macOS MATLAB + acados Environment Variable Setup Guide

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Solutions for DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH configuration issues when using acados with MATLAB on macOS.

Problem Description

When running MEX files, you may encounter the following error:

Invalid MEX-file: Library not loaded: @rpath/libacados.dylib

Setting DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH via setenv in MATLAB’s startup.m does not work because macOS dynamic linker only recognizes environment variables set before the process starts.

Solutions

Method 1: Terminal Only (No SIP Disable Required)

Add the following alias to ~/.zshrc (or ~/.bash_profile):

bash

alias matlab='DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH="<acados_install_dir>/lib:$DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH" ACADOS_INSTALL_DIR="<acados_install_dir>" /Applications/MATLAB_R2024b.app/Contents/MacOS/MATLAB_maca64'

Usage: Run matlab command in terminal

Method 2: App Icon Launch Support (Requires SIP Disable)

Step 1: Disable SIP

  1. Reboot into Recovery Mode (Intel: Command + R, Apple Silicon: Hold power button)
  2. Run in terminal:

bash

csrutil disable
  1. Reboot

echo ‘launchctl setenv DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH “<acados_install_dir>/lib”’ >> ~/.zshrc or ~/.zshenv
echo ‘launchctl setenv ACADOS_INSTALL_DIR “<acados_install_dir>”’ >> ~/.zshrc or ~/.zshenv

source ~/.zshrc or ~/.zshenv

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