Cabal cannot find GHC when using relative path in -w flag

[bos]

(Imported from Trac #768, reported by @tibbe on 2010-11-19)

Trying to build the network package while standing at the root of a GHC build tree fails to find GHC:

$ cabal install -w inplace/bin/ghc-stage2 network -v2
inplace/bin/ghc-stage2 --numeric-version
looking for package tool: ghc-pkg near compiler in inplace/bin
found package tool in inplace/bin/ghc-pkg
inplace/bin/ghc-pkg --version
inplace/bin/ghc-stage2 --supported-languages
Reading installed packages...
inplace/bin/ghc-pkg dump --global
inplace/bin/ghc-pkg dump --user
inplace/bin/ghc-stage2 --print-libdir
Reading available packages...
Resolving dependencies...
selecting network-2.3 (hackage) and discarding network-2.0, 2.1.0.0, 2.2.0.0,
2.2.0.1, 2.2.1, 2.2.1.1, 2.2.1.2, 2.2.1.3, 2.2.1.4, 2.2.1.5, 2.2.1.6, 2.2.1.7,
2.2.1.8, 2.2.1.9, 2.2.1.10, 2.2.3 and 2.2.3.1
selecting base-4.3.0.0 (installed)
selecting ffi-1.0 (installed)
selecting ghc-prim-0.2.0.0 (installed)
selecting integer-gmp-0.2.0.2 (installed)
selecting rts-1.0 (installed)
selecting parsec-2.1.0.1 (hackage) and discarding parsec-2.0, 2.1.0.0, 3.0.0,
3.0.1 and 3.1.0
selecting unix-2.4.1.0 (installed) and discarding unix-2.0, 2.2.0.0, 2.3.0.0,
2.3.1.0, 2.3.2.0, 2.4.0.0, 2.4.0.1 and 2.4.0.2
selecting bytestring-0.9.1.8 (installed) and discarding bytestring-0.9,
0.9.0.1, 0.9.0.2, 0.9.0.3, 0.9.0.4, 0.9.1.0, 0.9.1.1, 0.9.1.2, 0.9.1.3,
0.9.1.4, 0.9.1.5, 0.9.1.6 and 0.9.1.7
In order, the following would be installed:
parsec-2.1.0.1 (new package)
network-2.3 (new package)
parsec-2.1.0.1 has already been downloaded.
Extracting
/home/tibell/.cabal/packages/hackage.haskell.org/parsec/2.1.0.1/parsec-2.1.0.1.tar.gz
to /tmp/parsec-2.1.0.117969...
Configuring parsec-2.1.0.1...
cabal: Cannot find the program 'ghc' at 'inplace/bin/ghc-stage2' or on the
path
cabal: Error: some packages failed to install:
network-2.3 depends on parsec-2.1.0.1 which failed to install.
parsec-2.1.0.1 failed during the configure step. The exception was:
ExitFailure 1

[bos]

(Imported comment by @dcoutts on 2010-11-19)

Presumably due to cabal-install changing the current directory when it builds the package in question. See SetupWrapper? in cabal-install.

[abdelhegazi]

Any solution suggestions as I got a similar error here ?

When I was trying to build an operating systems and the course requires that ghc and cabal should be installed, and because I am trying to do it on a ubuntu 12.04

hegazy@AHegazy:/sbin$ cabal install ghc-paths
Warning: Falling back to topdown solver for GHC < 7.
Resolving dependencies...
[1 of 1] Compiling Main ( /tmp/ghc-paths-0.1.0.9-31688/ghc-paths-0.1.0.9/Setup.hs, /tmp/ghc-paths-0.1.0.9-31688/ghc-paths-0.1.0.9/dist/setup/Main.o )
Linking /tmp/ghc-paths-0.1.0.9-31688/ghc-paths-0.1.0.9/dist/setup/setup ...
unrecognized option `--disable-tests'

unrecognized option `--disable-benchmarks'
cabal: Error: some packages failed to install:
ghc-paths-0.1.0.9 failed during the configure step. The exception was:
ExitFailure 1
hegazy@AHegazy:/sbin$
hegazy@AHegazy:/sbin$

I will be grateful if you listed how did you solve this thing happened to you ?!

