Cross-Compiler targeting Alpine - Revision history

Alpineuser at 02:59, 21 May 2025

2025-05-21T02:59:00Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:59, 21 May 2025
Line 1:		Line 1:
	{{Obsolete\|This was written before the change to musl so it will most likely not work at all}}		{{Obsolete\|This was written before the change to musl so it will most likely not work at all}}

	This page explains how I set up a cross-compiler on [https://www.archlinux.org/ ArchLinux] (both x86 and x86_64) targeting Alpine. There are only a few situations in which you'd want to do this. I had to do it because I wanted to port [https://www.haskell.org/ghc/ GHC] to Alpine, and to do that, you need to start with some ~~alreay~~-compiled GHC binary. So that meant cross-compiling from some system where the binaries were already available.		This page explains how I set up a cross-compiler on [https://www.archlinux.org/ ArchLinux] (both x86 and x86_64) targeting Alpine. There are only a few situations in which you'd want to do this. I had to do it because I wanted to port [https://www.haskell.org/ghc/ GHC] to Alpine, and to do that, you need to start with some already-compiled GHC binary. So that meant cross-compiling from some system where the binaries were already available.

	I used [https://buildroot.uclibc.org/ Buildroot] to setup my cross-compiler. These instructions target Buildroot 2013.05 and Alpine 2.6.0, both released in May 2013. The specific versions installed by this Buildroot (as I've configured it) are:		I used [https://buildroot.uclibc.org/ Buildroot] to setup my cross-compiler. These instructions target Buildroot 2013.05 and Alpine 2.6.0, both released in May 2013. The specific versions installed by this Buildroot (as I've configured it) are:

Sertonix: obsolete since change to musl

2023-08-25T21:01:37Z

obsolete since change to musl

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:01, 25 August 2023
Line 1:		Line 1:
			{{Obsolete\|This was written before the change to musl so it will most likely not work at all}}

	This page explains how I set up a cross-compiler on [https://www.archlinux.org/ ArchLinux] (both x86 and x86_64) targeting Alpine. There are only a few situations in which you'd want to do this. I had to do it because I wanted to port [https://www.haskell.org/ghc/ GHC] to Alpine, and to do that, you need to start with some alreay-compiled GHC binary. So that meant cross-compiling from some system where the binaries were already available.		This page explains how I set up a cross-compiler on [https://www.archlinux.org/ ArchLinux] (both x86 and x86_64) targeting Alpine. There are only a few situations in which you'd want to do this. I had to do it because I wanted to port [https://www.haskell.org/ghc/ GHC] to Alpine, and to do that, you need to start with some alreay-compiled GHC binary. So that meant cross-compiling from some system where the binaries were already available.

Sertonix: use https & update links

2023-08-25T21:00:10Z

use https & update links

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:00, 25 August 2023
Line 1:		Line 1:
	This page explains how I set up a cross-compiler on [https://www.archlinux.org/ ArchLinux] (both x86 and x86_64) targeting Alpine. There are only a few situations in which you'd want to do this. I had to do it because I wanted to port [~~http~~://www.haskell.org/ghc/ GHC] to Alpine, and to do that, you need to start with some alreay-compiled GHC binary. So that meant cross-compiling from some system where the binaries were already available.		This page explains how I set up a cross-compiler on [https://www.archlinux.org/ ArchLinux] (both x86 and x86_64) targeting Alpine. There are only a few situations in which you'd want to do this. I had to do it because I wanted to port [https://www.haskell.org/ghc/ GHC] to Alpine, and to do that, you need to start with some alreay-compiled GHC binary. So that meant cross-compiling from some system where the binaries were already available.

	I used [~~http~~://buildroot.uclibc.org/ Buildroot] to setup my cross-compiler. These instructions target Buildroot 2013.05 and Alpine 2.6.0, both released in May 2013. The specific versions installed by this Buildroot (as I've configured it) are:		I used [https://buildroot.uclibc.org/ Buildroot] to setup my cross-compiler. These instructions target Buildroot 2013.05 and Alpine 2.6.0, both released in May 2013. The specific versions installed by this Buildroot (as I've configured it) are:

	* kernel headers v3.9.2		* kernel headers v3.9.2
Line 22:		Line 22:
	The instructions below also describe how to install a cross-compiling LLVM and Clang v3.2 on top of the Buildroot tools. This might be useful for some purposes.		The instructions below also describe how to install a cross-compiling LLVM and Clang v3.2 on top of the Buildroot tools. This might be useful for some purposes.

