Cannot locate libz.a

[dsyer]

I want to build a native image with Maven (or the native-image binary, I don't care, to start with). I have installed zlib, but the native image is trying to build without that on the library path somehow. How does native-image find it's library path?

Relevant sections of build log:

$ mvn native:build
...
[8/8] Creating image...       [**
]                               (0.0s @ 0.36GB)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    4.0s (6.3% of total time) in 742 GCs | Peak RSS: 1.01GB | CPU load: 6.14
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Produced artifacts:
 /home/dsyer/dev/scratch/JERSC/target/svm_err_b_20240326T095605.797_pid2409072.md (build_info)
================================================================================
Failed generating 'demo' after 1m 2s.

The build process encountered an unexpected error:

> java.lang.RuntimeException: There was an error linking the native image: Linker command exited with 1

Based on the linker command output, possible reasons for this include:
1. It appears as though libz:.a is missing. Please install it.

Linker command executed:
/nix/store/4cjqvbp1jbkps185wl8qnbjpf8bdy8j9-gcc-wrapper-13.2.0/bin/gcc -z noexecstack -Wl,--gc-sections -Wl,--version-script,/tmp/SVM-6900472418395812442/exported_symbols.list -Wl,-x -o /home/dsyer/dev/scratch/JERSC/target/demo demo.o /home/dsyer/.sdkman/candidates/java/21.0.1-graal/lib/svm/clibraries/linux-amd64/liblibchelper.a /home/dsyer/.sdkman/candidates/java/21.0.1-graal/lib/static/linux-amd64/glibc/libnet.a /home/dsyer/.sdkman/candidates/java/21.0.1-graal/lib/static/linux-amd64/glibc/libnio.a /home/dsyer/.sdkman/candidates/java/21.0.1-graal/lib/static/linux-amd64/glibc/libjava.a /home/dsyer/.sdkman/candidates/java/21.0.1-graal/lib/static/linux-amd64/glibc/libzip.a /home/dsyer/.sdkman/candidates/java/21.0.1-graal/lib/svm/clibraries/linux-amd64/libjvm.a -Wl,--export-dynamic -v -L/tmp/SVM-6900472418395812442 -L/home/dsyer/.sdkman/candidates/java/21.0.1-graal/lib/static/linux-amd64/glibc -L/home/dsyer/.sdkman/candidates/java/21.0.1-graal/lib/svm/clibraries/linux-amd64 -lz -ldl -lpthread -lrt

