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xPack LLVM clang v18.1.8-1 released

· 5 min read
Liviu Ionescu (ilg)
Liviu Ionescu (ilg)

Version 18.1.8-1 is a new release; it follows the upstream release.

The xPack LLVM clang is a standalone cross-platform binary distribution of LLVM clang.

There are separate binaries for Windows (x64), macOS (x64, arm64) and GNU/Linux (x64, arm64 and arm).

Raspberry Pi

The main targets for the GNU/Linux Arm binaries are the Raspberry Pi class devices (armv7l and aarch64; armv6 is not supported).

Download​

The binary files are available from GitHub Releases.

Prerequisites​

  • x64 GNU/Linux: any system with GLIBC 2.27 or higher (like Ubuntu 18 or later, Debian 10 or later, RedHat 8 or later, Fedora 29 or later, etc)
  • arm64/arm GNU/Linux: any system with GLIBC 2.27 or higher (like Raspberry Pi OS, Ubuntu 18 or later, Debian 10 or later, RedHat 8 or later, Fedora 29 or later, etc)
  • x64 Windows: Windows 7 with the Universal C Runtime (UCRT), Windows 8, Windows 10
  • x64 macOS: 10.13 or later
  • arm64 macOS: 11.6 or later

Install​

The easiest way to install this specific version, is by using xpm:

xpm install @xpack-dev-tools/clang@18.1.8-1.1 -verbose

Comprehensive instructions for installing xPack LLVM clang on different platforms can be found in the Install Guide.

Compliance​

The xPack LLVM clang generally follows the official LLVM clang releases.

The current version is based on:

  • LLVM clang version 18.1.8, from 19 Jun 2024.

For x64 GNU/Linux and Windows, multilib (32/64-bit) libraries are provided.

LLVM libraries​

On macOS and Windows the compiler defaults are set to the LLVM libraries (libc++ and compiler-rt).

For historical reasons, on GNU/Linux, the defaults are set to the host system (libstdc++ and glibc).

To use the LLVM libraries, add the following options:

-stdlib=libc++ -rtlib=compiler-rt -lunwind

For LTO builds, also use LLD:

-flto -fuse-ld=lld

-m32 / -m64​

For x64 GNU/Linux and Windows, multilib libraries are provided and can be selected using the -m32 / -m64 options.

-print-search-dirs​

Since the toolchain can be installed in any location, and the binaries compiled with it need to access the libraries, it is necessary to get the actual path and pass it via LD_LIBRARY_PATH and/or set the -rpath.

This can be achieved by querying the compiler for -print-search-dirs and processing the output.

For example, for the 32-bit libraries:

${CXX} -m32 -print-search-dirs | grep 'libraries: =' | sed -e 's|libraries: =||'

On Windows the DLLs are usually in bin, but for consistency within GCC, they are also copied to lib; it is recommended to ask the compiler for the actual path.

For example, for the 32-bit libraries:

${CXX} -m32 -print-file-name=libc++.dll

Changes​

Compared to the upstream, there are no major functional changes.

Since 15.0.7-4, there is a small patch in Driver.cpp that fixes the function that computes InstalledDir when clang is invoked via a link from a different folder.

Bug fixes​

  • none

Enhancements​

  • none

Known problems​

Please see the separate tests results page.

Documentation​

The original documentation is available online.

Build​

The binaries for all supported platforms (Windows, macOS and GNU/Linux) were built using the xPack Build Box (XBB), a set of build environments based on slightly older distributions, that should be compatible with most recent systems.

For the prerequisites and more details on the build procedure, please see the Maintainer Info page.

CI tests​

Before publishing, a set of simple tests were performed on an exhaustive set of platforms. The results are available from:

Tests​

The binaries were tested on a variety of platforms, but mainly to check the integrity of the build, not the compiler functionality.

Checksums​

The SHA-256 hashes for the files are:

e0ae40730db729ff9dabe82038f63e9e86fee26477a6f77124b5c05aa8ee17b0
xpack-clang-18.1.8-1-darwin-arm64.tar.gz

a9874b23bb9a42b6ed582bb462c9bcb005d46bd6b246cd50dc0c8b05d0d6db30
xpack-clang-18.1.8-1-darwin-x64.tar.gz

7f58d9761d05b73f14e51f71294276e4298378a7c8b0ba8010461c8d3dd6010b
xpack-clang-18.1.8-1-linux-arm.tar.gz

cd406d5514a54874acbbb20c49f14803710cc86e0903a452e7aa4e9be45fd411
xpack-clang-18.1.8-1-linux-arm64.tar.gz

b6e73f147a24bf3f47a1ae68de0b665f6ca288779aec9bd28d085fcc866c8064
xpack-clang-18.1.8-1-linux-x64.tar.gz

ae8f323fae5e16c1e757045cfa8b3850495954a7c6a60cf8e49956b10aacd593
xpack-clang-18.1.8-1-win32-x64.zip

Deprecation notices​

GNU/Linux minimum requirements​

The minimum requirement is GLIBC 2.27, available starting with Ubuntu 18, Debian 10 and RedHat 8. Support for RedHat 7 was dropped in 2022.

32-bit support​

Support for 32-bit x86 GNU/Linux and x86 Windows was dropped in 2022.

Pre-deprecation notice for 32-bit Arm GNU/Linux​

Due to the large user base of 32-bit Raspberry Pi systems, Support for 32-bit Arm GNU/Linux (armv7l) will be preserved for a little while, but expect it to be dropped by 2025, so it is recommended to consider an upgrade to a RPi 4 or 5 with at least 4 GB (preferably 8 GB) of RAM.

Pre-deprecation notice for Ubuntu 18.04​

Ubuntu 18.04 LTS Bionic Beaver reached the end of the standard five-year maintenance window for Long-Term Support (LTS) release on 31 May 2023.

As a courtesy, the xPack GNU/Linux releases will continue to be based on Ubuntu 18.04 for another year.

From 2025 onwards, the GNU/Linux binaries will be built on Debian 10, (GLIBC 2.28), and are also expected to run on RedHat 8.

Users are urged to update their build and test infrastructure to ensure a smooth transition to the next xPack releases.

Download analytics​

Credit to Shields IO for the badges and to Somsubhra/github-release-stats for the individual file counters.