mirror of
https://github.com/CringeStudios/element-desktop.git
synced 2025-01-18 23:44:59 +01:00
158 lines
5.2 KiB
Markdown
158 lines
5.2 KiB
Markdown
# Native Node Modules
|
|
|
|
For some features, the desktop version of Element can make use of native Node
|
|
modules. These allow Element to integrate with the desktop in ways that a browser
|
|
cannot.
|
|
|
|
While native modules enable powerful new features, they must be complied for
|
|
each operating system. For official Element releases, we will always build these
|
|
modules from source to ensure we can trust the compiled output. In the future,
|
|
we may offer a pre-compiled path for those who want to use these features in a
|
|
custom build of Element without installing the various build tools required.
|
|
|
|
The process is automated by [vector-im/element-builder](https://github.com/vector-im/element-builder)
|
|
when releasing.
|
|
|
|
## Building
|
|
|
|
Install the pre-requisites for your system:
|
|
|
|
- [Windows pre-requisites](https://github.com/vector-im/element-desktop/blob/develop/docs/windows-requirements.md)
|
|
- Linux: TODO
|
|
- OS X: TODO
|
|
|
|
Then optionally, [add seshat and dependencies to support search in E2E rooms](#adding-seshat-for-search-in-e2e-encrypted-rooms).
|
|
|
|
Then, to build for an architecture selected automatically based on your system (recommended), run:
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
yarn run build:native
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
If you need to build for a specific architecture, see [here](#compiling-for-specific-architectures).
|
|
|
|
## Adding Seshat for search in E2E encrypted rooms
|
|
|
|
Seshat is a native Node module that adds support for local event indexing and
|
|
full text search in E2E encrypted rooms.
|
|
|
|
Since Seshat is written in Rust, the Rust compiler and related tools need to be
|
|
installed before installing Seshat itself. To install Rust please consult the
|
|
official Rust [documentation](https://www.rust-lang.org/tools/install).
|
|
|
|
Seshat also depends on the SQLCipher library to store its data in encrypted form
|
|
on disk. You'll need to install it via your OS package manager.
|
|
|
|
After installing the Rust compiler and SQLCipher, Seshat support can be added
|
|
using yarn at the root of this project:
|
|
|
|
yarn add matrix-seshat
|
|
|
|
You will have to rebuild the native libraries against electron's version
|
|
of node rather than your system node, using the `electron-build-env` tool.
|
|
This is also needed to when pulling in changes to Seshat using `yarn link`.
|
|
|
|
yarn add electron-build-env
|
|
|
|
Recompiling Seshat itself can be done like so:
|
|
|
|
yarn run electron-build-env -- --electron 6.1.1 -- neon build matrix-seshat --release
|
|
|
|
Please make sure to include all the `--` as well as the `--release` command line
|
|
switch at the end. Modify your electron version accordingly depending on the
|
|
version that is installed on your system.
|
|
|
|
After this is done the Electron version of Element can be run from the main folder
|
|
as usual using:
|
|
|
|
yarn start
|
|
|
|
### Statically linking libsqlcipher
|
|
|
|
On Windows & macOS we always statically link libsqlcipher for it is not generally available.
|
|
On Linux by default we will use a system package, on debian & ubuntu this is `libsqlcipher0`,
|
|
but this is problematic for some other packages, and we found that it may crashes for unknown reasons.
|
|
By including `SQLCIPHER_BUNDLED=1` in the build environment, the build scripts will fully statically
|
|
link sqlcipher, including a static build of OpenSSL.
|
|
|
|
More info can be found at https://github.com/matrix-org/seshat/issues/102
|
|
and https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/issues/20926.
|
|
|
|
## Compiling for specific architectures
|
|
|
|
### macOS
|
|
|
|
On macOS, you can build universal native modules too:
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
yarn run build:native:universal
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
...or you can build for a specific architecture:
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
yarn run build:native --target x86_64-apple-darwin
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
or
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
yarn run build:native --target aarch64-apple-darwin
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
You'll then need to create a built bundle with the same architecture.
|
|
To bundle a universal build for macOS, run:
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
yarn run build:universal
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
### Windows
|
|
|
|
If you're on Windows, you can choose to build specifically for 32 or 64 bit:
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
yarn run build:32
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
or
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
yarn run build:64
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
### Cross compiling
|
|
|
|
Compiling a module for a particular operating system (Linux/macOS/Windows) needs
|
|
to be done on that operating system. Cross-compiling from a host OS for a different
|
|
target OS may be possible, but we don't support this flow with Element dependencies
|
|
at this time.
|
|
|
|
### Switching between architectures
|
|
|
|
The native module build system keeps the different architectures
|
|
separate, so you can keep native modules for several architectures at the same
|
|
time and switch which are active using a `yarn run hak copy` command, passing
|
|
the appropriate architectures. This will error if you haven't yet built those
|
|
architectures. eg:
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
yarn run build:native --target x86_64-apple-darwin
|
|
# We've now built & linked into place native modules for Intel
|
|
yarn run build:native --target aarch64-apple-darwin
|
|
# We've now built Apple Silicon modules too, and linked them into place as the active ones
|
|
|
|
yarn run hak copy --target x86_64-apple-darwin
|
|
# We've now switched back to our Intel modules
|
|
yarn run hak copy --target x86_64-apple-darwin --target aarch64-apple-darwin
|
|
# Now our native modules are universal x86_64+aarch64 binaries
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
The current set of native modules are stored in `.hak/hakModules`,
|
|
so you can use this to check what architecture is currently in place, eg:
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
$ lipo -info .hak/hakModules/keytar/build/Release/keytar.node
|
|
Architectures in the fat file: .hak/hakModules/keytar/build/Release/keytar.node are: x86_64 arm64
|
|
```
|