libffi.so.5: cannot open shared object file

Question

I upgraded from Rails 3.0.11 to 3.1.3. When I start the server, it's giving the error:

>> Using rack adapter
rake aborted!
libffi.so.5: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory - /home/srikanth/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/ffi-1.0.11/lib/ffi_c.so    
/home/srikanth/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/activesupport-3.1.4/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:240:in `require'  
/home/srikanth/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/activesupport-3.1.4/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:240:in `block in require'  
/home/srikanth/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/activesupport-3.1.4/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:223:in `block in load_dependency'  
/home/srikanth/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/activesupport-3.1.4/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:640:in `new_constants_in'  
/home/srikanth/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/activesupport-3.1.4/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:223:in `load_dependency'  
/home/srikanth/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/activesupport-3.1.4/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:240:in `require'  
/home/srikanth/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/ffi-1.0.11/lib/ffi.rb:11:in `rescue in <top (required)>'  
/home/srikanth/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/ffi-1.0.11/lib/ffi.rb:2:in `<top (required)>'  
/home/srikanth/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/activesupport-3.1.4/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:240:in `require'   
/home/srikanth/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/activesupport-3.1.4/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:240:in `block in require'  
/home/srikanth/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/activesupport-3.1.4/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:223:in `block in load_dependency'  
/home/srikanth/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/activesupport-3.1.4/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:640:in `new_constants_in'  
/home/srikanth/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/activesupport-3.1.4/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:223:in `load_dependency'  
/home/srikanth/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/activesupport-3.1.4/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:240:in `require'  
/home/srikanth/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/ethon-0.5.3/lib/ethon.rb:2:in `<top (required)>'  
/home/srikanth/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/activesupport-3.1.4/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:240:in `require'  
/home/srikanth/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/activesupport-3.1.4/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:240:in `block in require'    
/home/srikanth/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/activesupport-3.1.4/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:223:in `block in load_dependency'  
/home/srikanth/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/activesupport-3.1.4/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:640:in `new_constants_in'  
/home/srikanth/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/activesupport-3.1.4/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:223:in `load_dependency'  
/home/srikanth/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/activesupport-3.1.4/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:240:in `require'  
/home/srikanth/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/typhoeus-0.5.3/lib/typhoeus.rb:2:in `<top (required)>'  
/home/srikanth/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/bundler-1.2.1/lib/bundler/runtime.rb:68:in `require'  
/home/srikanth/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/bundler-1.2.1/lib/bundler/runtime.rb:68:in `block (2 levels) in require'  
/home/srikanth/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/bundler-1.2.1/lib/bundler/runtime.rb:66:in `each'  
/home/srikanth/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/bundler-1.2.1/lib/bundler/runtime.rb:66:in `block in require'  
/home/srikanth/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/bundler-1.2.1/lib/bundler/runtime.rb:55:in `each'  
/home/srikanth/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/bundler-1.2.1/lib/bundler/runtime.rb:55:in `require'  
/home/srikanth/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.3-p125/gems/bundler-1.2.1/lib/bundler.rb:128:in `require'  
/home/srikanth/projects/tango/config/application.rb:19:in `<top (required)>'  
/home/srikanth/projects/tango/Rakefile:8:in `require'  
/home/srikanth/projects/tango/Rakefile:8:in `<top (required)>'  
(See full trace by running task with --trace)  

Any idea how to fix this?

Answer 1

Maybe the ffi gem was not installed properly?

gem uninstall ffi

Assuming you are using Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get install libffi libffi-dev
gem install ffi -v 1.0.11

Answer 2

As I already have 'ffi' installed. I have to find another solution, try below(Which helped me):

Locate the file "libffi.so.5", if it is not present check for "libffi.so." (in my case it was 6, that is libffi.so.6).

Now unlink the file associated with the "/usr/lib64/libffi.so.6". (In my case it was pointed to "libffi.so.6.0.1")

Now create a new symlink for "libffi.so.5", such that "/usr/lib64/libffi.so.5" should point to the new one, "libffi.so.6.0.1".

ie,the final set up should look like:- "/usr/lib64/libffi.so.5 -> libffi.so.6.0.1"

Hope this helps.(I use Amazon Linux AMI based instances.)