	If you want to use these instructions as a basis for doing the same thing with more recent releases of Buildroot or targeting newer releases of Alpine, be sure to check for patches added to the Alpine ports tree, especially to [[gcc]] or uClibc, after [~~http~~://git.alpinelinux.org~~/cgit~~/aports/log/?h=v2.6.0 2.6.0].		If you want to use these instructions as a basis for doing the same thing with more recent releases of Buildroot or targeting newer releases of Alpine, be sure to check for patches added to the Alpine ports tree, especially to [[gcc]] or uClibc, after [https://git.alpinelinux.org/aports/log/?h=v2.6.0 2.6.0].

	<OL>		<OL>
Line 50:		Line 50:

	get_from_aports() (		get_from_aports() (
	local APORTS_URL=~~http~~://git.alpinelinux.org~~/cgit~~/aports/plain		local APORTS_URL=https://git.alpinelinux.org/aports/plain
	mkdir -p $1		mkdir -p $1
	cd $1 \|\| return 1		cd $1 \|\| return 1
Line 106:		Line 106:

	BUILDROOTVER=2013.05-rc2		BUILDROOTVER=2013.05-rc2
	wget -N ~~http~~://buildroot.uclibc.org/downloads/buildroot-$BUILDROOTVER.tar.bz2		wget -N https://buildroot.uclibc.org/downloads/buildroot-$BUILDROOTVER.tar.bz2
	get_from_gist . config.$ARCH		get_from_gist . config.$ARCH
	get_from_gist . buildroot-makes.patch		get_from_gist . buildroot-makes.patch
Line 134:		Line 134:

	{{Cmd\|<nowiki>cd $HOME/sources		{{Cmd\|<nowiki>cd $HOME/sources
	wget -N ~~http~~://llvm.org/releases/3.2/llvm-3.2.src.tar.gz		wget -N https://llvm.org/releases/3.2/llvm-3.2.src.tar.gz
	wget -N ~~http~~://llvm.org/releases/3.2/clang-3.2.src.tar.gz		wget -N https://llvm.org/releases/3.2/clang-3.2.src.tar.gz
	get_from_aports . llvm/llvm-3.2-alpine-linux.patch		get_from_aports . llvm/llvm-3.2-alpine-linux.patch
	cd && tar -xzf sources/llvm-3.2.src.tar.gz && tar -xzf sources/clang-3.2.src.tar.gz && cd llvm-3.2.src		cd && tar -xzf sources/llvm-3.2.src.tar.gz && tar -xzf sources/clang-3.2.src.tar.gz && cd llvm-3.2.src

John3-16: Added internal link to GCC

2017-09-19T21:53:48Z

Added internal link to GCC

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:53, 19 September 2017
Line 22:		Line 22:
	The instructions below also describe how to install a cross-compiling LLVM and Clang v3.2 on top of the Buildroot tools. This might be useful for some purposes.		The instructions below also describe how to install a cross-compiling LLVM and Clang v3.2 on top of the Buildroot tools. This might be useful for some purposes.

	If you want to use these instructions as a basis for doing the same thing with more recent releases of Buildroot or targeting newer releases of Alpine, be sure to check for patches added to the Alpine ports tree, especially to gcc or uClibc, after [http://git.alpinelinux.org/cgit/aports/log/?h=v2.6.0 2.6.0].		If you want to use these instructions as a basis for doing the same thing with more recent releases of Buildroot or targeting newer releases of Alpine, be sure to check for patches added to the Alpine ports tree, especially to [[gcc]] or uClibc, after [http://git.alpinelinux.org/cgit/aports/log/?h=v2.6.0 2.6.0].

