gcc - libpthread.so.0: error adding symbols: DSO missing from command line

Question

When I'm compiling openvswitch-1.5.0, I've encountered the following compile error:

 gcc -Wstrict-prototypes -Wall -Wno-sign-compare -Wpointer-arith
     -Wdeclaration-after-statement -Wformat-security -Wswitch-enum -Wunused-parameter -Wstrict-aliasing -Wbad-function-cast -Wcast-align -Wstrict-prototypes -Wold-style-definition -Wmissing-prototypes -Wmissing-field-initializers -Wno-override-init  -g -O2 -export-dynamic ***-lpthread***  -o utilities/ovs-dpctl utilities/ovs-dpctl.o lib/libopenvswitch.a
 /home/jyyoo/src/dpdk/build/lib/librte_eal.a
 /home/jyyoo/src/dpdk/build/lib/libethdev.a
 /home/jyyoo/src/dpdk/build/lib/librte_cmdline.a
 /home/jyyoo/src/dpdk/build/lib/librte_hash.a
 /home/jyyoo/src/dpdk/build/lib/librte_lpm.a
 /home/jyyoo/src/dpdk/build/lib/librte_mbuf.a
 /home/jyyoo/src/dpdk/build/lib/librte_ring.a
 /home/jyyoo/src/dpdk/build/lib/librte_mempool.a
 /home/jyyoo/src/dpdk/build/lib/librte_malloc.a -lrt -lm 
     /usr/bin/ld: /home/jyyoo/src/dpdk/build/lib/librte_eal.a(eal.o): undefined reference
     to symbol 'pthread_create@@GLIBC_2.2.5'
     /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpthread.so.0: error adding symbols: DSO missing from 
     command line

If I try to see the symbols of libpthread, it looks fine.

$ readelf -s /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpthread.so.0 | grep pthread_create
   199: 0000000000008220  2814 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT   13 pthread_create@@GLIBC_2.2.5
   173: 0000000000008220  2814 FUNC    LOCAL  DEFAULT   13 __pthread_create_2_1
   462: 0000000000008220  2814 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT   13 pthread_create@@GLIBC_2.2

Could you give any hints or pointers?

Answer 1

You should mention the library on the command line after the object files being compiled:

 gcc -Wstrict-prototypes -Wall -Wno-sign-compare -Wpointer-arith -Wdeclaration-after-statement -Wformat-security -Wswitch-enum -Wunused-parameter -Wstrict-aliasing -Wbad-function-cast -Wcast-align -Wstrict-prototypes -Wold-style-definition -Wmissing-prototypes -Wmissing-field-initializers -Wno-override-init 
     -g -O2 -export-dynamic -o utilities/ovs-dpctl utilities/ovs-dpctl.o 
     lib/libopenvswitch.a 
     /home/jyyoo/src/dpdk/build/lib/librte_eal.a /home/jyyoo/src/dpdk/build/lib/libethdev.a /home/jyyoo/src/dpdk/build/lib/librte_cmdline.a /home/jyyoo/src/dpdk/build/lib/librte_hash.a /home/jyyoo/src/dpdk/build/lib/librte_lpm.a /home/jyyoo/src/dpdk/build/lib/librte_mbuf.a /home/jyyoo/src/dpdk/build/lib/librte_ring.a /home/jyyoo/src/dpdk/build/lib/librte_mempool.a /home/jyyoo/src/dpdk/build/lib/librte_malloc.a 
     -lrt -lm -lpthread 

Explanation: the linking is dependent on the order of modules. Symbols are first requested, and then linked in from a library that has them. So you have to specify modules that use libraries first, and libraries after them. Like this:

gcc x.o y.o z.o -la -lb -lc

Moreover, in case there's a circular dependency, you should specify the same library on the command line several times. So in case libb needs symbol from libc and libc needs symbol from libb, the command line should be:

gcc x.o y.o z.o -la -lb -lc -lb