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https://github.com/kaushalmodi/hello_musl

NimScript (config.nims) for building a static binary using Nim + musl + pcre + libressl/openssl
https://github.com/kaushalmodi/hello_musl

binary libressl musl nim nimscript openssl pcre ssl static

Last synced: 10 days ago
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NimScript (config.nims) for building a static binary using Nim + musl + pcre + libressl/openssl

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README 

        
#+title: Nim + musl + pcre + libressl/openssl

#+author: Kaushal Modi



[[https://travis-ci.org/kaushalmodi/hello_musl][https://travis-ci.org/kaushalmodi/hello_musl.svg?branch=master]]



This repo contains a generic [[https://github.com/kaushalmodi/hello_musl/blob/master/config.nims][~config.nims~]] that adds a Nim

"sub-command" or task named *musl*. You can simply add that file to

your Nim project, and run ~nim musl foo.nim~ with optional ~-d:pcre~

and/or ~-d:libressl~ / ~-d:openssl~ switches (assuming that the below

prerequisites are met).



* Prerequisites

- OS: One of Linux x86 (32/64), ARM (32/64), MIPS (32/64), PowerPC

  (32/64), S390X, SuperH, Microblaze, OpenRISC ([[https://www.musl-libc.org/intro.html][ref]])

- Nim: [[https://nim-lang.org/]] (built from [[https://github.com/nim-lang/Nim/tree/devel][*devel*]] branch as of <2018-09-13 Thu>)

- *musl* library: [[https://www.musl-libc.org/download.html]]

- ~curl~ and GNU ~tar~ are needed on the system for the ~-d:pcre~ /

  ~-d:libressl~ / ~-d:openssl~ switches to work.

** Optional

These optional command-line utilities for binary size optimization

will be run automatically one by one, if present.

- ~strip~ (from ~binutils~): [[https://sourceware.org/binutils/docs/binutils/strip.html]]

- ~upx~: [[https://github.com/upx/upx]]

* Generating static binary

** For this example ~hello_musl~ project

1. ~git clone https://github.com/kaushalmodi/hello_musl~

2. ~cd hello_musl~

3. Run ~nim musl [-d:pcre] [-d:libressl|-d:openssl] .nim~

** Static links with just ~musl~ lib

#+begin_example

nim musl src/hello_musl.nim

#+end_example



That will generate ~hello_musl~ binary in ~src/~ directory.

- ~file ./src/hello_musl~ will print:

  #+begin_example

  src/hello_musl: ELF 64-bit LSB executable, x86-64, version 1 (SYSV), statically linked, stripped

  #+end_example

- ~./src/hello_musl~ will print:

  #+begin_example

  Hello, World!

  #+end_example

** Static linking with ~musl~ + ~pcre~ libs

#+begin_example

nim musl -d:pcre src/hello_musl_pcre.nim

#+end_example



That will generate ~hello_musl_pcre~ binary in ~src/~ directory.

- ~file ./src/hello_musl_pcre~ will print:

  #+begin_example

  src/hello_musl_pcre: ELF 64-bit LSB executable, x86-64, version 1 (SYSV), statically linked, stripped

  #+end_example

- ~./src/hello_musl_pcre~ will print:

  #+begin_example

  Hello, World!

  Bye, World!

  #+end_example

** Static linking with ~musl~ + ~libressl~ libs

#+begin_example

nim musl -d:libressl src/hello_musl_ssl.nim

#+end_example



That will generate ~hello_musl_ssl~ binary in ~src/~ directory.

- ~file ./src/hello_musl_ssl~ will print:

  #+begin_example

  src/hello_musl_ssl: ELF 64-bit LSB executable, x86-64, version 1 (SYSV), statically linked, stripped

  #+end_example

- ~./src/hello_musl_ssl~ will print:

  #+begin_example

  {"name":"Kaushal Modi","type":"card","url":"https://scripter.co/"}

  {

    "name": "Kaushal Modi",

    "type": "card",

    "url": "https://scripter.co/"

  }

  "Kaushal Modi"

  #+end_example



- Note :: Binary built using ~-d:libressl~ on RHEL 6.8 is known to

          crash with just a "Killed" message. But the same, when built

          on Travis, run fine on RHEL 6.8 (mystery). So a RHEL 6.8

          user may look at the slightly less secure option of building

          using with ~-d:openssl~ switch instead.

** Static linking with ~musl~ + ~openssl~ libs

#+begin_example

nim musl -d:openssl src/hello_musl_ssl.nim

#+end_example



That will generate ~hello_musl_ssl~ binary in ~src/~ directory, and

the outputs would be same as those you see for the ~-d:libressl~

switch.

*** Note about compiling with statically linked OpenSSL (~-d:openssl~)

When building with ~-d:openssl~, a statically linked version of

OpenSSL library is *first* built with the ~-DOPENSSL_NO_SECURE_MEMORY~

Configure option, because of an [[https://github.com/openssl/openssl/issues/7207#issuecomment-420814524][issue with it getting built using

MUSL]].



*This security laxing switch is not added if LibreSSL is used instead

 (~-d:libressl~)*

** For your Nim project

- Copy the [[https://github.com/kaushalmodi/hello_musl/blob/master/config.nims][~config.nims~]] to your Nim project.

- While being the same directory as ~config.nims~, do:

  #+begin_example

  nim musl              # without static pcre lib linking

  nim musl -d:pcre      # *with* static pcre lib linking

  nim musl -d:libressl  # *with* static libressl lib linking

  nim musl -d:openssl   # *with* static openssl lib linking (less secure)

  #+end_example

* References

- [[https://github.com/nim-lang/Nim/wiki/Using-nimscript-for-configuration]]

- [[https://nim-lang.org/docs/nims.html]]

  - [[https://nim-lang.org/docs/nimscript.html]]

- [[https://hookrace.net/blog/nim-binary-size/#using-the-c-standard-library]]

- [[https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/2wk7q6/static_linking_with_nim/corwtl7/]]

* TODO Todo-List

- [ ] Figure out how to have ~nimble install~ install the binary

  generated by ~nim musl~.

- [X] Don't hard-code the ~muslGcc~ const in ~config.nims~

- [X] Not require ~hello_musl.nimble~

  - Currently that is needed just to add the ~-d:musl~ and

    ~-d:release~ switches, and then to auto-run ~strip -s~.

  - So to remove dependency on this file, I need to figure out how to

    get the current /foo.nim/ file name from within the ~config.nims~.

  - Eventual goal is to reuse the same ~config.nims~ for all

    projects. So I cannot hardcode the ~pkgName~ as I do in

    ~hello_musl.nimble~.