How to fix ESPAsyncWebserver undefined reference to `SHA1Init’

Problem:

When using ESPAsyncWebserver with websockets, you see the following error messages while linking:

Linking .pio/build/esp32dev/firmware.elf
/home/uli/.platformio/packages/[email protected]+2021r2-patch3/bin/../lib/gcc/xtensa-esp32-elf/8.4.0/../../../../xtensa-esp32-elf/bin/ld: .pio/build/esp32dev/lib67a/libESP Async WebServer.a(AsyncWebSocket.cpp.o):(.literal._ZN22AsyncWebSocketResponseC2ERK6StringP14AsyncWebSocket+0x10): undefined reference to `SHA1Init'
/home/uli/.platformio/packages/[email protected]+2021r2-patch3/bin/../lib/gcc/xtensa-esp32-elf/8.4.0/../../../../xtensa-esp32-elf/bin/ld: .pio/build/esp32dev/lib67a/libESP Async WebServer.a(AsyncWebSocket.cpp.o):(.literal._ZN22AsyncWebSocketResponseC2ERK6StringP14AsyncWebSocket+0x18): undefined reference to `SHA1Update'
/home/uli/.platformio/packages/[email protected]+2021r2-patch3/bin/../lib/gcc/xtensa-esp32-elf/8.4.0/../../../../xtensa-esp32-elf/bin/ld: .pio/build/esp32dev/lib67a/libESP Async WebServer.a(AsyncWebSocket.cpp.o):(.literal._ZN22AsyncWebSocketResponseC2ERK6StringP14AsyncWebSocket+0x1c): undefined reference to `SHA1Final'
/home/uli/.platformio/packages/[email protected]+2021r2-patch3/bin/../lib/gcc/xtensa-esp32-elf/8.4.0/../../../../xtensa-esp32-elf/bin/ld: .pio/build/esp32dev/lib67a/libESP Async WebServer.a(AsyncWebSocket.cpp.o): in function `AsyncWebSocketResponse::AsyncWebSocketResponse(String const&, AsyncWebSocket*)':
/home/uli/dev/My-Firmware/.pio/libdeps/esp32dev/ESP Async WebServer/src/AsyncWebSocket.cpp:1269: undefined reference to `SHA1Init'
/home/uli/.platformio/packages/[email protected]+2021r2-patch3/bin/../lib/gcc/xtensa-esp32-elf/8.4.0/../../../../xtensa-esp32-elf/bin/ld: /home/uli/dev/My-Firmware/.pio/libdeps/esp32dev/ESP Async WebServer/src/AsyncWebSocket.cpp:1270: undefined reference to `SHA1Update'
/home/uli/.platformio/packages/[email protected]+2021r2-patch3/bin/../lib/gcc/xtensa-esp32-elf/8.4.0/../../../../xtensa-esp32-elf/bin/ld: /home/uli/dev/My-Firmware/.pio/libdeps/esp32dev/ESP Async WebServer/src/AsyncWebSocket.cpp:1271: undefined reference to `SHA1Final'
/home/uli/.platformio/packages/[email protected]+2021r2-patch3/bin/../lib/gcc/xtensa-esp32-elf/8.4.0/../../../../xtensa-esp32-elf/bin/ld: .pio/build/esp32dev/lib67a/libESP Async WebServer.a(WebAuthentication.cpp.o):(.literal._ZL6getMD5PhtPc+0x4): undefined reference to `mbedtls_md5_starts'
/home/uli/.platformio/packages/[email protected]+2021r2-patch3/bin/../lib/gcc/xtensa-esp32-elf/8.4.0/../../../../xtensa-esp32-elf/bin/ld: .pio/build/esp32dev/lib67a/libESP Async WebServer.a(WebAuthentication.cpp.o): in function `getMD5(unsigned char*, unsigned short, char*)':
/home/uli/dev/My-Firmware/.pio/libdeps/esp32dev/ESP Async WebServer/src/WebAuthentication.cpp:73: undefined reference to `mbedtls_md5_starts'

Solution:

This is a bug in the ESPAsyncWebserver official library, which is not regularly maintained. But you can use use the esphome fork of ESPAsyncWebserver and their fork of AsyncTCP instead.

In platformio.ini, instead of

lib_deps =
    ESP Async [email protected]

use the esphome fork and AsyncTCP:

lib_deps =
    esphome/AsyncTCP-esphome@^1.2.2
    esphome/ESPAsyncWebServer-esphome@^2.1.0

After that, try to build / upload, the linking errors should be gone.

Full platformio.ini example

[env:esp32dev]
platform = espressif32
platform_packages = framework-arduinoespressif32 @ https://github.com/espressif/arduino-esp32.git#2.0.3
board = esp32dev
framework = arduino
lib_deps =
    esphome/AsyncTCP-esphome@^1.2.2
    esphome/ESPAsyncWebServer-esphome@^2.1.0
    [email protected]
upload_speed = 460800
monitor_speed = 115200