[byorgey]

@ahegazy that doesn't look like the same problem to me, I think you are running into #1004 , which was fixed by #1133 . It should work if you install the most recent version of cabal-install (cabal install cabal-install).

[abdelhegazi]

Thanks byorgey, you are right it worked.

[AndreasPK]

This is still an issue on windows using:

$ cabal --version
cabal-install version 2.0.0.1
compiled using version 2.0.1.1 of the Cabal library

[ulysses4ever]

Could someone with access to a Windows machine try this? (@jneira?) It works fine on Linux. At least, we could stick the windows label on it.

[jneira]

Thanks for the mention, i have been able to test it amd it works for me using cabal-3.6.0.0 build -w ..\..\..\..\ghcup\ghc\8.10.7\bin\ghc.exe so iam gonna close it optimistically

[AndreasPK]

Still broken for me:

andi@Ryzen MINGW64 ~/ghc_master
$ cabal install dom-lt -w _dwarf/stage1/bin/ghc.exe
Resolving dependencies...
Build profile: -w ghc-9.1.20210216 -O1
In order, the following will be built (use -v for more details):
 - dom-lt-0.2.3 (lib) (requires build)
Starting     dom-lt-0.2.3 (lib)

Failed to build dom-lt-0.2.3. The failure occurred during the configure step.
Build log (
C:\ghcup\cabal\logs\ghc-9.1.20210216\dom-lt-0.2.3-4ab9b330e981bfcfe12250dc7b82fd00a91f4384.log
):
Configuring library for dom-lt-0.2.3..
cabal.exe: Cannot find the program 'ghc'. User-specified path
'_dwarf/stage1/bin/ghc.exe' does not refer to an executable and the program is
not on the system path.

cabal.exe: Failed to build dom-lt-0.2.3. See the build log above for details.


andi@Ryzen MINGW64 ~/ghc_master
$ cabal install dom-lt -w ~/ghc_master/_dwarf/stage1/bin/ghc.exe
Resolving dependencies...
Build profile: -w ghc-9.1.20210216 -O1
In order, the following will be built (use -v for more details):
 - dom-lt-0.2.3 (lib) (requires build)
Starting     dom-lt-0.2.3 (lib)
Building     dom-lt-0.2.3 (lib)


andi@Ryzen MINGW64 ~/ghc_master
$ cabal --version
cabal-install version 3.6.2.0
compiled using version 3.6.3.0 of the Cabal library

andi@Ryzen MINGW64 ~/ghc_master
$ cabal install dom-lt -w ../ghc_master/_dwarf/stage1/bin/ghc.exe
Resolving dependencies...
Build profile: -w ghc-9.1.20210216 -O1
In order, the following will be built (use -v for more details):
 - dom-lt-0.2.3 (lib) (requires build)
Starting     dom-lt-0.2.3 (lib)

Failed to build dom-lt-0.2.3. The failure occurred during the configure step.
Build log (
C:\ghcup\cabal\logs\ghc-9.1.20210216\dom-lt-0.2.3-4ab9b330e981bfcfe12250dc7b82fd00a91f4384.log
):
Configuring library for dom-lt-0.2.3..
cabal.exe: Cannot find the program 'ghc'. User-specified path
'../ghc_master/_dwarf/stage1/bin/ghc.exe' does not refer to an executable and
the program is not on the system path.

cabal.exe: Failed to build dom-lt-0.2.3. See the build log above for details.


andi@Ryzen MINGW64 ~/ghc_master
$ ../ghc_master/_dwarf/stage1/bin/ghc.exe --version
The Glorious Glasgow Haskell Compilation System, version 9.1.20210216

[Mikolaj]

@AndreasPK: does cabal build work for you? @jneira: does cabal install work for you? If not, how about on master branch?

