Issue 37060: import ctypes fails with a statically linked interpreter due to dlopen() failure (original) (raw)

ctypes/init.py calls _ctypes.dlopen(None) on Linux as part of code execution during module import. Unfortunately, dlopen() doesn't work if the current executable isn't a dynamic executable.

Using a fully statically linked Python executable:

$ ldd python3.7 not a dynamic executable

$ python3.7

import _ctypes

_ctypes.dlopen(None) Traceback (most recent call last): File "", line 1, in OSError: Dynamic loading not supported

import ctypes Traceback (most recent call last): File "", line 1, in File "/home/gps/src/python-build-standalone.git/build/python/install/lib/python3.7/ctypes/init.py", line 444, in pythonapi = PyDLL(None) File "/home/gps/src/python-build-standalone.git/build/python/install/lib/python3.7/ctypes/init.py", line 356, in init self._handle = _dlopen(self._name, mode) OSError: Dynamic loading not supported

I think it is a bug that import ctypes raises OSError at import time in this environment. I can make a compelling argument that this error should either be suppressed or converted to an ImportError.

Producing a fully statically linked Python executable is a bit of work and isn't easily accomplished with the existing build system. My "python-build-standalone" project automates the process. A fully statically linked Python executable is available in the zstd compressed archive at https://github.com/indygreg/python-build-standalone/releases/download/20190505/cpython-3.7.3-linux64-musl-20190526T0219.tar.zst under the python/install/bin/python3.7 path. Simply extract that archive and run that binary to reproduce.