Changes/.NETOnAarch64

.NET Core on Aarch64

Summary

.NET Core will now be available on Fedora on aarch64, in addition to x86_64.

Owner

• Name: Omair Majid, DotNet SIG
• Email: omajid@redhat.com, dotnet-sig@lists.fedoraproject.org

Current status

• Targeted release: Fedora 33
• Last updated: 2020-07-14
• FESCo issue: <will be assigned by the Wrangler>
• Tracker bug: <will be assigned by the Wrangler>
• Release notes tracker: <will be assigned by the Wrangler>

Detailed Description

Fedora currently includes .NET Core only on x86_64. We want to make .NET Core available on Aarch64 as well for our users.

.NET Core documentation calls the Linux/aarch64 platform "linux-arm64".

This platform has been supported by upstream .NET Core for a little while now (2 years or so). But upstream cross-compile it on x86_64. With recent upstream improvements, we can now build .NET Core for aarch64 on aarch64.

In the spirit of being First on Fedora, we want to make .NET Core available for aarch64 on Fedora.

Feedback

We don't have any feedback at this time from the community.

Upstream is enthusiastic and supportive of us enabling this in Fedora.

Benefit to Fedora

This change improves the coverage of Fedora packages on aarch64. .NET Core was previously only available on x86_64; it's now available on aarch64 as well. Users who are using Fedora on aarch64 can now use the normal distribution packages for .NET Core, instead of having to find, download an installing .NET Core some other way. As a result of this, Fedora becomes a more attractive target for developing and deploying applications on aarch64.

Scope

• Proposal owners:

- Will update .NET Core to bootstrap and build on aarch64 (along with x86_64). This shouldn't affect any other packages. - Will work with package owners of any .NET Core dependencies on aarch64 if those specific dependencies of .NET Core are broken, buggy or un-available on aarch64

• Other developers: N/A (not a System Wide Change)

• Release engineering: N/A #Releng issue number (a check of an impact with Release Engineering is needed)

• Policies and guidelines: N/A (not a System Wide Change)

• Trademark approval: N/A (not needed for this Change)

Upgrade/compatibility impact

N/A (not a System Wide Change)

There is no known impact on upgrades.

.NET Core was just not available Fedora for aarch64 in previous releases of Fedora. It will be available in Fedora starting Fedora 33.

.NET Core is not a dependency of any other package, so users running Fedora on aarch64 and then upgrading from Fedora 32 to 33 will not automatically pull it in. They will have to install it manually.

How To Test

1. Install Fedora 33 on aarch64
2. Install .NET Core: sudo dnf install dotnet-sdk-3.1
3. Run .NET Core: dotnet --info

The above steps should install .NET Core and show the .NET Core SDK and Runtime version numbers. There should be no error messages or any other failures.

User Experience

- Users using Fedora on aarch64 as a platform for .NET Core development will be able to use the Fedora-provided packages for .NET Core

Dependencies

N/A (not a System Wide Change)

Contingency Plan

• Contingency mechanism: Proposal owner will revert packaging changes and switch back to how .NET Core was built in Fedora 32.
• Contingency deadline: N/A (not a System Wide Change)
• Blocks release? No
• Blocks product? No

Documentation

N/A (not a System Wide Change)

Release Notes

.NET Core is now available on aarch64! You can install .NET Core on Fedora on aarch64 using the normal packaging tools: sudo dnf install dotnet-sdk-3.1