[AndreasPK]

@AndreasPK: does cabal build work for you? @jneira: does cabal install work for you? If not, how about on master branch?

cabal build behaves quite strangly:

andi@Ryzen MINGW64 ~/dom-lt
$ ../ghc_master/_dwarf/stage1/bin/ghc.exe --version
The Glorious Glasgow Haskell Compilation System, version 9.1.20210216

andi@Ryzen MINGW64 ~/dom-lt
$ cabal build -w ../ghc_master/_dwarf/stage1/bin/ghc.exe
Build profile: -w ghc-9.1.20210216 -O1
In order, the following will be built (use -v for more details):
 - call-stack-0.4.0 (lib) (requires build)
 - dom-lt-0.2.3 (lib) (first run)
 - HUnit-1.6.2.0 (lib) (requires build)
 - dom-lt-0.2.3 (test:dom-lt-tests) (first run)
Starting     call-stack-0.4.0 (lib)
Configuring library for dom-lt-0.2.3..
Preprocessing library for dom-lt-0.2.3..
Building library for dom-lt-0.2.3..
[1 of 2] Compiling Data.Graph.Dom   ( Data\Graph\Dom.hs, C:\ghc\msys64\home\andi\dom-lt\dist-newstyle\build\x86_64-windows\ghc-9.1.20210216\dom-lt-0.2.3\build\Data\Graph\Dom.o )
[2 of 2] Compiling Data.Graph.Dom.Internal ( Data\Graph\Dom\Internal.hs, C:\ghc\msys64\home\andi\dom-lt\dist-newstyle\build\x86_64-windows\ghc-9.1.20210216\dom-lt-0.2.3\build\Data\Graph\Dom\Internal.o )

Failed to build call-stack-0.4.0. The failure occurred during the configure
step.
Build log (
C:\ghcup\cabal\logs\ghc-9.1.20210216\call-stack-0.4.0-948672797ec2c144d9221e5d447f5e9d2b8d687f.log
):
Configuring library for call-stack-0.4.0..
cabal.exe: Cannot find the program 'ghc'. User-specified path
'../ghc_master/_dwarf/stage1/bin/ghc.exe' does not refer to an executable and
the program is not on the system path.

cabal.exe: Failed to build call-stack-0.4.0 (which is required by
test:dom-lt-tests from dom-lt-0.2.3). See the build log above for details.

[jneira]

very weird, i've tried to get close to @AndreasPK use case, using msys2 console, with ghc-8.10.7 and 9.2.1 (i dont have a ghc built from source at hand) and trying cabal build and install and i cant reproduce 🤔 :

atrey@FNTSY MINGW64 /d/dev/ws/haskell/cabal-test
$ ../../../../ghcup/ghc/9.2.1/bin/ghc.exe --version
The Glorious Glasgow Haskell Compilation System, version 9.2.1

atrey@FNTSY MINGW64 /d/dev/ws/haskell/cabal-test
$ cabal --version
cabal-install version 3.6.2.0
compiled using version 3.6.2.0 of the Cabal library

atrey@FNTSY MINGW64 /d/dev/ws/haskell/cabal-test
$ which cabal
/d/ghcup/bin/cabal

atrey@FNTSY MINGW64 /d/dev/ws/haskell/cabal-test
$ cabal build -w ../../../../ghcup/ghc/9.2.1/bin/ghc.exe
Build profile: -w ghc-9.2.1 -O1
In order, the following will be built (use -v for more details):
 - cabal-test-0.1.0.0 (lib) (first run)
 - cabal-test-0.1.0.0 (exe:cabal-test) (first run)
Preprocessing library for cabal-test-0.1.0.0..
Building library for cabal-test-0.1.0.0..

