util-linux-2.41-GCCcore-14.3.0 fails with "ninja: build stopped: subcommand failed"

[j3mdamas]

Here's a snippet of the log:

[184/793] gcc -Ilibmount/lib_mount.a.p -Ilibmount -I../util-linux-2.41/libmount -Iinclude -I../util-linux-2.41/include -I../util-linux-2.41/libmount/src -Ilibblkid -I../util-linux-2.41/libblkid -I/home/software/hpc-software/test/software/SQLite/3.50.1-GCCcore-14.3.0/include -I/home/software/hpc-software/test/software/zlib/1.3.1-GCCcore-14.3.0/include -I/home/software/hpc-software/test/software/ncurses/6.5-GCCcore-14.3.0/include -I/home/software/hpc-software/test/software/flex/2.6.4-GCCcore-14.3.0/include -I/home/software/hpc-software/test/software/pkgconf/2.4.3-GCCcore-14.3.0/include -I/home/software/hpc-software/test/software/binutils/2.44-GCCcore-14.3.0/include -fdiagnostics-color=always -DNDEBUG -D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64 -Wall -Winvalid-pch -std=c99 -O2 -g -D_GNU_SOURCE -fsigned-char -include /var/tmp/utillinux/2.41/GCCcore-14.3.0/easybuild_obj/config.h -fno-common -Waddress-of-packed-member -Wdiscarded-qualifiers -Wformat-security -Wimplicit-function-declaration -Wmissing-declarations -Wmissing-parameter-type -Wmissing-prototypes -Wnested-externs -Wno-missing-field-initializers -Wold-style-definition -Wpointer-arith -Wredundant-decls -Wsign-compare -Wstrict-prototypes -Wtype-limits -Wuninitialized -Wunused-but-set-parameter -Wunused-but-set-variable -Wunused-parameter -Wunused-result -Wunused-variable -Wvla -Walloca -O2 -ftree-vectorize -march=native -fno-math-errno -fPIC -fPIC -MD -MQ libmount/lib_mount.a.p/src_context.c.o -MF libmount/lib_mount.a.p/src_context.c.o.d -o libmount/lib_mount.a.p/src_context.c.o -c ../util-linux-2.41/libmount/src/context.c
ninja: build stopped: subcommand failed.

== 2026-03-26 12:30:37,439 easyblock.py:4939 WARNING shell command 'ninja -v -j 8' failed with exit code 1 in build step for util-linux-2.41-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb
== 2026-03-26 12:30:37,447 build_log.py:233 ERROR EasyBuild encountered an error: shell command 'ninja ...' failed with exit code 1 in build step for util-linux-2.41-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (at easybuild/framework/easyblock.py:4944 in run_all_steps)
Callstack:
        easybuild/framework/easyblock.py:4944 in run_all_steps
        easybuild/framework/easyblock.py:5120 in build_and_install_one
        easybuild/main.py:180 in build_and_install_software
        easybuild/main.py:614 in process_eb_args
        easybuild/main.py:798 in main
        easybuild/main.py:847 in main_with_hooks
        easybuild/main.py:862 in <module>

I am using EasyBuild 5.2.1 and I paste here what I was running, but in --dry-run:

$ eb -D --job --job-core=15 --robot --prefix=./test OpenGL-2025.09-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb
== Temporary log file in case of crash /var/tmp/eb-aztsecwl/easybuild-z1epwk_c.log
== found valid index for /home/software/hpc-software/venv/easybuild/easyconfigs, so using it...
== found valid index for /home/software/hpc-software/venv/easybuild/easyconfigs, so using it...
Dry run: printing build status of easyconfigs and dependencies
CFGS=/home/software/hpc-software/venv/easybuild/easyconfigs
 * [x] $CFGS/m/M4/M4-1.4.20.eb (module: M4/1.4.20)
 * [x] $CFGS/z/zlib/zlib-1.3.1.eb (module: zlib/1.3.1)
 * [x] $CFGS/m/M4/M4-1.4.19.eb (module: M4/1.4.19)
 * [x] $CFGS/b/Bison/Bison-3.8.2.eb (module: Bison/3.8.2)
 * [x] $CFGS/f/flex/flex-2.6.4.eb (module: flex/2.6.4)
 * [x] $CFGS/b/binutils/binutils-2.44.eb (module: binutils/2.44)
 * [x] $CFGS/g/GCCcore/GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: GCCcore/14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/m/M4/M4-1.4.20-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: M4/1.4.20-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/h/help2man/help2man-1.49.3-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: help2man/1.49.3-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/z/zlib/zlib-1.3.1-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: zlib/1.3.1-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/b/Bison/Bison-3.8.2-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: Bison/3.8.2-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/f/flex/flex-2.6.4-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: flex/2.6.4-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/b/binutils/binutils-2.44-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: binutils/2.44-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/b/bzip2/bzip2-1.0.8-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: bzip2/1.0.8-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/p/pkgconf/pkgconf-2.4.3-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: pkgconf/2.4.3-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/u/UnZip/UnZip-6.0-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: UnZip/6.0-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/n/ncurses/ncurses-6.5-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: ncurses/6.5-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/l/libreadline/libreadline-8.2-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: libreadline/8.2-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/e/expat/expat-2.7.1-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: expat/2.7.1-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/l/libidn2/libidn2-2.3.8-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: libidn2/2.3.8-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/l/libffi/libffi-3.5.1-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: libffi/3.5.1-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/l/libyaml/libyaml-0.2.5-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: libyaml/0.2.5-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/p/pkgconf/pkgconf-1.8.0.eb (module: pkgconf/1.8.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/l/lz4/lz4-1.10.0-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: lz4/1.10.0-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/l/libiconv/libiconv-1.18-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: libiconv/1.18-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/n/ncurses/ncurses-6.5.eb (module: ncurses/6.5)
 * [x] $CFGS/l/libunistring/libunistring-1.3-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: libunistring/1.3-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/g/gettext/gettext-0.25.eb (module: gettext/0.25)
 * [x] $CFGS/x/XZ/XZ-5.8.1-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: XZ/5.8.1-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/l/libxml2/libxml2-2.14.3-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: libxml2/2.14.3-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/z/zlib/zlib-1.2.13.eb (module: zlib/1.2.13)
 * [x] $CFGS/g/gzip/gzip-1.14-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: gzip/1.14-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/g/gettext/gettext-0.25-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: gettext/0.25-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/z/zstd/zstd-1.5.7-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: zstd/1.5.7-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/b/binutils/binutils-2.40.eb (module: binutils/2.40)
 * [x] $CFGS/p/Perl/Perl-5.38.0.eb (module: Perl/5.38.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/o/OpenSSL/OpenSSL-3.eb (module: OpenSSL/3)
 * [x] $CFGS/l/libarchive/libarchive-3.8.1-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: libarchive/3.8.1-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/p/Perl/Perl-5.40.2-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: Perl/5.40.2-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/a/Autoconf/Autoconf-2.72-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: Autoconf/2.72-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/a/Automake/Automake-1.18-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: Automake/1.18-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/e/elfutils/elfutils-0.193-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: elfutils/0.193-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/l/libtool/libtool-2.5.4-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: libtool/2.5.4-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/a/Autotools/Autotools-20250527-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: Autotools/20250527-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/l/libtommath/libtommath-1.3.0-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: libtommath/1.3.0-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/t/Tcl/Tcl-9.0.1-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: Tcl/9.0.1-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/s/SQLite/SQLite-3.50.1-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: SQLite/3.50.1-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/p/Python/Python-3.13.5-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: Python/3.13.5-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/n/Ninja/Ninja-1.13.0-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: Ninja/1.13.0-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/l/libpsl/libpsl-0.21.5-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: libpsl/0.21.5-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/c/Cython/Cython-3.1.2-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: Cython/3.1.2-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/h/hatchling/hatchling-1.27.0-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: hatchling/1.27.0-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/p/psutil/psutil-7.0.0-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: psutil/7.0.0-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/l/lit/lit-18.1.8-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: lit/18.1.8-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/s/scikit-build/scikit-build-0.18.1-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: scikit-build/0.18.1-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/m/Mako/Mako-1.3.10-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: Mako/1.3.10-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/m/Meson/Meson-1.8.2-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: Meson/1.8.2-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/c/cURL/cURL-8.14.1-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: cURL/8.14.1-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/g/git/git-2.50.1-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: git/2.50.1-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/c/CMake/CMake-4.0.3-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: CMake/4.0.3-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/g/glslang-SPIRV/glslang-SPIRV-15.4.0-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: glslang-SPIRV/15.4.0-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/w/Wayland/Wayland-1.24.0-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: Wayland/1.24.0-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/s/scikit-build-core/scikit-build-core-0.11.5-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: scikit-build-core/0.11.5-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/f/flit/flit-3.12.0-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: flit/3.12.0-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/d/Doxygen/Doxygen-1.14.0-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: Doxygen/1.14.0-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/g/GMP/GMP-6.3.0-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: GMP/6.3.0-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/z/Z3/Z3-4.15.1-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: Z3/4.15.1-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [ ] $CFGS/l/LLVM/LLVM-20.1.8-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: LLVM/20.1.8-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/l/libclc/libclc-20.1.8-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: libclc/20.1.8-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/l/libunwind/libunwind-1.8.2-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: libunwind/1.8.2-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/s/setuptools-rust/setuptools-rust-1.11.0-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: setuptools-rust/1.11.0-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/p/patchelf/patchelf-0.18.0-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: patchelf/0.18.0-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/g/groff/groff-1.23.0-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: groff/1.23.0-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/r/Rust/Rust-1.88.0-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: Rust/1.88.0-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/p/Perl-bundle-CPAN/Perl-bundle-CPAN-5.40.2-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: Perl-bundle-CPAN/5.40.2-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/i/intltool/intltool-0.51.0-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: intltool/0.51.0-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/n/nettle/nettle-3.10.2-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: nettle/3.10.2-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/m/maturin/maturin-1.9.1-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: maturin/1.9.1-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/g/gperf/gperf-3.3-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: gperf/3.3-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/x/xorg-macros/xorg-macros-1.20.2-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: xorg-macros/1.20.2-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [ ] $CFGS/u/util-linux/util-linux-2.41-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: util-linux/2.41-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/l/libpng/libpng-1.6.50-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: libpng/1.6.50-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/v/virtualenv/virtualenv-20.32.0-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: virtualenv/20.32.0-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/l/libpciaccess/libpciaccess-0.18.1-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: libpciaccess/0.18.1-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/b/Brotli/Brotli-1.1.0-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: Brotli/1.1.0-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/c/cffi/cffi-1.17.1-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: cffi/1.17.1-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/f/freetype/freetype-2.13.3-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: freetype/2.13.3-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/c/cryptography/cryptography-45.0.5-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: cryptography/45.0.5-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [ ] $CFGS/f/fontconfig/fontconfig-2.17.0-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: fontconfig/2.17.0-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [ ] $CFGS/x/X11/X11-20250608-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: X11/20250608-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [ ] $CFGS/l/libdrm/libdrm-2.4.125-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: libdrm/2.4.125-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/b/build/build-1.3.0-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: build/1.3.0-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/p/poetry/poetry-2.1.3-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: poetry/2.1.3-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/p/Python-bundle-PyPI/Python-bundle-PyPI-2025.07-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: Python-bundle-PyPI/2025.07-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [x] $CFGS/p/PyYAML/PyYAML-6.0.2-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: PyYAML/6.0.2-GCCcore-14.3.0)
 * [ ] $CFGS/o/OpenGL/OpenGL-2025.09-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb (module: OpenGL/2025.09-GCCcore-14.3.0)
== Temporary log file(s) /var/tmp/eb-aztsecwl/easybuild-z1epwk_c.log* have been removed.
== Temporary directory /var/tmp/eb-aztsecwl has been removed.

