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Cross-compilation for aarch64

Two paths: host-native (Linux with zig installed) or Docker (any OS).

Host-native (Linux)

Prerequisites

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S zig dpkg python
cargo install cargo-zigbuild

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt install zig dpkg-dev python3
cargo install cargo-zigbuild

# Rust target
rustup target add aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu

Create the sysroot (one-time)

cargo make cross-sysroot-aarch64

Downloads aarch64 .deb packages from Debian Bookworm and extracts headers and libraries into cross/sysroot-aarch64/. Uses dpkg-deb only, no sudo needed. Takes 1-2 minutes on a decent connection.

Build

# irl CLI (release)
cargo make cross-build-aarch64 -- -p iroh-live-cli --release

# Pi Zero demos
cargo make cross-build-aarch64 -- -p pi-zero-demo --release
cargo make cross-build-aarch64 -- -p iroh-live --example publish-pi --features rpicam --release

# Check the whole workspace
cargo make cross-build-aarch64 -- --workspace

# Arbitrary example
cargo make cross-build-aarch64 -- --release --example publish

Everything after -- is forwarded to cargo zigbuild.

Docker (macOS, Windows, any host)

No zig, no sysroot, no host packages needed. Just Docker.

# irl CLI (release)
cargo make cross-build-aarch64-docker -- -p iroh-live-cli --release

# Pi Zero demo
cargo make cross-build-aarch64-docker -- -p pi-zero-demo --release

The Docker image is built on first use (~5 minutes) and cached. It includes zig, cargo-zigbuild, and a pre-built aarch64 sysroot.

Direct script invocation

Both paths can also be used without cargo-make:

# Host-native
./cross/create-sysroot.sh                               # one-time
./cross/zigbuild.sh -p iroh-live-cli --release

# Docker
./cross/docker-zigbuild.sh -p iroh-live-cli --release

# Custom sysroot location
SYSROOT=/path/to/sysroot ./cross/zigbuild.sh -p pi-zero-demo --release

How it works

  1. create-sysroot.sh downloads aarch64 .deb packages from the Debian archive and extracts them with dpkg-deb. No chroot, no root, no mmdebstrap needed.

  2. zigbuild.sh sets PKG_CONFIG_SYSROOT_DIR, PKG_CONFIG_PATH, CC/CXX (using zig as a cross-compiler), and linker flags so that -sys crates find the aarch64 headers and libraries.

  3. cargo-zigbuild uses Zig as the linker, targeting aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu.2.36 (glibc 2.36 = Debian Bookworm = Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm).

  4. docker-zigbuild.sh wraps the above in a Docker container with everything pre-installed, mounting the source tree and cargo registry.

Libraries available in the sysroot

The Bookworm sysroot includes:

  • libcamera-dev -- Raspberry Pi camera stack (unused today: the Pi demos drive rpicam-vid instead)
  • libpipewire-0.3-dev -- PipeWire screen/camera capture
  • libva-dev, libdrm-dev, libgbm-dev -- GPU/display
  • libasound2-dev, libopus-dev -- audio
  • libv4l-dev -- V4L2 camera capture
  • libssl-dev -- TLS
  • libx11-dev, libxkbcommon-dev, libwayland-dev -- windowing

Binary compatibility

The resulting binaries target aarch64 glibc (not musl) and are compatible with Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm (Debian 12, glibc 2.36).