N.B. If you're interested in building Midipix using this script, please join the project's IRC channel #midipix on Freenode and ask for the address of the internal repositories required in order to build Midipix.

Table of Contents

1. What is midipix, and how is it different?
2. Building, installing, and using a midipix distribution
   2.1. Build-time dependencies
   2.1.1. Alpine-specific notate bene
   2.2. Deployment
   2.3. System requirements
   2.4. Troubleshooting
3. Common tasks
   3.1. Fault-tolerant & highly optimised 3D laser show-equipped usage screen
   3.2. Adding a package
   3.3. Addressing build failure
   3.4. Patches and vars files
   3.5. pkgtool.sh
   3.5.1. -s: package build shell environment
4. Build variables
   4.1. Build steps
   4.2. Package variables
5. References

1. What is midipix, and how is it different?

midipix is a development environment that lets you create programs for Windows using the standard C and POSIX APIs. No compromises made, no shortcuts taken.

If you are interested in cross-platform programming that reclaims the notion of write once, compile everywhere; if you believe that the 'standard' in the C Standard Library should not be a null signifier; and if you like cooking your code without #ifdef hell and low-level minutiae, then this page is for you.

midipix makes cross-platform programming better, simpler and faster, specifically by bringing a modern, conforming C Runtime Library to the Windows platform. While the idea itself is not new, the approach taken in midipix to code portability is radically different from that found in other projects.

(reproduced from [2])

Back to top

2. Building, installing and using a midipix distribution

A Midipix distribution consists of the following: * the native Midipix toolchain, consisting of perk, gcc, its dependencies, and binutils, * musl, a lightweight, fast, simple, and free libc[1] used by Midipix, * the Midipix runtime components that bridge the gap between the libc and the executive subsystems of all Windows NT-derived Windows OS starting with and including Windows XP, and * a steadily increasing number of 3rd party open source packages, as expected in any modern POSIX-compliant *nix environment, including GNU coreutils, shells, libraries such as ncurses, libressl, as well as Perl and Python.

Install the build-time dependencies listed in section 2.1, clone this repository (e.g. git clone https://dev.midipix.org/build/midipix_build) and run the following command line:

./build.sh -a nt64 -b release -D zipdist -P -v

By default, the build will take place within ${HOME}/midipix/nt64/release and package archive files and/or Git repositores will be downloaded into ${HOME}/midipix/dlcache. Consult sections 3.1, 4, and 4.1 for the list of available build variables and how to override them.
Parallelisation is enabled by the above command line for both packages that can be built independently of each other and make(1) via -j, limited to the amount of logical processors on the build host divided by two (2).

Back to top

2.1. Build-time dependencies

• Alpine Linux: binutils bzip2 cmake coreutils curl findutils g++ gawk gcc git grep gzip libc-dev linux-headers lzip make musl-dev net-tools patch perl perl-xml-parser procps sed tar util-linux wget xz zip
• Debian/-derived Linux: binutils bzip2 clzip cmake coreutils curl findutils g++ gawk gcc git grep gzip hostname libc6-dev libxml-parser-perl lzma make patch perl procps sed tar util-linux wget xz-utils zip
• Gentoo Linux: binutils bzip2 cmake coreutils curl findutils gawk [gcc] dev-vcs/git grep gzip lzip make patch perl dev-perl/XML-Parser procps sed tar util-linux wget xz-utils zip
• OpenSUSE Linux: binutils bzip2 cmake coreutils curl findutils gawk gcc gcc-c++ git grep gzip hostname linux-glibc-devel lzip make patch perl perl-XML-Parser procps sed tar util-linux wget xz zip

N.B. Busybox is not supported. Awk implementations other than GNU Awk are not supported.

Back to top

2.1.1. Alpine-specific notate bene

Some packages (coreutils, grep, and tar, among others) override Alpine's BusyBox utilities of the same name, as the latter are either non-conformant or defective.

Back to top

2.2. Deployment

On successful completion of the build, a ZIP archive containing the Midipix distribution will be created inside ${PREFIX} (see section 4.) Create a directory on the target machine and extract the contents of the distribution ZIP archive into it, run bash.bat, and then /install.sh inside the resulting self-contained Midipix installation shell window.

N.B. The pathname of the target directory containing bash.bat and all other distribution files must not contain whitespaces.

N.B. The Midipix installer defaults to /dev/fs/c/midipix (C:\midipix). If left unchanged, the distribution ZIP archive must not be extracted into a directory of the same pathname.

N.B. The user installing and using Midipix must have been delegated the SeCreateSymbolicLinkPrivilege ("Create symbolic links") privilege[3] and additionally be a non-administrator account owing to the UAC-related filtering policy of tokens introduced by Windows Vista[4].

