Why ".load libsqlite3mc.so" throwing "undefined symbol: sqlite3_sqlitemc_init" error?

[jcsxdev]

After building the libsqlite3mc.so lib, SQLite .load command produces the following error:

Error: ./.libs/libsqlite3mc.so: undefined symbol: sqlite3_sqlitemc_init

Am I doing something wrong? More info:

• 1. Test conditions
• 2. Build process
  • 2.1. Build process results
• 3. Running SQLite

1. Test conditions

Test conditions:

• WSL Linux distro: Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS (64 bit)
• WSL version: 2.3.26.0
• Kernel version: 5.15.167.4-1
• SQLite version: 3.45.1

2. Build process

Build process:

cd ~
git clone https://github.com/utelle/SQLite3MultipleCiphers.git
cd ./SQLite3MultipleCiphers/
autoreconf
mkdir build-gtk
cd build-gtk
../configure
make

2.1. Build process results

Some command outputs:

git log --oneline --name-status HEAD^..HEAD

64e4e32 (HEAD -> main, origin/main, origin/HEAD) Adjust readme file

../configure (Click to expand)

checking for a BSD-compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
checking whether build environment is sane... yes
checking for a race-free mkdir -p... /usr/bin/mkdir -p
checking for gawk... gawk
checking whether make sets $(MAKE)... yes
checking whether make supports nested variables... yes
checking whether to enable maintainer-specific portions of Makefiles... yes
checking whether make supports nested variables... (cached) yes
checking build system type... x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
checking host system type... x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
checking how to print strings... printf
checking whether make supports the include directive... yes (GNU style)
checking for gcc... gcc
checking whether the C compiler works... yes
checking for C compiler default output file name... a.out
checking for suffix of executables...
checking whether we are cross compiling... no
checking for suffix of object files... o
checking whether the compiler supports GNU C... yes
checking whether gcc accepts -g... yes
checking for gcc option to enable C11 features... none needed
checking whether gcc understands -c and -o together... yes
checking dependency style of gcc... gcc3
checking for a sed that does not truncate output... /usr/bin/sed
checking for grep that handles long lines and -e... /usr/bin/grep
checking for egrep... /usr/bin/grep -E
checking for fgrep... /usr/bin/grep -F
checking for ld used by gcc... /usr/bin/ld
checking if the linker (/usr/bin/ld) is GNU ld... yes
checking for BSD- or MS-compatible name lister (nm)... /usr/bin/nm -B
checking the name lister (/usr/bin/nm -B) interface... BSD nm
checking whether ln -s works... yes
checking the maximum length of command line arguments... 1572864
checking whether the shell understands some XSI constructs... yes
checking whether the shell understands "+="... yes
checking how to convert x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu file names to x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu format... func_convert_file_noop
checking how to convert x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu file names to toolchain format... func_convert_file_noop
checking for /usr/bin/ld option to reload object files... -r
checking for objdump... objdump
checking how to recognize dependent libraries... pass_all
checking for dlltool... no
checking how to associate runtime and link libraries... printf %s\n
checking for ar... ar
checking for archiver @FILE support... @
checking for strip... strip
checking for ranlib... ranlib
checking command to parse /usr/bin/nm -B output from gcc object... ok
checking for sysroot... no
checking for mt... no
checking if : is a manifest tool... no
checking for stdio.h... yes
checking for stdlib.h... yes
checking for string.h... yes
checking for inttypes.h... yes
checking for stdint.h... yes
checking for strings.h... yes
checking for sys/stat.h... yes
checking for sys/types.h... yes
checking for unistd.h... yes
checking for dlfcn.h... yes
checking for objdir... .libs
checking if gcc supports -fno-rtti -fno-exceptions... no
checking for gcc option to produce PIC... -fPIC -DPIC
checking if gcc PIC flag -fPIC -DPIC works... yes
checking if gcc static flag -static works... yes
checking if gcc supports -c -o file.o... yes
checking if gcc supports -c -o file.o... (cached) yes
checking whether the gcc linker (/usr/bin/ld -m elf_x86_64) supports shared libraries... yes
checking whether -lc should be explicitly linked in... no
checking dynamic linker characteristics... GNU/Linux ld.so
checking how to hardcode library paths into programs... immediate
checking whether stripping libraries is possible... yes
checking if libtool supports shared libraries... yes
checking whether to build shared libraries... yes
checking whether to build static libraries... yes
checking for g++... g++
checking whether the compiler supports GNU C++... yes
checking whether g++ accepts -g... yes
checking for g++ option to enable C++11 features... none needed
checking dependency style of g++... gcc3
checking how to run the C++ preprocessor... g++ -E
checking for ld used by g++... /usr/bin/ld -m elf_x86_64
checking if the linker (/usr/bin/ld -m elf_x86_64) is GNU ld... yes
checking whether the g++ linker (/usr/bin/ld -m elf_x86_64) supports shared libraries... yes
checking for g++ option to produce PIC... -fPIC -DPIC
checking if g++ PIC flag -fPIC -DPIC works... yes
checking if g++ static flag -static works... yes
checking if g++ supports -c -o file.o... yes
checking if g++ supports -c -o file.o... (cached) yes
checking whether the g++ linker (/usr/bin/ld -m elf_x86_64) supports shared libraries... yes
checking dynamic linker characteristics... (cached) GNU/Linux ld.so
checking how to hardcode library paths into programs... immediate
checking for zlib.h... yes
checking for library containing deflate... -lz
checking that generated files are newer than configure... done
configure: creating ./config.status
config.status: creating Makefile
config.status: creating sqlite3mc.pc
config.status: executing depfiles commands
config.status: executing libtool commands

