build-dash-ha-container

name: build-dash-ha-container description: 'Create the sonic-dash-ha Docker build container from scratch and verify the repo compiles. Use when: setting up a new build container, bootstrapping the dash-ha dev environment, "create the build container", "set up sonic-dash-ha container", installing build dependencies, building libswsscommon.' argument-hint: 'Optional: container name, repo path, or base image to override defaults'

Build the sonic-dash-ha Container

When to Use

• Setting up a fresh local build environment for sonic-dash-ha
• The sonic-dash-ha build container does not exist yet (check with docker ps -a)
• Onboarding a new developer who needs a reproducible build container

This skill creates the build container. To compile/test in an existing container, use the build-test-dash-ha skill instead.

Prerequisites

• Docker installed and running (docker --version)
• Network access to pull ubuntu:22.04, clone sonic-swss-common, and fetch crates

Default Configuration

The host repo path is a placeholder — substitute the actual path to the user's local sonic-dash-ha checkout. If the user provides a different container name or base image, use those instead.

Procedure

Step 1: Create the container

Bind-mount the host repo so builds operate on the working tree directly.

docker run -d --name sonic-dash-ha --hostname sonic-dash-ha \
  -v <path-to-sonic-dash-ha>:/sonic-dash-ha \
  -w /sonic-dash-ha ubuntu:22.04 sleep infinity
docker ps --filter name=sonic-dash-ha --format '{{.Names}}\t{{.Status}}'

If a container with the same name already exists, stop and tell the user. Do not delete it without confirmation.

Step 2: Install system build dependencies

This includes the Rust/protobuf toolchain, the full sonic-swss-common build dependency chain, and libclang-dev/clang (required by bindgen in the swss-common crate — easy to miss).

docker exec -e DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive sonic-dash-ha bash -c "apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
  build-essential make protobuf-compiler libprotobuf-dev curl git ca-certificates \
  pkg-config libssl-dev autoconf automake libtool libhiredis-dev \
  libnl-3-dev libnl-genl-3-dev libnl-route-3-dev libnl-nf-3-dev swig4.0 \
  libboost-serialization-dev libboost-dev uuid-dev libzmq3-dev libgtest-dev libgmock-dev \
  cmake nlohmann-json3-dev python3 python3-dev python-is-python3 cython3 \
  libclang-dev clang"

Step 3: Install the Rust toolchain

docker exec sonic-dash-ha bash -c "curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh -s -- -y --default-toolchain stable"
docker exec sonic-dash-ha /root/.cargo/bin/rustc --version

Step 4: Build libswsscommon (with the redisapi.h patch)

Clone sonic-swss-common, apply the README patch that redirects the hard-coded Lua script path, configure with YANG modules disabled (avoids the sonic_yang/libyang dependency, which isn't needed for the FFI bridge), then build.

docker exec sonic-dash-ha bash -c "cd /opt && git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/sonic-net/sonic-swss-common && \
  sed -i 's#return readTextFile(\"/usr/share/swss/\" + path);#return readTextFile(\"/opt/sonic-swss-common/common/\" + path);#' /opt/sonic-swss-common/common/redisapi.h"

docker exec sonic-dash-ha bash -c "cd /opt/sonic-swss-common && ./autogen.sh && \
  ./configure --enable-yangmodules=no && make -j \$(nproc)"

Verify the shared library was produced:

docker exec sonic-dash-ha bash -c "ls -l /opt/sonic-swss-common/common/.libs/libswsscommon.so"

Step 5: Persist build environment variables

Write the env vars to a profile script and source it from .bashrc so every docker exec bash -l session has them.

docker exec sonic-dash-ha bash -c 'printf "export PATH=\"/root/.cargo/bin:\$PATH\"\nexport SWSS_COMMON_REPO=\"/opt/sonic-swss-common\"\nexport LD_LIBRARY_PATH=\"/opt/sonic-swss-common/common/.libs\"\n" > /etc/profile.d/dash-ha.sh; \
  grep -q dash-ha.sh /root/.bashrc || echo "source /etc/profile.d/dash-ha.sh" >> /root/.bashrc'

Step 6: Verify the repo builds

docker exec sonic-dash-ha bash -lc "cd /sonic-dash-ha && cargo build --workspace 2>&1 | tail -n 30"

A successful run ends with Finished \dev` profile ... target(s)and exit code 0, compiling all crates includinghamgrd, swbusd, and swss-common-bridge`.

Gotchas

• libclang: The swss-common crate uses bindgen, which needs libclang-dev. Without it the build fails with "Unable to find libclang". Not mentioned in the README.
• YANG modules: The default sonic-swss-common build enables YANG modules and requires the sonic_yang Python module + libyang. Use --enable-yangmodules=no to skip that dependency chain — the FFI bridge does not need it.
• Python required by configure: sonic-swss-common's configure aborts without a Python interpreter; install python3/python3-dev before configuring.
• redisapi.h patch: The hard-coded /usr/share/swss/ path must be patched to the clone location, or runtime Lua script loading breaks. See the README for details.
• Bind mount vs. docker cp: This skill bind-mounts the host repo so edits are immediately visible. The build-test-dash-ha skill instead copies a fresh tree in; pick whichever workflow the user expects.
• Base image: ubuntu:22.04 (jammy) provides compatible protoc, boost, and libclang-14 versions. Newer bases may pull incompatible toolchain versions.