Poudriere can perform cross-compilation, that is, build targets for a different architecture. This article uses the example of an amd64 host cross-compiling for ARMv6, targeting a Raspberry Pi 2.
First download a usable RPI2 image from the FreeBSD mirror and decompress it:
fetch http://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/releases/ISO-IMAGES/11.0/FreeBSD-11.0-RELEASE-arm-armv6-RPI2.img.xz
unxz FreeBSD-11.0-RELEASE-arm-armv6-RPI2.img.xz
Then expose it on the filesystem using mdconfig:
mdconfig -a -t vnode -f FreeBSD-11.0-RELEASE-arm-armv6-RPI2.img
mount /dev/md0s2a /mnt
Now remove the firstboot flag (useless here, since we’ll be in a build jail) and create the directory /usr/local/bin for poudriere:
rm /mnt/firstboot
mkdir -p /mnt/usr/local/bin
The image is ready, let’s create the archive for poudriere:
tar -cpf /tmp/FreeBSD-11.0-RELEASE-arm-armv6-RPI2.tar .
We can now create the jail:
poudriere jail -c -j 11-arm6 -m tar=/tmp/FreeBSD-11.0-RELEASE-arm-armv6-RPI2.tar -a arm.armv6 -v 11.0-RELEASE
First we need qemu-user-static to do the cross-compilation. It has two advantages:
pkg install qemu-user-static
Now add the ARM emulator to the interpreters that poudriere can use:
binmiscctl add armv6 --interpreter "/usr/local/bin/qemu-arm-static"
--magic
"\x7f\x45\x4c\x46\x01\x01\x01\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x02\x00\x28\x00"
--mask
"\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\x00\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xfe\xff\xff\xff"
--size 20 --set-enabled
The environment is ready — all that’s left is to launch a build, for example of zsh:
poudriere bulk -j 11-arm6 -p default shells/zsh
[00:00:00] ====>> Cross-building ports for arm.armv6 on amd64 requires QEMU
[00:00:00] ====>> Creating the reference jail... done
[00:00:00] ====>> Mounting system devices for 11-arm6-default
[00:00:00] ====>> Mounting ports/packages/distfiles
[00:00:00] ====>> Using packages from previously failed build
[00:00:00] ====>> Mounting packages from: /usr/local/poudriere/data/packages/11-arm6-default
[00:00:00] ====>> Copying /var/db/ports from: /usr/local/etc/poudriere.d/11-arm6-options
[00:00:00] ====>> Raising MAX_EXECUTION_TIME and NOHANG_TIME for QEMU
[00:00:00] ====>> Copying latest version of the emulator from: /usr/local/bin/qemu-arm-static
/etc/resolv.conf -> /usr/local/poudriere/data/.m/11-arm6-default/ref/etc/resolv.conf
[00:00:00] ====>> Starting jail 11-arm6-default
[00:00:01] ====>> Logs: /usr/local/poudriere/data/logs/bulk/11-arm6-default/2017-01-13_22h51m51s
[00:00:01] ====>> Loading MOVED
[00:00:02] ====>> Calculating ports order and dependencies
[00:00:32] ====>> Sanity checking the repository
[00:00:32] ====>> Checking packages for incremental rebuild needed
[00:00:32] ====>> Deleting stale symlinks
[00:00:32] ====>> Deleting empty directories
[00:00:32] ====>> Cleaning the build queue
[00:00:33] ====>> Recording filesystem state for prepkg... done
[00:00:33] ====>> Building 36 packages using 2 builders
[00:00:33] ====>> Starting/Cloning builders
[00:00:35] ====>> Hit CTRL+t at any time to see build progress and stats
[00:00:35] ====>> [01][00:00:00] Starting build of ports-mgmt/pkg
Your cross-compilation jail is now operational. You can compile on a real CPU and stop waiting days for your Raspberry Pi to build X11.