Back to top

2.3. System requirements

The following build-time system requirements are assessed on build hosts equipped with the following hardware at minimum: * Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU W3520 @ 2.67GHz (8 cores) * 7200 RPM SATA 3.1 HDD * 6 GB RAM

Package archive files and/or Git repositories additionally consume at least 1.82 GB.

(last update: Thu, 05 Mar 2020 09:25:41 +0000)

These are the Midipix distribution disk space system requirements:

The installation directory and archive file may be safely deleted post-installation.

(last update: Thu, 07 Jan 2021 18:20:06 +0000)

Back to top

2.4. Troubleshooting

Midipix presently provides, inter alia, strace-like functionality via ntctty's logging capabilities. This is available both through the regular strace(1) command as distributed, which however must be provided with an absolute pathname without consideration for ${PATH}, as well as directly via ntctty.exe for a session by running ntctty.exe with the --log-level 7 option, e.g.:

$ #strace ls -la /        # (incorrect, relative pathname)
$ strace /bin/ls -la /    # (correct, absolute pathname)
$ ntctty.exe --log-level 7 -e /bin/ls -la /
$ ntctty.exe --log-level=7 -e /bin/ls -la /
$ ntctty.exe --log-level 7 -e /bin/sh -c "ls -la /"
$ ntctty.exe --log-level=7 -e /bin/sh -c "ls -la /"

By default, ntctty.exe log files are written into the /var/log/ntctty directory; this may be adjusted with the --log-dir and/or --log-file options. strace(1) logs to stderr by default.

Back to top

3. Common tasks

Rebuild set of packages in isolation:

./build.sh [ ... ] -r mc,zsh

Rebuild set of packages along w/ their dependencies, if any, as needed, or forcibly, respectively:

./build.sh [ ... ] -r \*mc,zsh
./build.sh [ ... ] -r \*\*mc,zsh

Forcibly rebuild all reverse dependencies of a set of packages:

./build.sh [ ... ] -r \*\*\*glib,libflac

Restart the configure, build, and install steps of the coreutils package:

./build.sh -r coreutils:configure,build,install

Rebuild entire build groups including or excluding group dependencies, respectively:

./build.sh [ ... ] -r ALL native_runtime
./build.sh [ ... ] -r ALL =native_runtime

Back to top

3.1. Fault-tolerant & highly optimised 3D laser show-equipped usage screen

usage: ./build.sh [-a nt32|nt64]  [-b debug|release]   [-C dir[,..]]  [-D kind[,..]]
                  [-F ipv4|ipv6|offline]   [-h]   [-p jobs]     [-P]   [-r ALL|LAST]
                  [-r [*[*[*]]]name[,..][:step,..]] [-R] [-v[v[v[v]]]] [--as-needed]
                  [--debug-minipix] [--dump-on-abort] [--roar]
                  [[=]<group>|<variable name>=<variable override>[ ..]]

        -a nt32|nt64      Selects 32-bit or 64-bit architecture; defaults to nt64.
        -b debug|release  Selects debug or release build kind; defaults to debug.
        -C dir[,..]       Clean build directory (build,) ${PREFIX} before processing build
                          scripts (prefix,) source directory (src,) and/or destination
                          directory (dest) after successful package builds.
        -D kind[,..]      Produce minimal midipix distribution directory (minipix,) RPM
                          binary packages (rpm,) and/or deployable distribution ZIP
                          archive (zipdist.) zipdist implies minipix.
        -F ipv4|ipv6|offline
                          Force IPv4 (ipv4) or IPv6 (ipv6) when downloading package
                          archives and/or Git repositories or don't download either at all
                          (offline.)
        -h                Show this screen.
        -p jobs           Enables parallelisation at group-level, whenever applicable.
        -P                The maximum count of jobs defaults to the number of logical
                          processors on the host system divided by two (2.)

                          If -R is not specified and at least one (1) package fails to
                          build, all remaining package builds will be forcibly aborted.

        -r ALL|LAST       Restart all packages or the last failed package and resume
                          build, resp.
        -r [*[*[*]]]name[,..][:step,..]
                          Restart the specified comma-separated package(s) completely or
                          at optionally specified comma-separated list of build steps.

                          Prepend w/ `*' to automatically include dependencies, `**' to
                          forcibly rebuild all dependencies, and `***` to forcibly rebuild
                          all packages that depend on the specified package(s).

                          Currently defined build steps are:
                          fetch_wget, fetch_git, fetch_extract, configure_patch_pre,
                          configure_autotools, configure_patch, configure, build,
                          install_subdirs, install_make, install_files, install_libs,
                          install, and install_rpm.

