Release 7.0.0rc3 (2023-11-08)

Please refer to this doc for the most up-to-date release notes.

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Release Notes:

• [Incompatible] This has the side effect of changing the message on unsuccessful builds from FAILED: Build did NOT complete successfully (0 packages loaded) to ERROR: Build did NOT complete successfully
• The new path variable $(rlocationpath ...) and its plural form $(rlocationpaths ...) can be used to expand labels to the paths accepted by the Rlocation function of runfiles libraries. This is the preferred way to access data dependencies at runtime and works on all platforms, even when runfiles are not enabled (e.g., on Windows by default).
• The aquery and cquery commands now respect the --query_file flag just like the query command.
• [Incompatible] the –experimental_async_execution flag is now a no-op.
• [Incompatible] –experimental_replay_action_out_err is not a no-op.
• [Incompatible] cquery --output=files also outputs source files.
• removed outdated ctx.host_fragments
• [Incompatible] When multiple –deleted_packages options are passed on the command line, they will be concatenated instead of the latest one taking effect.
• removed outdated ctx.host_configuration
• [Incompatible] JSON profile: Use doubles instead of strings for counter series.
• Now that the host configuration is finished, genrule should prefer the use of tools and stop using exec_tools.
• [Incompatible] –experimental_build_transitive_python_runfiles is flipped to false. See #16303 for details
• [Incompatible] –incompatible_python_disable_py2 is flipped to true. See #17293 for details.
• Update Android manifest merger to v30.1.3, and also drop support for legacy (pre-D8) desugaring.
• Correctly encode double value positive infinity as “inf” instead of “+inf” for textprotos.
• [Incompatible] When remote cache evicts blobs, Bazel will exit with code 39.
• Add –use_target_platform_for_tests which uses the target platform for executing tests instead of the execution platform.
• [Incompatible] --features only applies to targets built in the target configuration, and --host_features is used for the host / exec configuration (gated behind --incompatible_use_host_features)
• Custom C++ rules on Windows calling cc_common.create_linking_context_from_compilation_outputs should review whether each target of the rule type should produce a dynamic library since a condition which blocked their creation has been moved to the rules from behind the API.
• Add flag --experimental_remote_cache_ttl and set the default value to 3 hours.
• making –incompatible_use_platforms_repo_for_constraints do nothing. Using constraints from @bazel_tools//platforms with or without the flag will throw error with message “Constraints from @bazel_tools//platforms have been removed. Please use constraints from @platforms repository embedded in Bazel, or preferably declare dependency on https://github.com/bazelbuild/platforms”
• [Incompatible] Bazel’s local CPU resource on Linux is now container aware. Use --local_cpu_resources, --loading_phase_threads or --jobs to override.
• Subsequent settings of –extra_execution_platforms now override previous settings, instead of adding them to a list. If you currently set –extra_execution_platforms more than once, please migrate by passing a list of values to –extra_execution_platforms instead so that earlier values aren’t overwritten.
• @bazel_tools//config:common_settings.bzl has been removed. Use @bazel_skylib//rules:common_settings.bzl instead.
• [Incompatible] copy_from_rule is exec_groups is deprecated (https://github.com/bazelbuild/bazel/issues/17668).
• cc_shared_library is no longer experimental, see https://github.com/bazelbuild/bazel/issues/16709 for details
• [Incompatible] –legacy_bazel_java_test is now a no-op
• The flag --distinct_host_configuration is removed. It has been a no-op since Bazel 6.0.0.
• Add --skip_incompatible_explicit_targets option
• [Incompatible] --experimental_execution_graph_log no longer exists. Current users that want local logs need to pass --experimental_enable_execution_graph_log --experimental_execution_graph_log_path=/some/local/path. Current users that want logs uploaded to BEP need to pass --experimental_enable_execution_graph_log --experimental_stream_log_file_uploads.
• Remove ‘darwin’ as a CPU value, use ‘darwin_x86_64’ instead
• [Incompatible] Remove ‘darwin’ as a CPU value, use ‘darwin_x86_64’ instead
• cc_test can now be configured by using a native.toolchain().
