various: add iOS and iOS simulator cross-compilation by insipx · Pull Request #512100 · NixOS/nixpkgs

insipx · 2026-04-21T14:27:21Z

Things done

this is my attempt at iOS cross compilation for nixpkgs. this PR contains some ios-specific changes for packages outside of apple-sdk/compiler-rt as well, since they were required for compiling iOS static/dylib for the project I was testing this with. Happy to split those into separate PRs based on preferences of maintainers here, or if it means getting individual changes in faster.

With this stack i was able to cross compile from aarch64-darwin to x86_64-darwin, iphone64 and iphone64 simulator targets. it bumps gnu-config to a revision which includes ios*-simulator support to make handling -simulator targets more idiomatic

resolves #171537 #361934

reckenrode · 2026-04-21T19:07:54Z

If #511070 is merged, will not using the Apple libiconv on iOS be a problem?

AFAIU propagate-common-inputs is using the libiconv built with nix, its the inputs in propagate-inputs that don't work with iOS cross compilation yet (although i'm making good progress getting those working as well).

But, i've tried w/ and w/o libiconv in propagate, and they both work, so i don't see an issue with 511070 either way

I also may misunderstand your question here tho, (or misunderstand the libiconv situation in nixpkgs) so happy to test against realLibiconv pr to verify

#511070 got dropped. We’re sticking with Apple’s libiconv implementation for now, which should have a fine license.

insipx · 2026-04-24T13:48:47Z

will send an upstream gnulib patch to upstream this if possible, seems like a no-brainer

insipx · 2026-04-24T13:51:13Z

-    useiOSPrebuilt = true;
+    darwinSdkVersion = "14";
+    darwinMinVersion = "14";
+    xcodeVer = "12";


unsure if we want to bump this. I tested this stack against xcode 26.3 (that's the one I had installed) and in practice i'm unsure of anyone who wouldn't be on a later xcode version

insipx · 2026-06-11T15:50:52Z

just as an update, I updated this PR to the latest staging and am preparing to integrate it (as an additional patch to unstable nixpkgs) into libxmtp iOS dylib/static lib library release flow, so i'll be testing it with a real world app pipeline

Upstream 484648c adds the *-apple-ios-simulator triple, needed by autotools packages (libiconv, pcre2, gnugrep, sqlcipher).

New simulator ABI with isiOSSimulator predicate; darwinPlatform, xcodePlatform, and rust target inference; refreshed iphone64 examples.

Extract the iOS SDK from a host Xcode (fetch-ios-sdk.nix), pick the platform from hostPlatform.xcodePlatform, propagate common inputs on iOS.

iOS defines VOL_CAP_FMT_DECMPFS_COMPRESSION but lacks decmpfs.h transitive headers; hoist <TargetConditionals.h> above the guard.

Static-only (configure rejects *-apple-ios shared), --with-ospeed=int to skip the macOS-only <sys/ttydev.h>, no progs/tests (system(3) unavailable).

wipefs/tzbootuuid/tzlink need <sys/disk.h>, <tzfile.h>, or XPC marked unavailable on iOS; gate on cc.has_header.

Enable COMPILER_RT_ENABLE_IOS without sanitizers; key the DARWIN_* ARCHS/SYSROOT cmake flags on xcodePlatform (simulator uses iossim).

Substitute @xcodePlatform@ so SDKROOT resolves the right platform SDK instead of hardcoded MacOSX; export the deployment-target variable.

Pass xcodePlatform and the apple-sdk fallback to the wrapper; export IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET for tools invoking the compiler directly.

getentropy is private API on iOS (App Store rejection); strchrnul needs iOS 18.4+ and only trips -Wunguarded-availability-new.

iOS forbids writable+executable pages (W^X).

gnulib stackvma.c macOS arm includes them unused since 2003; iOS does not ship them. Two-line deletion, no-op on macOS.

Refresh autosetup config.{sub,guess}, stub system(3) call sites, drop readline/TCL for cross builds, fix .so vs .dylib install names.

configure rejects shared libs on *-apple-ios; build static-only.

Resolve xcode via targetPackages xcodeVer, fix splices, bake the deployment target into the clang triple, force wrapped ld via -fuse-ld.

iosSdkPkgs.clang wires the SDK itself; propagating apple-sdk would drag in the full source-built Darwin bootstrap.

