cmd/cgo: document how to cross-compile from darwin/amd64 to darwin/arm64 with cgo #44112

briandealwis · 2021-02-05T03:24:59Z

Attempting to use cgo for cross-compiling a Go app for darwin/arm64 from darwin/amd64 is not entirely straightforward for those not familiar with Apple's toolchain when compiling from macOS 10.15 or earlier.

What version of Go are you using (`go version`)?

go 1.16rc1

Does this issue reproduce with the latest release?

Yes

What operating system and processor architecture are you using (`go env`)?

go env Output

$ go1.16rc1 env
GO111MODULE=""
GOARCH="amd64"
GOBIN=""
GOCACHE="/Users/bdealwis/Library/Caches/go-build"
GOENV="/Users/bdealwis/Library/Application Support/go/env"
GOEXE=""
GOFLAGS=""
GOHOSTARCH="amd64"
GOHOSTOS="darwin"
GOINSECURE=""
GOMODCACHE="/Users/bdealwis/go/pkg/mod"
GONOPROXY=""
GONOSUMDB=""
GOOS="darwin"
GOPATH="/Users/bdealwis/go"
GOPRIVATE=""
GOPROXY="https://proxy.golang.org,direct"
GOROOT="/Users/bdealwis/sdk/go1.16rc1"
GOSUMDB="sum.golang.org"
GOTMPDIR=""
GOTOOLDIR="/Users/bdealwis/sdk/go1.16rc1/pkg/tool/darwin_amd64"
GOVCS=""
GOVERSION="go1.16rc1"
GCCGO="gccgo"
AR="ar"
CC="clang"
CXX="clang++"
CGO_ENABLED="1"
GOMOD="/Users/bdealwis/Projects/Skaffold/repo-skaffold/go.mod"
CGO_CFLAGS="-g -O2"
CGO_CPPFLAGS=""
CGO_CXXFLAGS="-g -O2"
CGO_FFLAGS="-g -O2"
CGO_LDFLAGS="-g -O2"
PKG_CONFIG="pkg-config"
GOGCCFLAGS="-fPIC -arch x86_64 -m64 -pthread -fno-caret-diagnostics -Qunused-arguments -fmessage-length=0 -fdebug-prefix-map=/var/folders/jp/fyjblw1x6k71gyjnz3smzbjr00kl65/T/go-build1743423011=/tmp/go-build -gno-record-gcc-switches -fno-common"

What did you do?

I was trying to build Skaffold for darwin/arm64. We normally build Skaffold with cgo to take advantage of github.com/rjeczalik/notify's bindings to native file-watching APIs like macOS's FSEvents.

I understood that XCode 12.2 and later support cross-compilation between amd64 and arm64, I thought this would be straightforward. But my attempts failed with odd errors:

$ CGO_ENABLED=1 GOOS=darwin GOARCH=arm64 \
    go1.16rc1 build ./cmd/skaffold 
# runtime/cgo
In file included from _cgo_export.c:3:
In file included from /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX10.15.sdk/usr/include/stdlib.h:62:
/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX10.15.sdk/usr/include/sys/cdefs.h:807:2: error: Unsupported architecture
In file included from _cgo_export.c:3:
In file included from /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX10.15.sdk/usr/include/stdlib.h:64:
In file included from /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX10.15.sdk/usr/include/_types.h:27:
In file included from /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX10.15.sdk/usr/include/sys/_types.h:33:
/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX10.15.sdk/usr/include/machine/_types.h:34:2: error: architecture not supported
...

It turns out that cross-compiling for arm64 from amd64 requires using a macOS SDK 11.x. As I was building from a machine running macOS 10.15, the default SDK used for compilation was 10.15. It was not clear how to specify an 11.x SDK. From what I found online, it seemed like I should be able to build by specifying CC='clang --target arm64-apple-macos11, or CC='clang -isysroot to point to a macOS 11.x SDK, but these failed in the similar fashion:

$ CGO_ENABLED=1 GOOS=darwin GOARCH=arm64 \
    CC='clang -isystem /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX11.1.sdk` \
    go1.16rc1 build -o out/skaffold-darwin-arm64 ./cmd/skaffold
# runtime/cgo
In file included from _cgo_export.c:3:
In file included from /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX10.15.sdk/usr/include/stdlib.h:62:
/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX10.15.sdk/usr/include/sys/cdefs.h:807:2: error: Unsupported architecture
...

After much more digging, it turns out the best way is to set the SDKROOT environment variable to point to the SDK. And to use xcrun to find the newest SDK installed:

$ CGO_ENABLED=1 GOOS=darwin GOARCH=arm64 \
    SDKROOT=$(xcrun --sdk macosx --show-sdk-path) \
    go1.16rc1 build -o out/skaffold-darwin-arm64 ./cmd/skaffold

The --sdk macosx chooses the MacOSX.sdk, which is normally linked to the latest SDK.

The text was updated successfully, but these errors were encountered:

seankhliao · 2021-02-05T07:29:47Z

feel free to add a page to the wiki

bcmills · 2021-02-05T15:09:47Z

CC @cherrymui @FiloSottile @stevetraut

cherrymui · 2021-02-05T15:51:25Z

I think the general question is how to cross compile with cgo, which boils down to how to cross compile C code. It is not specific to darwin. Basically, it needs a C cross compiler, and set CC and/or CGO_CFLAGS/CGO_LDFLAGS accordingly. Sometimes it is relatively easy, and sometimes it requires a nontrivial amount of work.

