# Build failure with C SDK

**URL:** <https://openziti.discourse.group/t/build-failure-with-c-sdk/5633>\
**Category:** sdk-c\
**Created:** [February 23, 2026, 8:24pm UTC](https://openziti.discourse.group/t/build-failure-with-c-sdk/5633 "2026-02-23T20:24:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![benferreri](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/openziti.discourse.group/benferreri/32/4133_2.png) [@benferreri](https://openziti.discourse.group/u/benferreri)\
**Post date:** [February 23, 2026, 8:24pm UTC](https://openziti.discourse.group/t/build-failure-with-c-sdk/5633/1 "2026-02-23T20:24:39Z")

</div>

Hi, I’m trying to build ziti-sdk-c (standalone) but am facing a linker error. To build, I followed the instructions in [BUILD.md](https://github.com/openziti/ziti-sdk-c/blob/main/BUILD.md).

```auto
[125/131] Linking CXX executable tests/Debug/all_tests
FAILED: [code=1] tests/Debug/all_tests
: && /bin/c++ -g -pthread -Wl,--dependency-file=tests/CMakeFiles/all_tests.dir/Debug/link.d tests/CMakeFiles/all_tests.dir/Debug/test_ziti_model.cpp.o tests/CMakeFiles/all_tests.dir/Debug/test_jwt.cpp.o tests/CMakeFiles/all_tests.dir/Debug/model_tests.cpp.o tests/CMakeFiles/all_tests.dir/Debug/test_metrics.cpp.o tests/CMakeFiles/all_tests.dir/Debug/enum_tests.cpp.o tests/CMakeFiles/all_tests.dir/Debug/collections_tests.cpp.o tests/CMakeFiles/all_tests.dir/Debug/buffer_tests.cpp.o tests/CMakeFiles/all_tests.dir/Debug/pool_tests.cpp.o tests/CMakeFiles/all_tests.dir/Debug/ziti_src_tests.cpp.o tests/CMakeFiles/all_tests.dir/Debug/message_tests.cpp.o tests/CMakeFiles/all_tests.dir/Debug/util_tests.cpp.o -o tests/Debug/all_tests -L/home/ben/code/openziti/ziti-sdk-c/build/lib -Wl,-rpath,/home/ben/code/openziti/ziti-sdk-c/build/lib library/Debug/libziti.a vcpkg_installed/x64-linux/debug/lib/libCatch2d.a vcpkg_installed/x64-linux/debug/lib/manual-link/libCatch2Maind.a _deps/tlsuv-build/Debug/libtlsuv.a /usr/lib/libssl.so /usr/lib/libcrypto.so vcpkg_installed/x64-linux/debug/lib/libuv.a -lpthread -ldl -lrt vcpkg_installed/x64-linux/debug/lib/libz.a vcpkg_installed/x64-linux/debug/lib/libllhttp.a vcpkg_installed/x64-linux/lib/libsodium.a /usr/lib/libpthread.a vcpkg_installed/x64-linux/debug/lib/libjson-c.a vcpkg_installed/x64-linux/lib/libprotobuf-c.a vcpkg_installed/x64-linux/lib/libstc.a -lm -latomic -lm vcpkg_installed/x64-linux/debug/lib/libCatch2d.a && :
/usr/bin/ld: tests/CMakeFiles/all_tests.dir/Debug/test_jwt.cpp.o: in function `cstr_with_n(char const*, long)':
/home/ben/code/openziti/ziti-sdk-c/build/vcpkg_installed/x64-linux/include/stc/priv/cstr_prv.h:102:(.text+0x196): undefined reference to `_cstr_init(cstr*, long, long)'
/usr/bin/ld: tests/CMakeFiles/all_tests.dir/Debug/util_tests.cpp.o: in function `cstr_with_n(char const*, long)':
/home/ben/code/openziti/ziti-sdk-c/build/vcpkg_installed/x64-linux/include/stc/priv/cstr_prv.h:102:(.text+0x14c): undefined reference to `_cstr_init(cstr*, long, long)'
collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status
[129/131] Building CXX object programs/auth-samples/CMakeFiles/jwt-auth.dir/Debug/jwt_auth.cpp.o
ninja: build stopped: subcommand failed.

```

I’m building on Arch Linux. I also tried building in a debian trixie docker container, and I got the same error.

Context: my eventual goal is to call the C SDK via Rust FFI. I figured I’d start by just building the C SDK.

Thanks in advance for any help.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![frm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@frm](https://openziti.discourse.group/u/frm)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 6:05am UTC](https://openziti.discourse.group/t/build-failure-with-c-sdk/5633/2 "2026-02-24T06:05:15Z")

</div>

Please share the complete build logs (via pastebin service).

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![benferreri](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/openziti.discourse.group/benferreri/32/4133_2.png) [@benferreri](https://openziti.discourse.group/u/benferreri)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 2:51pm UTC](https://openziti.discourse.group/t/build-failure-with-c-sdk/5633/3 "2026-02-24T14:51:07Z")

</div>

Complete build log: [ziti-sdk-c build log - Pastebin.com](https://pastebin.com/xaxhV2mb)

If there is any extra verbosity I should enable, please just let me know. I’m not the most familiar with CMake.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ekoby](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/openziti.discourse.group/ekoby/32/14_2.png) [@ekoby](https://openziti.discourse.group/u/ekoby)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2026, 4:17pm UTC](https://openziti.discourse.group/t/build-failure-with-c-sdk/5633/4 "2026-02-25T16:17:40Z")

</div>

this may be related to you using gcc-15 for your build

if you just want to build SDK and do not care about ziti-sdk internal tests you can turn off building tests using `ziti_DEVELOPER_MODE=OFF` on your cmake command:  
`cmake --preset=ci-linux-x64 -Dziti_DEVELOPER_MODE=OFF ..`