Cannot force rpath

[mknln]

I'm having trouble setting the RPATH on a binary when it already has a RUNPATH, even when the --force-rpath option is employed. Test case:

cp `which ls` .
readelf -d ./ls | egrep -i "runpath|rpath"

Displays nothing, as ls by default appears to have no rpath or runpath.

patchelf --set-rpath ~/libs ./ls
readelf -d ./ls | egrep -i "runpath|rpath"

Now it displays 0x000000000000001d (RUNPATH) Library runpath: [/home/mpn/libs]. OK, fine!

Next do:

patchelf --force-rpath --set-rpath ~/libs ./ls
readelf -d ./ls | egrep -i "runpath|rpath"

Expected result: It will display an RPATH for the binary
Actual result: It still displays only a RUNPATH for the binary

My current workaround has been to delete the existing RUNPATH using chrpath -d (using --set-rpath "" with patchelf doesn't appear to do it, as that looks rather to set RUNPATH to an empty string instead), and then to use --force-rpath with patchelf. Force-rpath does appear to work when there is no RUNPATH present.

[speleo3]

I just ran into the same issue. The behavior of --force-rpath feels very random. I would expect that the flag doesn't depend at all on the previous values of RUNPATH or RPATH, namely:

• without --force-rpath: modified file has RUNPATH
• with --force-rpath: modified file has RPATH

But instead, I get this:

patchelf --remove-rpath
patchelf --set-rpath foo
  RUNPATH              foo
patchelf --force-rpath --set-rpath foo
  RUNPATH              foo                        <-- unexpected (expect RPATH)
patchelf --force-rpath --set-rpath bar
  RUNPATH              bar                        <-- unexpected (expect RPATH)
patchelf --remove-rpath
patchelf --force-rpath --set-rpath foo
  RPATH                foo
patchelf --set-rpath foo
  RPATH                foo                        <-- unexpected (expect RUNPATH)
patchelf --set-rpath bar
  RUNPATH              bar

The outcome is only predictable after --remove-rpath.

Output generated with this script:

#!/bin/bash
doit() {
    echo patchelf $*
    filename=libm.so.6
    patchelf $* $filename
    objdump -x $filename | grep PATH
}
doit --remove-rpath
doit --set-rpath foo
doit --force-rpath --set-rpath foo
doit --force-rpath --set-rpath bar
doit --remove-rpath
doit --force-rpath --set-rpath foo
doit --set-rpath foo
doit --set-rpath bar