The linker uses the following search paths to locate required shared libraries.
1. Any directories specified by -rpath-link options.
2. Any directories specified by -rpath options. The difference between -rpath and -rpath-link is that directories specified by -rpath options are included in the executable and used at runtime, whereas the -rpath-link option is only effective at link time. It is for the native linker only.3. On an ELF system, if the -rpath and "rpath-link" options were not used, search the contents of the environment variable "LD_RUN_PATH". It is for the native linker only.
4. On SunOS, if the -rpath option was not used, search any directories specified using -L options.
5. For a native linker, the contents of the environment variable "LD_LIBRARY_PATH".
6. For a native ELF linker, the directories in "DT_RUNPATH" or "DT_RPATH" of a shared library are searched for shared libraries needed by it. The "DT_RPATH" entries are ignored if "DT_RUNPATH" entries exist.7. The default directories, normally /lib and /usr/lib.
8. For a native linker on an ELF system, if the file /etc/ld.so.conf exists, the list of directories found in that file.If the required shared library is not found, the linker will issue a warning and continue with the link.
可见，-rpath-link指定的查找路径只会被linker使用，而-rpath指定的查找路径除用于linker查找外，还会在进程启动时被loader作为共享库查找路径。
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【Linux笔记】linux系统下链接可执行文件时，linker如何查找共享库
原文：http://blog.csdn.net/slvher/article/details/42124965