• The location of rules that explicitly specify generator_name and/or generator_function attributes (typically because they are incidentally copied from native.existing_rule()) is now the top-level call in the BUILD file, which is consistent with rules that do not explicitly specify these attributes.
• Warnings (most notably those associated with the deprecation rule attribute) are no longer replayed on subsequent invocations unless the target in question is re-analyzed. Warnings are purely informational, so this change has no bearing on the correctness of the build. Downstream tests that break due to this change should update their expectations.
• --experimental_remote_build_event_upload has been renamed to --remote_build_event_upload
• [Incompatible] Remove high priority workers functionality from blaze.
• [Breaking change] platform, constraint_setting, and constraint_value can no longer take an applicable_licenses value. Remediation is to remove the attribute and rely on the package level default.
• --experimental_action_cache_store_output_metadata has been renamed to --action_cache_store_output_metadata
• Changed the default value for --remote_build_event_upload to minimal.
• --experimental_remote_cache_compression has been renamed to --remote_cache_compression
• Added a new max_compatibility_level attribute to the bazel_dep directive, which allows version selection to upgrade a dependency up to the specified compatibility level.
• --experimental_remote_grpc_log has been renamed to --remote_grpc_log
• --incompatible_remote_build_event_upload_respect_no_cache is now a no-op.
• json.decode now takes an optional default positional parameter; if this parameter is specified and decoding fails, json.decode will return the default value instead of failing Starlark evaluation.
• –experimental_repository_disable_download is now promoted to stable and is also available under the name –repository_disable_download .
• applicable_licenses is no longer allowed on the platform rule. Additionally, default_package_metadata from any package rule will not be applied.
• [Incompatible] Duplicates in when using query --output=xml --aspect_deps=precise are removed. Added flag --proto:include_attribute_source_aspects that will include a new field source_aspect_name to the Attribute message that indicates the source aspect that the attribute comes from.
• Options specified on the pseudo-command common in .rc files are now ignored by commands that do not support them as long as they are valid options for any Bazel command. Previously, commands that did not support all options given for common would fail to run. These previous semantics of common are now available via the new always pseudo-command.
• [Incompatible] --incompatible_check_sharding_support is enabled by default. Sharded tests with test runners that do not properly advertise support for test sharding will fail. Refer to https://github.com/bazelbuild/bazel/issues/18339 for migration advice.
• the ‘default’ param of json.decode can now be used as a keyword parameter.
• As a transitional step in a larger refactoring, rule transitions are applied twice. Once during dependency resolution and once right before analysis of those rules. After the refactoring is complete, rule transitions will be applied only once.
• Add aquery –output=streamed_proto which writes a stream of length delimited ActionGraphContainer containing a single Artifact, Action, Target, DepSetOfFiles, Configuration, AspectDescriptor, RuleClass, PathFragment proto. This breaks up the ActionGraphContainer into multiple which will prevent large protos from crashing blaze.
• (BEP) TargetConfigured events will be marked aborted instead of published when there is an analysis error. This is motivated by a low level Blaze change aimed at improving scalability.
• [Incompatible] cc_binary targets with dynamic_deps attributes no longer link indirect dynamic_deps on Unix. This might be an incompatible change if you are using RUNPATHs (instead of RPATHs) in your cc_shared_libraries. Enable the feature “exclude_bazel_rpaths_in_transitive_libs” or “use_rpath_instead_of_runpath” for those cc_shared_libraries.
• Enable starlark_doc_extract - a native rule for Starlark documentation extraction. This rule is intended mainly for internal use by Stardoc.
• [Incompatible] Remove deprecated and unused --experimental_show_artifacts flag.
• Added the target path of an UnresolvedSymlink action to the aquery results
• Additional source inputs can now be specified for compilation in cc_library targets using the additional_compiler_inputs attribute, and these inputs can be used in the $(location) function.
• More descriptive error messages for unexpected cc absolute includes; unexpected absolute includes for cc compiles shouldn’t be reported as “undeclared inclusion(s)”
• Enable C++ branch coverage if gcov version is 8 or newer.