make

  CC       src/sqlite3shell-sqlite3mc.o
  CC       src/sqlite3shell-shell.o
  CCLD     sqlite3shell
  CC       src/sqlite3mc.lo
  CCLD     libsqlite3mc.la
ar: `u' modifier ignored since `D' is the default (see `U')

ls -la ./ (Click to expand)

drwxr-xr-x  4 user user     4096 Feb  2 11:37 .
drwxr-xr-x 12 user user     4096 Feb  2 11:22 ..
drwxr-xr-x  2 user user     4096 Feb  2 11:37 .libs
-rw-r--r--  1 user user    41749 Feb  2 11:23 Makefile
-rw-r--r--  1 user user    34084 Feb  2 11:23 config.log
-rwxr-xr-x  1 user user    67903 Feb  2 11:23 config.status
-rw-r--r--  1 user user      991 Feb  2 11:37 libsqlite3mc.la
-rwxr-xr-x  1 user user   299285 Feb  2 11:23 libtool
-rw-r--r--  1 user user      334 Feb  2 11:23 sqlite3mc.pc
-rwxr-xr-x  1 user user 11508104 Feb  2 11:35 sqlite3shell
drwxr-xr-x  4 user user     4096 Feb  2 11:37 src

ls -la ./.libs (Click to expand)

total 28236
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user     4096 Feb  2 11:37 .
drwxr-xr-x 4 user user     4096 Feb  2 11:37 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user 19386874 Feb  2 11:37 libsqlite3mc.a
lrwxrwxrwx 1 user user       18 Feb  2 11:37 libsqlite3mc.la -> ../libsqlite3mc.la
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user      992 Feb  2 11:37 libsqlite3mc.lai
lrwxrwxrwx 1 user user       21 Feb  2 11:37 libsqlite3mc.so -> libsqlite3mc.so.0.0.0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 user user       21 Feb  2 11:37 libsqlite3mc.so.0 -> libsqlite3mc.so.0.0.0
-rwxr-xr-x 1 user user  9509592 Feb  2 11:37 libsqlite3mc.so.0.0.0

3. Running SQLite

Running sqlite3:

cd ~/SQLite3MultipleCiphers/build-gtk
sqlite3 foo.db
SQLite version 3.45.1 2024-01-30 16:01:20
Enter ".help" for usage hints.
sqlite> .load ./.libs/libsqlite3mc
Error: ./.libs/libsqlite3mc.so: undefined symbol: sqlite3_sqlitemc_init
sqlite>

Or sqlite3shell:

cd ~/SQLite3MultipleCiphers/build-gtk
./sqlite3shell foo.db
SQLite version 3.48.0 2025-01-14 11:05:00 (SQLite3 Multiple Ciphers 2.0.2)
Enter ".help" for usage hints.
sqlite> .load ./.libs/libsqlite3mc
Error: ./.libs/libsqlite3mc.so: undefined symbol: sqlite3_sqlitemc_init
sqlite>

[utelle]

After building the libsqlite3mc.so lib, SQLite .load command produces the following error:

Error: ./.libs/libsqlite3mc.so: undefined symbol: sqlite3_sqlitemc_init

Am I doing something wrong?

Yes, you can't .load SQLite3 Multiple Ciphers, because it is not a loadable SQLite extension. It is a replacement for the SQLite library with added encryption support.

If you want to use a SQLite shell with encryption support, you have to build it yourself by compiling the SQLite shell source code and linking it to the SQLite3 Multiple Ciphers library.

2.1. Build process results

[...]

  CC       src/sqlite3shell-sqlite3mc.o
  CC       src/sqlite3shell-shell.o
  CCLD     sqlite3shell
  CC       src/sqlite3mc.lo
  CCLD     libsqlite3mc.la
ar: `u' modifier ignored since `D' is the default (see `U')

After the above step you have a SQLite shell with encryption support.

3. Running SQLite

[...]

Or sqlite3shell:

cd ~/SQLite3MultipleCiphers/build-gtk
./sqlite3shell foo.db
SQLite version 3.48.0 2025-01-14 11:05:00 (SQLite3 Multiple Ciphers 2.0.2)

As you can see the SQLite shell that was built in the previous step displays a message that it is based on SQLite3 Multiple Ciphers. That is, you are ready to create encrypted databases and work with them using this shell.

sqlite> .load ./.libs/libsqlite3mc
Error: ./.libs/libsqlite3mc.so: undefined symbol: sqlite3_sqlitemc_init
sqlite>

Again, you can't .load libsqlite3mc. It is already there within the SQLite shell as the very first message tells you.

Just apply the necessary PRAGMA commands (as described in SQLite3 Multiple Ciphers's documentation).

[jcsxdev]

Got you. Thank you for your prompt response and assistance.

After the build process , these commands were executed successfully:

cd ~/SQLite3MultipleCiphers/build-gtk

# Read the encryption password
DB_PASSWD="$(systemd-ask-password "Enter your password:")"
🔐 Enter your password: ******************* 

# Create the encrypted database
./sqlite3shell foo.db <<EOF
PRAGMA key = '$DB_PASSWD';
CREATE TABLE messages (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, message TEXT);
INSERT INTO messages (message) VALUES ('Hello, World!');
EOF
ok

# Access the encrypted database
./sqlite3shell foo.db <<EOF
PRAGMA key = '$DB_PASSWD';
SELECT*FROM messages;
EOF
ok
1|Hello, World!