        -R                Ignore build failures, skip printing package logs, and continue
                          building (relaxed mode.)
        -v[v[v[v]]]       Be verbose; -vv: always print package logs; -vvv: set xtrace
                          during package builds; -vvvv: logs fileops.
        --as-needed       Don't build unless the midipix_build repository has received
                          new commits.
        --debug-minipix   Don't strip(1) minipix binaries to facilitate debugging minipix.
        --dump-on-abort   Produce package environment dump files on build failure to be
                          used in conjuction with pkg_shell.sh script (excludes -R.)
        <group>[ ..]      One of: dev_packages, dist, host_deps, host_deps_rpm,
                          host_toolchain, host_tools, minipix, native_packages,
                          native_runtime, native_toolchain, native_tools.

                          Prepend w/ `=' to inhibit group-group dependency expansion.

        <variable name>=<variable override>[ ..]
                          Override build or package variable.

Back to top

3.2. Adding a package

Packages are grouped into build groups according to sets of common package variable defaults, such as ${PKG_CFLAGS_CONFIGURE}, ${PKG_LDFLAGS_CONFIGURE} and ${PKG_CONFIGURE_ARGS}, and semantic interrelatedness, such as the native_runtime build group comprising the Midipix runtime components. Packages may belong to more than one build group such as when subsumed by a shorthand build group e.g. the dev_packages build group, as long as the default set of build groups or as overriden on the command line does not entail group membership conflicts.

Build groups files beneath groups/ named [0-9][0-9][0-9].<group name>.group contain package variable defaults, the alphabetically sorted list of contained packages in <upper case group name>_PACKAGES, and their package variables sorted alphabetically with the exception of ${PKG_DEPENDS} (if present,) ${PKG_SHA256SUM}, ${PKG_URL}, and ${PKG_VERSION}, and/or ${PKG_URLS_GIT}, which are specified in this order.

Pick a build group according to the criteria mentioned, add the package to the build group's list of contained packages in its corresponding file, and add the set of package variables required (see above and section 4.2.)
Consult section 3.4 if the package to be added requires patches or additional code amending or replacing package build steps or the entire package build. Consult section 4.1 for a list of package build steps and how they are overriden.

Back to top

3.3. Addressing build failure

During package build, standard error and output are redirected into a log file beneath ${BUILD_WORKDIR} named ${PKG_NAME}_stderrout.log, following a package variable dump. If -vv was specified, package logs will additionally be printed to standard output. If -vvv was specified, xtrace will be set during package builds for rudimentary debugging purposes. Additionally, packages using GNU autotools will, if package configuration failed or appears relevant, log the configuration process in detail in, most usually, ${PKG_BUILD_DIR}/config.log.

If --dump-on-abort was specified, a subset of the variables set and environment variables exported will be written to ${BUILD_WORKDIR}/${PKG_NAME}.dump, which may subsequently be used in order to obtain a package build shell environment with the pkgtool.sh script (see sections 3.53.5.1.)

Back to top

3.4. Patches and vars files

Package patches are applied prior and/or subsequent to (GNU autotools or simular) package configuration during the configure_patch_pre and/or configure_patch build steps, respectively (see section 4.1.) Patch files are searched for beneath patches/ with the following globs and in-order: * ${PKG_NAME}-${PKG_VERSION}_pre.local.patch or ${PKG_NAME}_pre.local.patch (for packages lacking ${PKG_VERSION}) * ${PKG_NAME}-${PKG_VERSION}_pre.local@${BUILD_HNAME}.patch or ${PKG_NAME}_pre.local@${BUILD_HNAME}.patch (for packages lacking ${PKG_VERSION}) * ${PKG_NAME}/*.patch * ${PKG_NAME}-${PKG_VERSION}.local.patch or ${PKG_NAME}.local.patch (for packages lacking ${PKG_VERSION}) * ${PKG_NAME}-${PKG_VERSION}.local@${BUILD_HNAME}.patch or ${PKG_NAME}.local@${BUILD_HNAME}.patch (for packages lacking ${PKG_VERSION}) * ${PKG_PATCHES_EXTRA} (if set)

If the default set of package build steps does not suffice, such as if additional commands must be executed after package configuration or prior to building, or if an entire or all build step must be replaced, overrides may be specified in the form of functions in the package's vars/${PKG_NAME}.vars vars file. Consult section 4.1 for a list of package build steps and how they are overriden.

