bash: ./program: cannot execute binary file: Exec format error

I'm trying to run a program, but it gives an error:

bash: ./program: cannot execute binary file: Exec format error

The result of file program was:

program: ELF-32-bit LSB executable, ARM, EABI4 version 1 (SYSV), dynamically linked (uses share libs), for GNU/LINUX 2.6.16, not stripped

How can I fix this?

I'm using Ubuntu 14.04.2 (amd64) with VMware. I also tried using Ubuntu i386, but the result was the same.

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8 Answers

You're trying to run an executable compiled for an ARM architecture on an x86-64 architecture, which is much like asking your processor who only speaks English to take directions in Chinese.

If you need to run that executable you have two choices:

1. Get an x86-64 version of the executable (by any mean; if you're unable to get an x86-64 version of the executable but you're able to get its source code, you can try to recompile it on the virtual machine);

2. Install Ubuntu Server for ARM in place of Ubuntu 14.04.2 (amd64). This requires either a physical machine running on an ARM architecture or a virtualization software that can emulate it.

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This can also occur if you attempt to run an x86-64 executable on a 32-bit platform.

In one specific instance, I downloaded Visual Studio Code and tried to run it on my Ubuntu installation, but I hadn't realized that I had installed 32-bit Ubuntu in this VM. I got this error, but after downloading the 32-bit version, it ran without issue.

It is often possible to run an ARM executable image on an amd64 system if you install the binfmt-support , qemu , and qemu-user-static packages:

sudo apt install binfmt-support qemu qemu-user-static

qemu will then perform syscall emulation when you run the executable. This works for most ARM binaries but there are a few that may not run correctly.

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Such error may occur if all of the following are true:

• Executable is not a file but a link
• You run run it inside VM
• File is located in shared folder
• Your host is Windows.

If you got that file, let's say, in archive - try to unpack it inside VM, in some directory inside virtual drive, not folder mapped to your host machine hard drive, for example /myNewDir/

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If more than one java is installed on the system this might happen and not set as default. On Ubuntu14.04 LTS I could get it resolved by executing following and choosing the java I needed.

sudo update-alternatives --config java
[sudo] password for user:
update-alternatives: warning: /etc/alternatives/java has been changed (manually or by a script); switching to manual updates only
There are 2 choices for the alternative java (providing /usr/bin/java). Selection Path Priority Status
------------------------------------------------------------ 0 /usr/lib/jvm/java-7-openjdk-amd64/jre/bin/java 1071 auto mode 1 /usr/lib/jvm/java-7-openjdk-amd64/jre/bin/java 1071 manual mode 2 /usr/lib/jvm/java-8-openjdk-amd64/jre/bin/java 1069 manual mode
Press enter to keep the current choice[*], or type selection number: 2
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/jvm/java-8-openjdk-amd64/jre/bin/java to provide /usr/bin/java (java) in manual mode

I choose 2 and set openjdk-8 as a default. Which did not show the Exec format error.

You must compile your file using an appropriate CPU architecture (x86 for example) and copy the .exe file on your linux machine. Then you can install mono on your linux machine and issue the following command:

mono myprogram.exe

This can also happen if the binary uses a libc implementation which is not libc, such as musl. These days this specific problem is most likely encountered when trying to run a binary with libc in a Docker container with an image based on alpine. There is nothing that can be done to the binary itself to support both environments, because the libc implementation must always be linked statically, i.e. built directly into the binary, for reasons.

I got this error trying to run a zip file containing an executable rather than extracting it and running the executable itself xD

In addition to the other answers offered here, I suppose there would be a lot of file types that aren't intended to be executable which could cause this error.

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