	<OL>		<OL>

Dubiousjim: Fix "Arch inside Alpine" link

2015-01-20T15:19:41Z

Fix "Arch inside Alpine" link

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:19, 20 January 2015
Line 26:		Line 26:
	<OL>		<OL>
	<LI><div>		<LI><div>
	I began ~~with an~~ [[ArchLinux ~~install~~ inside an Alpine chroot]].		I began by [[Installing ArchLinux inside an Alpine chroot]].
	</div>		</div>
	<LI><div>		<LI><div>

Dubiousjim: Create page

2013-05-19T10:49:23Z

Create page

New page

This page explains how I set up a cross-compiler on [https://www.archlinux.org/ ArchLinux] (both x86 and x86_64) targeting Alpine. There are only a few situations in which you'd want to do this. I had to do it because I wanted to port [http://www.haskell.org/ghc/ GHC] to Alpine, and to do that, you need to start with some alreay-compiled GHC binary. So that meant cross-compiling from some system where the binaries were already available.

I used [http://buildroot.uclibc.org/ Buildroot] to setup my cross-compiler. These instructions target Buildroot 2013.05 and Alpine 2.6.0, both released in May 2013. The specific versions installed by this Buildroot (as I've configured it) are:

* kernel headers v3.9.2
* uClibc v0.9.33.2
* binutils v2.23.2
* gcc v4.7.3
* gmp v5.1.1
* mpc v1.0.1
* mpfr v3.1.2 (Alpine currently using mpfr3-3.1.1)
* m4 v1.4.16
* autoconf v2.68 (Alpine currently using autoconf-2.69)
* automake v1.11.6 (Alpine currently using automake-1.13.1)
* libiconv v1.14 (Alpine currently using 1.12)
* libtool v2.2.10 (Alpine currently using libtool-2.4.2)
* ncurses v5.9
* libffi v3.0.13

Buildroot also installs BusyBox v1.12.0, but I ignore this.

The instructions below also describe how to install a cross-compiling LLVM and Clang v3.2 on top of the Buildroot tools. This might be useful for some purposes.

If you want to use these instructions as a basis for doing the same thing with more recent releases of Buildroot or targeting newer releases of Alpine, be sure to check for patches added to the Alpine ports tree, especially to gcc or uClibc, after [http://git.alpinelinux.org/cgit/aports/log/?h=v2.6.0 2.6.0].

<OL>
<LI><div>
I began with an [[ArchLinux install inside an Alpine chroot]].
</div>
<LI><div>
On the Arch system, install the following packages:

{{Cmd|pacman -S less man-db man-pages licenses procps-ng psmisc sysfsutils \
base-devel openssh cpio elfutils gperf rsync unzip vim wget zip}}

</div>
<LI><div>
On the Arch system, do the following:

{{Cmd|mkdir ~/python2-path
ln -s /usr/bin/python2 ~/python2-path/python
export PATH{{=}}$HOME/python2-path:$PATH
}}

</div>
<LI><div>
On the Arch system, prepare the sources and patches to build the cross-compiler.

{{Cmd|<nowiki>mkdir -p $HOME/sources/patches && cd $HOME/sources

get_from_aports() (
local APORTS_URL=http://git.alpinelinux.org/cgit/aports/plain
mkdir -p $1
cd $1 || return 1
if [ -n "$3" ]; then
wget -N -O $(printf '%02d-%s' $3 ${2##*/}) $APORTS_URL/main/$2
else
wget -N $APORTS_URL/main/$2
fi
)

get_from_gist() (
local GIST_URL=https://gist.github.com/dubiousjim/5603159/raw
mkdir -p $1
cd $1 || return 1
if [ -n "$3" ]; then
wget -N -O $(printf '%02d-%s' $3 ${2##*/}) $GIST_URL/$2
else
wget -N $GIST_URL/$2
fi
)

get_from_aports patches/binutils/2.23.2 binutils/binutils-ld-fix-static-linking.patch

get_from_aports patches/gcc/4.7.3 gcc/pt_gnu_eh_frame.patch 1
get_from_aports patches/gcc/4.7.3 gcc/uclibc-getipinfo.patch 2
get_from_aports patches/gcc/4.7.3 gcc/gcc-4.7-dynamic-linker.patch 3
get_from_aports patches/gcc/4.7.3 gcc/gcc-4.6-pr32219.patch 4
get_from_aports patches/gcc/4.7.3 gcc/gcc-pure64.patch 5
sed -i -e 's/\$(ESP_NOPIE_CFLAGS) //' patches/gcc/4.7.3/03-gcc-4.7-dynamic-linker.patch