I don't know exactly what is failing with the ninja command, I tried to look at the logs, but I didn't find anything. Is there something wrong with my setup?

[Thyre]

The real error often hides in the logs, but may not be easy to spot.
The output you've provided unfortunately doesn't provide enough information to really help.
I don't recall any issues when building on any of our nodes, or my machines for that matter.

The only thing I recall is: #23375
Trying to build util-linux without this patch caused a build failure on one machine, but not on any other.

Since you're building from a recent EasyBuild though, I guess that this is not the reason why you run into build failures.

[j3mdamas]

Thanks for the feedback @Thyre!

So, for the moment, I've "fixed" the issue by using my own easyconfig. Here's a patch to show my changes:

--- <venv>/easybuild/easyconfigs/u/util-linux/util-linux-2.41-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb	2026-03-31 20:19:51.311015281 +0200
+++ <local>/easyconfigs/u/util-linux/util-linux-2.41-GCCcore-14.3.0.eb	2026-04-01 13:39:49.329891500 +0200
@@ -11,10 +11,10 @@
 toolchainopts = {'pic': True}
 
 source_urls = ['%s/v%%(version_major_minor)s' % homepage]
-sources = [SOURCELOWER_TAR_GZ]
+sources = ['util-linux-2.41.2.tar.gz']
 patches = ['util-linux-%(version)s_fix-meson-posixipc_libs.patch']
 checksums = [
-    {'util-linux-2.41.tar.gz': 'c014b5861695b603d0be2ad1e6f10d5838b9d7859e1dd72d01504556817d8a87'},
+    {'util-linux-2.41.2.tar.gz': '42dca7775e39f3eef6a5234f79a8e8b4c62cc94fb85c71ecd09af809e77c266b'},
     {'util-linux-2.41_fix-meson-posixipc_libs.patch':
      'd21e13cea85897c159ac321806c5e0ae8eb6388dd59d9d737ce9d669a89573c8'},
 ]

From 2.41.2, this is fixed, I don't know exactly what's the reason, I didn't investigate in depth. I think the patch breaks on 2.41.3 though.

Having this local fix works for us, I don't know exactly how to contribute back, especially with cross-dependencies.