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NativeLink supports any build tool that implements the Remote Execution API. This guide covers integration with additional build tools beyond Bazel, Buck2, and Reclient.

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Pants Build

Pants is a modern build system that supports remote caching and execution through the Remote Execution API.

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Configuration

1

Configure pants.toml

Add remote execution settings to your pants.toml:
pants.toml
[GLOBAL]
remote_execution = true
remote_store_address = "grpc://localhost:50051"
remote_execution_address = "grpc://localhost:50051"
remote_instance_name = "main"

# Optional: Specify platform properties
remote_execution_extra_platform_properties = [
  "OSFamily=linux",
  "cpu_arch=x86_64",
]
2

Enable remote caching

For cache-only mode (no remote execution):
pants.toml
[GLOBAL]
remote_cache_read = true
remote_cache_write = true
remote_store_address = "grpc://localhost:50051"
remote_instance_name = "main"
3

Run Pants build

pants test ::

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Authentication

pants.toml
[GLOBAL]
remote_store_address = "grpcs://cache.example.com:50051"
remote_ca_certs_path = "/path/to/ca.crt"
remote_client_certs_path = "/path/to/client.crt"
remote_client_key_path = "/path/to/client.key"

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Platform Properties

Specify execution requirements:
pants.toml
[GLOBAL]
remote_execution_extra_platform_properties = [
  "OSFamily=linux",
  "cpu_arch=x86_64",
  "cpu_count=4",
  "memory_kb=8000000",
]

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Goma

Goma is Google’s distributed compiler system, primarily used for Chromium builds. NativeLink provides compatibility with Goma’s protocol.

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Overview

Goma acts as a compiler proxy, distributing compilation tasks across multiple workers:

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Configuration

1

Set Goma environment variables

export GOMA_SERVER_HOST="localhost"
export GOMA_SERVER_PORT="50051"
export GOMA_USE_SSL="false"
export GOMA_ARBITRARY_TOOLCHAIN_SUPPORT="true"
2

Configure compiler paths

export GOMA_CC="gcc"
export GOMA_CXX="g++"
3

Start Goma client

goma_ctl.py ensure_start
4

Build with Goma

# Chromium example
gn gen out/Release --args='use_goma=true'
ninja -C out/Release -j200 chrome
goma_config.json5
{
  stores: [
    {
      name: "CAS_STORE",
      filesystem: {
        content_path: "/tmp/nativelink/goma_cas",
        temp_path: "/tmp/nativelink/goma_tmp",
        eviction_policy: { max_bytes: "50gb" },
      },
    },
  ],
  schedulers: [
    {
      name: "GOMA_SCHEDULER",
      simple: {
        supported_platform_properties: {
          cpu_count: "minimum",
          OSFamily: "exact",
        },
      },
    },
  ],
  workers: [
    {
      local: {
        worker_api_endpoint: { uri: "grpc://127.0.0.1:50061" },
        cas_fast_slow_store: "CAS_STORE",
        work_directory: "/tmp/nativelink/goma_work",
        platform_properties: {
          cpu_count: { values: ["32"] },
          OSFamily: { values: ["linux"] },
        },
      },
    },
  ],
  servers: [
    {
      name: "public",
      listener: { http: { socket_address: "0.0.0.0:50051" } },
      services: {
        cas: [{ instance_name: "main", cas_store: "CAS_STORE" }],
        execution: [
          {
            instance_name: "main",
            cas_store: "CAS_STORE",
            scheduler: "GOMA_SCHEDULER",
          },
        ],
        bytestream: [{ instance_name: "main", cas_store: "CAS_STORE" }],
      },
    },
  ],
}

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Android Soong

Soong is the build system for the Android platform, supporting remote execution for Android system builds.

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Configuration

1

Configure RBE settings

Create or update rbe_config.json:
rbe_config.json
{
  "exec_strategy": "remote",
  "server_address": "localhost:50051",
  "instance": "main",
  "use_application_default_credentials": false,
  "platform": {
    "OSFamily": "linux",
    "container-image": "android-build"
  }
}
2

Set environment variables

export USE_RBE=true
export RBE_server_address="localhost:50051"
export RBE_instance="main"
export RBE_exec_strategy="remote"
3

Build Android

source build/envsetup.sh
lunch aosp_arm64-eng
m -j$(nproc)

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Platform Configuration

Specify Android build platform properties:
platform.json
{
  "platform": {
    "OSFamily": "linux",
    "cpu_arch": "x86_64",
    "container-image": "android-build-container",
    "docker-runtime": "runc",
    "Pool": "android"
  }
}

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Custom Remote Execution Clients

For custom build tools, implement the Remote Execution API client:

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Basic Implementation

example_client.py
import grpc
from build.bazel.remote.execution.v2 import (
    remote_execution_pb2,
    remote_execution_pb2_grpc
)

def execute_remotely(command, inputs, output_files):
    # Connect to NativeLink
    channel = grpc.insecure_channel('localhost:50051')
    stub = remote_execution_pb2_grpc.ExecutionStub(channel)

    # Create action
    action = remote_execution_pb2.Action(
        command_digest=upload_command(command),
        input_root_digest=upload_inputs(inputs),
        output_files=output_files,
    )

    # Execute
    request = remote_execution_pb2.ExecuteRequest(
        instance_name='main',
        action_digest=upload_action(action),
    )

    response = stub.Execute(request)
    return handle_response(response)

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Required API Endpoints

Implement the following Remote Execution API services: 
service Execution {
  rpc Execute(ExecuteRequest) returns (stream Operation);
  rpc WaitExecution(WaitExecutionRequest) returns (stream Operation);
}

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Testing Integration

1

Start NativeLink

nativelink config.json5
2

Verify connectivity

grpcurl -plaintext localhost:50051 list
Expected output:
build.bazel.remote.execution.v2.ActionCache
build.bazel.remote.execution.v2.ContentAddressableStorage
build.bazel.remote.execution.v2.Execution
grpc.health.v1.Health
3

Test with your build tool

Run a simple build and verify remote execution:
# Check NativeLink logs for execution requests
tail -f /var/log/nativelink/nativelink.log

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Common Configuration Patterns

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Multi-tenant Setup

Use instance names to separate different projects: 
{
  servers: [
    {
      services: {
        cas: [
          { instance_name: "project-a", cas_store: "CAS_PROJECT_A" },
          { instance_name: "project-b", cas_store: "CAS_PROJECT_B" },
        ],
      },
    },
  ],
}

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Build Tool-Specific Workers

Configure workers with specific capabilities: 
{
  workers: [
    {
      local: {
        platform_properties: {
          "build-tool": { values: ["pants"] },
          "python-version": { values: ["3.11"] },
        },
      },
    },
    {
      local: {
        platform_properties: {
          "build-tool": { values: ["soong"] },
          "android-sdk": { values: ["33"] },
        },
      },
    },
  ],
}

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Troubleshooting

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Unsupported platform properties

Ensure NativeLink scheduler supports your platform properties: 
{
  schedulers: [
    {
      simple: {
        supported_platform_properties: {
          "your-custom-property": "exact",
        },
      },
    },
  ],
}

​
Protocol version mismatches

Verify your client uses Remote Execution API v2: 
grpcurl -plaintext localhost:50051 \
  describe build.bazel.remote.execution.v2.Execution

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Next Steps

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