insipx force-pushed the insipx/ios-build branch 4 times, most recently from af88c1b to 586e55b Compare April 21, 2026 14:47

insipx changed the base branch from master to staging April 21, 2026 14:53

nixpkgs-ci Bot closed this Apr 21, 2026

nixpkgs-ci Bot reopened this Apr 21, 2026

insipx force-pushed the insipx/ios-build branch from 586e55b to a7ae3dc Compare April 21, 2026 14:57

github-project-automation Bot added this to Nixpkgs Lib Apr 21, 2026

ofborg Bot added the 6.topic: cross-compilation Building packages on a different platform than they will be used on label Apr 21, 2026

reckenrode reviewed Apr 21, 2026

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Comment thread pkgs/by-name/ap/apple-sdk/common/fetch-ios-sdk.nix

reckenrode reviewed Apr 21, 2026

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insipx force-pushed the insipx/ios-build branch 2 times, most recently from 0f4875c to 833fdd6 Compare April 24, 2026 13:44

insipx commented Apr 24, 2026

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insipx force-pushed the insipx/ios-build branch from 833fdd6 to f4c2c80 Compare April 24, 2026 13:50

insipx commented Apr 24, 2026

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insipx marked this pull request as ready for review April 24, 2026 13:52

nixpkgs-ci Bot added the 2.status: merge conflict This PR has merge conflicts with the target branch label Apr 24, 2026

insipx force-pushed the insipx/ios-build branch from f4c2c80 to ad64a01 Compare April 24, 2026 14:02

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github-project-automation Bot moved this to In progress in Nixpkgs Lib Apr 24, 2026

insipx force-pushed the insipx/ios-build branch 2 times, most recently from ed5b936 to 298f7fe Compare June 10, 2026 18:55

claude Bot mentioned this pull request Jun 10, 2026

nix-native ios cross compile xmtp/libxmtp#3759

Draft

insipx added 16 commits July 2, 2026 10:30

gnu-config: bump to 2025-07-09 (a2287c3)

7cdb6b2

Upstream 484648c adds the *-apple-ios-simulator triple, needed by autotools packages (libiconv, pcre2, gnugrep, sqlcipher).

lib/systems: add aarch64-apple-ios-simulator

9287603

New simulator ABI with isiOSSimulator predicate; darwinPlatform, xcodePlatform, and rust target inference; refreshed iphone64 examples.

apple-sdk: iOS cross-compilation support

d7d974a

Extract the iOS SDK from a host Xcode (fetch-ios-sdk.nix), pick the platform from hostPlatform.xcodePlatform, propagate common inputs on iOS.

copyfile: skip DECMPFS on iOS

21a3f0c

iOS defines VOL_CAP_FMT_DECMPFS_COMPRESSION but lacks decmpfs.h transitive headers; hoist <TargetConditionals.h> above the guard.

ncurses: cross-compilation fixes for iOS

19ba93a

Static-only (configure rejects *-apple-ios shared), --with-ospeed=int to skip the macOS-only <sys/ttydev.h>, no progs/tests (system(3) unavailable).

libutil: gate macOS-only sources for iOS cross

a120e45

wipefs/tzbootuuid/tzlink need <sys/disk.h>, <tzfile.h>, or XPC marked unavailable on iOS; gate on cc.has_header.

compiler-rt: iOS + iOS Simulator support

0e8832f

Enable COMPILER_RT_ENABLE_IOS without sanitizers; key the DARWIN_* ARCHS/SYSROOT cmake flags on xcodePlatform (simulator uses iossim).

darwin-sdk-setup, bintools-wrapper: iOS platform handling

2612e16

Substitute @xcodePlatform@ so SDKROOT resolves the right platform SDK instead of hardcoded MacOSX; export the deployment-target variable.

cc-wrapper: iOS platform + deployment target

4db23c1

Pass xcodePlatform and the apple-sdk fallback to the wrapper; export IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET for tools invoking the compiler directly.

bash: disable getentropy + strchrnul for iOS

6b4877b

getentropy is private API on iOS (App Store rejection); strchrnul needs iOS 18.4+ and only trips -Wunguarded-availability-new.

pcre2: disable JIT for iOS

87f9575

iOS forbids writable+executable pages (W^X).

gnugrep: drop dead <libc.h>/<nlist.h> includes on iOS

a7be0f7

gnulib stackvma.c macOS arm includes them unused since 2003; iOS does not ship them. Two-line deletion, no-op on macOS.

sqlcipher: iOS cross-compilation support

62cfa03

Refresh autosetup config.{sub,guess}, stub system(3) call sites, drop readline/TCL for cross builds, fix .so vs .dylib install names.

readline: cross-compilation fixes for iOS

f663e78

configure rejects shared libs on *-apple-ios; build static-only.

iosSdkPkgs: make useiOSPrebuilt work against host Xcode

9fe2b65

Resolve xcode via targetPackages xcodeVer, fix splices, bake the deployment target into the clang triple, force wrapped ld via -fuse-ld.

stdenv/cross: skip apple-sdk propagation for useiOSPrebuilt

e550a4f

iosSdkPkgs.clang wires the SDK itself; propagating apple-sdk would drag in the full source-built Darwin bootstrap.

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various: add iOS and iOS simulator cross-compilation#512100

various: add iOS and iOS simulator cross-compilation#512100
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insipx commented Apr 21, 2026 •

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