Install rules for Bazel

This is not an officially supported Google product.

Overview

This project aims at making it easy to install Bazel projects on local workstations.

Features

• installer rule:
  • Installs given file(s) in a directory.
  • Installs a directory tree.
  • Prevents accidental installation of debug builds.
  • Renames installed files.
  • Selects a sensible default install prefix.
  • When needed asks for write access (sudo).
• OS support:
  • Linux
  • macOS
  • Windows

Rules

• installer

Setup

1. In the WORKSPACE file of your Bazel project add the following:

   load("@bazel_tools//tools/build_defs/repo:http.bzl", "http_archive")
   
   http_archive(
       name = "com_github_google_rules_install",
       urls = ["https://github.com/google/bazel_rules_install/releases/download/0.3/bazel_rules_install-0.3.tar.gz"],
       sha256 = "ea2a9f94fed090859589ac851af3a1c6034c5f333804f044f8f094257c33bdb3",
       strip_prefix = "bazel_rules_install-0.3",
   )
   
   load("@com_github_google_rules_install//:deps.bzl", "install_rules_dependencies")
   
   install_rules_dependencies()
   
   load("@com_github_google_rules_install//:setup.bzl", "install_rules_setup")
   
   install_rules_setup()

2. In the BUILD file of the package where you want to add an installer add the following:

   # In file src/path/to/pkg/BUILD:
   
   load("@com_github_google_rules_install//installer:def.bzl", "installer")
   
   installer(
       name = "install_foo",
       data = [":foo"],
   )

Usage

Run the installer using bazel run. The following example installs foo in ~/bin:

bazel run //src/path/to/pkg:install_foo -- ~/bin

sudo

If you need to use sudo to install a file in a system directory:

• Do not run sudo bazel.
• Instead pass flag -s to the installer.

bazel run //src/path/to/pkg:install_foo -- -s /usr/local/bin

Debug builds

By default installer uses targets built with -c opt. To disable this override of a command line flag use compilation_mode = "" attribute:

installer(
    name = "install_foo",
    compilation_mode = "",
    data = [":foo"],
)

Alternatively you can force a debug build:

installer(
    name = "install_foo_dbg",
    compilation_mode = "dbg",
    data = [":foo"],
)

See also

• Examples