dyld: Library not loaded … Reason: Image not found

Question

When trying to run an executable I've been sent in Mac OS X, I get the following error

dyld: Library not loaded: libboost_atomic.dylib
  Referenced from: /Users/"Directory my executable is in"
  Reason: image not found
Trace/BPT trap:5

I have installed the boost libraries and they are located in /opt/local/lib. I think the problem has something to do with the executable only looking in the directory it is in as when I paste the 'libboost_atomic.dylib' in there, it doesn't mind about it anymore. Unfortunately then it complains it can't find the next boost library.

Is there an easy way to fix this?

Answer 1

Find all the boost libraries:

$ otool -L exefile
exefile:
        @executable_path/libboost_something.dylib (compatibility version 0.7.0, current version 0.7.0)
        /usr/lib/libc++.1.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 65.1.0)
        /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 169.3.0)

and for each libboost_xxx.dylib, do:

$ install_name_tool -change @executable_path/libboost_something.dylib /opt/local/lib/libboost_something.dylib exefile

and finally verify using otool again:

$ otool -L exefile
exefile:
        /opt/local/lib/libboost_something.dylib (compatibility version 0.7.0, current version 0.7.0)
        /usr/lib/libc++.1.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 65.1.0)
        /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 169.3.0)

Manpages: otool install_name_tool

EDIT A while back I wrote a python script (copy_dylibs.py) to work out all this stuff automatically when building an app. It will package up all libraries from /usr/local or /opt/local into the app bundle and fix references to those libraries to use @rpath. This means you can easily install third-party library using Homebrew and package them just as easily.

I have now made this script public on github.

Answer 2

This worked for me:

brew upgrade node

Answer 3

In the target's General tab, there is a section called Frameworks, Libraries, and Embedded Content

Click on the + sign, add required framework and the crash is resolved.

Answer 4

After upgrade Mac OS to Mojave. I tried to install npm modules via yarn command I got error:

dyld: Library not loaded: /usr/local/opt/icu4c/lib/libicui18n.60.dylib
  Referenced from: /usr/local/bin/node
  Reason: image not found
Abort trap: 6

Was fixed with:

brew update
brew upgrade

Answer 5

For some, this could be as easy as setting the system path for dynamic libraries. On OS X, this is as simple as setting the DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable. See:

Is it OK to use DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH on Mac OS X? And, what's the dynamic library search algorithm with it?

Answer 6

this should fix the issue

brew update
brew upgrade
brew cleanup

Answer 7

I got this error when I tried to install ruby 2.3.1 using rvm. It first told me to run brew update, which I did, and then when I tried running rvm install ruby-2.3.1, I received the error in this SO question.

The fix was to first run brew upgrade, apparently according to this superuser.com question you need to do both brew update && brew upgrade. Once that was done, I could finally install ruby 2.3.1.

Answer 8

Now that Xcode has upgraded their IDE, they have changed a little bit how this functions.

It used to be split up into separate section as demonstrated above with 'Embedded Binaries' and 'Linked Frameworks and Libraries' as separate sections.

Now, it is one combined section with drop-downs on the right as to what should be embedded.

This was confusing to me at first, but makes perfect sense now.

Answer 9

If you're using Xcode 11 onwards:

Go to General tab and add the framework in Frameworks, Libraries, and Embedded Content section.

Important: By default it might be marked as Do Not Embed, change it to Embed Without Signing like shown in the image and you are good to go.

For Xcode versions below 11:

Just add the framework in Embedded Binaries section and you are done.

Cheers!

Answer 10

To resolve the error below on my Macbook Catalina 10.15.4:

dyld: Library not loaded: /usr/local/opt/openssl/lib/libssl.1.0.0.dylib
    Referenced from: /usr/local/bin/mongoexport
    Reason: image not found
Abort trap: 6

I ran the command below and got round the problem above:

brew switch openssl 1.0.2s

Answer 11

You can use the otool command with the -L option for the executable, which will display where the executable is expecting those libraries to be.

If the path to those need changing, use the install_name_tool command, which allows you to set the path to the libraries.

Answer 12

I got here trying to run a program I just compiled using CMake. When I try to run it, it complains saying:

dyld: Library not loaded: libboost_system.dylib
  Referenced from: /Users/path/to/my/executable
  Reason: image not found

I circumvented the problem telling CMake to use the static version of Boost, instead of letting it use the dynamic one:

set(Boost_USE_STATIC_LIBS ON)

Answer 13

Making the Frameworks in the Build Phases Optional worked for me.

In Xcode -> Target -> Build Phases -> Link Binary with Libraries -> Make sure the newly added frameworks if any are marked as Optional

Answer 14

I fix it by brew install libpng

Answer 15

I fixed this issue by using Product > Clean Build Folder (CommandShiftK), which makes a new clean build, really odd.

Answer 16

For my framework I was using an Xcode subproject added as a git submodule.

I believe I was getting this error because I was signing the framework with a different signing Team than my main app. (switched teams for app; forgot to switch for framework)

Solution is to not sign within the framework project. Instead, in the main app's Target > General > Frameworks, Libraries, and Embedded Content section, sign the framework via Embed & Sign.

If I select Do not Embed or Embed Without Signing I instead get the error:

FRAMEWORK not valid for use in process using Library Validation: mapped file has no cdhash, completely unsigned? Code has to be at least ad-hoc signed.

