To build for a target architecture different than the host (e.g. using x64 to build for ARM), you'll need to do the following, in addition to the setup under How to Contribute:
One-Time Setup
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Install build toolchain and chroot/rootfs prerequisites:
sudo apt-get install qemu qemu-user-static debootstrap gcc-arm-linux-gnueabihf g++-arm-linux-gnueabihf
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Create a chroot/rootfs for the target architecture:
sudo qemu-debootstrap --arch=armhf --variant=minbase xenial rootfs
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Install libx11-dev on the chroot/rootfs:
sudo chroot rootfs apt-get install -y libx11-dev
Build
Because cross-compiling isn't officially supported by the Visual Studio Code team, some workarounds are required to make the app build correctly:
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Point to the target toolchain on the build host:
export CC=$(which arm-linux-gnueabihf-gcc) export CXX="$(which arm-linux-gnueabihf-g++) -L$(pwd)/rootfs/usr/lib/arm-linux-gnueabihf/"
note the -L linker argument pointing to the absolute path of libx11 on the chroot/rootfs
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Tell
npm
you want to cross-compile native modules for ARM:export npm_config_arch=arm
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Build VS Code and create a .deb file (for easier installation on the target device) as usual:
npm i npm run gulp vscode-linux-arm-min npm run gulp vscode-linux-arm-build-deb