cross-compile-tool 0.1.2

A generic fast cross-compilation tool using Docker and Sysroots

cross-compile-tool

A blazing fast, generic cross-compilation utility for C++ and ROS 2. It uses Docker to generate an ARM64 sysroot and standard native tools (GCC/Ninja) for compilation.

Prerequisites

• Docker: For building the sysroot & dev environments.
• Cross Compiler: sudo apt install g++-aarch64-linux-gnu (Only required for Host builds).

Installation

# Recommended: Install in a virtual environment
pip install .

Usage

The tool uses subcommands: build, sysroot, build-dev, and run-dev.

1. Build (The Daily Driver)

Compiles your code. It automatically builds the sysroot if it's missing.

# Basic usage (compiles current directory)
cross-compile-tool build

# ROS 2 Specific: Build only selected packages
cross-compile-tool build --packages-select my_pkg1 my_pkg2

Common Options:

• --packages-select: Build specific packages only (colcon only).
• --packages-up-to: Build specified packages and their dependencies (colcon only).
• --packages-ignore: Skip specific packages during the build.
• --clean: Wipe build directory before compiling.
• --build-tool [colcon|cmake]: Force a specific tool (default: auto).

2. Dev Environment (Docker)

If you don't want to install cross-compilers on your host, or want a reproducible CI environment:

Step 1: Build the environment

# Uses default tag: cross-compile-dev
cross-compile-tool build-dev

Step 2: Enter the environment

# Automatically handles volume mounts
cross-compile-tool run-dev

Inside the container, you are at /ws and can run cross-compile-tool build immediately.

3. Sysroot (Environment Management)

Explicitly manage the Docker-based sysroot. Note: Sysroot generation must be performed on the Host system.

Common Commands (Run on Host):

# Rebuild the sysroot (forced sync from Docker)
cross-compile-tool sysroot --rebuild

# Build sysroot using a specific packages file
cross-compile-tool sysroot --packages-file my_deps.txt

# Specify a different base image (e.g., for a different ROS distro)
cross-compile-tool sysroot --rebuild --base-image ros:humble-ros-base

Features:

• Environment Awareness: The tool identifies if it's running on Host or in Docker and prevents invalid operations (like generating sysroots inside the container).
• Staleness Check: Tracks dependencies using hashes and warns you if your sysroot needs an update.
• Optional Python: Automatically detects and configures Python headers/libraries in the sysroot.

Configuration

Create an apt_packages.txt in your project root to specify dependencies:

libfmt-dev
ros-humble-ros-base
python3-numpy