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Cross-compilation bug when compiling for ARM64 on a non-ARM64 host with Windows #52664

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#63963
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Cross-compilation bug when compiling for ARM64 on a non-ARM64 host with Windows#52664
#63963
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buildIssues and PRs related to Node.js builds or CI infrastructure.staleIssues and PRs marked stale due to inactivity and scheduled for automatic closure.windowsIssues and PRs related to the Windows platform.

Description

@mahdisharifithedev
mahdisharifithedev
opened on Apr 24, 2024

Version

v21.7.3

Platform

Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.20348.0 x64

What steps will reproduce the bug?

Cross-compiling for Windows ARM64 on a Windows x86_64 machine.

What is the expected behavior? Why is that the expected behavior?

Should compile.

What do you see instead?

Here's the log:

--snip--

  NodeWorker.cpp

  NodeTracing.cpp

  NodeRuntime.cpp

     Creating library out\Release\libnode.lib and object out\Release\libnode.exp

  libnode.vcxproj -> out\Release\\libnode.dll

  generate_node_def_action

  '"out\Release\gen_node_def_host.exe"' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
  operable program or batch file.

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Enterprise\MSBuild\Microsoft\VC\v170\Microsoft.CppCommon.targets(254,5): error MSB8066: Custom build for 'out\Release\\libnode.dll' exited with code 1. [D:\a\github\node\generate_node_def.vcxproj]

Additional information

Compiling as a shared library with:

.\vcbuild.bat arm64 dll

Activity

  1. VoltrexKeyva
    added
    buildIssues and PRs related to Node.js builds or CI infrastructure.
    on Apr 24, 2024
  2. richardlau
    added
    windowsIssues and PRs related to the Windows platform.
    on Apr 24, 2024

  3. richardlau commented on Apr 24, 2024

    @richardlau
    richardlau
    on Apr 24, 2024
    Member

    cc @nodejs/platform-windows-arm

  4. StefanStojanovic commented on Apr 26, 2024

    @StefanStojanovic
    StefanStojanovic
    on Apr 26, 2024
    Contributor

    I've investigated this and can confirm the behavior. The issue is that the project used for generating the DLL gen_node_def is not compiled for the host architecture but for the target one. That is why there is no gen_node_def_host.exe. gen_node_def.exe does exist but cannot be executed on an x64 machine since it is built for ARM64.

    By the looks of things, this never worked but is caught just now.

  5. joyeecheung commented on Feb 2, 2026

    @joyeecheung
    joyeecheung
    on Feb 2, 2026
    Member

    FWIW I ran into something similar too but my situation is a bit funnier - I accidentally built with the x64 host toolchain on ARM64 Windows (because the Python installer currently installs x64 Python on ARM64 Windows until Python's ARM64 Windows support is stable), while I could run the x64 gen_node_def_host.exe on ARM64 with emulation, it couldn't load the ARM64 DLL either. After I fix the Python issue to stop the unnecessary cross compiling ARM64 gen_node_def.exe does work though. So my understanding is that no only the build files are broken, the tool itself might also need fix up for cross-compilation too.

  6. github-actions commented on Jul 20, 2026

    @github-actions
    github-actionsbot
    on Jul 20, 2026 – with GitHub Actions
    Contributor

    This issue has been marked as stale due to 90 days of inactivity.
    It will be automatically closed in 30 days if no further activity occurs. If this is still relevant, please leave a comment or update it to keep it open.

  7. github-actions
    added
    staleIssues and PRs marked stale due to inactivity and scheduled for automatic closure.
    on Jul 20, 2026
  8. PickBas
    added a commit that references this issue on Jul 24, 2026

    build,tools: fix shared library cross-compile

    c80f2d6
  9. nodejs-github-bot
    closed this as completedin #63963on Aug 3, 2026
  10. pull
    added a commit that references this issue on Aug 3, 2026

    build,tools: fix shared library cross-compile

    dbfdac3
  11. aduh95
    added 5 commits that reference this issue on Aug 3, 2026

    build,tools: fix shared library cross-compile

    6db48cf

    build,tools: fix shared library cross-compile

    cf09af8

    build,tools: fix shared library cross-compile

    78538f1

    build,tools: fix shared library cross-compile

    74928ad

    build,tools: fix shared library cross-compile

    4a425b4
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