DEV Community

Cover image for File exists or not, this is the question
Richard Kovacs
Richard Kovacs

Posted on

File exists or not, this is the question

#nixos #linux #bash #todayilearned

Today I ran into an interesting issue. I downloaded a binary and when tried to run Linux surprised me: No such file or directory.

Wait! What the heck?

echo $?
127
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

What does it mean?

Of course, the file exists, executable and ownership is ok:

ls -la ./ignite-cntr
-rwxr-xr-x 1 mhmxs users 43785128 May 16 08:43 ./ignite-cntr
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

It is an ELF binary, the same as my host:

file ./ignite-cntr
./ignite-cntr: ELF 64-bit LSB executable, x86-64, version 1 (SYSV), dynamically linked, interpreter /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2, for GNU/Linux 3.2.0, Go BuildID=2ysLdCmI_2jEgu-V5h1c/SP9Ydh3EJWttepF73BdP/89qBX7R3MEzeLn0NZARQ/PDW1WPguwGiACmtUAl2M, BuildID[sha1]=1954e0539099fce0e813bc5ce5017ab0e8128468, not stripped
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

What about dynamic dependencies:

ldd ./ignite-cntr
        linux-vdso.so.1 (0x00007ffcbd5ca000)
        libpthread.so.0 => /nix/store/qjgj2642srlbr59wwdihnn66sw97ming-glibc-2.33-123/lib/libpthread.so.0 (0x00007fc896577000)
        libdl.so.2 => /nix/store/qjgj2642srlbr59wwdihnn66sw97ming-glibc-2.33-123/lib/libdl.so.2 (0x00007fc896572000)
        libc.so.6 => /nix/store/qjgj2642srlbr59wwdihnn66sw97ming-glibc-2.33-123/lib/libc.so.6 (0x00007fc89639d000)
        /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 => /nix/store/qjgj2642srlbr59wwdihnn66sw97ming-glibc-2.33-123/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00007fc896599000)
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Seems everything is all right. Let's try to debug the issue somehow:

strace ./ignite-cntr
execve("./ignite-cntr", ["./ignite-cntr"], 0x7ffcb65d4f30 /* 133 vars */) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
strace: exec: No such file or directory
+++ exited with 1 +++
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Nothing new :)

ltrace ./ignite-cntr
Can't execute `./ignite-cntr': No such file or directory
failed to initialize process 3885: No such file or directory
couldn't open program './ignite-cntr': No such file or directory
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

???

gdb -q ./ignite-cntr
(gdb) run
Starting program: ./ignite-cntr
/nix/store/gqicc6kxah7f8j54hp80qxpk16898lj9-bash-interactive-5.1-p8/bin/bash: line 1: ./ignite-cntr: No such file or directory
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Ok, I don't have any idea, let's search on Google:
https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/107375

Have you noticed I'm a NixOS user?

nix-shell -p patchelf --run "patchelf --print-interpreter ./ignite-cntr"
/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

So NixOS has its own package manager and builds system. With this package manager, it is relatively easy to bind a binary with its dependency by git hash. This allows us to use a different versions for each binary on the same machine.

But this binary has been built outside of NixOS, and the interpreter is pointing to an interpreter which isn't exist on my machine. Instead of playing with symlinks I simply patched the downloaded ELF binary with the same patchelf command:

nix-shell -p glibc patchelf --run "patchelf --set-interpreter $(find /nix/store -name ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 | head -1) ./ignite-cntr"
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

And finally, it works:

./ignite-cntr
ignite-cntr is an ignite VM image creation and container application
running tool. The VM images are built to support running container applications.
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Nice to know, thank you NixOS to taught me this!

Top comments (0)

Read next

technivek profile image

Comprendre le Design Pattern Factory en PHP et Symfony

TechniveK -

abanoubha profile image

Choosing my distro: Ubuntu, NixOS, Elementary OS or Pop!_OS

Abanoub Hanna -

pulkitsingh profile image

Install Nerd Fonts (or any fonts) easily in Linux

Pulkit Singh -

labby profile image

Linux Command-Line Mastery: Exploring Diverse Programming Practices

Labby -