[1 of 3] Compiling MyModule2        ( src\MyModule2.hs, D:\\dev\ws\haskell\cabal-test\dist-newstyle\build\x86_64-windows\ghc-9.2.1\cabal-test-0.1.0.0\build\MyModule2.o )
.....

$ mkdir test && cd test && cabal init -n && cabal install -w ../../../../../ghcup/ghc/8.10.7/bin/ghc.exe
Wrote tarball sdist to
D:\dev\ws\haskell\issues\test\dist-newstyle\sdist\test-0.1.0.0.tar.gz
Resolving dependencies...
Build profile: -w ghc-8.10.7 -O1
In order, the following will be built (use -v for more details):
 - test-0.1.0.0 (exe:test) (requires build)
Configuring executable 'test' for test-0.1.0.0..
Preprocessing executable 'test' for test-0.1.0.0..
Building executable 'test' for test-0.1.0.0..
[1 of 1] Compiling Main             ( app\Main.hs, dist\build\test\test-tmp\Main.o )
.....

Dont know where could be the difference, could you create a fresh simple cabal project like i did? i even would use a fresh cabal global config just in case. Another check could be use a ghc release (like mine one from ghcup) or start the path with ./

[AndreasPK]

Dont know where could be the difference

What I observed was that the configure step of a dependency failed. By extension this would mean if you (re)compile a project where all dependencies are already available your build might succeed. Which would explain the difference.

[jneira]

Good point, still cant reproduce with rm -rf ./store-dir && cabal --store-dir ./store build all -w ../../../../../ghcup/ghc/8.10.7/bin/ghc.exe, setting call-stack (or netwotk usually more problematic) as dependency. call-stack build type is simple so it seems configure problems should not apply.

I wonder if cabal does not like the ghc dir layout, checking a regular distribution may discard it.

Otoh unix like paths are source of problems so maybe trying -w "../ghc_master/_dwarf/stage1/bin/ghc.exe" could help

[AndreasPK]

I did try cabal build -w ../ghc_master/_dwarf/stage1/bin/ghc.exe above and it didn't work.

I just tried it quoting the compiler path cabal build -w "../ghc_master/_dwarf/stage1/bin/ghc.exe" and that fails the same way.

Same for a windows-style path: cabal build -w "..\ghc_master\_dwarf\stage1\bin\ghc.exe"

It seems the path isn't turned into an absolute path for configure because with high verbosity I see:

