Custom DLL Load – Fixing the “java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError” Error

1. Introduction

In this quick tutorial, we’ll explore different causes and solutions for the UnsatisfiedLinkError. It’s a common and frustrating error encountered when working with native libraries. Resolving this error requires thoroughly understanding its causes and appropriate corrective measures.

We’ll discuss scenarios such as incorrect library and method names, missing library directory specifications, conflicts with classloaders, incompatible architectures, and the role of the Java Security Policy.

2. Scenario and Setup

We’ll create a simple class illustrating possible errors when loading external libraries. Considering we’re on Linux, let’s load a simple library called “libtest.so” and invoke its test() method:

public class JniUnsatisfiedLink {

    public static final String LIB_NAME = "test";

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        System.loadLibrary(LIB_NAME);
        new JniUnsatisfiedLink().test();
    }

    public native String test();

    public native String nonexistentDllMethod();
}

Usually, we’d want to load our library in a static block to ensure it’s only loaded once. But, to better simulate errors, we’re loading it in our main() method. In this case, our lib contains only one valid method, test(), which returns a String. We’re also declaring a nonexistentDllMethod() to see how our application behaves.

3. Library Directory Not Specified

The most straightforward reason for the UnsatisfiedLinkError is that our library isn’t in any directory that Java expects libraries to be in. That could be in a system variable, like LD_LIBRARY_PATH on Unix or Linux, or PATH on Windows. It’s also possible to use the full path of our library with System.load() instead of loadLibrary():

System.load("/full/path/to/libtest.so");

But, to avoid system-specific solutions, we can set the java.library.path VM property. This property receives one or many directory paths containing the library or libraries we need to load:

-Djava.library.path=/any/library/dir

The directory separator will depend on our OS. It’s a colon for Unix or Linux, and a semicolon for Windows.

4. Incorrect Library Name or Permissions

Probably the most common reason to get an UnsatisfiedLinkError is using an incorrect library name. That’s because Java, to keep code as platform-agnostic as possible, assumes a few things about the library name:

• For Windows, it assumes the library file name ends in “.dll.”
• For most Unix-like systems, it assumes a “lib” prefix and a “.so” extension.
• Finally, specifically for Mac, it assumes a “lib” prefix and a “.dylib” (formerly “.jnilib”) extension.

So, if we include any of these prefixes or suffixes, we’ll get an error:

@Test
public void whenIncorrectLibName_thenLibNotFound() {
    String libName = "lib" + LIB_NAME + ".so";

    Error error = assertThrows(UnsatisfiedLinkError.class, () -> System.loadLibrary(libName));

    assertEquals(
      String.format("no %s in java.library.path", libName), 
      error.getMessage()
    );
}

Incidentally, this makes it impossible for us to try and load a library built for a platform different from the one we’re running our application on. In this case, if we want our application to be multi-platform, we’d have to provide binaries for all platforms. And if we only have a “test.dll” in our library directory in our Linux environment, a System.loadLibrary(“test”) will result in the same error.

Similarly, we’ll get an error if we include a path separator with loadLibrary():

@Test
public void whenLoadLibraryContainsPathSeparator_thenErrorThrown() {
    String libName = "/" + LIB_NAME;

    Error error = assertThrows(UnsatisfiedLinkError.class, () -> System.loadLibrary(libName));

    assertEquals(
      String.format("Directory separator should not appear in library name: %s", libName), 
      error.getMessage()
    );
}

Finally, having insufficient permissions on our library directory will result in the same error. For instance, we need at least the “execute” permission in Linux. On the other hand, if our file doesn’t have at least the “read” permission, we’ll get a message similar to this:

java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: /path/to/libtest.so: cannot open shared object file: Permission denied

5. Incorrect Method Name/Usage

If we declare a native method that doesn’t match any of the declared methods in our native source code, we’ll also get the error, but only when we try to call the nonexistent method:

@Test
public void whenUnlinkedMethod_thenErrorThrown() {
    System.loadLibrary(LIB_NAME);

    Error error = assertThrows(UnsatisfiedLinkError.class, () -> new JniUnsatisfiedLink().nonexistentDllMethod());

    assertTrue(error.getMessage()
      .contains("JniUnsatisfiedLink.nonexistentDllMethod"));
}

Notice no exception is thrown in loadLibrary().

6. Library Already Loaded by Another Classloader

This will most likely happen if we’re loading the same library in different web apps in the same web app server (like Tomcat). Then, we’ll get the error:

Native Library libtest.so already loaded in another classloader

Or, if it’s in the middle of the loading process, we’ll get:

Native Library libtest.so is being loaded in another classloader

The simplest way to resolve this is to put the code for loading our library in a JAR in a shared directory in our web app server. For instance, that’d be “<tomcat home>/lib” in Tomcat.

7. Incompatible Architecture

This one is most likely when using old libraries. We can’t load a library compiled for a different architecture than the one on which we’re running our application — for instance, if we try to load a 32-bit library on a 64-bit system:

@Test
public void whenIncompatibleArchitecture_thenErrorThrown() {
    Error error = assertThrows(UnsatisfiedLinkError.class, () -> System.loadLibrary(LIB_NAME + "32"));

    assertTrue(error.getMessage()
      .contains("wrong ELF class: ELFCLASS32"));
}

In the example above, we linked our library with the 32-bit flag for testing purposes. A couple of side notes:

• A similar error can happen if we try to load a DLL in a different platform by renaming the file. Then, our error will contain the “invalid ELF header” message.
• If we try to load our library on an incompatible platform, the library just won’t be found.

8. Corrupted Files

A corrupted file will always result in an UnsatisfiedLinkError when attempting to load it. To illustrate this, let’s see what happens when we try to load an empty file (note that this test is simplified for a single library path and considers a Linux environment):

@Test
public void whenCorruptedFile_thenErrorThrown() {
    String libPath = System.getProperty("java.library.path");

    String dummyLib = LIB_NAME + "-dummy";
    assertTrue(new File(libPath, "lib" + dummyLib + ".so").isFile());
    Error error = assertThrows(UnsatisfiedLinkError.class, () -> System.loadLibrary(dummyLib));

    assertTrue(error.getMessage().contains("file too short"));
}

To avoid this, it’s common to distribute MD5 checksums along with binaries so we can check for integrity.

9. Java Security Policy

If we’re using a Java Policy file, we need to grant a RuntimePermission for loadLibrary() and our library name:

grant {
    permission java.lang.RuntimePermission "loadLibrary.test";
};

Otherwise, we’ll get an error similar to this when trying to load our library:

java.security.AccessControlException: access denied ("java.lang.RuntimePermission" "loadLibrary.test")

Note that for a custom policies file to take effect, we need to specify that we want to use a security manager:

-Djava.security.manager

10. Conclusion

In this article, we explored solutions to address the UnsatisfiedLinkError in Java applications. We discussed common causes for this error and provided insights into resolving them effectively. By implementing these insights and tailoring them to the specific needs of our application, we can effectively resolve UnsatisfiedLinkError occurrences.

And as always, the source code is available over on GitHub.