mxebzl

MXE cross compiler configuration for Bazel

Adding the MXE compilers to your WORKSPACE

In your WORKSPACE file, reference this repository. Then load and create the compilers repository and specify your dependencies.

git_repository(
    name = "mxebzl",
    remote = "https://github.com/cfrantz/mxebzl.git",
    tag = "20181103_RC02",  # Adjust as needed
)

load("@mxebzl//tools:repository.bzl", "mxe_compilers")
mxe_compilers(
    deps = [
        "compiler",
        # "SDL2",
        # "sqlite",
        # etc...
    ],
)

When you build your project, tell bazel about the configuration and cpu architecture:

$ bazel build \
    --crosstool_top=@mxebzl//tools/windows:toolchain
    --cpu=win64 # or win32
    :hello_world

Addons

MXE has many useful libraries, but occasionally there will be something you want to add on which is not part of the MXE distribution, such as the python interpreter. Package the header and library resources similarly to MXE, put the .tar.xz archive into the addons directory, and then reference your package in the deps section of your mxe_compilers rule.

If your addon requires additional runtime components, you can add them to the runtimes directory.

Packaging your executable

You can also use the pkg_winzip rule to create a zip archive with your executable, required DLLs and any other specified resources.

In your BUILD file:

package(default_visibility = ['//visibility:public'])
load("@mxebzl//tools/windows:rules.bzl", "pkg_winzip")

cc_binary(
    name = 'hello',
    srcs = ['hello.c'],
)

pkg_winzip(
    name = "hello-windows",
    files = [
        ":hello",
        # maybe some other non-exe resources, like a 'content' directory.
    ],
    skip_dlls = [
        # Any system DLLs the dependency analyzer says you need but you
        # aren't shipping with your package.
        # "winmm.dll",
        # etc...
    ],
    zips = [
        # Any additional content you want to combine into your package
        # (e.g. "@mxebzl//runtime/python37")
    ],
    out = "whatever.zip", # Optional: defaults to ${name}.zip
)

As when building the binary, you also need to tell bazel about the configuration when you build the package archive:

$ bazel build \
    --crosstool_top=@mxebzl//tools/windows:toolchain
    --cpu=win64 # or win32
    :hello-windows

After the build finishes, there will be a hello-windows.zip in the bazel-bin directory.