is it possible to cross compile linux binaries from os x?

or in other words, is there a tutorial on how to build such a toolchain?

what i tried:
ldc2 -of test -mtriple=i686-unknown-linux-gnu -relocation-model=pic test.d
ld: library not found for -lrt
clang: error: linker command failed with exit code 1 (use -v to see invocation)
Error: /usr/bin/gcc failed with status: 1

so i guess i need a directory with all my linux libraries and the correct parameters?!

On Tuesday, 29 March 2016 at 10:59:41 UTC, yawniek wrote:
> so i guess i need a directory with all my linux libraries and the correct parameters?!

I haven't tried it myself yet, but what you'd need to output an executable or a library directly are of couse the target (Linux) libraries and a compatible cross-linker.
That sounds like too much hassle for me, so I'd only output the object files (-c) for a cross-compile, and then copy them over to a Linux box/VM to perform the linking directly there on the target with its native toolchain.

On 2016-03-29 12:59, yawniek wrote:
> is it possible to cross compile linux binaries from os x?
>
> or in other words, is there a tutorial on how to build such a toolchain?
>
> what i tried:
> ldc2 -of test -mtriple=i686-unknown-linux-gnu -relocation-model=pic test.d
> ld: library not found for -lrt
> clang: error: linker command failed with exit code 1 (use -v to see
> invocation)
> Error: /usr/bin/gcc failed with status: 1
>
> so i guess i need a directory with all my linux libraries and the
> correct parameters?!

Yes. I tried using the ellcc cross compiler [1], which contains the linker and similar necessary tools for all targets it supports. Unfortunately I got errors of missing symbols related to backgrace:

undefined reference to `backtrace_symbols_fd'
undefined reference to `backtrace_symbols'

[1] http://ellcc.org

-- 
/Jacob Carlborg

On Tuesday, 29 March 2016 at 10:59:41 UTC, yawniek wrote:
> is it possible to cross compile linux binaries from os x?
>
> or in other words, is there a tutorial on how to build such a toolchain?
>
> what i tried:
> ldc2 -of test -mtriple=i686-unknown-linux-gnu -relocation-model=pic test.d
> ld: library not found for -lrt
> clang: error: linker command failed with exit code 1 (use -v to see invocation)
> Error: /usr/bin/gcc failed with status: 1
>
> so i guess i need a directory with all my linux libraries and the correct parameters?!

Hi yawniek!

A description how to cross-compile can be found here: http://forum.dlang.org/post/fhwvxatxezkafnalwhqr@forum.dlang.org. For sure to build a linux binary you need all the referenced libs.

I can't give you advice on how to build such an environment on OS X. Linux distributions usually provide some cross-compilers and libraries. Maybe you find a brew package.

Regards,
Kai

On Tuesday, 29 March 2016 at 10:59:41 UTC, yawniek wrote:
> is it possible to cross compile linux binaries from os x?

Yes and no, ldc is a very good cross-compiler and will work for that purpose most of the time: unfortunately it cannot link those binaries yet. ;)

> or in other words, is there a tutorial on how to build such a toolchain?

No, especially because it will vary widely depending on your target.

> what i tried:
> ldc2 -of test -mtriple=i686-unknown-linux-gnu -relocation-model=pic test.d
> ld: library not found for -lrt
> clang: error: linker command failed with exit code 1 (use -v to see invocation)
> Error: /usr/bin/gcc failed with status: 1
>
> so i guess i need a directory with all my linux libraries and the correct parameters?!

It may be that all you need is the right linux libraries to link against, ie that your linker could support the usual linux executable format of ELF-x86/x64 out of the box.  You can often get those libraries by downloading and unpacking the packages through which they're normally installed into your linux distro.

For an example of a cross-compiler toolchain that works well, you can look at the Android NDK, which has a download for the Mac too:

http://developer.android.com/ndk/downloads/index.html

By cloning the samples and running their build script in verbose mode (/path/to/ndk/ndk-build V=1), you can see exactly how they setup and use their toolchain and create something similar for yourself.

On Wednesday, 30 March 2016 at 09:57:54 UTC, Joakim wrote:
> On Tuesday, 29 March 2016 at 10:59:41 UTC, yawniek wrote:
>> [...]
>
> Yes and no, ldc is a very good cross-compiler and will work for that purpose most of the time: unfortunately it cannot link those binaries yet. ;)
>
> [...]

Btw, this would be very easy to do with the just announced "Windows Subsystem for Linux" on the next release of Windows 10: :D

http://blog.dustinkirkland.com/2016/03/ubuntu-on-windows.html

Perhaps you could ask Apple for something similar... ;)