build: Use nix for building rust and cargo #109
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#### Problem
The current build scripts run as normal commands in CI machines, which
means that certain shared libraries are linked into binaries. For the
most part, this is fine, but some binaries, such as `solana-lldb`, have
a few extra shared libs:
```
~/.c/s/v/p/l/bin> ldd lldb
linux-vdso.so.1 (0x00007fea34cba000)
liblldb.so.19.1-rust-dev => /home/jon/.cache/solana/v1.51/platform-tools/llvm/bin/../lib/liblldb.so.19.1-rust-dev (0x00007fea2dc00000)
libstdc++.so.6 => /usr/lib/libstdc++.so.6 (0x00007fea2d800000)
libm.so.6 => /usr/lib/libm.so.6 (0x00007fea2daf2000)
libgcc_s.so.1 => /usr/lib/libgcc_s.so.1 (0x00007fea2dac5000)
libc.so.6 => /usr/lib/libc.so.6 (0x00007fea2d400000)
/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 => /usr/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00007fea34cbc000)
libpython3.10.so.1.0 => not found
libpanel.so.6 => not found
libncurses.so.6 => not found
libtinfo.so.6 => /usr/lib/libtinfo.so.6 (0x00007fea2d791000)
libxml2.so.2 => /usr/lib/libxml2.so.2 (0x00007fea2d643000)
libedit.so.2 => not found
liblzma.so.5 => /usr/lib/liblzma.so.5 (0x00007fea2d3cc000)
libz.so.1 => /usr/lib/libz.so.1 (0x00007fea2daac000)
libicuuc.so.76 => /usr/lib/libicuuc.so.76 (0x00007fea2d000000)
libicudata.so.76 => /usr/lib/libicudata.so.76 (0x00007fea2b000000)
```
On my local machine, you'll see that a few of these libraries aren't
found. This isn't a good experience for users.
Also, when packaging the platform tools for nix, we have to do a lot of
extra patching:
https://github.com/arijoon/solana-nix/blob/65a7cc4a9fff662fc6077b8b49bca6d3c96883c8/solana-platform-tools.nix#L92
#### Summary of changes
Build rust and cargo using nix, which ensures static linking of
executables. This mostly impacts llvm bins, and the size for all bins is
roughly the same. Some are slightly bigger or smaller, within 1% of the
size.
This will also make it much easier to package the bins in nix.
joncinque
added a commit
to joncinque/rust
that referenced
this pull request
Sep 22, 2025
#### Problem More information at anza-xyz/platform-tools#109, but Rust is currently built with a few additional shared libraries. #### Summary of changes Add a `--nix` flag to build.sh to optionally build with nix-shell.
joncinque
added a commit
to joncinque/cargo
that referenced
this pull request
Sep 22, 2025
#### Problem More information at anza-xyz/platform-tools#109, but cargo is currently built with a few shared libraries. #### Summary of changes Add a shell.nix file for creating a nix-shell environment.
joncinque
added a commit
to joncinque/cargo
that referenced
this pull request
Oct 15, 2025
#### Problem More information at anza-xyz/platform-tools#109, but cargo is currently built with a few shared libraries. #### Summary of changes Add a shell.nix file for creating a nix-shell environment.
LucasSte
pushed a commit
to anza-xyz/cargo
that referenced
this pull request
Oct 17, 2025
#### Problem More information at anza-xyz/platform-tools#109, but cargo is currently built with a few shared libraries. #### Summary of changes Add a shell.nix file for creating a nix-shell environment.
LucasSte
pushed a commit
to anza-xyz/rust
that referenced
this pull request
Oct 17, 2025
* build: Add `--nix` flag to build rust in nix-shell #### Problem Recreation of #139. More information at anza-xyz/platform-tools#109, but Rust is currently built with a few additional shared libraries. #### Summary of changes Add a `--nix` flag to build.sh to optionally build with nix-shell. * Wrap arg parsing in while loop
LucasSte
reviewed
Oct 31, 2025
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Can you rebase your branch so that we can test with v1.52?
| - uses: cachix/install-nix-action@v31 | ||
| with: | ||
| toolchain: 1.84.1 | ||
| nix_path: nixpkgs=https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/archive/3250c94d987c5ebcf24a5bfcd3c7de5ec43e3e84.tar.gz |
Collaborator
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Does this work for all build targets?
| toolchain: 1.84.1 | ||
| nix_path: nixpkgs=https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/archive/3250c94d987c5ebcf24a5bfcd3c7de5ec43e3e84.tar.gz | ||
| - name: Build | ||
| run: ./build.sh ${{ matrix.out_dir }} |
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I see you are not passing the --nix flag here. Is you idea to build the release binaries using nix?
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Problem
The current build scripts run as normal commands in CI machines, which means that certain shared libraries are linked into binaries. For the most part, this is fine, but some binaries, such as
solana-lldb, have a few extra shared libs:On my local machine, you'll see that a few of these libraries aren't found. This isn't a good experience for users.
Also, when packaging the platform tools for nix, we have to do a lot of extra patching:
https://github.com/arijoon/solana-nix/blob/65a7cc4a9fff662fc6077b8b49bca6d3c96883c8/solana-platform-tools.nix#L92
Summary of changes
Build rust and cargo using nix, which ensures static linking of executables. This mostly impacts llvm bins, and the size for all bins is roughly the same. Some are slightly bigger or smaller, within 1% of the size.
This will also make it much easier to package the bins in nix.