mirror of
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157 lines
5.2 KiB
Markdown
157 lines
5.2 KiB
Markdown
# Native Node Modules
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For some features, the desktop version of Element can make use of native Node
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modules. These allow Element to integrate with the desktop in ways that a browser
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cannot.
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While native modules enable powerful new features, they must be complied for
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each operating system. For official Element releases, we will always build these
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modules from source to ensure we can trust the compiled output. In the future,
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we may offer a pre-compiled path for those who want to use these features in a
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custom build of Element without installing the various build tools required.
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The process is automated by [vector-im/element-builder](https://github.com/vector-im/element-builder)
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when releasing.
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## Building
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Install the pre-requisites for your system:
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- [Windows pre-requisites](https://github.com/vector-im/element-desktop/blob/develop/docs/windows-requirements.md)
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- Linux: TODO
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- OS X: TODO
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Then optionally, [add seshat and dependencies to support search in E2E rooms](#adding-seshat-for-search-in-e2e-encrypted-rooms).
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Then, to build for an architecture selected automatically based on your system (recommended), run:
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```
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yarn run build:native
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```
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If you need to build for a specific architecture, see [here](#compiling-for-specific-architectures).
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## Adding Seshat for search in E2E encrypted rooms
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Seshat is a native Node module that adds support for local event indexing and
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full text search in E2E encrypted rooms.
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Since Seshat is written in Rust, the Rust compiler and related tools need to be
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installed before installing Seshat itself. To install Rust please consult the
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official Rust [documentation](https://www.rust-lang.org/tools/install).
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Seshat also depends on the SQLCipher library to store its data in encrypted form
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on disk. You'll need to install it via your OS package manager.
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After installing the Rust compiler and SQLCipher, Seshat support can be added
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using yarn at the root of this project:
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yarn add matrix-seshat
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You will have to rebuild the native libraries against electron's version
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of node rather than your system node, using the `electron-build-env` tool.
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This is also needed to when pulling in changes to Seshat using `yarn link`.
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yarn add electron-build-env
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Recompiling Seshat itself can be done like so:
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yarn run electron-build-env -- --electron 6.1.1 -- neon build matrix-seshat --release
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Please make sure to include all the `--` as well as the `--release` command line
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switch at the end. Modify your electron version accordingly depending on the
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version that is installed on your system.
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After this is done the Electron version of Element can be run from the main folder
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as usual using:
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yarn start
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### Statically linking libsqlcipher
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On Windows & macOS we always statically link libsqlcipher for it is not generally available.
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On Linux by default we will use a system package, on debian & ubuntu this is `libsqlcipher0`,
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but this is problematic for some other packages, and we found that it may crashes for unknown reasons.
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By including `SQLCIPHER_BUNDLED=1` in the build environment, the build scripts will fully statically
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link sqlcipher, including a static build of OpenSSL.
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More info can be found at https://github.com/matrix-org/seshat/issues/102
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and https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/issues/20926.
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## Compiling for specific architectures
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### macOS
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On macOS, you can build universal native modules too:
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```
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yarn run build:native:universal
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```
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...or you can build for a specific architecture:
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```
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yarn run build:native --target x86_64-apple-darwin
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```
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or
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```
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yarn run build:native --target aarch64-apple-darwin
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```
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You'll then need to create a built bundle with the same architecture.
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To bundle a universal build for macOS, run:
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```
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yarn run build:universal
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```
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### Windows
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If you're on Windows, you can choose to build specifically for 32 or 64 bit:
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```
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yarn run build:32
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```
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or
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```
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yarn run build:64
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```
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### Cross compiling
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Compiling a module for a particular operating system (Linux/macOS/Windows) needs
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to be done on that operating system. Cross-compiling from a host OS for a different
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target OS may be possible, but we don't support this flow with Element dependencies
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at this time.
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### Switching between architectures
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The native module build system keeps the different architectures
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separate, so you can keep native modules for several architectures at the same
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time and switch which are active using a `yarn run hak copy` command, passing
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the appropriate architectures. This will error if you haven't yet built those
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architectures. eg:
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```
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yarn run build:native --target x86_64-apple-darwin
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# We've now built & linked into place native modules for Intel
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yarn run build:native --target aarch64-apple-darwin
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# We've now built Apple Silicon modules too, and linked them into place as the active ones
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yarn run hak copy --target x86_64-apple-darwin
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# We've now switched back to our Intel modules
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yarn run hak copy --target x86_64-apple-darwin --target aarch64-apple-darwin
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# Now our native modules are universal x86_64+aarch64 binaries
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```
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The current set of native modules are stored in `.hak/hakModules`,
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so you can use this to check what architecture is currently in place, eg:
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```
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$ lipo -info .hak/hakModules/keytar/build/Release/keytar.node
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Architectures in the fat file: .hak/hakModules/keytar/build/Release/keytar.node are: x86_64 arm64
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```
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