StarRocks Nix

Native Nix support for Linux and Apple Silicon macOS. No Docker.

Development shell

Use the shell when you want the build tools on your machine:

nix develop
starrocks-build-env --print
starrocks-build-env --fe

The wrapper only sets environment variables and then runs the normal StarRocks build.sh.

Direnv users can run direnv allow once. The checked-in .envrc enters this default shell. Use nix develop .#be explicitly for backend work.

Backend builds need the native third-party tree. Use the backend shell when you want that tree provided by Nix:

nix develop .#be
starrocks-build-env --be

The backend shell sets STARROCKS_THIRDPARTY to the Nix-built .#starrocks-thirdparty output. It does not copy dependencies into the checkout.

Package build

Use the package when you want Nix to build StarRocks:

nix build .#starrocks --cores 0 --max-jobs 1

This builds the current checkout into the Nix store. The derivation uses:

• Nix-provided build tools and JDK 21
• fixed-output third-party source archives
• a pinned offline Maven dependency repository
• the normal StarRocks third-party and top-level build scripts

Third-party dependencies are split into cacheable Nix layers:

• .#starrocks-thirdparty-foundation
• .#starrocks-thirdparty-rpc
• .#starrocks-thirdparty-formats
• .#starrocks-thirdparty-leaf

.#starrocks-thirdparty points at the assembled final third-party tree, and .#starrocks consumes that tree directly from the Nix store.

--cores 0 lets one build use all local cores. --max-jobs 1 avoids starting several large StarRocks builds at once.

The package build disables the optional binary payloads that are not native source inputs here: starcache, tenann, Jindo SDK, GCS connector, pprof, and the bundled JDK.

After changing third-party archive variables or the package manifest, run ./nix/generate-thirdparty-archives.py.

Single node and multi node

The flake builds one StarRocks output tree. For local single-node use, run FE and BE from that output tree on one machine with the normal StarRocks configs. For a multi-node setup, use the same output tree on each host and configure FE/BE/CN roles the usual StarRocks way.

CI

The Nix workflow checks:

• x86_64-linux
• aarch64-linux
• aarch64-darwin

Normal PR CI evaluates the derivations and checks the shell. A manual full-build workflow input runs the expensive nix build .#starrocks package build on the full matrix.

Cachix

Cache publishing is separate from PR checks. Pushes to main, or a manual run with publish-cache, build .#starrocks for the full matrix and push the result to Cachix. The publish-nix GitHub environment must provide:

• CACHIX_CACHE_NAME
• CACHIX_AUTH_TOKEN