buildroot/docs/manual/adding-packages-cargo.txt

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=== Integration of Cargo-based packages

Cargo is the package manager for the Rust programming language. It allows the
user to build programs or libraries written in Rust, but it also downloads and
manages their dependencies, to ensure repeatable builds. Cargo packages are
called "crates".

[[cargo-package-tutorial]]

==== Cargo-based package's +Config.in+ file

The +Config.in+ file of Cargo-based package 'foo' should contain:

---------------------------
01: config BR2_PACKAGE_FOO
02: 	bool "foo"
03: 	depends on BR2_PACKAGE_HOST_RUSTC_ARCH_SUPPORTS
04: 	select BR2_PACKAGE_HOST_CARGO
05: 	help
06: 	  This is a comment that explains what foo is.
07:
08: 	  http://foosoftware.org/foo/
---------------------------

==== Cargo-based package's +.mk+ file

Buildroot does not (yet) provide a dedicated package infrastructure for
Cargo-based packages. So, we will explain how to write a +.mk+ file for such a
package. Let's start with an example:

------------------------------
01: ################################################################################
02: #
03: # foo
04: #
05: ################################################################################
06:
07: FOO_VERSION = 1.0
08: FOO_SOURCE = foo-$(FOO_VERSION).tar.gz
09: FOO_SITE = http://www.foosoftware.org/download
10: FOO_LICENSE = GPL-3.0+
11: FOO_LICENSE_FILES = COPYING
12:
13: FOO_DEPENDENCIES = host-cargo
14:
15: FOO_CARGO_ENV = CARGO_HOME=$(HOST_DIR)/share/cargo
16: FOO_CARGO_MODE = $(if $(BR2_ENABLE_DEBUG),debug,release)
17:
18: FOO_BIN_DIR = target/$(RUSTC_TARGET_NAME)/$(FOO_CARGO_MODE)
19:
20: FOO_CARGO_OPTS = \
21:   --$(FOO_CARGO_MODE) \
22: 	--target=$(RUSTC_TARGET_NAME) \
23: 	--manifest-path=$(@D)/Cargo.toml
24:
25: define FOO_BUILD_CMDS
26: 	$(TARGET_MAKE_ENV) $(FOO_CARGO_ENV) \
27: 		cargo build $(FOO_CARGO_OPTS)
28: endef
29:
30: define FOO_INSTALL_TARGET_CMDS
31: 	$(INSTALL) -D -m 0755 $(@D)/$(FOO_BIN_DIR)/foo \
32: 		$(TARGET_DIR)/usr/bin/foo
33: endef
34:
35: $(eval $(generic-package))
--------------------------------

The Makefile starts with the definition of the standard variables for package
declaration (lines 7 to 11).

As seen in line 35, it is based on the
xref:generic-package-tutorial[+generic-package+ infrastructure]. So, it defines
the variables required by this particular infrastructure, where Cargo is
invoked:

* +FOO_BUILD_CMDS+: Cargo is invoked to perform the build. The options required
  to configure the cross-compilation of the package are passed via
  +FOO_CONF_OPTS+.

* +FOO_INSTALL_TARGET_CMDS+: The binary executable generated is installed on
  the target.

In order to have Cargo available for the build, +FOO_DEPENDENCIES+ needs to
contain +host-cargo+.

To sum it up, to add a new Cargo-based package, the Makefile example can be
copied verbatim then edited to replace all occurences of +FOO+ with the
uppercase name of the new package and update the values of the standard
variables.

==== About Dependencies Management

A crate can depend on other libraries from crates.io or git repositories, listed
in its Cargo.toml file. Before starting a build, Cargo usually downloads
automatically them. This step can also be performed independently, via the
+cargo fetch+ command.

Cargo maintains a local cache of the registry index and of git checkouts of the
crates, whose location is given by +$CARGO_HOME+. As seen in the package
Makefile example at line 15, this environment variable is set to
+$(HOST_DIR)/share/cargo+.

This dependency download mechanism is not convenient when performing an offline
build, as Cargo will fail to fetch the dependencies. In that case, it is advised
to generate a tarball of the dependencies using the +cargo vendor+ and add it to
+FOO_EXTRA_DOWNLOADS+.