The original version of this document is online at the timesys website.

Introduction to cross-compiling for Linux

Or: Host, Target, Cross-Compilers, and All That

Host vs Target

A compiler is a program that turns source code into executable code. Like all programs, a compiler runs on a specific type of computer, and the new programs it outputs also run on a specific type of computer.[1]

The computer the compiler runs on is called the host, and the computer the new programs run on is called the target. When the host and target are the same type of machine, the compiler is a native compiler. When the host and target are different, the compiler is a cross compiler.[2]

Why cross-compile?

In theory, a PC user who wanted to build programs for some device could get the appropriate target hardware (or emulator), boot a Linux distro on that, and compile natively within that environment. While this is a valid approach (and possibly even a good idea when dealing with something like a Mac Mini), it has a few prominent downsides for things like a linksys router or iPod:

Why is cross-compiling hard?

Portable native compiling is hard.

Most programs are developed on x86 hardware, where they are compiled natively. This means cross-compiling runs into two types of problems: problems with the programs themselves and problems with the build system.

The first type of problem affects all non-x86 targets, both for native and for cross-builds. Most programs make assumptions about the type of machine they run on, which must match the platform in question or the program won't work. Common assumptions include:

Most packages aim to be portable when compiled natively, and will at least accept patches to fix any of the above problems (with the possible exception of NOMMU issues) submitted to the appropriate development mailing list.

And then there's cross-compiling.

In addition to the problems of native compiling, cross-compiling has its own set of issues:


Footnote 1: The most prominent difference between types of computers is what processor is executing the programs, but other differences include library ABIs (such as glibc vs uClibc), machines with configurable endianness (arm vs armeb), or different modes of machines that can run both 32 bit and 64 bit code (such as x86 on x86-64).

Footnote 2: When building compilers, there's a third type called a "canadian cross", which is a cross compiler that doesn't run on your host system. A canadian cross builds a compiler that runs on one target platform and produces code for another target machine. Such a foreign compiler can be built by first creating a temporary cross compiler from the host to the first target, and then using that to build another cross-compiler for the second target. The first cross-compiler's target becomes the host the new compiler runs on, and the second target is the platform the new compiler generates output for. This technique is often used to cross-compile a new native compiler for a target platform.

Footnote 3: Modern desktop systems are sufficiently fast that emulating a target and natively compiling under the emulator is actually a viable strategy. It's significantly slower than cross compiling, requires finding or generating a native build environment for the target (often meaning you have to set up a cross-compiler anyway), and can be tripped up by differences between the emulator and the real hardware to deploy on. But it's an option.

Footnote 4: This is why cross-compile toolchains tend to prefix the names of their utilities, ala "armv5l-linux-gcc". If that was simply called "gcc" then the host and native compiler couldn't be in the $PATH at the same time.