fix: add GLIBC version detection to prevent cryptic errors on older Linux - #276
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algojogacor wants to merge 1 commit into
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fix: add GLIBC version detection to prevent cryptic errors on older Linux#276algojogacor wants to merge 1 commit into
algojogacor wants to merge 1 commit into
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Users on older Linux distributions (Ubuntu 22.04, WSL) encounter a cryptic 'GLIBC_2.39 not found' error when running smolvm because the pre-built binary is compiled against a newer glibc. This adds explicit GLIBC version checking to the wrapper script, which extracts the required GLIBC version from the binary using objdump, compares it against the system's installed GLIBC, and provides a clear error message with resolution steps when the system GLIBC is too old. Fixes smol-machines#228
BinSquare
reviewed
May 17, 2026
| echo "To resolve:" >&2 | ||
| echo " 1. Upgrade to Ubuntu 24.04 or newer, or" >&2 | ||
| echo " 2. Build smolvm from source: https://github.com/smol-machines/smolvm#building-from-source" >&2 | ||
| echo " 3. Use the smolvm Docker image: docker run --rm -it --privileged smolmachines/smolvm" >&2 |
Contributor
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We don't have a smolvm docker image (which makes sense because smolvm is a replacement for docker)
BinSquare
reviewed
May 17, 2026
| echo "This typically happens on older Linux distributions (e.g., Ubuntu 22.04)." >&2 | ||
| echo "To resolve:" >&2 | ||
| echo " 1. Upgrade to Ubuntu 24.04 or newer, or" >&2 | ||
| echo " 2. Build smolvm from source: https://github.com/smol-machines/smolvm#building-from-source" >&2 |
Contributor
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building-from-source doesn't exist today but we should have one, i'll add that in the future
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Ready to review this PR? Stage has broken it down into 1 individual chapter for you:
Chapters generated by Stage for commit ebdfd8e on May 27, 2026 9:06pm UTC. |
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Summary
Fixes #228: smolvm fails with cryptic
GLIBC_2.39 not founderror on Ubuntu 22.04 / WSL.Problem
The pre-built
smolvm-binbinary is compiled on a build machine with GLIBC 2.39+, but users on Ubuntu 22.04 (which ships GLIBC 2.35) receive a crypticversion 'GLIBC_2.39' not founderror from the dynamic linker. This is especially common for WSL users who default to Ubuntu 22.04.Solution
Added explicit GLIBC version compatibility checking to the wrapper script (
scripts/smolvm-wrapper.sh):objdump -Tto extract the maximum required GLIBC version from the binaryldd --versionBefore:
After:
This gracefully handles systems without
objdumpby falling through to the existing behavior.Type of Change