SSH connection through C++ libssh refuses to connect

Question

I am trying to create a simplified SSH connection between client and server with libssh library in C++. My code is as displayed below:

        ssh_session session;
        session = ssh_new();
        if(session == NULL) {
                cout << "Session cannot be created. Exiting.." << endl;
                exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
        }
        int verbosity = SSH_LOG_FUNCTIONS;
        
        ssh_options_set(session, SSH_OPTIONS_HOST, "127.0.0.1");
        ssh_options_set(session, SSH_OPTIONS_PORT, "22");
        ssh_options_set(session, SSH_OPTIONS_USER, "box")
        ssh_options_set(session, SSH_OPTIONS_LOG_VERBOSITY, &verbosity);
        
        int rc;
        // ---- This is where it starts
        rc = ssh_connect(session); // <--- CONNECTION IS CREATED, but THEN IT IS REFUSED BY SERVER!
        if(rc != SSH_OK) {  
                cout << "rc != SSH_OK" << endl; // <--- GETS PRINTED AFTER REFUSAL OF CONNECTION
                exit(EXIT_FAILURE);  // <--- CODE EXITS HERE!
        }
        enum ssh_known_hosts_e state;
        unsigned char *hash = NULL;
        ssh_key srvpubkey = NULL;
        size_t hashlen;
        rc = ssh_get_server_publickey(session, &srvpubkey);
        if(rc < 0) {
                return -1;
        }
        rc = ssh_get_publickey_hash(srvpubkey, SSH_PUBLICKEY_HASH_SHA256, &hash, &hashlen);
        ssh_key_free(srvpubkey);
        if(rc < 0) {
                cout << "Public Key Hash @ERROR" << endl;
                return -1;
        }
        switch(state) {
                case SSH_KNOWN_HOSTS_OK: {
                        // ok, no problem!
                        cout << "All good!" << endl;
                        break;
                }
                case SSH_KNOWN_HOSTS_CHANGED: {
                        ssh_clean_pubkey_hash(&hash);
                        cout << "Hash: " << hash << endl << "Length: " << hashlen << endl;
                        return -1;
                }
                case SSH_KNOWN_HOSTS_OTHER: {
                        ssh_clean_pubkey_hash(&hash);
                        return -1;
                }
                case SSH_KNOWN_HOSTS_NOT_FOUND: {
                        ssh_clean_pubkey_hash(&hash);
                        return -1;
                }
                case SSH_KNOWN_HOSTS_UNKNOWN: {
                        ssh_clean_pubkey_hash(&hash);
                        return -1;
                }
                case SSH_KNOWN_HOSTS_ERROR: {
                        ssh_clean_pubkey_hash(&hash);
                
                        return -1;
                }
                default: {
                        ssh_clean_pubkey_hash(&hash);
                        return -1;
                }
        }
        ssh_clean_pubkey_hash(&hash);
        ssh_disconnect(session);
        ssh_free(session);

When executing this code, I am greeted with Connection Refused error. Please note that my SSH server is up and running, when I attempt to connect through my command terminal it is working OK. I am able to connect and do all I need, however when executed through this code; as previously stated, the connection is being refused. Any tips, hints or assistance is greatly appreciated.

PS. I've enabled maximum verbosity to learn more about the error but what I said is all that was provided. It gave no further information when debugging.

Answer 1

This has been solved. Thanks to tcpdump I was able to learn that the connection was being made to a different port. What immediately came to my attention then is to check how the port was being set and the mistake was right here:

ssh_options_set(session, SSH_OPTIONS_PORT, "22");

Fix:

int port = 22;
ssh_options_set(session, SSH_OPTIONS_PORT, &port);

Because SSH_OPTIONS_PORT takes reference.