IREE cross compilation from Linux Host to Windows Target using MinGW toolchain - build issues

[sgeethapriya]

Greetings!

I'm trying to use iree host tools on linux and compile my image classification inference - C files and cross compile it for Windows target to get it as a windows executable (e.g., inference.exe).
For cross compilation I'm using MinGW toolchain and CMAKE_C_COMPILER: x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc-posix and CXX_COMPILER: x86_64-w64-mingw32-g++-posix. During the cross compilation build, I'm having issues with

1. Linking C executable _deps/iree-build/runtime/src/iree/hal/local/elf/elf_module_test_binary.exe
2. Building C object _deps/iree-build/runtime/src/iree/task/CMakeFiles/iree_task_task.objects.dir/topology_win32.c.obj
3. Linking C executable _deps/iree-build/tools/iree-convert-parameters.exe
4. Linking C executable _deps/iree-build/tools/iree-convert-parameters.exe
5. Linking C executable _deps/iree-build/tools/iree-dump-parameters.exe

I have tried these options in my CMake before fetching iree

if(CMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING)
message(STATUS "Cross-compilation detected: ${TARGET_DEVICE}")

set(IREE_HAL_DRIVER_LOCAL_ELF OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
set(IREE_HAL_LOCAL_ELF_ENABLED OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)

set(IREE_HAL_EXECUTABLE_LOADER_EMBEDDED_ELF OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
set(IREE_HAL_EXECUTABLE_PLUGIN_EMBEDDED_ELF OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
set(IREE_HAL_LOCAL_ELF_TESTDATA OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)

=======================================================

Disable unnecessary IREE components

=======================================================

set(IREE_BUILD_COMPILER OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
set(IREE_BUILD_TESTS OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
set(IREE_BUILD_SAMPLES OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
set(IREE_ENABLE_MLIR OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
set(IREE_BUILD_PYTHON_BINDINGS OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
set(IREE_BUILD_BINDINGS_TFLITE OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
set(IREE_ENABLE_RUNTIME_TRACING OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
set(IREE_ENABLE_BENCHMARKS OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
set(IREE_ENABLE_PARAMETER_SUPPORT OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)

Disable ELF test components

set(IREE_HAL_LOCAL_ELF_TESTDATA OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
set(IREE_HAL_LOCAL_ELF_ENABLE_TESTS OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)

Benchmark configuration

set(BENCHMARK_ENABLE_TESTING OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
set(BENCHMARK_ENABLE_GTEST_TESTS OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
set(BENCHMARK_ENABLE_INSTALL OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
set(BENCHMARK_ENABLE_LIBPFM OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)

MinGW-specific disables

set(HAVE_PTHREAD_AFFINITY OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
set(BENCHMARK_HAS_PTHREAD_AFFINITY OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
set(HAVE_STD_REGEX OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)

=======================================================

Disable problematic modules

=======================================================

set(IREE_BUILD_TOOLS OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
set(IREE_TASK_TOPOLOGY_INLINE OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)

=======================================================

Enable only runtime features

=======================================================

set(IREE_HAL_DRIVER_LOCAL_SYNC ON CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
set(IREE_HAL_DRIVER_LOCAL_TASK ON CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
set(IREE_TARGET_BACKEND_LLVM_CPU ON CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
set(IREE_HAL_EXECUTABLE_LOADER_EMBEDDED_ELF OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)

=======================================================

Fetch IREE runtime

=======================================================

include(FetchContent)

FetchContent_Declare(
iree
GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/iree-org/iree.git
GIT_TAG candidate-20241104.1068
GIT_SUBMODULES_RECURSE OFF
GIT_SHALLOW ON
GIT_PROGRESS ON
USES_TERMINAL_DOWNLOAD ON
)