• Deduplicates the result of split transitions uniformly, regardless of whether they are Starlark or native transitions. This used to apply only if either the attribute or rule transition contained a Starlark transition.
• Support for optimizers rewriting baseline profiles.
• This is a breaking change. cc_host_toolchain_alias rule is obsolete and can be interchangeably used with cc_toolchain_alias rule.
• Fixes non-ascii arguments written to parameter files as mojibake.
• The genrule attribute exec_tools will be removed in a future Bazel release. Please follow directions at #19132 to migrate away from it.
• [Incompatible] Removed multi_arch_split, use transition_support.apple_platform_split_transition from rules_apple instead.
• Supports for android_binary.startup_profiles attribute.
• [Incompatible] Removed apple_crosstool_transition, use transition_support.apple_rule_transition from rules_apple instead.
• [Incompatible] Drop deprecated ‘transitive_deps’, ‘transitive_runtime_deps’ from JavaInfo
• [Incompatible] The –android_include_proguard_location_references flag is not supported anymore.
• [Incompatible] The –apple_compiler command line option is not available anymore.
• rule() and attr.* can no longer be (pointlessly) called during WORKSPACE evaluation and repository rule evaluation.
• Expands baseline profile wildcards before optimizer tools see them.
• [Incompatible] –no_proguard_location_reference is now added unconditionally to the command line of aapt2.
• [Incompatible] The command line flag –apple_enable_auto_dsym_dbg is not supported anymore.
• [Incompatible] The –apple_compiler command line option is not available anymore.
• [Incompatible] py_transitions top-level was removed.
• Android resources will no longer propagate through neverlinked libraries by default.
• Set Android Databinding to v2 and Databinging AndroidX to true and remove support for Databinding V1.
• Added whether or not a FileWrite action’s output is executable to the aquery results
• –use_single_jar_apk_builder is removed. It’s been a no-op for years.
• [Incompatible] –incompatible_merge_fixed_and_default_shell_env is flipped to true. See #19317 for details.
• JVM options in environment variables JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS and JDK_JAVA_OPTIONS now do not get to the server; use –host_jvm_args instead.
• –remote_download_minimal no longer implies –nobuild_runfile_links.
• attr objects in Starlark now use value equality rather than reference equality.
• [Incompatible] cmd_helper module was removed
• [Incompatible] ctx.new_file was removed, ctx.actions.declare_file is to be used instead.
• [Incompatible] Fails on unknown attributes (even when set to None). See https://github.com/bazelbuild/bazel/issues/19403
• Change output paths to consistently start with [cpu]-[compilation_mode] along with other cleanups to output path generation logic.
• Compilation actions using the auto-configured MSVC toolchain are forced to emit error messages in English if the English language pack for Visual Studio is installed.
• [Incompatible] Flip incompatible_enable_cc_toolchain_resolution (https://github.com/bazelbuild/bazel/issues/7260)
• The new --consistent_labels option on query, cquery, and aquery can be used to force consistent label formatting across all output modes that is also compatible with str(Label(...)) in Starlark.
• [Incompatible] proto_compiler attribute removed from proto_lang_toolchain (it was recently introduced, and there is no evidence of use)
• [Incompatible] –experimental_genquery_use_graphless_query is made to be a NO-OP.
• [Incompatible] The –call_count_output_path command line option is not supported anymore.
• [Incompatible] The no-op –dynamic_worker_strategy command line option is no available anymore.
• [Incompatible] the –experimental_allow_top_level_aspects_parameters, –experimental_async_execution, –experimental_availability_info_exempt, –experimental_dynamic_execution_cpu_limited, –experimental_dynamic_skip_first_build, –experimental_keep_config_nodes_on_analysis_discard, –experimental_local_memory_estimate, –experimental_multi_cpu, –experimental_multi_threaded_digest, –experimental_replay_action_out_err and –experimental_shortened_obj_file_path command line options are not available anymore.
• [Incompatible] The –experimental_cc_shared_library_debug command line flag is not available anymore.
• [Incompatible] testing.analysis_test is not experimental anymore
• [Incompatible] The (no-op) –android_include_proguard_location_references flag is not available anymore.
