Docker Container to Build Qt From Source

build.sh will invoke a docker container to build Qt from source. The output is compiled Qt library as tarball.

dev.sh will create a docker image containing Qt library that can be used to build Qt applications.

The main goal of this project is to build Qt for ARM64 architecture.

Both scripts will build for linux AMD64 and ARM64 architecture by default.

Requirement

It require docker buildx setup with using docker-container driver.

Official Guide on Docker Buildx

To Use build.sh

• Build Qt from source using build.sh script.

  It will produce an binary library output to the build-$version folder.

  Help Command

   ./build.sh --help

   Usage: build.sh [OPTIONS]
   Options:
       -h, --help                  Show this help message and exit
  
       -v, --version               List all available versions when no version specified
  
       -v, --version <VERSION>     Specify the version of Qt to build
  
       -r, --registry <REGISTRY>   Set the registry as prefix for image name
  
       -b, --build                 Build Qt from source into a library binary tarball
  
       -l, --load                  Save Qt compiled image in local docker (--output=type=docker)
  
       -t, --target <TARGET>       Override the target platform for the image
                                   Format follows the docker buildx platform format
                                   [Default: linux/amd64,linux/arm64]

  Example of building Qt 6.6.3

   ./build.sh -v 6.6.3 -b

To Use dev.sh

• Build Qt development image using dev.sh script.

  Help Command

   ./dev.sh --help

   Usage: dev.sh [OPTIONS]
   Options:
       -h, --help                  Show this help message and exit
  
       -v, --version <VERSION>     Specify the version of Qt to build
  
       -r, --registry <REGISTRY>   Set the registry as prefix for image name
  
       -b, --build                 Build the Qt Development image
  
       -p, --push                  Push the Qt Development image to the registry
  
       -t, --target <TARGET>       Override the target platform for the image
                                   Format follows the docker buildx platform format
                                   [Default: linux/amd64,linux/arm64]

  Example of making and pushing Qt 6.6.3 development image to the registry

   ./dev.sh -v 6.6.3 -b -r jasonyangee -p

Folders Created on the Build

Folder	Description
build	Contains compiled Qt library.
src	Contains downloaded Qt source code.

Developer of GUI Application

The following example will focus on using RaspberryOS as the target device OS.

To start GUI application in docker container, you need to have the following setup:

1. Allow the docker container to access X server on host machine.

   host-machine> xhost +local:

   # if running in ssh session
   host-machine> export DISPLAY=:0

2. Run the docker container with forwarding DISPLAY env and volume bind x11 socket.

   docker run -it --rm -e DISPLAY=$DISPLAY -v /tmp/.X11-unix:/tmp/.X11-unix <image_name>
   # import your application volume here if not using this as base image to build your application custom image

ENV QT_QPA_PLATFORM=eglfs

eglfs is used as default. Change this in the Dockerfile.dev if you want to use another platform.

Cautions

Building Qt for ARM64 is the true intend of this project.

However, building Qt for ARM64 is resource intensive due to the cross-compilation process.

It is recommended to have at least 24GB of RAM and 20 logical CPU cores.

Alternative

If you don't have the computer resource to do this. Move to use the online-installer from Qt.

https://doc.qt.io/qt-6/get-and-install-qt-cli.html

https://download.qt.io/official_releases/online_installers/

./qt-unified-linux-arm64-online.run install --accept-licenses --accept-messages --accept-obligations --confirm-command --email {qt-account-email} --pw {qt-account-pass} --root /opt/Qt6 qt.qt6.670.src qt.qt6.670.linux_gcc_arm64 qt.qt6.670.addons.qtmultimedia qt.qt6.670.addons.qtserialport qt.qt6.670.debug_info qt.qt6.670.addons.qtcharts qt.qt6.670.qtwaylandcompositor qt.qt6.670.addons qt.qt6.670.debug_info

Common Error

E: Failed to fetch http://xxxx Unable to connect to deb.debian.org:80: [IP: xxxx]

Your IP has been timed-out by the debian arm package server. Use VPN to change your IP for the day.