Linker command output:
Using built-in specs.
COLLECT_GCC=/nix/store/qs1nwzbp2ml3cxzsxihn82hl0w73snr0-gcc-13.2.0/bin/gcc
COLLECT_LTO_WRAPPER=/nix/store/qs1nwzbp2ml3cxzsxihn82hl0w73snr0-gcc-13.2.0/libexec/gcc/x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/13.2.0/lto-wrapper
Target: x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
Configured with: ../gcc-13.2.0/configure --prefix=/nix/store/eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-gcc-13.2.0 --with-gmp-include=/nix/store/eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-gmp-6.3.0-dev/include --with-gmp-lib=/nix/store/eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-gmp-6.3.0/lib --with-mpfr-include=/nix/store/eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-mpfr-4.2.1-dev/include --with-mpfr-lib=/nix/store/eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-mpfr-4.2.1/lib --with-mpc=/nix/store/eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-libmpc-1.3.1 --with-native-system-header-dir=/nix/store/eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-glibc-2.38-44-dev/include --with-build-sysroot=/ --with-gxx-include-dir=/nix/store/eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-gcc-13.2.0/include/c++/13.2.0/ --program-prefix= --enable-lto --disable-libstdcxx-pch --without-included-gettext --with-system-zlib --enable-static --enable-languages=c,c++ --disable-multilib --enable-plugin --disable-libcc1 --with-isl=/nix/store/eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-isl-0.20 --disable-bootstrap --build=x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu --host=x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu --target=x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
Thread model: posix
Supported LTO compression algorithms: zlib
gcc version 13.2.0 (GCC) 
COMPILER_PATH=/nix/store/cyrrf49i2hm1w7vn2j945ic3rrzgxbqs-glibc-2.38-44/lib/:/nix/store/1s98ricsglmfjjqkfnpvywnip5z7gp9q-gcc-13.2.0-lib/lib/:/nix/store/4cjqvbp1jbkps185wl8qnbjpf8bdy8j9-gcc-wrapper-13.2.0/bin/:/nix/store/qs1nwzbp2ml3cxzsxihn82hl0w73snr0-gcc-13.2.0/libexec/gcc/x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/13.2.0/:/nix/store/qs1nwzbp2ml3cxzsxihn82hl0w73snr0-gcc-13.2.0/libexec/gcc/x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/13.2.0/:/nix/store/qs1nwzbp2ml3cxzsxihn82hl0w73snr0-gcc-13.2.0/libexec/gcc/x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/:/nix/store/qs1nwzbp2ml3cxzsxihn82hl0w73snr0-gcc-13.2.0/lib/gcc/x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/13.2.0/:/nix/store/qs1nwzbp2ml3cxzsxihn82hl0w73snr0-gcc-13.2.0/lib/gcc/x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/
LIBRARY_PATH=/nix/store/cyrrf49i2hm1w7vn2j945ic3rrzgxbqs-glibc-2.38-44/lib/:/nix/store/1s98ricsglmfjjqkfnpvywnip5z7gp9q-gcc-13.2.0-lib/lib/:/nix/store/4cjqvbp1jbkps185wl8qnbjpf8bdy8j9-gcc-wrapper-13.2.0/bin/:/nix/store/qs1nwzbp2ml3cxzsxihn82hl0w73snr0-gcc-13.2.0/lib/gcc/x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/13.2.0/:/nix/store/qs1nwzbp2ml3cxzsxihn82hl0w73snr0-gcc-13.2.0/lib/gcc/x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/13.2.0/../../../../lib64/:/nix/store/qs1nwzbp2ml3cxzsxihn82hl0w73snr0-gcc-13.2.0/lib/gcc/x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/13.2.0/../../../
COLLECT_GCC_OPTIONS='-z' 'noexecstack' '-o' '/home/dsyer/dev/scratch/JERSC/target/demo' '-v' '-L/tmp/SVM-6900472418395812442' '-L/home/dsyer/.sdkman/candidates/java/21.0.1-graal/lib/static/linux-amd64/glibc' '-L/home/dsyer/.sdkman/candidates/java/21.0.1-graal/lib/svm/clibraries/linux-amd64' '-B' '/nix/store/cyrrf49i2hm1w7vn2j945ic3rrzgxbqs-glibc-2.38-44/lib/' '-idirafter' '/nix/store/iwxsnv263d6gmqrs9wxpzm6l4p7cdz6j-glibc-2.38-44-dev/include' '-idirafter' '/nix/store/qs1nwzbp2ml3cxzsxihn82hl0w73snr0-gcc-13.2.0/lib/gcc/x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/13.2.0/include-fixed' '-B' '/nix/store/1s98ricsglmfjjqkfnpvywnip5z7gp9q-gcc-13.2.0-lib/lib' '-B' '/nix/store/4cjqvbp1jbkps185wl8qnbjpf8bdy8j9-gcc-wrapper-13.2.0/bin/' '-L/nix/store/cyrrf49i2hm1w7vn2j945ic3rrzgxbqs-glibc-2.38-44/lib' '-L/nix/store/qs1nwzbp2ml3cxzsxihn82hl0w73snr0-gcc-13.2.0/lib/gcc/x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/13.2.0' '-L/nix/store/1s98ricsglmfjjqkfnpvywnip5z7gp9q-gcc-13.2.0-lib/lib' '-L/nix/store/1s98ricsglmfjjqkfnpvywnip5z7gp9q-gcc-13.2.0-lib/lib' '-mtune=generic' '-march=x86-64' '-dumpdir' '/home/dsyer/dev/scratch/JERSC/target/demo.'