I don't think we want do document about how to cross compile C. Are there existing documentation about that? Maybe we can link to that, and add the part of setting CC/CGO_CFLAGS/etc.

briandealwis · 2021-02-06T03:54:39Z

I thought it was worth calling out darwin/arm64 as most build systems do not yet support Apple M1 and are on macOS 10.15 or earlier. One of the wiki pages seems fine? Perhaps https://github.com/golang/go/wiki/Darwin?

This is an attempt to fix a lack of keychain support in darwin/arm64 binaries that have been cross-compiled on other platforms as described in 99designs#758 and hinted at in the linked 99designs/keyring@756c48d Given the keychain support from keyring[1] is provided by cgo, and CGO is disabled by default in cross-compilation, we need to enable that, and deal with dev tooling/libraries. I dug this solution from the Go issues, specifically golang/go#44112 Be warned, I am not familiar with the ins and outs of Go compilation, especially when it comes to cross-compilation of CGO code, but at least in this case, this change allows for a functional cross-compiled binary. I fully expect that attempting to cross-compile darwin/arm64 on anything other than darwin/amd64 (or the opposite way around) is going to end badly. [1] https://github.com/99designs/keyring

MuweiHe · 2021-10-08T23:16:21Z

I chose MacOSX.sdk but still got unsupported arch errors:

In file included from /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk/usr/include/stdlib.h:62:
/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk/usr/include/sys/cdefs.h:807:2: error: Unsupported architecture

rk0cc · 2021-11-01T11:36:53Z

Any detailed information that do the same thing in GitHub Action? Since I don't sure the SDK path is the same form the action one.

cytown · 2023-12-26T07:59:20Z

Is it still working on or just won't fix???

cherrymui · 2023-12-26T16:21:07Z

Now in the usual case GOARCH=arm64 CGO_ENABLED=1 go build just works. Not sure if there is anything else need to be done.

In the usual case, with a standard Xcode installation, there is no need to set SDK path or anything (unless you're targeting iOS, not macOS).

gopherbot · 2024-01-26T16:25:08Z

Timed out in state WaitingForInfo. Closing.

(I am just a bot, though. Please speak up if this is a mistake or you have the requested information.)

gopherbot added the Documentation label Feb 5, 2021

seankhliao changed the title ~~Document how to cross-compile from darwin/amd64 to darwin/arm64 with cgo~~ cmd/cgo: document how to cross-compile from darwin/amd64 to darwin/arm64 with cgo Feb 5, 2021

dmitshur added the FeatureRequest label Feb 8, 2021

dmitshur added this to the Backlog milestone Feb 8, 2021

dmitshur added the NeedsInvestigation Someone must examine and confirm this is a valid issue and not a duplicate of an existing one. label Feb 8, 2021

bazbremner mentioned this issue Mar 26, 2021

Set flags to cross-compile darwin/arm64 on darwin/amd64 and vice versa 99designs/aws-vault#760

Merged

geoah mentioned this issue Mar 30, 2021

Fix darwin target to work in github actions jerson/openpgp-mobile#6

Merged

mvdan mentioned this issue Sep 22, 2021

doc: best practices for cross-compiling universal binaries to distribute #48540

Open

epk mentioned this issue Oct 24, 2021

Build v8 for Apple Silicon rogchap/v8go#202

Merged

gopherbot added the compiler/runtime Issues related to the Go compiler and/or runtime. label Jul 13, 2022

WilliamDugdale mentioned this issue Nov 10, 2022

Fail go run github.com/99designs/gqlgen init 99designs/gqlgen#2404

Open

cherrymui added the WaitingForInfo Issue is not actionable because of missing required information, which needs to be provided. label Dec 26, 2023

gopherbot closed this as not planned Won't fix, can't repro, duplicate, stale Jan 26, 2024

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cmd/cgo: document how to cross-compile from darwin/amd64 to darwin/arm64 with cgo #44112

cmd/cgo: document how to cross-compile from darwin/amd64 to darwin/arm64 with cgo #44112

briandealwis commented Feb 5, 2021

seankhliao commented Feb 5, 2021

bcmills commented Feb 5, 2021

cherrymui commented Feb 5, 2021

briandealwis commented Feb 6, 2021

MuweiHe commented Oct 8, 2021

rk0cc commented Nov 1, 2021 •

edited

cytown commented Dec 26, 2023

cherrymui commented Dec 26, 2023 •

edited

gopherbot commented Jan 26, 2024

cmd/cgo: document how to cross-compile from darwin/amd64 to darwin/arm64 with cgo #44112

cmd/cgo: document how to cross-compile from darwin/amd64 to darwin/arm64 with cgo #44112

Comments

briandealwis commented Feb 5, 2021

What version of Go are you using (go version)?

Does this issue reproduce with the latest release?

What operating system and processor architecture are you using (go env)?

What did you do?

seankhliao commented Feb 5, 2021

bcmills commented Feb 5, 2021

cherrymui commented Feb 5, 2021

briandealwis commented Feb 6, 2021

MuweiHe commented Oct 8, 2021

rk0cc commented Nov 1, 2021 • edited

cytown commented Dec 26, 2023

cherrymui commented Dec 26, 2023 • edited

gopherbot commented Jan 26, 2024

What version of Go are you using (`go version`)?

What operating system and processor architecture are you using (`go env`)?

rk0cc commented Nov 1, 2021 •

edited

cherrymui commented Dec 26, 2023 •

edited