• [Incompatible] The –experimental_android_local_test_binary_resources command line option is not available anymore.
• [Incompatible] The –experimental_includes_attribute_subpackage_traversal command line option is not available anymore.
• [Incompatible] The –debug_print_action_contexts command line option is not available anymore.
• [Incompatible] The –experimental_skyframe_include_scanning command line option is not available anymore.
• [Incompatible] The –experimental_supports_info_crosstool_configuration command line option is not available anymore.
• [Incompatible] THe –incompatible_avoid_conflict_dlls command line option is not available anymore.
• [Incompatible] The –experimental_prioritize_local_actions command line option is not available anymore.
• [Incompatible] The following command line options are not supported anymore: –incompatible_disable_cc_configuration_make_variables, –incompatible_disable_cc_toolchain_label_from_crosstool_proto, –incompatible_disable_crosstool_file, –incompatible_disable_depset_in_cc_user_flags, –incompatible_disable_legacy_cpp_toolchain_skylark_api, –incompatible_disable_legacy_cpp_toolchain_skylark_api, incompatible_disable_legacy_flags_cc_toolchain_api, –incompatible_disable_managed_directories, –incompatible_disable_runtimes_filegroups, –incompatible_disable_sysroot_from_configuration, –incompatible_disable_tools_defaults_package, –incompatible_disallow_legacy_javainfo, –incompatible_dont_emit_static_libgcc, –incompatible_enable_legacy_cpp_toolchain_skylark_api, –incompatible_linkopts_in_user_link_flags, –incompatible_provide_cc_toolchain_info_from_cc_toolchain_suite, –incompatible_require_feature_configuration_for_pic .
• [Incompatible] The –experimental_execution_graph_log_cached and –experimental_execution_graph_log_missed command line options are not available anymore.
• [Incompatible] The –experimental_use_sh_binary_stub_script command line option is not available anymore.
• [Incompatible] The –incompatible_disable_expand_if_all_available_in_flag_set command line option is not available anymore.
• default_applicable_licenses in package() now applies to the entire BUILD file, regardless of where in the BUILD that package() is called.
• [Incompatible] The –incompatible_load_cc_rules_from_bzl command line option is not available anymore.
• [Incompatible] The –incompatible_display_source_file_location command line option is not available anymore.
• [Incompatible] The –experimental_repository_hash_file and –experimental_verify_repository_rules command line options are not available anymore.
• [Incompatible] The following previously no-op command line options are not available anymore: –legacy_spawn_scheduler, –use_workers_with_dexbuilder, –print_workspace_in_output_paths_if_needed, –watchos_simulator_version, –watchos_simulator_device, –tvos_simulator_version, –tvos_simulator_device.
• [Incompatible] The –show_warnings command line option of the command “canonicalize-flags” is not available anymore.
• [Incompatible] The command line option –remove_all_convenience_symlinks is not available anymore.
• [Incompatible] java_test doesn’t produce deploy jars anymore
• [Incompatible] The lazy template expansion is not experimental anymore (–experimental_lazy_template_expansion command line option is not available anymore).
• [Incompatible] The –incompatible_disallow_legacy_javainfo command line option is not available anymore.
• [Incompatible] The –incompatible_remove_cpu_and_compiler_attributes_from_cc_toolchain command line option is not available anymore. Using the “cpu” and “compiler” options of the cc_toolchain rule now results in a slightly different error that is signaled earlier.
• [Incompatible] THe –incompatible_force_strict_header_check_from_starlark command line option is not available anymore.
• [Incompatible] –incompatible_visibility_private_attributes_at_definition is flipped to true. See https://github.com/bazelbuild/bazel/issues/19330 for details.
• [Incompatible] The –experimental_java_proto_library_default_has_services command line option and the Starlark symbol java_common.experimental_java_proto_library_default_has_services function are not available anymore.
• [Incompatible] The no-op –experimental_cpp_compile_argv_ignore_param_file command line option is not available anymore.
• Make variable expansion of objc_library produces better error messages.
• [Incompatible] rule function takes only implementation function positionally, other parameters have to be named
• [Incompatible] The –incompatible_genquery_use_graphless_query command line options is not available anymore.