 /nix/store/qs1nwzbp2ml3cxzsxihn82hl0w73snr0-gcc-13.2.0/libexec/gcc/x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/13.2.0/collect2 -plugin /nix/store/qs1nwzbp2ml3cxzsxihn82hl0w73snr0-gcc-13.2.0/libexec/gcc/x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/13.2.0/liblto_plugin.so -plugin-opt=/nix/store/qs1nwzbp2ml3cxzsxihn82hl0w73snr0-gcc-13.2.0/libexec/gcc/x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/13.2.0/lto-wrapper -plugin-opt=-fresolution=/tmp/cc8PrcUe.res -plugin-opt=-pass-through=-lgcc -plugin-opt=-pass-through=-lgcc_s -plugin-opt=-pass-through=-lc -plugin-opt=-pass-through=-lgcc -plugin-opt=-pass-through=-lgcc_s --eh-frame-hdr -m elf_x86_64 -dynamic-linker /nix/store/cyrrf49i2hm1w7vn2j945ic3rrzgxbqs-glibc-2.38-44/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 -o /home/dsyer/dev/scratch/JERSC/target/demo -z noexecstack /nix/store/cyrrf49i2hm1w7vn2j945ic3rrzgxbqs-glibc-2.38-44/lib/crt1.o /nix/store/cyrrf49i2hm1w7vn2j945ic3rrzgxbqs-glibc-2.38-44/lib/crti.o /nix/store/qs1nwzbp2ml3cxzsxihn82hl0w73snr0-gcc-13.2.0/lib/gcc/x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/13.2.0/crtbegin.o -L/tmp/SVM-6900472418395812442 -L/home/dsyer/.sdkman/candidates/java/21.0.1-graal/lib/static/linux-amd64/glibc -L/home/dsyer/.sdkman/candidates/java/21.0.1-graal/lib/svm/clibraries/linux-amd64 -L/nix/store/cyrrf49i2hm1w7vn2j945ic3rrzgxbqs-glibc-2.38-44/lib -L/nix/store/qs1nwzbp2ml3cxzsxihn82hl0w73snr0-gcc-13.2.0/lib/gcc/x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/13.2.0 -L/nix/store/1s98ricsglmfjjqkfnpvywnip5z7gp9q-gcc-13.2.0-lib/lib -L/nix/store/1s98ricsglmfjjqkfnpvywnip5z7gp9q-gcc-13.2.0-lib/lib -L/nix/store/cyrrf49i2hm1w7vn2j945ic3rrzgxbqs-glibc-2.38-44/lib -L/nix/store/1s98ricsglmfjjqkfnpvywnip5z7gp9q-gcc-13.2.0-lib/lib -L/nix/store/4cjqvbp1jbkps185wl8qnbjpf8bdy8j9-gcc-wrapper-13.2.0/bin -L/nix/store/qs1nwzbp2ml3cxzsxihn82hl0w73snr0-gcc-13.2.0/lib/gcc/x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/13.2.0 -L/nix/store/qs1nwzbp2ml3cxzsxihn82hl0w73snr0-gcc-13.2.0/lib/gcc/x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/13.2.0/../../../../lib64 -L/nix/store/qs1nwzbp2ml3cxzsxihn82hl0w73snr0-gcc-13.2.0/lib/gcc/x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/13.2.0/../../.. -dynamic-linker=/nix/store/cyrrf49i2hm1w7vn2j945ic3rrzgxbqs-glibc-2.38-44/lib/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 --gc-sections --version-script /tmp/SVM-6900472418395812442/exported_symbols.list -x demo.o /home/dsyer/.sdkman/candidates/java/21.0.1-graal/lib/svm/clibraries/linux-amd64/liblibchelper.a /home/dsyer/.sdkman/candidates/java/21.0.1-graal/lib/static/linux-amd64/glibc/libnet.a /home/dsyer/.sdkman/candidates/java/21.0.1-graal/lib/static/linux-amd64/glibc/libnio.a /home/dsyer/.sdkman/candidates/java/21.0.1-graal/lib/static/linux-amd64/glibc/libjava.a /home/dsyer/.sdkman/candidates/java/21.0.1-graal/lib/static/linux-amd64/glibc/libzip.a /home/dsyer/.sdkman/candidates/java/21.0.1-graal/lib/svm/clibraries/linux-amd64/libjvm.a --export-dynamic -lz -ldl -lpthread -lrt -lgcc --push-state --as-needed -lgcc_s --pop-state -lc -lgcc --push-state --as-needed -lgcc_s --pop-state /nix/store/qs1nwzbp2ml3cxzsxihn82hl0w73snr0-gcc-13.2.0/lib/gcc/x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/13.2.0/crtend.o /nix/store/cyrrf49i2hm1w7vn2j945ic3rrzgxbqs-glibc-2.38-44/lib/crtn.o
/nix/store/2ab5740x0cy1d74qvbpl5s28qikmppl5-binutils-2.40/bin/ld: cannot find -lz: No such file or directory
collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status
...
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] BUILD FAILURE
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
...