...
dwarf\\stage1\\bin\\ghc-pkg.exe","--ghc-option=-hide-all-packages","lib:call-stack"]
C:\ghcup\cabal\bin\cabal.exe act-as-setup --build-type=Simple -- configure
--verbose=3 --builddir=dist --ghc
--prefix=C:\ghcup\cabal\store\ghc-9.1.20210216\call-stack-0.4.0-948672797ec2c144d9221e5d447f5e9d2b8d687f
--bindir=C:\ghcup\cabal\store\ghc-9.1.20210216\call-stack-0.4.0-948672797ec2c144d9221e5d447f5e9d2b8d687f\bin
--libdir=C:\ghcup\cabal\store\ghc-9.1.20210216\call-stack-0.4.0-948672797ec2c144d9221e5d447f5e9d2b8d687f\lib
--libsubdir=
--dynlibdir=C:\ghcup\cabal\store\ghc-9.1.20210216\call-stack-0.4.0-948672797ec2c144d9221e5d447f5e9d2b8d687f\lib
--libexecdir=C:\ghcup\cabal\store\ghc-9.1.20210216\call-stack-0.4.0-948672797ec2c144d9221e5d447f5e9d2b8d687f\libexec
--libexecsubdir=
--datadir=C:\ghcup\cabal\store\ghc-9.1.20210216\call-stack-0.4.0-948672797ec2c144d9221e5d447f5e9d2b8d687f\share
--datasubdir=
--docdir=C:\ghcup\cabal\store\ghc-9.1.20210216\call-stack-0.4.0-948672797ec2c144d9221e5d447f5e9d2b8d687f\share\doc
--htmldir=C:\ghcup\cabal\store\ghc-9.1.20210216\call-stack-0.4.0-948672797ec2c144d9221e5d447f5e9d2b8d687f\share\doc\html
--haddockdir=C:\ghcup\cabal\store\ghc-9.1.20210216\call-stack-0.4.0-948672797ec2c144d9221e5d447f5e9d2b8d687f\share\doc\html
--sysconfdir=C:\ghcup\cabal\store\ghc-9.1.20210216\call-stack-0.4.0-948672797ec2c144d9221e5d447f5e9d2b8d687f\etc
--enable-library-vanilla --disable-library-profiling --disable-shared
--disable-static --disable-executable-dynamic --disable-executable-static
--disable-profiling --profiling-detail=default
--library-profiling-detail=default --enable-optimization --disable-debug-info
--disable-library-for-ghci --disable-split-sections --disable-split-objs
--disable-executable-stripping --disable-library-stripping --package-db=clear
--package-db=global
--package-db=C:\ghcup\cabal\store\ghc-9.1.20210216\package.db
--extra-include-dirs=C:\ghcup\ghcup\msys64\mingw64\include
--cid=call-stack-0.4.0-948672797ec2c144d9221e5d447f5e9d2b8d687f
--extra-lib-dirs=C:\ghcup\ghcup\msys64\mingw64\lib
--extra-prog-path=C:\ghcup\ghcup\bin --extra-prog-path=C:\ghcup\cabal\bin
--extra-prog-path=C:\ghcup\ghcup\msys64\usr\bin
--extra-prog-path=C:\ghcup\ghcup\msys64\mingw64\bin
--dependency=base=base-4.16.0.0 --dependency=filepath=filepath-1.4.2.1
--disable-coverage --exact-configuration
--with-ghc=..\ghc_master\_dwarf\stage1\bin\ghc.exe
--with-ghc-pkg=C:\ghc\msys64\home\andi\ghc_master\_dwarf\stage1\bin\ghc-pkg.exe
--ghc-option=-hide-all-packages lib:call-stack
Redirecting build log to {handle:
C:\ghcup\cabal\logs\ghc-9.1.20210216\call-stack-0.4.0-948672797ec2c144d9221e5d447f5e9d2b8d687f.log}
packages definitely up to date: dom-lt-0.2.3-inplace
packages previously probably up to date: dom-lt-0.2.3-inplace
packages now probably up to date: dom-lt-0.2.3-inplace
packages newly up to date:
packages out to date: dom-lt-0.2.3-inplace-dom-lt-tests
packages invalid due to dep change: HUnit-1.6.2.0-ab6f2878db39ff0501faac24ea421756787332b7, call-stack-0.4.0-948672797ec2c144d9221e5d447f5e9d2b8d687f, dom-lt-0.2.3-inplace-dom-lt-tests
packages invalid due to build failure: call-stack-0.4.0-948672797ec2c144d9221e5d447f5e9d2b8d687f

Failed to build call-stack-0.4.0-948672797ec2c144d9221e5d447f5e9d2b8d687f. The
failure occurred during the configure step.
Build log (
C:\ghcup\cabal\logs\ghc-9.1.20210216\call-stack-0.4.0-948672797ec2c144d9221e5d447f5e9d2b8d687f.log
):
Using Parsec parser
Configuring library for call-stack-0.4.0..
creating dist\build
Searching for ..\ghc_master\_dwarf\stage1\bin\ghc.exe in path.
Cannot find ..\ghc_master\_dwarf\stage1\bin\ghc.exe on the path

cabal.exe: Cannot find the program 'ghc'. User-specified path
'..\ghc_master\_dwarf\stage1\bin\ghc.exe' does not refer to an executable and
the program is not on the system path.


cabal.exe: Failed to build HUnit-1.6.2.0 because it depends on HUnit-1.6.2.0
which itself failed to build.
Failed to build call-stack-0.4.0-948672797ec2c144d9221e5d447f5e9d2b8d687f. The
failure occurred during the configure step.
Failed to build dom-lt-0.2.3 because it depends on dom-lt-0.2.3 which itself
failed to build.

