Bazel zig cc toolchain

This is a C/C++ toolchain that can (cross-)compile C/C++ programs. It contains clang-12, musl, glibc (versions 2-2.33, selectable), all in a ~40MB package. Read here about zig-cc; the rest of the README will present how to use this toolchain from Bazel.

Usage

Add this to your WORKSPACE:

BAZEL_ZIG_CC_VERSION = "0.3.1"

http_archive(
    name = "bazel-zig-cc",
    sha256 = "d1fad7b044b0a70c584ada97010cb9d350a596a1df26ca04cb4846e83ed2482f",
    strip_prefix = "bazel-zig-cc-{}".format(BAZEL_ZIG_CC_VERSION),
    urls = ["https://git.sr.ht/~motiejus/bazel-zig-cc/archive/{}.tar.gz".format(BAZEL_ZIG_CC_VERSION)],
)

load("@bazel-zig-cc//toolchain:defs.bzl", zig_register_toolchains = "register_toolchains")

zig_register_toolchains(register = [
    "x86_64-linux-gnu.2.28",
    "x86_64-macos-gnu",
])

The snippet above will download the zig toolchain and register it for the following platforms:

• x86_64-linux-gnu.2.28 for ["@platforms//os:linux", "@platforms//cpu:x86_64"].
• x86_64-macos-gnu for ["@platforms//os:macos", "@platforms//cpu:x86_64"].

Note that both Go and Bazel naming schemes are accepted. For convenience with Go, the following Go-style toolchain aliases are created:

Bazel (zig) name	Go name
x86_64	amd64
aarch64	arm64
macos	darwin

For example, the toolchain linux_amd64_gnu is aliased to x86_64-linux-gnu.2.28. To find out which toolchains can be registered or used, run:

$ bazel query @zig_sdk//... | sed -En '/.*_toolchain$/ s/.*:(.*)_toolchain$/\1/p'

Read #Known Issues before using.

Known Issues

Parallel zig c++ invocations may fail

Severity: High

Task: ziglang/zig #9431 FileNotFound when compiling macos

Background: there is a race when calling zig c++, which Bazel does a lot. This may fail compilation. Yours truly only reproduced it on macos with a cold cache. Based on that, a workaround in the toolchain exists, named speed_first_safety_later. The possible values are auto (default), yes, no.

relocation error with glibc < 2.32

Severity: High

Task: ziglang/zig relocation error: symbol pthread_sigmask version GLIBC_2.2.5 not defined in file libc.so.6 with link time reference #7667

Background: one of our internal shared libraries (which we must build with glibc 2.19) does not load on an older system:

id: relocation error: /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libnss_uber.so.2: symbol pthread_sigmask, version GLIBC_2.2.5 not defined in file libc.so.6 with link time reference

Severity is high, because there is no known workaround: the shared library, when built with this toolchain, will not work on our target system.

newer zig fails darwin tests

Severity: no yet triaged

Task: not yet triaged.

If zig is upgraded in this repository to nightly, it can't build the Darwin executable. This section will be updated when more details are identified.

fcntl64 linking error on glibc < 2.28

Severity: Low

Task: ziglang/zig #9485 glibc 2.27 or older: fcntl64 not found, but zig's glibc headers refer it

Background: when glibc 2.27 or older is selected, it may miss fcntl64. A workaround is applied for x86_64, but not for aarch64. The same workaround may apply to aarch64, but the author didn't find a need to test it (yet).

cgo for darwin (macos)

Severity: Low

Task: rules/go #2894 Per-arch_target linker flags

Background: until there is a better "global" way (i.e. the task is solved), all go_binary targets destined for Darwin (macos) need an extra gc_linkopts flag:

go_binary(
    <...>
    gc_linkopts = select({
        "@platforms//os:macos": ["-s", "-w", "-buildmode=pie"],
        "//conditions:default": [],
    }),
)

incorrect glibc version autodetection

Severity: Low

Task: ziglang/zig zig detects wrong libc version #6469

Background: zig detects an incorrect glibc version when not specified. Therefore, until the task is resolved, registering a GNU toolchain without a version suffix (e.g. linux_amd64_gnu) is not recommended. We recommend specifying the suffix to the oldest system that is mean to run the compiled binaries. This is safe, because glibc is backwards-compatible. Alternatively, use musl.

Closed issues

• ziglang/zig #9139 zig c++ hanging when compiling in parallel (CLOSED, thanks andrewrk)
• golang/go #46644 cmd/link: with CC=zig: SIGSERV when cross-compiling to darwin/amd64 (CLOSED, thanks kubkon)
• ziglang/zig #9050 golang linker segfault (CLOSED, thanks kubkon)
• ziglang/zig #7917 [meta] better c/c++ toolchain compatibility (CLOSED, thanks andrewrk)
• ziglang/zig #7915 ar-compatible command for zig cc (CLOSED, thanks andrewrk)

Testing

linux cgo + glibc 2.19

$ bazel build --platforms @io_bazel_rules_go//go/toolchain:linux_amd64_cgo //test:hello
$ file bazel-out/k8-fastbuild-ST-d17813c235ce/bin/test/hello_/hello
bazel-out/k8-fastbuild-ST-d17813c235ce/bin/test/hello_/hello: ELF 64-bit LSB executable, x86-64, version 1 (SYSV), dynamically linked, interpreter /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2, for GNU/Linux 2.0.0, Go BuildID=redacted, with debug_info, not stripped

linux cgo + musl

$ bazel build \
    --platforms @io_bazel_rules_go//go/toolchain:linux_amd64_cgo \
    --extra_toolchains @zig_sdk//:linux_amd64_musl_toolchain //test:hello
...
$ file ../bazel-out/k8-fastbuild-ST-d17813c235ce/bin/test/hello_/hello
../bazel-out/k8-fastbuild-ST-d17813c235ce/bin/test/hello_/hello: ELF 64-bit LSB executable, x86-64, version 1 (SYSV), statically linked, Go BuildID=redacted, with debug_info, not stripped
$ ../bazel-out/k8-fastbuild-ST-d17813c235ce/bin/test/hello_/hello
hello, world

macos cgo

$ bazel build --platforms @io_bazel_rules_go//go/toolchain:darwin_amd64_cgo //test:gognu
...
$ file bazel-bin/test/gognu_/gognu
bazel-bin/test/gognu_/gognu: Mach-O 64-bit x86_64 executable, flags:<NOUNDEFS|DYLDLINK|TWOLEVEL|PIE>

Transient docker environment

$ docker run -e CC=/usr/bin/false -ti --rm -v $(pwd):/x -w /x debian:buster-slim
# apt update && apt install wget git -y
# . .envrc

And run the bazel build commands above. Take a look at .build.yml and see how CI does it.

Credits

Many thanks to Adam Bouhenguel and his bazel-zig-cc, the parent of this repository.