Back to top

3.5. pkgtool.sh

usage: ./pkgtool.sh [-a nt32|nt64] [-b debug|release] [-i|-m <dname> -M <dname>|-r|-s|-t] [-v]
                    [<variable name>=<variable override>[ ..]] name

        -a nt32|nt64          Selects 32-bit or 64-bit architecture; defaults to nt64.
        -b debug|release      Selects debug or release build kind; defaults to debug.
        -i                    List package variables and dependencies of single named package.
        -m <dname>            Setup package archives mirror in <dname> and/or
        -M <dname>            Setup Git repositories mirror in <dname>
        -r                    List reverse dependencies of single named package.
        -s                    Enter interactive package build shell environment for single
                              named package; requires a package dump file. If the package
                              has not been built yet or built successfully, it will be rebuilt
                              at build steps up until, by default, the `build' build step and
                              forcibly aborted and dumped prior to enterting the shell.
        -t                    Produce tarball of package build root directory and build log
                              file for the purpose of distribution given build failure.
        -v                    Increase verbosity.

        <variable name>=<variable override>[ ..]
                              Override build variable.

N.B. When using pkgtool.sh on a build w/ build variables (see section 4) overriden on the command line or via the environment, ensure that they are included in the pkgtool.sh command line, preceding the package name, or exported, respectively.

Back to top

3.5.1. -s: package build shell environment

When build.sh is executed with the --dump-on-abort option, a subset of the variables set and environment variables exported will be written to ${BUILD_WORKDIR}/${PKG_NAME}.dump on build failure, which may subsequently be used in order to obtain a package build shell environment with the pkgtool.sh script, e.g.:

midipix_build@sandbox:(src/midipix_build)> $ ./pkgtool.sh -a nt64 -b debug -s mc
==> 2020/03/11 15:46:28 Launching shell `/usr/bin/zsh' within package environment and `/home/midipix_build/midipix/nt64/debug/tmp'.
==> 2020/03/11 15:46:28 Run $R to rebuild `mc'.
==> 2020/03/11 15:46:28 Run $RS <step> to restart the specified build step of `mc'
==> 2020/03/11 15:46:28 Run $D to automatically regenerate the patch for `mc'.
midipix_build@sandbox:(mc-native-x86_64-nt64-midipix/obj)> $

If a package build shell environment is desired for a package that has either not been built at all or built successfully, pkgshell.sh will attempt to rebuild the package at build steps up until, by default, build, and then forcibly abort the build and write ${BUILD_WORKDIR}/${PKG_NAME}.dump as above prior to entering the shell.

Consult sections 3.2, 3.4, 4, 4.1, and 4.2 for further information concerning the package build process.

Back to top

4. Build variables

The following variables are primarily defined in midipix.env and may be overriden on a per-build basis on the command-line, the environment, and/or ${HOME}/midipix_build.vars, ${HOME}/.midipix_build.vars, and/or ../midipix_build.vars, e.g.:

./build.sh -a nt64 -b release -D minipix,zipdist -P -v PREFIX_ROOT="${HOME}/midipix_tmp"
env ARCH=nt64 BUILD_KIND=release PREFIX_ROOT="${HOME}/midipix_tmp" ./build.sh -D minipix,zipdist -P -v

Back to top

4.1. Build steps

Package builds are divided up into consecutively executed build steps until completion or aborted on failure unless relaxed mode is enabled by passing -R.

Each build step corresponds to a function in the corresponding subr/pkg_*.subr script and may be overriden entirely by a function named pkg_<package name>_<build step>() or composed in terms of prior and/or subsequent execution by a function named pkg_<package name>_<build step>_pre() and/or pkg_<package name>_<build step>_post(), respectively, in the package's vars file. If a function named pkg_<package name>_all() exists, it will override all build steps.

Build step status is tracked on a per-package basis by state files beneath ${BUILD_WORKDIR} following the format .<package name>.<build step>; package build completion corresponds to the pseudo-build step finish.

Back to top

4.2. Package variables

The following variables are package-specific and receive their value from either top-level defaults defined in midipix.env, build group-specific defaults from the build group the package pertains to and defined in its corresponding file beneath groups/, or package-specific overrides defined either in the latter and/or in its corresponding file beneath vars/, with one of the following prefixes:

Additionally, overrides may be specified on a per-build basis on the command- line, with each variable prefixed w/ PKG_, e.g.: ./build.sh [ ... ] PKG_ZSH_CC="/usr/bin/clang".

The minimum set of package variables that must be provided is SHA256SUM, URL, VERSION and/or URLS_GIT, respectively.

Back to top

5. References

• Sun, 25 Apr 2016 09:04:08 +0000 [1] musl FAQ
• Wed, 04 Mar 2020 13:36:19 +0000 [2] midipix - what is midipix, and how is it different?
• Wed, 29 Apr 2020 23:33:34 +0100 [3] User Rights Assignment (Windows 10) - Windows security | Microsoft Docs
• Wed, 29 Apr 2020 23:33:50 +0100 [4] Windows Vista Application Development Requirements for User Account Control Compatibility | Microsoft Docs

Back to top