Ubuntu 20.04 upgrade, Python missing libffi.so.6

Question

I recently upgraded my OS to Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.

Now when I try to import a library like Numpy in Python, I get the following error:

ImportError: libffi.so.6         


        

Answer 1

It seems like I fixed it. I could be wrong, but here is what I think happened:

1. Ubuntu 20.04 upgraded libffi6 to libffi7
2. Python is still looking for libffi6

What I did to fix it :

Locate libffi.so.7 in your system

$ find /usr/lib -name "libffi.so*"

Create a simlink named libffi.so.6 that points to libffi.so.7:

sudo ln -s /usr/path/to/libffi.so.7 /usr/lib/path/to/libffi.so.6

UPDATE:

As noted by many users, this fix could have unintended consequences. The better way to do it is to reinstall python as @amichaud explained. This should be used as a last resort IF you're not using pyenv/virtualenv/etc in which case removing python will cause a lot of dependencies to be removed as well.