Answer 17

You can use sudo install_name_tool -change change dylib path And sudo install_name_tool -id change dylib name

Answer 18

If you use cmake, add DYLIB_INSTALL_NAME_BASE "@rpath" to target properties:

set_target_properties(target_dyLib PROPERTIES
        # # for FRAMEWORK begin
        # FRAMEWORK TRUE
        # FRAMEWORK_VERSION C
        # MACOSX_FRAMEWORK_IDENTIFIER com.cmake.targetname
        # MACOSX_FRAMEWORK_INFO_PLIST ./Info.plist
        # PUBLIC_HEADER targetname.h
        # # for FRAMEWORK end
        IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET "8.0"
        DYLIB_INSTALL_NAME_BASE "@rpath" # this is the key point
        XCODE_ATTRIBUTE_CODE_SIGN_IDENTITY "iPhone Developer"
        DEVELOPMENT_TEAM "${DEVELOPMENT_TEAM}"
    )

or in Xcode dynamic library project Target -> Build Setting set Dynamic Library Install Name Base to @rpath

Answer 19

if you use virtualenv just remove the folder of your environment and recreate it with this command virtualenv --python=/usr/local/bin/python3 the_name_of_my_env

Answer 20

Xcode 11.1 & Swift 5.1

Quick Fix

First make sure that external added library has option embed is selected in General Tab, Embbed Binaries.

If still not works..

This happens because you have different, unmatched versions of libraries present.

Update the Pods

pod update

Important: Check all libraries are included in the Build Settings -> libraries and frameworks list and you have given option to embbed in the build

Just working awesome

Answer 21

In our case, it's an iOS app, built on Xcode 11.5, using cocoapods (and cocoapods-binary if you will).

We were seeing this crash:

dyld: Library not loaded: @rpath/PINOperation.framework/PINOperation
  Referenced from: /private/var/containers/Bundle/Application/4C5F5E4C-8B71-4351-A0AB-C20333544569/Tellus.app/Frameworks/PINRemoteImage.framework/PINRemoteImage
  Reason: image not found

Turns out that I had to delete the pods cache and re-run pod install, so Xcode would point this diff:

Answer 22

For anyone coming to this page because they got this error trying to link a third party framework to their project using Xcode 6.3.1, the problem I ran into was because the library was being created with an older version of the compiler using a different version of swift. The only way to fix this for me was to re-build the framework.

Another reason you might get this is stated in an Apple technical doc..

If you are building an app that does not use Swift but embeds content such as a framework that does, Xcode will not include these libraries in your app. As a result, your app will crash upon launching with an error message looking as follows:

set the Embedded Content Contains Swift Code (EMBEDDED_CONTENT_CONTAINS_SWIFT) build setting to YES in your app

Here is the link to the full Apple doc that explains it here

Answer 23

In my case it was node that was out of date, you need to upgrade it after goin up to BigSur - brew upgrade node

Answer 24

For anyone experiencing the same thing with a different library or package, @user3835452 is on the right track. I found this message while trying to run composer:

dyld: Library not loaded: /usr/local/opt/openldap/lib/libldap-2.4.2.dylib
  Referenced from: /usr/local/opt/[email protected]/bin/php
  Reason: image not found
Abort trap: 6

After trying a lot of different ways I just ran brew install openldap and it fixed it. Note that I had already ran brew update and brew upgrade but only after I manually installed openldap did it actually work.

Answer 25

I fixed this by reinstalling Homebrew

Uninstall

ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/uninstall)"

Install

/usr/bin/ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"

Answer 26

Is there an easy way to fix this?

I just used brew upgrade <the tool>. In my case, brew upgrade tmux.

Answer 27

I faced the app crash issue quoting SIGABRT error in thread.Overview of the crash is dyld library not loaded and image not found something like that.

This was seen in Xcode 9.3. The reason I found out was Xcode is not picking up libraries dynamically so I had to do it manually which solved my crash issue.

Follow the below steps:

1. Go to Build Phases
2. Hit the '+' button at the top and select "New Copy File Phase"
3. Select Destination as Frameworks and Hit the '+' button below to add files.
4. Select Add Other at below, click CMD+SHIFT+G and paste the below path, /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Toolchains/XcodeDefault.xctoolchain/usr/lib/swift/iphoneos

Now you will be able to see some swift dylibs, Select all the swift libraries with .dylib extension and click on open.

These will get added to the embedded binaries in the general tab of app.

Create a new group in project folder and add all these libraries.

Now run your app.

Answer 28

If you are using Conda environment in the terminal, update the samtools to solve it.

conda install -c bioconda samtools

Answer 29

Best one is answered above first check what is the output of

otool -L

And then do the following if incorrect

set_target_properties(
    MyTarget
    PROPERTIES
    XCODE_ATTRIBUTE_LD_RUNPATH_SEARCH_PATHS
    "@executable_path/Frameworks @loader_path/Frameworks"
)

And

set_target_properties(
        MyTarget
        PROPERTIES
        XCODE_ATTRIBUTE_DYLIB_INSTALL_NAME_BASE 
        "@rpath"

Answer 30

I got this error after using asdf to switch my python version. When you activate the virtualenv it gets confused.

Instead recreate the virtualenv like so

$ rm -rf venv
$ python -m venv venv

This time when you activate the virtualenv it will find the correct python.