And I've also tried running cmake with these options:

cmake -S "$PROJECT_ROOT" -B "$TARGET_BUILD_DIR" -G Ninja
-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=MinSizeRel
-DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="$TARGET_BUILD_DIR/install"
-DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE="$TOOLCHAIN_PATH"
-DCMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS="-lkernelbase"
-DIREE_HAL_DRIVER_LOCAL_ELF=OFF
-DIREE_HAL_LOCAL_ELF_ENABLED=OFF
-DIREE_HAL_LOCAL_ELF_TESTDATA=OFF
-DIREE_BUILD_COMPILER=OFF
-DIREE_BUILD_TOOLS=OFF
-DIREE_BUILD_RUNTIME=ON
-DIREE_BUILD_TESTS=OFF
-DIREE_BUILD_SAMPLES=OFF
-DIREE_BUILD_PYTHON_BINDINGS=OFF
-DIREE_ENABLE_RUNTIME_TRACING=OFF
-DIREE_HAL_LOCAL_ENABLE_EMBEDDED_ELF=OFF
-DTARGET_DEVICE="$TARGET_DEVICE"
-DIREE_HOST_BIN_DIR="$HOST_BIN_DIR_FOR_CMAKE"

cmake --build "$TARGET_BUILD_DIR" -j$(nproc) || true

But, still stuck with the same issues. Any help would be appreciated!

[krzysz00]

Could you be a bit more specific about the issues you're facing ... and fix your markdown? I can't really tell what's going on here or what the error is

[sgeethapriya]

I've resolved the other errors with some patch works. However, I'm stuck with the below ELF error:
[267/414] Linking C executable _deps/iree-build/runtime/src/iree/hal/local/elf/elf_module_test_binary.exe

FAILED: _deps/iree-build/runtime/src/iree/hal/local/elf/elf_module_test_binary.exe
: && /usr/bin/x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc-posix -static-libgcc -static-libstdc++ -fPIC -pthread -D_GLIBCXX_HAS_GTHREADS=1 -Wno-error=incompatible-pointer-types -Os -ffunction-sections -fdata-sections -static-libgcc -static-libstdc++ -fPIC -pthread -D_GLIBCXX_HAS_GTHREADS=1 -Wno-error=incompatible-pointer-types -Os -ffunction-sections -fdata-sections -Os -DNDEBUG -lkernel32 -static-libgcc -static-libstdc++ -Wl,--gc-sections -pthread -lsynchronization -static-libgcc -static-libstdc++ -Wl,--gc-sections -pthread -lsynchronization -lm _deps/iree-build/runtime/src/iree/hal/local/elf/CMakeFiles/iree_hal_local_elf_elf_module_test_binary.dir/elf_module_test_main.c.obj -o _deps/iree-build/runtime/src/iree/hal/local/elf/elf_module_test_binary.exe -Wl,--out-implib,_deps/iree-build/runtime/src/iree/hal/local/elf/libelf_module_test_binary.dll.a -Wl,--major-image-version,0,--minor-image-version,0 _deps/iree-build/runtime/src/iree/hal/local/elf/libiree_hal_local_elf_elf_module.a _deps/iree-build/runtime/src/iree/base/libiree_base_base.a _deps/iree-build/runtime/src/iree/base/internal/libiree_base_internal_cpu.a _deps/iree-build/runtime/src/iree/hal/local/elf/testdata/libiree_hal_local_elf_testdata_elementwise_mul.a _deps/iree-build/runtime/src/iree/hal/local/libiree_hal_local_executable_environment.a _deps/iree-build/runtime/src/iree/hal/local/elf/libiree_hal_local_elf_arch.a _deps/iree-build/runtime/src/iree/hal/local/elf/libiree_hal_local_elf_platform.a _deps/iree-build/runtime/src/iree/base/internal/libiree_base_internal_memory.a _deps/iree-build/runtime/src/iree/base/internal/libiree_base_internal_cpu.a _deps/iree-build/runtime/src/iree/hal/libiree_hal_hal.a _deps/iree-build/runtime/src/iree/base/internal/libiree_base_internal_path.a _deps/iree-build/runtime/src/iree/base/internal/libiree_base_internal_synchronization.a _deps/iree-build/runtime/src/iree/io/libiree_io_file_handle.a _deps/iree-build/runtime/src/iree/io/libiree_io_memory_stream.a _deps/iree-build/runtime/src/iree/io/libiree_io_stream.a _deps/iree-build/runtime/src/iree/base/libiree_base_base.a _deps/iree-build/runtime/src/iree/base/internal/libiree_base_internal_time.a -lkernel32 -luser32 -lgdi32 -lwinspool -lshell32 -lole32 -loleaut32 -luuid -lcomdlg32 -ladvapi32 && :
/usr/bin/x86_64-w64-mingw32-ld: _deps/iree-build/runtime/src/iree/hal/local/elf/libiree_hal_local_elf_elf_module.a(elf_module.c.obj):elf_module.c:(.text$iree_elf_module_initialize_from_memory+0x508): undefined reference to iree_elf_call_v_v' /usr/bin/x86_64-w64-mingw32-ld: _deps/iree-build/runtime/src/iree/hal/local/elf/libiree_hal_local_elf_elf_module.a(elf_module.c.obj):elf_module.c:(.text$iree_elf_module_initialize_from_memory+0x538): undefined reference to iree_elf_call_v_v'
/usr/bin/x86_64-w64-mingw32-ld: _deps/iree-build/runtime/src/iree/hal/local/elf/CMakeFiles/iree_hal_local_elf_elf_module_test_binary.dir/elf_module_test_main.c.obj:elf_module_test_main.c:(.text$run_test+0x18a): undefined reference to iree_elf_call_p_ip' /usr/bin/x86_64-w64-mingw32-ld: _deps/iree-build/runtime/src/iree/hal/local/elf/CMakeFiles/iree_hal_local_elf_elf_module_test_binary.dir/elf_module_test_main.c.obj:elf_module_test_main.c:(.text$run_test+0x3da): undefined reference to iree_elf_call_i_ppp'
collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status

