Cross-Compiling MySQL 8.0 for ARM32 Architecture on RV1126

Build Environment and Prerequisites

The host system is Ubuntu 20.04. The target device is an RV1126 ARM32 platform. The following directories define the workspace structure:

  • Toolchain Path: /opt/toolchains/arm-linux-gnueabihf/bin
  • Sysroot: /opt/rv1126-sdk/sysroot
  • Workspace: /workspace/mysql-build

Dependency Preparation

Boost Library

Download and extract the Boost source code. MySQL requires specific headers from this library, so compilation is not necessary.

cd /workspace/mysql-build
tar -xjf boost_1_77_0.tar.bz2

OpenSSL

MySQL requires OpenSSL. A two-stage build process is recommended: first for the host (x86_64) to generate tools, and second for the target (ARM).

Stage 1: Host Build

tar -xzf openssl-1.1.1f.tar.gz
cd openssl-1.1.1f
./config no-asm shared --prefix=$PWD/__install
make -j$(nproc)
make install

Stage 2: Target Build

cd /workspace/mysql-build
tar -xzf openssl-1.1.1f.tar.gz
cd openssl-1.1.1f
./Configure linux-generic32 shared --prefix=$PWD/__install --cross-compile-prefix=/opt/toolchains/arm-linux-gnueabihf/bin/arm-linux-gnueabihf-

Edit the generated Makefile to remove any instances of -m64, then compile:

make -j$(nproc)
make install

Ncurses

Similarly, build Ncurses for both architectures.

Stage 1: Host Build

tar -xzf ncurses-6.4.tar.gz
cd ncurses-6.4
./configure --prefix=$PWD/__install --with-yielding-select=no
make -j$(nproc)
make install

Stage 2: Target Build

cd /workspace/mysql-build
tar -xzf ncurses-6.4.tar.gz
cd ncurses-6.4
export PATH="/opt/toolchains/arm-linux-gnueabihf/bin:$PATH"
./configure --prefix=$PWD/__install --host=arm-linux-gnueabihf CC=arm-linux-gnueabihf-gcc
make -j$(nproc)
make install

Native MySQL Build (x86_64)

Building the native version first is crucial because the cross-compilation process will attempt to use build tools generated during the build. If these tools are compiled for ARM, they cannot run on the host.

tar -xzf mysql-8.0.35.tar.gz
cd mysql-8.0.35
mkdir build-native && cd build-native
cmake .. \
  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
  -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/workspace/mysql-build/mysql-native \
  -DMYSQL_DATADIR=/workspace/mysql-build/mysql-native/data \
  -DDEFAULT_CHARSET=utf8 \
  -DDEFAULT_COLLATION=utf8_general_ci \
  -DDOWNLOAD_BOOST=1 \
  -DWITH_BOOST=/workspace/mysql-build/boost_1_77_0 \
  -DWITH_SSL=system \
  -DOPENSSL_ROOT_DIR=/workspace/mysql-build/openssl-1.1.1f/__install \
  -DCURSES_INCLUDE_PATH=/workspace/mysql-build/ncurses-6.4/__install/include \
  -DCURSES_LIBRARY=/workspace/mysql-build/ncurses-6.4/__install/lib/libncurses.a \
  -DWITH_LIBEVENT=bundled \
  -DWITH_UNIT_TESTS=0

make -j$(nproc)
make install

Cross-Compiling MySQL for ARM32

Configure the build using the ARM toolchain and dependencies.

