junland/strapy

bootstrap-scripts

This is our work-in-progress repository for bootstrapping the initial Serpent OS images, which we then use to produce the first self hosting repositories. As explained publicly, our timescale means that proper development isn't yet at full cadence.

Eventually we're looking at simple, configurable shell scripts to automatically build stage1 + stage2 + stage3 toolchains, and a corresponding chrootable image which we'll use as a simple base to flesh out basic requirements, package management, etc.

When package management features are complete, including build tools, one will need to use a bootstrap image to complete a full bootstrap for a self hosting image.

We plan to make these scripts flexible enough to handle a variety of hardware configurations, although for initial simplicty (and lack of appropriate hardware) we'll just focus on x86_64 hardware.

Requirements

glibc-2.33
Host zlib
Working host toolchain (gccor clang)
curl binary in path
non-stupid tar
bash - Yes, these are bash scripts.

stage1

Build a minimal cross-compiler for the target, with supporting C/C++ runtime libraries.

stage2

Use stage1 to cross-compile essentials for a working chroot, and freshly cross-compiled 'native' clang

stage3

Reuse stage1 to build glibc + headers. Reuse stage2 at /strapy in a chroot to build a clean stage3 install.

Multiarch testing

It is advised you install the correct qemu-user-static within your path so that the cross-compilation stages can make use of it.

For example, fetch x86_64_qemu-aarch64-static.tar.gz from the multiarch project, to be able to chroot into an AArch64 environment from an x86_64 host.

Extract the archive, and install qemu-aarch64-static to /usr/bin or similar.

You'll need to ensure binfmt_misc is configured appropriately, for example, as root:

echo ':aarch64:M::\x7fELF\x02\x01\x01\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x02\x00\xb7:\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xfe\xff\xff:/usr/bin/qemu-aarch64-static:' > /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc/register

Bootstrap build instructions

Build Requirements

Check that your distro uses glibc-2.33 as this is required for a successful bootstrap.

Arch

sudo pacman -Syu base-devel
sudo pacman -Syu cmake ldc meson ninja texinfo

Fedora

sudo dnf group install 'Development Tools'
sudo dnf install automake bison cmake gettext-devel ldc meson ninja-build texinfo

Build the bootstrap stages

Clone the bootstrap-scripts somewhere appropriate, then

cd bootstrap-scripts/
time stage1/stage1.sh > stage1.log 2>&1
time stage2/stage2.sh > stage2.log 2>&1
time sudo stage3/stage3.sh > stage3.log 2>&1

Rebuilding a bootstrap stage

If you need to rebuild a stage, do a sudo rm -rf install/<arch>/<libc>/<stage> first.

Tips and Tricks for watching the bootstrap builds

During the build, you can use either tail -f <stage>.log or less -R <stage>.log in a different terminal.

When using less, press F to follow the build status in real-time.

Press <CTRL+C> to quit follow mode and press ´q´ to quit less.

Chroot-ing into the freshly built stage3/4

sudo stage4/chroot.sh

junland / strapy