• Added support for a new directive use_repo_rule in MODULE.bazel files, which allows you to conveniently declare repos that are only visible within your module.
• Bazel now throws an error if the root module specifies overrides on nonexistent modules.
• Fix includes attribute of objc_library when sibling repository layout is used.
• Directories used by sandboxed non-worker execution may be reused to avoid unnecessary setup costs. Disable behavior with –noreuse_sandbox_directories.
• [Incompatible] The sandboxfs sandboxing strategy is removed. It hadn’t been maintained for a long time, it didn’t work for most users and it was not consistently faster while being complex to set up. sandboxfs performance is heavily dependent on the specific setup (setup costs are lower, but you have to pay a penalty for the use of each input) and there are scenarios where it is faster and scenarios where it is slower. Overall it is not worth its weight.
• Symlink trees created by sandboxing will be deleted asynchronously. Disable behavior with –experimental_sandbox_async_tree_delete_idle_threads=0.
• [Incompatible] Bzlmod is enabled by default, please consider migrating your external dependencies from WORKSPACE to MODULE.bazel. Find more details at https://github.com/bazelbuild/bazel/issues/18958
• Enable Platforms and Toolchains for Android. Android projects will need to stop passing the legacy flag --fat_apk_cpu, and instead use --android_platforms using platforms defined with the @platforms//os:android constraint. The https://github.com/bazelbuild/rules_android repository defines four standard Android platforms for projects that use those rules, @rules_android//:armeabi-v7a, @rules_android//:arm64-v8a, @rules_android//:x86, @rules_android//:x86_64.
• [Incompatible] Java runtime toolchains created via local_java_repository from @bazel_tools//tools/jdk:local_java_repository.bzl, which includes local_jdk, now have target_compatible_with set to the auto-detected host constraints. This can result in errors about toolchain resolution failures for @bazel_tools//tools/jdk:runtime_toolchain_type, especially when cross-compiling. These failures can be fixed in the following ways (listed in decreasing order of preference): * Replace java_binary targets that aren’t meant to be run with bazel run or as tools during the build with java_single_jar (available in @rules_java//java:java_single_jar.bzl). Such targets do not require a Java runtime for the target configuration. * Set --java_runtime_version=remotejdk_N for some Java version N to let Bazel choose and download an appropriate remote JDK for the current target platform. This setting defaults to local_jdk, which means that Bazel can only use the local JDK, which isn’t compatible with any other platform. * Manually define and register a local_java_runtime with no value set for exec_compatible_with (defaults to []) and select it by setting --java_runtime_version to its name. This fully restores the previous behavior, but can result in incorrect results when cross-compiling (see #18265).
• [Incompatible] The attribute new_local_repository.build_file no longer accepts a path; a label must be passed instead.

Acknowledgements:

