How to link C++ object files with ld

Question

I\'m trying to link the output of C++ using ld and not g++. I\'m only doing this to learn how to do it, not for practical purposes, so please don\'t suggest just to do it with g

Answer 1

If you run g++ with the -v flag, you'll see the link line it uses. Here's a simple example program:

#include <iostream>

int main(void)
{
    std::cout << "Hello, world!" << std::endl;
    return 0;
}

And the output from running g++ -v -o example example.cpp:

Using built-in specs.
Target: x86_64-linux-gnu
Configured with: ../src/configure -v --with-pkgversion='Ubuntu/Linaro 4.4.4-14ubuntu5.1' --with-bugurl=file:///usr/share/doc/gcc-4.4/README.Bugs --enable-languages=c,c++,fortran,objc,obj-c++ --prefix=/usr --program-suffix=-4.4 --enable-shared --enable-multiarch --enable-linker-build-id --with-system-zlib --libexecdir=/usr/lib --without-included-gettext --enable-threads=posix --with-gxx-include-dir=/usr/include/c++/4.4 --libdir=/usr/lib --enable-nls --with-sysroot=/ --enable-clocale=gnu --enable-libstdcxx-debug --enable-objc-gc --disable-werror --with-arch-32=i686 --with-tune=generic --enable-checking=release --build=x86_64-linux-gnu --host=x86_64-linux-gnu --target=x86_64-linux-gnu
Thread model: posix
gcc version 4.4.5 (Ubuntu/Linaro 4.4.4-14ubuntu5.1) 
COLLECT_GCC_OPTIONS='-v' '-o' 'example' '-shared-libgcc' '-mtune=generic'
 /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/cc1plus -quiet -v -D_GNU_SOURCE example.cpp -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -quiet -dumpbase example.cpp -mtune=generic -auxbase example -version -fstack-protector -o /tmp/ccV8qjvd.s
ignoring nonexistent directory "/usr/local/include/x86_64-linux-gnu"
ignoring nonexistent directory "/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/../../../../x86_64-linux-gnu/include"
ignoring nonexistent directory "/usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu"
#include "..." search starts here:
#include <...> search starts here:
 /usr/include/c++/4.4
 /usr/include/c++/4.4/x86_64-linux-gnu
 /usr/include/c++/4.4/backward
 /usr/local/include
 /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/include
 /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/include-fixed
 /usr/include
End of search list.
GNU C++ (Ubuntu/Linaro 4.4.4-14ubuntu5.1) version 4.4.5 (x86_64-linux-gnu)
    compiled by GNU C version 4.4.5, GMP version 4.3.2, MPFR version 3.0.0-p3.
GGC heuristics: --param ggc-min-expand=100 --param ggc-min-heapsize=131072
Compiler executable checksum: d92fbc2d715a3b7e0f4133f0c40053e4
COLLECT_GCC_OPTIONS='-v' '-o' 'example' '-shared-libgcc' '-mtune=generic'
 as -V -Qy -o /tmp/ccGHR0pc.o /tmp/ccV8qjvd.s
GNU assembler version 2.20.51 (x86_64-linux-gnu) using BFD version (GNU Binutils for Ubuntu) 2.20.51-system.20100908
COMPILER_PATH=/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/:/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/:/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/:/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/:/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/:/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/:/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/
LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/:/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/:/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/../../../../lib/:/lib/../lib/:/usr/lib/../lib/:/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/../../../:/lib/:/usr/lib/:/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/
COLLECT_GCC_OPTIONS='-v' '-o' 'example' '-shared-libgcc' '-mtune=generic'
 /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/collect2 --build-id --eh-frame-hdr -m elf_x86_64 --hash-style=gnu -dynamic-linker /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 -o example -z relro /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/../../../../lib/crt1.o /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/../../../../lib/crti.o /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/crtbegin.o -L/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5 -L/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5 -L/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/../../../../lib -L/lib/../lib -L/usr/lib/../lib -L/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/../../.. -L/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu /tmp/ccGHR0pc.o -lstdc++ -lm -lgcc_s -lgcc -lc -lgcc_s -lgcc /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/crtend.o /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/../../../../lib/crtn.o

Wow, what a mess. Conveniently the link line is the last one there, so you can see what's happening pretty easily.