[fernando-valdez]

Hello @dsyer, please share more information on this issue, for example, what version of GraalVM are you using? which OS? what are the steps we need to take to reproduce this problem?

[dsyer]

I'm on Linux (with Nix for the toolchain) I don't think it matters which version of Graal. I made some notes here (including a hacky workaround): https://github.com/scratches/graal-nix-test.

[fniephaus]

Are you sure zlib-devel (or equivalent package for your Linux distro) is installed on your system?
https://www.graalvm.org/latest/reference-manual/native-image/#prerequisites

[dsyer]

Yes. Otherwise neither the hacky solution nor the main.c example from the notes would have worked.

[fniephaus]

Ok, maybe your shell sets some environment variables to configure gcc. What happens if you set NATIVE_IMAGE_DEPRECATED_BUILDER_SANITATION=true and build with native-image?

[dsyer]

Yes, that works. There's a deprecation warning though, so I wouldn't want to rely on it. Is there another way?

Warning: The NATIVE_IMAGE_DEPRECATED_BUILDER_SANITATION environment variable is deprecated and might be removed in a future release. Please refer to the GraalVM release notes.

[fniephaus]

Yes, you need to find out what env vars are set in your shell to configure gcc, and then explicitly allow them in your build via the -E option, for example -ELD_LIBRARY_PATH or so.

[dsyer]

I see. Isn't that a bug in native-image though? It is removing stuff from my environment that I don't even control, without asking, and which breaks its own build process.

This works for my case:

$ GRAAL_FLAGS=`env | grep ^NIX | sed -e 's/=.*//' | tr '\n' ' ' | sed -e 's/ *$//' | sed -e 's/ / -E/g' | sed -e 's/^NIX/-ENIX/'`
$ native-image $GRAAL_FLAGS Hello

but that's pretty complicated and onerous for what seems like a workaround.

[fniephaus]

The way nixpkgs and its stdenv handles compiling and linking is very different from other linux distributions.

That explains why you (currently) need to forward certain env vars explicitly.

Only very few, selected env vars are forwarded within a Native Image build by default. This protects from accidentally leaking values from env vars by freezing them into an image or including them in a Native Image bundle. With that in mind, I wouldn't recommend that you blindly forward all NIX* env vars. Maybe something like NIX_LDFLAGS is actually enough and if so, we can consider adding it to the selected list of env vars I mentioned.

[dsyer]

With that in mind, I wouldn't recommend that you blindly forward all NIX* env vars.

That makes it look even more like a bug to me. How am I supposed to know which variables are needed or "safe"? It doesn't work with just NIX_LDFLAGS by the way - it's the first ting I tried - which only goes to underline my point.

[fniephaus]

How am I supposed to know which variables are needed or "safe"?

I'm afraid it seems you have to if choose to use NIX. That's why there is comprehensive docs for C on NIX.

One could also argue that when you don't know how your C toolchain is correctly configured on your system, how is anyone going to support you in a reasonable way? By adding env vars explicitly with -E, we know exactly what was used when trying to build with Native Image. Dumping the entire environment setup seems to lead to much bigger problems.

[dsyer]

I don't even care about my C toolchain - I wouldn't even have one if native-image didn't require it. I just want a native image from my Java app. You are asking me to have quite detailed knowledge of stuff that has nothing to do with my goal.

I managed to narrow it down to only the env vars that start with NIX_C or NIX_LD. But there are 7 of them! If you are serious about adding them to the supported list in native-image I can try and verify for sure if they are all needed.