This release contains contributions from many people at Google, as well as Adam Lavin, Adrian Imboden, Alessandro Patti, Alex Eagle, Alexander Grund, AlexTereshenkov, Amanda L Martin, Amet Umerov, Andreas Herrmann, Andy Hamon, andyrinne12, Ankit Agarwal, Ankush Goyal, Anshuman Mishra, Anthony Ter-Saakov, Antoine Musso, Artem Zinnatullin, arun.sampathkumar, aryeh, Austin Schuh, bazel.build machine account, Ben Lee, Benjamin Lee, Benjamin Peterson, Benjamin Sigonneau, Boleyn Su, Brentley Jones, Cameron Martin, Chirag Ramani, Chris Sauer, Christopher Peterson Sauer, Christopher Rydell, Christopher Sauer, Conall O’Brien, Daniel Grunwald, Daniel KT, Daniel Wagner-Hall, David Ostrovsky, dhmemi, Dimi Shahbaz, eareilg, Ed Schouten, Emil Kattainen, Ezekiel Warren, Fabian Meumertzheim, Fahrzin Hemmati, Gaspare Vitta, George Gensure, Greg, Greg Magolan, Grzegorz Lukasik, Guillaume Maudoux, Gunnar Wagenknecht, Halil Sener, Hao Yuan, hvadehra, hvd, Ilan Keshet, Ivan Golub, Jack Dai, James Ma, Jason Mobarak, Jasper, Jay Conrod, Jeff Hodges, Jeremy Volkman, Jimm chja20, Joel Jeske, John Hinnegan, Jon Landis, Jon Parise, jonrose-dev, Joseph Lisee, Joseph Tilahun, Julio Merino, Kai Zhang, keertk, Keith Smiley, Konstantin Erman, Krzysztof Naglik, kshyanashree, Kun-Lu, Lee Mracek, Letu Ren, lripoche, Maksim, Malte Poll, Marc Redemske, Marc Zych, Matt Mackay, Matt Vollmer, Mauricio G, Mauricio Galindo, Maxim Matyunin, Maxwell Elliott, mohamadk, Nathan (Blaise) Bruer, nathyong, NelsonLi0701, nglevin, Nicholas Junge, Nick Biryulin, Nick Korostelev, Oliver Lee, Orion Hodson, Oscar Garzon, Patrice Duroux, Patrick Balestra, Peter Lobsinger, Philipp Schrader, Rasrack, Red Daly, redwrasse, Robin Tweedie, robincaloudis, Roger Hu, Roman Salvador, Sagar Pathare, Saleem Abdulrasool, Sam Shadwell, Sara Adams, Sascha Moecker, Scott Minor, Severin Strobl, Shaygan Hooshyari, Siddhesh Bhupendra Kuakde, Simon Mavi Stewart, something_vague, Son Luong Ngoc, Steve Barrau, Stiopa Koltsov, stoozy, Sushain Cherivirala, Takeo Sawada, Taylor Barrella, tbaing, Ted Kaplan, Ted Logan, Thi Don, Thulio Ferraz Assis, Timothy Gu, Tom Cnops, Tyler Williams, Ulf Adams, Ulrik Falklof, Uri Baghin, Vertexwahn, Xavier Bonaventura, Xdng Yng, Xiangquan Xiao, Xùdōng Yáng, Yannic, Yannic Bonenberger, Yi Cheng, Yuval Kaplan, yuzhy8701, Zheng Wei Tan.

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Index of files

• bazel-7.0.0rc3-darwin-arm64 [SHA-256] [SIG]
• bazel-7.0.0rc3-darwin-x86_64 [SHA-256] [SIG]
• bazel-7.0.0rc3-dist.zip [SHA-256] [SIG]
• bazel-7.0.0rc3-installer-darwin-arm64.sh [SHA-256] [SIG]
• bazel-7.0.0rc3-installer-darwin-x86_64.sh [SHA-256] [SIG]
• bazel-7.0.0rc3-installer-linux-x86_64.sh [SHA-256] [SIG]
• bazel-7.0.0rc3-linux-arm64 [SHA-256] [SIG]
• bazel-7.0.0rc3-linux-x86_64 [SHA-256] [SIG]
• bazel-7.0.0rc3-windows-arm64.exe [SHA-256] [SIG]
• bazel-7.0.0rc3-windows-arm64.zip [SHA-256] [SIG]
• bazel-7.0.0rc3-windows-x86_64.exe [SHA-256] [SIG]
• bazel-7.0.0rc3-windows-x86_64.zip [SHA-256] [SIG]
• bazel_7.0.0rc3-linux-x86_64.deb [SHA-256] [SIG]
• bazel_7.0.0rc3.dsc [SHA-256] [SIG]
• bazel_7.0.0rc3.tar.gz [SHA-256] [SIG]
• bazel_nojdk-7.0.0rc3-darwin-arm64 [SHA-256] [SIG]
• bazel_nojdk-7.0.0rc3-darwin-x86_64 [SHA-256] [SIG]
• bazel_nojdk-7.0.0rc3-linux-arm64 [SHA-256] [SIG]
• bazel_nojdk-7.0.0rc3-linux-x86_64 [SHA-256] [SIG]
• bazel_nojdk-7.0.0rc3-windows-arm64.exe [SHA-256] [SIG]
• bazel_nojdk-7.0.0rc3-windows-x86_64.exe [SHA-256] [SIG]