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: 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.