As you noticed in your comment below, the front-end is using collect2 rather than ld. Luckily, collect2 is just an alias for ld. Here's an example using it:

First let's generate an object file:

$ ls
example.cpp
$ c++ -c example.cpp
$ ls
example.cpp example.o

Then we'll use the front-end to link it to see the link line:

$ c++ -v -o example example.o
Using built-in specs.
Target: x86_64-linux-gnu
Configured with: ../src/configure -v --with-pkgversion='Ubuntu/Linaro 4.4.4-14ubuntu5.1' --with-bugurl=file:///usr/share/doc/gcc-4.4/README.Bugs --enable-languages=c,c++,fortran,objc,obj-c++ --prefix=/usr --program-suffix=-4.4 --enable-shared --enable-multiarch --enable-linker-build-id --with-system-zlib --libexecdir=/usr/lib --without-included-gettext --enable-threads=posix --with-gxx-include-dir=/usr/include/c++/4.4 --libdir=/usr/lib --enable-nls --with-sysroot=/ --enable-clocale=gnu --enable-libstdcxx-debug --enable-objc-gc --disable-werror --with-arch-32=i686 --with-tune=generic --enable-checking=release --build=x86_64-linux-gnu --host=x86_64-linux-gnu --target=x86_64-linux-gnu
Thread model: posix
gcc version 4.4.5 (Ubuntu/Linaro 4.4.4-14ubuntu5.1) 
COMPILER_PATH=/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/:/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/:/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/:/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/:/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/:/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/:/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/
LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/:/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/:/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/../../../../lib/:/lib/../lib/:/usr/lib/../lib/:/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/../../../:/lib/:/usr/lib/:/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/
COLLECT_GCC_OPTIONS='-v' '-o' 'example' '-shared-libgcc' '-mtune=generic'
 /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/collect2 --build-id --eh-frame-hdr -m elf_x86_64 --hash-style=gnu -dynamic-linker /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 -o example -z relro /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/../../../../lib/crt1.o /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/../../../../lib/crti.o /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/crtbegin.o -L/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5 -L/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5 -L/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/../../../../lib -L/lib/../lib -L/usr/lib/../lib -L/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/../../.. -L/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu example.o -lstdc++ -lm -lgcc_s -lgcc -lc -lgcc_s -lgcc /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/crtend.o /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/../../../../lib/crtn.o

Then throw away the binary, and link ourselves (normally, I would have just copy/pasted the line, but to make it easier to read I did it the multiline way with \s):

$ ls
example  example.cpp  example.o
$ rm example
$ ls
example.cpp example.o
$ ld                                                              \
> --build-id                                                      \
> --eh-frame-hdr                                                  \
> -m elf_x86_64                                                   \
> --hash-style=gnu                                                \
> -dynamic-linker                                                 \
> /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2                                     \
> -o example                                                      \
> -z relro                                                        \
> /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/../../../../lib/crt1.o      \
> /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/../../../../lib/crti.o      \
> /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/crtbegin.o                  \
> -L/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5                           \
> -L/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5                           \
> -L/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/../../../../lib           \
> -L/lib/../lib                                                   \
> -L/usr/lib/../lib                                               \
> -L/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/../../..                  \
> -L/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu                                     \
> example.o                                                       \
> -lstdc++                                                        \
> -lm                                                             \
> -lgcc_s                                                         \
> -lgcc                                                           \
> -lc                                                             \
> -lgcc_s                                                         \
> -lgcc                                                           \
> /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/crtend.o                    \
> /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/../../../../lib/crtn.o

Finally, run it!

$ ls
example example.cpp example.o
$ ./example 
Hello, world!

You can probably significantly shorten that link line by removing some arguments. Here's the minimal set I came up with after some experimentation:

$ ld                                                              \
> -dynamic-linker                                                 \
> /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2                                     \
> -o example                                                      \
> /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/../../../../lib/crt1.o      \
> /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/../../../../lib/crti.o      \
> /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/crtbegin.o                  \
> example.o                                                       \
> -L/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5                           \
> -lstdc++                                                        \
> -lc                                                             \
> /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/crtend.o                    \
> /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.5/../../../../lib/crtn.o

This set of flags and libraries will of course depend on what library functions and language features your program uses.