`rustup component add llvm-bitcode-linker` should imply `rustup component add llvm-tools`

Open

#4,267 opened on Mar 26, 2025 5 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

Nobody has claimed this yet.

Dominant language: Rust
Stars: 7k
Forks: 1.1k
Avg merge: 22h 40m
Merged PRs (30d): 46

Description

rustup component add llvm-bitcode-linker should imply rustup component add llvm-tools. If llvm-bitcode-linker is installed but llvm-tools is not installed, linking with llvm-bitcode-linker causes confusing errors since it tries to use system llvm.

confusing errors

error: linking with `llvm-bitcode-linker` failed: exit status: 1
  |
  = note:  "llvm-bitcode-linker" "<1 object files omitted>" "<sysroot>/lib/rustlib/nvptx64-nvidia-cuda/lib/{librustc_std_workspace_core-*,libcore-*,libcompiler_builtins-*}.rlib" "-L" "/tmp/rustcnJ2SL2/raw-dylibs" "--target" "nvptx64-nvidia-cuda" "--target-cpu" "sm_30" "-L" "<sysroot>/lib/rustlib/nvptx64-nvidia-cuda/lib/self-contained" "-o" "/usamoi/playground/ru/target/nvptx64-nvidia-cuda/debug/deps/ru-f4c0ba032d0d0a83.ptx" "-O0" "--debug"
  = note: some arguments are omitted. use `--verbose` to show all linker arguments
  = note: Error: llvm-link failed to link files ["/usamoi/playground/ru/target/nvptx64-nvidia-cuda/debug/deps/ru-f4c0ba032d0d0a83.aiqzghoh0fmgtru173eaewpev.rcgu.o", "/home/usamoi/.rustup/toolchains/nightly-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/lib/rustlib/nvptx64-nvidia-cuda/lib/librustc_std_workspace_core-3fd0694f720b1c16.rlib", "/home/usamoi/.rustup/toolchains/nightly-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/lib/rustlib/nvptx64-nvidia-cuda/lib/libcore-4a9eff19b785368f.rlib", "/home/usamoi/.rustup/toolchains/nightly-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/lib/rustlib/nvptx64-nvidia-cuda/lib/libcompiler_builtins-4240302f1379e85f.rlib"]
          ␛[2m2025-03-26T11:10:55.850207Z␛[0m ␛[32m INFO␛[0m ␛[2mllvm_bitcode_linker::linker␛[0m␛[2m:␛[0m Linking 4 files using llvm-link
          ␛[2m2025-03-26T11:10:55.861321Z␛[0m ␛[31mERROR␛[0m ␛[2mllvm_bitcode_linker::linker␛[0m␛[2m:␛[0m llvm-link returned with Exit status: exit status: 1
           stdout: 
           stderr: error: Invalid record

reproduce

cargo init
src/main.rs

#![no_std]
#![no_main]

#[panic_handler]
fn panic_handler(_: &core::panic::PanicInfo<'_>) -> ! {
    loop {}
}

rustup-toolchain

nightly

rustup component remove llvm-tools
rustup component add llvm-bitcode-linker
RUSTFLAGS="-Clinker=llvm-bitcode-linker" cargo build --target nvptx64-nvidia-cuda

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by tracing the rustup component add and rustup component remove behavior described in the reproduction, using rustup-toolchain and the llvm-bitcode-linker component as entry points. Reproduce the build from src/main.rs with cargo build --target nvptx64-nvidia-cuda; done means adding llvm-bitcode-linker also makes the linker use the required LLVM tools and avoids the reported error.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack: rust
Domain: cli, tooling
Issue type: Bug
Difficulty: 3/5
Estimated time: 1-2 days
Activity status: Stale
Clarity: Clearly specified
Newbie friendliness: 48/100