get_from_aports patches/gmp/5.1.1 gmp5/gmp-4.1.4-noexecstack.patch

# work around rpath issue
get_from_gist patches/libiconv/1.14 libiconv-configure.patch

get_from_aports patches/uClibc/0.9.33.2 libc0.9.32/APKBUILD
source=$( cd patches/uClibc/0.9.33.2 && . APKBUILD && echo $source )
j=1
for i in $source; do
case $i in
*.patch) get_from_aports patches/uClibc/0.9.33.2 libc0.9.32/$i $((j++))
esac
done
# finally, set abi version and remove unsupported warnings c flag
get_from_gist patches/uClibc/0.9.33.2 uclibc-Rules.mak.patch $j

case `uname -m` in
x86_64) ARCH=x86_64; H=$ARCH T=$ARCH;;
i?86) ARCH=x86 H=i686 T=i486;;
*) echo Unknown architecture;;
esac

get_from_aports . libc0.9.32/uclibcconfig.$ARCH
echo '# USE_OLD_VFPRINTF is not set' >> uclibcconfig.$ARCH

BUILDROOTVER=2013.05-rc2
wget -N http://buildroot.uclibc.org/downloads/buildroot-$BUILDROOTVER.tar.bz2
get_from_gist . config.$ARCH
get_from_gist . buildroot-makes.patch
</nowiki>}}

</div>
<LI><div>
Now, compile buildroot:

{{Cmd|<nowiki>cd && tar -xjf sources/buildroot-$BUILDROOTVER.tar.bz2
cd buildroot-$BUILDROOTVER && patch -p1 -i ../sources/buildroot-makes.patch
BUILDROOT=$HOME/buildroot-$ARCH
mkdir $BUILDROOT && cd $BUILDROOT && cp ../sources/config.$ARCH .config
make O=$PWD -C ../buildroot-$BUILDROOTVER 2>&1 | tee build.log
</nowiki>}}

</div>
<LI><div>
If the compilation was successful, then:

{{Cmd|export PATH{{=}}$PATH:$BUILDROOT/host/usr/bin}}

</div>
<LI><div>
(Optional) Download and compile LLVM and clang. (This needs the patch at {{Issue|1915}}, which hasn't yet made it into the aports tree.)

{{Cmd|<nowiki>cd $HOME/sources
wget -N http://llvm.org/releases/3.2/llvm-3.2.src.tar.gz
wget -N http://llvm.org/releases/3.2/clang-3.2.src.tar.gz
get_from_aports . llvm/llvm-3.2-alpine-linux.patch
cd && tar -xzf sources/llvm-3.2.src.tar.gz && tar -xzf sources/clang-3.2.src.tar.gz && cd llvm-3.2.src
rm -rf tools/clang && mv ../clang-3.2.src tools/clang
patch -p1 < ../sources/llvm-3.2-alpine-linux.patch
cd && mkdir llvm-build.$ARCH && cd llvm-build.$ARCH
../llvm-3.2.src/configure --prefix=$BUILDROOT/host/usr \
--build=$H-pc-linux-gnu --host=$H-pc-linux-gnu --target=$T-buildroot-linux-uclibc \
--with-gcc-toolchain=$BUILDROOT/host/usr --with-default-sysroot=$BUILDROOT/staging \
--enable-jit --enable-pic --enable-assertions --enable-optimized --enable-shared --disable-docs \
--enable-targets=x86,x86_64 | tee build.log
{ make && make install; } 2>&1 | tee -a build.log
</nowiki>}}
</div>
</OL>

Now on the Arch system you can do this:
{{Cmd|echo 'int main(void) {return 0;}' > test.c
i486-buildroot-linux-uclibc-gcc -o test test.c
}}

Or you could use <code>i486-buildroot-linux-uclibc-clang</code> instead.

The resulting binary won't run on the Arch system (or from a shell launched from inside the Arch chroot, if the Arch system is on a chroot inside your Alpine system, as mine is). But it will run on the Alpine system (or from a shell launched from outside the Arch chroot).

[[Category:Development]]