v0.2.0 source build fails on Debian 12 / Ubuntu 22.04: bundled Arrow 21 requires CMake 3.26+ for Thrift

[1CSerg]

Summary

Building alibaba/zvec v0.2.0 from source fails on common Linux distros when the bundled Apache Arrow 21.0.0 ExternalProject configures bundled Apache Thrift. Arrow requires CMake ≥ 3.26, but default packages on Debian 12 / Ubuntu 22.04 ship older CMake.

This blocks downstream consumers (e.g. zvec-go make deps, Go CGO bindings) that clone and cmake-build zvec v0.2.0.

Environment

Platform	CMake	g++	Result
Docker golang:1.26.3-bookworm (Debian 12)	3.25.1 (apt install cmake)	12.2.0	FAIL at Arrow configure
Docker ubuntu:22.04	3.22.1	11.x	FAIL (CMake below 3.26)
Docker ubuntu:24.04	3.28.3	13.x	OK for Arrow Thrift step (≥ 3.26)
Docker golang:1.26.3-bookworm + portable CMake 3.29.6	3.29.6	12.2.0	OK — full cmake --build to 100% (~19 min, 2 parallel jobs)

Arrow Thrift step by distro apt cmake:

Image	cmake --version	Arrow Thrift step
golang:1.26.3-bookworm	3.25.1	FAIL
ubuntu:22.04	3.22.1	FAIL
ubuntu:24.04	3.28.3	OK (≥ 3.26)

Tag: v0.2.0 (1d5aeeed1df6e104443edf23891798f1ff0a8bf7)

Steps to reproduce

docker run --rm golang:1.26.3-bookworm bash -c '
  apt-get update -qq && apt-get install -y -qq cmake g++ make git &&
  git clone --depth 1 --branch v0.2.0 --recurse-submodules https://github.com/alibaba/zvec.git /tmp/zvec &&
  cmake -S /tmp/zvec -B /tmp/zb \
    -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
    -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=OFF \
    -DBUILD_TOOLS=OFF \
    -DBUILD_PYTHON_BINDINGS=OFF &&
  cmake --build /tmp/zb --parallel 2
'

Actual result

1. zvec top-level CMake configure — OK
2. Build progresses; rocksdb completes (~55%) — OK
3. ARROW.BUILD ExternalProject configure — FAIL:

CMake Error at cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake:1739 (message):
  Require CMake 3.26 or later for building bundled Apache Thrift

Full log excerpt (ARROW.BUILD-configure-err.log):

CMake Error at cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake:1739 (message):
  Require CMake 3.26 or later for building bundled Apache Thrift
Call Stack (most recent call first):
  cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake:219 (build_thrift)
  cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake:308 (build_dependency)
  cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake:1808 (resolve_dependency)
  CMakeLists.txt:511 (include)

Root cause

thirdparty/arrow/CMakeLists.txt builds Arrow with bundled dependencies:

CONFIGURE_COMMAND ... -DARROW_DEPENDENCY_SOURCE=BUNDLED ...
  -DARROW_PARQUET=ON ...

Parquet pulls in bundled Thrift. In Arrow 21.0.0, cpp/cmake_modules/ThirdpartyToolchain.cmake enforces:

if(CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_LESS 3.26)
  message(FATAL_ERROR "Require CMake 3.26 or later for building bundled Apache Thrift")
endif()

Default cmake on Debian 12 is 3.25.1; Ubuntu 22.04 is 3.22.1 — both below the threshold.

Expected result

Documented, reproducible source build on at least one common LTS (Debian 12 / Ubuntu 22.04 / 24.04) with distro packages, or an explicit minimum CMake version check at zvec configure time with a clear error message.

Suggested fixes

1. Document cmake >= 3.26 in build-from-source guide (and in repo README / CONTRIBUTING).
2. Fail fast: cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.26) (or a message(FATAL_ERROR ...)) in top-level CMakeLists.txt before the long thirdparty build.
3. Arrow ExternalProject options (if Parquet/Thrift can use system libs):
   • -DARROW_DEPENDENCY_SOURCE=SYSTEM + libthrift-dev on older distros, or
   • evaluate -DARROW_WITH_THRIFT=OFF if Parquet features zvec needs do not require Thrift.
4. CI: add a cmake-build job on ubuntu-latest / bookworm with default apt cmake to catch this class of regression.

Workaround (consumers) — verified

On golang:1.26.3-bookworm (Debian 12), installing portable CMake 3.29.6 before configure/build unblocks the failure:

wget -q https://github.com/Kitware/CMake/releases/download/v3.29.6/cmake-3.29.6-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
tar -xzf cmake-3.29.6-linux-x86_64.tar.gz -C /opt
export PATH=/opt/cmake-3.29.6-linux-x86_64/bin:$PATH

git clone --depth 1 --branch v0.2.0 --recurse-submodules https://github.com/alibaba/zvec.git /tmp/zvec
cmake -S /tmp/zvec -B /tmp/zb \
  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
  -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=OFF \
  -DBUILD_TOOLS=OFF \
  -DBUILD_PYTHON_BINDINGS=OFF
cmake --build /tmp/zb --parallel 2

Result: build completes to 100% (~19 min, 2 parallel jobs). Last target: Built target zvec_sqlengine.

Alternative without portable CMake: use Ubuntu 24.04 base image (apt cmake is 3.28.3).

Root cause analysis above holds: bundled Arrow 21 + ARROW_DEPENDENCY_SOURCE=BUNDLED + Parquet → Thrift requires CMake ≥ 3.26, but default packages on Debian 12 / Ubuntu 22.04 are below that.

Related downstream reports

• danieleugenewilliams/zvec-go#1 — make deps fails (same Arrow step; consumer of zvec v0.2.0)

Additional context: Windows MinGW

On Windows 11 with WinLibs GCC 16.1 + CMake 4.3.3, Arrow configure can succeed (with short build paths), but the Arrow build later fails in bundled re2 (~42%). Separate from the Linux CMake issue; details in zvec-go#1.

[JalinWang]

Thanks for the detailed report, @1CSerg .

1. Docs: CMake ≥ 3.26 is noted at https://zvec.org/en/docs/db/build/python/ — we'll make it more prominent. cc @zhourrr
2. Fail-fast: We'll bump cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.26).
3. System libs: Bundled Thrift is 0.22.0 is relatively new — so ARROW_DEPENDENCY_SOURCE=SYSTEM would likely hit a different version mismatch. Portable CMake 3.26+ remains the most realistic path for older distros. We'll explore alternatives.