 RPATH "/tmp/build-foo/.libs:/foo/lib", it is probably desirable
90 to keep the "/foo/lib" reference instead of the "/tmp" entry.
91 --print-rpath
94 Prints the DT_RUNPATH or DT_RPATH for an executable or library.
95 --force-rpath
98 Forces the use of the obsolete DT_RPATH in the file instead of
99 DT_RUNPATH. By default DT_RPATH is converted to DT_RUNPATH.
100 --add-needed LIBRARY
103 Adds a declared dependency on a dynamic library (DT_NEEDED).
104 This option can be given multiple times.
105 --replace-needed LIB_ORIG LIB_NEW
108 Replaces a declared dependency on a dynamic library with another
109 one (DT_NEEDED). This option can be given multiple times.
110 --remove-needed LIBRARY
113 Removes a declared dependency on LIBRARY (DT_NEEDED entry). This
114 option can be given multiple times.
115 --print-needed
118 Prints all DT_NEEDED entries of the executable.
119 --no-default-lib
122 Marks the object so that the search for dependencies of this ob‐
123 ject will ignore any default library search paths.
124 --no-sort
127 Do not sort program headers or section headers. This is useful
128 when debugging patchelf, because it makes it easier to read
129 diffs of the output of "readelf -a".
130 --add-debug-tag
133 Adds DT_DEBUG tag to the .dynamic section if not yet present in
134 an ELF object. A shared library (-shared) by default does not
135 receive DT_DEBUG tag. This means that when a shared library has
136 an entry point (so that it can be run as an executable), the de‐
137 bugger does not connect to it correctly and symbols are not re‐
138 solved.
139 --print-execstack
142 Prints the state of the executable flag of the GNU_STACK program
143 header, if present.
144 --clear-execstack
147 Clears the executable flag of the GNU_STACK program header, or
148 adds a new header.
149 --set-execstack
152 Sets the executable flag of the GNU_STACK program header, or
153 adds a new header.
154 --rename-dynamic-symbols NAME_MAP_FILE
157 Renames dynamic symbols. The name map file should contain lines
158 with the old and the new name separated by spaces like this:
159 old_name new_name
161 Symbol names do not contain version specifier that are also
163 shown in the output of the nm -D command from binutils. So in‐
164 stead of the name write@GLIBC_2.2.5 it is just write.
165 --output FILE
168 Set the output file name. If not specified, the input will be
169 modified in place.
170 --debug
173 Prints details of the changes made to the input file.
174 --version
177 Shows the version of patchelf.
178
181 To use the contents on an external file as a parameter:
182 $ patchelf a.out --add-rpath @/tmp/generated-rpath.bin
184 To change the RPATH of a binary. Note that $ORIGIN is a special symbol
186 used by the loader, so must be quoted.
187 patchelf --set-rpath '$ORIGIN/../lib64' a.out
189
193 Eelco Dolstra <e.dolstra@tudelft.nl>
194
197 elf(5), ld.so(8)
198PATCHELF JULY 2022 PATCHELF(1)