cd /workspace/mysql-build/mysql-8.0.35
mkdir build-arm && cd build-arm

cmake .. \
  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
  -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/workspace/mysql-build/mysql-arm \
  -DMYSQL_DATADIR=/workspace/mysql-build/mysql-arm/data \
  -DDEFAULT_CHARSET=utf8 \
  -DDEFAULT_COLLATION=utf8_general_ci \
  -DDOWNLOAD_BOOST=1 \
  -DWITH_BOOST=/workspace/mysql-build/boost_1_77_0 \
  -DWITH_SSL=system \
  -DOPENSSL_ROOT_DIR=/workspace/mysql-build/openssl-1.1.1f/__install \
  -DCURSES_INCLUDE_PATH=/workspace/mysql-build/ncurses-6.4/__install/include \
  -DCURSES_LIBRARY=/workspace/mysql-build/ncurses-6.4/__install/lib/libncurses.a \
  -DWITH_LIBEVENT=bundled \
  -DWITH_UNIT_TESTS=0 \
  -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=/opt/toolchains/arm-linux-gnueabihf/bin/arm-linux-gnueabihf-gcc \
  -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=/opt/toolchains/arm-linux-gnueabihf/bin/arm-linux-gnueabihf-g++ \
  -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR=arm \
  -DCMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH=/opt/rv1126-sdk/sysroot \
  -DRESOLV_LIBRARY=/opt/rv1126-sdk/sysroot/usr/lib/libresolv.so

Resolving Libevent Version Check

Modify cmake/libevent.cmake in the source directory to bypass version detection failures. Hardcode the version in the function FIND_LIBEVENT_VERSION to ensure the build passes.

Handling Exec Format Errors

During the cross-compilation, the build system will create ARM binaries for various utilities (e.g., protoc, comp_err). When make invokes these, they will fail with "Exec format error" because the host cannot execute ARM binaries.

Solution: Create a backup directory for ARM-specific binaries, and immediately replace them with the x86_64 versions generated in the build-native step.

Example Script for Replacement:

# Create a stash for ARM binaries
mkdir -p ../arm-stash/bin
mkdir -p ../arm-stash/lib

# Function to swap binary
swap_binary() {
    local bin_name=$1
    # Backup the ARM version if it exists
    if [ -f "runtime_output_directory/$bin_name" ]; then
        cp "runtime_output_directory/$bin_name" "../arm-stash/bin/$bin_name"
    fi
    # Replace with x86 version
    cp ../build-native/runtime_output_directory/$bin_name runtime_output_directory/
}

# Execute swaps for failing tools
swap_binary "protoc"
swap_binary "comp_err"
swap_binary "comp_sql"
swap_binary "gen_lex_hash"
swap_binary "uca9dump"
swap_binary "xprotocol_plugin"
swap_binary "gen_keyword_list"
swap_binary "gen_lex_token"
swap_binary "comp_client_err"

# Handle library specific issues
cp library_output_directory/libmysqlclient.so.21.2.35 ../arm-stash/lib/
cp ../build-native/library_output_directory/libmysqlclient.so.21.2.35 library_output_directory/

After each replacement, run make -j1 again. Repeat this process whenever an "Exec format error" occurs for a utility.

Manual Assembly

The make install step may fail due to RPATH issues. Manually assemble the distribution:

cd /workspace/mysql-build
mkdir -p mysql-final/{bin,lib,include,etc}

# Copy generated content
cp -r mysql-8.0.35/build-arm/runtime_output_directory/* mysql-final/bin/
cp -r mysql-8.0.35/build-arm/library_output_directory/* mysql-final/lib/
cp -r mysql-8.0.35/include mysql-final/

# Restore ARM binaries that were replaced during build
cp arm-stash/bin/* mysql-final/bin/
cp arm-stash/lib/* mysql-final/lib/

# Verify architecture
file mysql-final/bin/mysqld
file mysql-final/lib/libmysqlclient.so

Deployment and Testing on RV1126

Transfer the mysql-final directory to the target device (e.g., /usr/local/mysql).

cd /usr/local/mysql
mkdir data
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$PWD/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH

# Initialize the database
./bin/mysqld --initialize --user=root --basedir=/usr/local/mysql --datadir=/usr/local/mysql/data

# Start the daemon
./bin/mysqld --daemonize --pid-file=/usr/local/mysql/data/mysqld.pid --user=root

# Client connection
./bin/mysql -uroot -p -S /tmp/mysql.sock

Once logged in, update root permissions for remote access:

ALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'NewPassword123';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
USE mysql;
UPDATE user SET host='%' WHERE user='root';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Tags: MySQL ARM cross-compilation RV1126 Embedded Linux

Posted on Tue, 14 Jul 2026 17:05:30 +0000 by Stripy42

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