Bazel Remote Execution Toolchain Configs Migration

[Joe Hicks]

Hi there!

TL; DR Upgrading your Bazel version beyond 4.0.0 may require you to migrate from rbe_autoconfig to the new CLI tool to configure Bazel for remote C++ and Java compilation.

Continue reading if you configure Bazel to remotely execute C++ and Java compilation and plan to upgrade the version of Bazel you use in the future.

rbe_autoconfig is a Starlark repository rule that generates platforms and toolchain targets necessary for C++ and Java compilation executed remotely. For Bazel versions after 4.0.0, a standalone CLI tool will be the supported mechanism to generate these platform and toolchain targets. You should migrate to the new CLI tool if any of the following scenarios apply:

1. You’re setting up a new Bazel workspace/build.

2. You’re upgrading your Bazel version beyond 4.0.0 and rbe_autoconfig stops working for you.

The new CLI tool should make it easier for users to debug when things go wrong or to explore extending the existing functionality of the tool. This is because the tool is written in Go whose control flow should be easier to follow than rbe_autoconfig which was a Starlark repository rule wrapped around several Starlark Build rules.

We expect the process of upgrading Bazel version once you’ve migrated to the new CLI tool will be slightly different from rbe_autoconfig in the following ways:

1. You may need to build the CLI tool binary from source (instructions) if the latest release doesn’t include a binary for your platform.

2. You’ll need to generate and store configuration files in your own source repo (see documentation on ways to generate and use the configs) every time you upgrade Bazel. Previously, with rbe_autoconfig, in certain scenarios, upgrading your Bazel version only required updating the pin to the bazel-toolchains repo.

If you have questions or would like to request new features, please reach out to us by opening new issues on Github here.

Joe Hicks on behalf of the Bazel team

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Joe Hicks
Product Manager, Google Core Developer

[James Sharpe]

Is there updated advice on how bazel CI should be configured for rbe? https://docs.bazel.build/versions/main/remote-execution-ci.html currently references rbe_autoconfig. Is there going to be a centrally managed toolchain for use in bazel CI or is each project going to be expected to maintain their own configuration for RBE tests?

James Sharpe | Lead, Big Data & Security | Zenotech

	james....@zenotech.com
	www.zenotech.com

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[Chi Wang]

We are still exploring options for projects to config RBE on Bazel CI with the new tool.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/bazel-dev/CAAF04kPcTSbD15379OPuz8EKUHN_d%3DOcNiuxH-n_i1C1hS%3Dr9g%40mail.gmail.com.