On using cmake --build "$TARGET_BUILD_DIR" -j$(nproc) -- -k0 || true - the application.exe is created

[sgeethapriya]

I’m trying to cross-compile an IREE model from MLIR to VMFB for a Windows x86_64 target, while running the compilation on a Linux host.

I’m using the following command:

iree-compile model/squeezenet.mlir
--iree-hal-target-backends=llvm-cpu
--iree-llvmcpu-target-triple=x86_64-pc-windows-gnu
--iree-llvmcpu-target-cpu=x86-64-v3
-o model/squeezenet_windows.vmfb

When inspecting the output with:

iree-dump-module model/squeezenet_windows.vmfb

I see that the generated VMFB contains an executable with the format:

hal.executable.format = "embedded-elf-x86_64"

Relevant excerpt:

.rodata[ 3] embedded 19 bytes embedded-elf-x86_64

I also tried switching the target triple to MSVC:

--iree-llvmcpu-target-triple=x86_64-pc-windows-msvc

but the resulting VMFB still uses embedded-elf-x86_64.

Questions:

1. Is it expected that VMFBs produced for Windows targets still embed ELF executables when compiled on Linux?
2. I was expecting something closer to COFF, since Windows typically uses COFF/PE formats.
3. Is a VMFB containing embedded-elf-x86_64 executables supposed to work with a Windows application.exe?
4. In my case, when running the application on Windows, the runtime initialization hangs on Windows. Is it caused by the same issue as the earlier elf_module_test_binary.exe error—specifically, that the VMFB embeds an embedded-elf-x86_64 executable which the Windows llvm-cpu runtime cannot load, leading to failure in HAL device creation and an apparent deadlock?
5. Is cross-compiling VMFBs for Windows on Linux officially supported for llvm-cpu backends, or does the VMFB need to be compiled natively on Windows?
6. If cross-compilation is supported:
   Are there additional flags or toolchain requirements (e.g., MinGW vs MSVC)?
   Is there a way to force COFF output instead of embedded ELF?

Any guidance on the expected workflow or limitations here would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!