How to Set Up an ARM Cross‑Compilation Environment on x86 Servers

Introduction

Cross‑compilation means generating executable code for a target platform on a different host platform. This guide focuses on setting up an ARM GCC toolchain on a non‑ARM server to compile applications for ARM architecture.

Environment

Prepare the cross‑compilation environment by installing and configuring the toolchain. The compiled binaries will run on a Kunpeng elastic cloud server.

Category

Version

Configuration

Notes

ARM test server

CentOS 7.5

kc1.large.2 | 2vCPUs | 4GB

Purchase from Huawei Cloud

x86 compile server (CentOS)

CentOS 7.5

2vCPUs | 4GB | s3.large.2

Purchase from Huawei Cloud or deploy locally

x86 compile server (Ubuntu)

Ubuntu 16.04

2vCPUs | 4GB | s3.large.2

Purchase from Huawei Cloud or deploy locally

Cross‑compiler

arm-linux-gcc

5.5.0

Download link

Cross‑Compiler Installation (x86 Server)

3.1 Install Standard C Development Environment

3.2 Create ARM‑toolchain Directory Under /usr/local

3.3 Download gcc‑linaro‑5.5.0‑2017.10‑x86_64_aarch64‑linux‑gnu.tar.xz

You can download it with wget or manually from the Linaro releases page.

After download, extract the tarball.

3.4 Configure Environment Variables

3.5 Verify Environment Variables and Test

Cross‑Compilation on x86 Server

4.1 Build on x86 Server

4.2 Test Execution