Of particular note being that there is an absolute path for ghc-pkg but a relative path for ghc and this error message:

Searching for ../ghc_master/_dwarf/stage1/bin/ghc.exe in path.
Cannot find ../ghc_master/_dwarf/stage1/bin/ghc.exe on the path

It's supposed to be a relative path and NOT something in path.

---

I think this happens because in Distribution.Simple.GHC.Internal has this code:

    findProg :: String -> [FilePath]
             -> Verbosity -> ProgramSearchPath
             -> IO (Maybe (FilePath, [FilePath]))
    findProg progName extraPath v searchpath =
        findProgramOnSearchPath v searchpath' progName
      where
        searchpath' = (map ProgramSearchPathDir extraPath) ++ searchpath

and findProgramOnSearchPath seems to look for .../foo/bar/ghc.exe in PATH. But I might be mistaken.

[AndreasPK]

It seems to work with the version of cabal I built from source today.

[jneira]

weird, I've observed my cabal version mentions Cabal-3.6.2.0 and yours 3.6.3.0, not sure if it would be related
I think mine is the released version, installed with ghcup but I will double check

[Mikolaj]

Actually, Cabal 3.6.3.0 has been released (but not cabal-install 3.6.3.0). I don't remember what the changes were, but I think they were requested by the kind GHC folk. I wonder how master branch would fare...

[AndreasPK]

Actually, Cabal 3.6.3.0 has been released (but not cabal-install 3.6.3.0). I don't remember what the changes were, but I think they were requested by the kind GHC folk. I wonder how master branch would fare...

I did test master (0a2e68c) and it worked there.

[Mikolaj]

Great news. I hope that means 3.8 has the fix, too, whatever it is. Is it important that we identify which PR fixed this, or can we close as is?

[AndreasPK]

For me closing as is is fine.

[Mikolaj]

Thank you all. Closing.

[konsumlamm]

I just encountered this, using cabal-3.10.1.0 on Linux, while trying to build with a modified GHC 9.4.4.

Error: cabal-3.10.1.0: Cannot find the program 'ghc'. User-specified path
'../ghc-9.4.4-x86_64-unknown-linux/bin/ghc' does not refer to an executable
and the program is not on the system path.

Using an absolute path solves the issue.

[ulysses4ever]

@konsumlamm thank you for reporting! Would it be possible to try cabal 3.8 on your end?

[konsumlamm]

With cabal 3.8 (and cabal 3.6) I get the same result.

[Kleidukos]

This is still something that happens with 3.13.0.0! Especially it's quite irritating when working on Haddock:

-with-compiler: ghc-9.7
+with-compiler: ../../_build/stage1/bin/ghc

Build profile: -w ghc-9.11.20240611 -O1
In order, the following will be built (use -v for more details):
 - ghc-paths-0.1.0.12 (lib:ghc-paths) (requires build)
 - haddock-library-1.11.0 (lib) (first run)
 - haddock-api-2.30.0 (lib) (first run)
 - haddock-2.30.0 (exe:haddock) (first run)
Warning: this is a debug build of cabal-install with assertions enabled.
Starting     ghc-paths-0.1.0.12 (all, legacy fallback: build-type is Custom)
Configuring library for haddock-library-1.11.0...
Error: [Cabal-5490]
Cannot find the program 'ghc'. User-specified path '../../_build/stage1/bin/ghc' does not refer to an executable and the program is not on the system path.

[elland]

It also happens on arm macos. Could we resolve the relative path instead of passing it around?