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[NativeAOT] Make workload linker the default for NativeAOT builds #11340

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Merged
jonathanpeppers merged 4 commits into from
May 15, 2026
Merged

[NativeAOT] Make workload linker the default for NativeAOT builds #11340

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1aef5e7
[NativeAOT] Make workload linker the default for NativeAOT builds
sbomer May 14, 2026
d918845
Move _AndroidUseWorkloadNativeLinker default to top-level PropertyGroup
sbomer May 14, 2026
5960224
Skip NDK dependency for NativeAOT when using workload linker
sbomer May 14, 2026
c37a7a9
Fix GetDependencyNdkRequiredConditions test for NativeAOT
sbomer May 14, 2026
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2 changes: 1 addition & 1 deletion ...Android.Build.Tasks/Microsoft.Android.Sdk/targets/Microsoft.Android.Sdk.NativeAOT.targets
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Expand Up @@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ This file contains the NativeAOT-specific MSBuild logic for .NET for Android.
<!-- Default property values for NativeAOT -->
<PropertyGroup>
<_AndroidRuntimePackRuntime>NativeAOT</_AndroidRuntimePackRuntime>
<_AndroidUseWorkloadNativeLinker Condition=" '$(_AndroidUseWorkloadNativeLinker)' == '' ">true</_AndroidUseWorkloadNativeLinker>
<_AndroidJcwCodegenTarget Condition=" '$(_AndroidJcwCodegenTarget)' == '' ">JavaInterop1</_AndroidJcwCodegenTarget>
<_AndroidTypeMapImplementation Condition=" '$(_AndroidTypeMapImplementation)' == '' ">managed</_AndroidTypeMapImplementation>
<!-- .NET SDK gives: error NETSDK1191: A runtime identifier for the property 'PublishAot' couldn't be inferred. Specify a rid explicitly. -->
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -299,7 +300,6 @@ This file contains the NativeAOT-specific MSBuild logic for .NET for Android.
Outputs="$(NativeOutputPath)$(NativeBinaryPrefix)$(TargetName).so">
<PropertyGroup>
<_AndroidNativeAotSharedLibrary>$(NativeOutputPath)$(NativeBinaryPrefix)$(TargetName).so</_AndroidNativeAotSharedLibrary>
<_AndroidUseWorkloadNativeLinker Condition=" '$(_AndroidUseWorkloadNativeLinker)' == '' ">false</_AndroidUseWorkloadNativeLinker>
</PropertyGroup>
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<!-- Resolve the runtime pack native directory for workload-provided linker dependencies.
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13 changes: 7 additions & 6 deletions ...Xamarin.Android.Build.Tasks/Tests/Xamarin.Android.Build.Tests/AndroidDependenciesTests.cs
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Expand Up @@ -167,14 +167,13 @@ public void GetDependencyNdkRequiredConditions (string property, bool ndkRequire
Assert.Ignore ("CoreCLR doesn't support AOT, it doesn't ever require the NDK");
}

// NativeAOT doesn't support profiled AOT
// NativeAOT doesn't support profiled AOT or EnableLLVM (Mono concepts)
if (runtime == AndroidRuntime.NativeAOT && property == "AndroidEnableProfiledAot") {
Assert.Ignore ("NativeAOT doesn't support profiled AOT");
}

// NativeAOT always requires the NDK (PublishAot=true), so ndkRequired=false cases don't apply
if (runtime == AndroidRuntime.NativeAOT && !ndkRequired) {
Assert.Ignore ("NativeAOT always requires NDK via PublishAot=true");
if (runtime == AndroidRuntime.NativeAOT && property == "EnableLLVM") {
Assert.Ignore ("EnableLLVM is not applicable to NativeAOT");
}

var proj = new XamarinAndroidApplicationProject {
Expand All @@ -200,12 +199,14 @@ public void GetDependencyNdkRequiredConditions (string property, bool ndkRequire
}

[Test]
public void NativeAotRequiresNdk ()
public void NativeAotRequiresNdk_WhenWorkloadLinkerDisabled ()
{
var proj = new XamarinAndroidApplicationProject {
IsRelease = true,
};
proj.SetRuntime (AndroidRuntime.NativeAOT);
proj.SetProperty ("_AndroidUseWorkloadNativeLinker", "false");
proj.SetProperty ("_SkipNdkResolution", "false");
using (var builder = CreateApkBuilder ()) {
builder.Verbosity = LoggerVerbosity.Detailed;
builder.Target = "GetAndroidDependencies";
Expand All @@ -215,7 +216,7 @@ public void NativeAotRequiresNdk ()
.SkipWhile (x => !x.StartsWith ("Task \"CalculateProjectDependencies\"", StringComparison.Ordinal))
.SkipWhile (x => !x.StartsWith ("Output Item(s):", StringComparison.Ordinal))
.TakeWhile (x => !x.StartsWith ("Done executing task \"CalculateProjectDependencies\"", StringComparison.Ordinal));
StringAssertEx.Contains ("ndk-bundle", taskOutput, "ndk-bundle should be a dependency for NativeAOT.");
StringAssertEx.Contains ("ndk-bundle", taskOutput, "ndk-bundle should be a dependency for NativeAOT without workload linker.");
}
}

Expand Down
35 changes: 26 additions & 9 deletions src/Xamarin.Android.Build.Tasks/Tests/Xamarin.Android.Build.Tests/NativeAotBuildTests.cs
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Expand Up @@ -12,36 +12,53 @@ namespace Xamarin.Android.Build.Tests
public class NativeAotBuildTests : BaseTest
{
[Test]
public void BuildNativeAot_WithoutNdk_Fails ()
public void BuildNativeAot_WithoutNdk ()
{
var proj = new XamarinAndroidApplicationProject {
IsRelease = true,
};
proj.SetRuntime (AndroidRuntime.NativeAOT);

using var builder = CreateApkBuilder ();
builder.ThrowOnBuildFailure = false;
Assert.IsFalse (
builder.Build (proj, parameters: new [] { "_SkipNdkResolution=true" }),
"Build should have failed without NDK."
Assert.IsTrue (
builder.Build (proj),
"Build should succeed without NDK (workload linker is the default)."
);
}

[Test]
public void BuildNativeAot_WithWorkloadLinker_WithoutNdk ()
public void BuildNativeAot_WithNdkLinker ()
{
var proj = new XamarinAndroidApplicationProject {
IsRelease = true,
};
proj.SetRuntime (AndroidRuntime.NativeAOT);
proj.SetProperty ("_SkipNdkResolution", "false");
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@github-actions github-actions Bot May 15, 2026

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🤖 💡 Testing — SetRuntime(NativeAOT) now sets _SkipNdkResolution=true, but this test immediately overrides it to false. This is correct and necessary — the test exercises the NDK linker path, which requires real NDK resolution. Just noting that this test will fail on CI agents without an NDK installed, which appears to be fine for this repo's CI setup.

Rule: Deterministic test data


using var builder = CreateApkBuilder ();
Assert.IsTrue (
builder.Build (proj, parameters: new [] {
"_SkipNdkResolution=true",
"_AndroidUseWorkloadNativeLinker=true",
"_AndroidUseWorkloadNativeLinker=false",
}),
"Build should succeed with NDK linker."
);
}

[Test]
public void BuildNativeAot_WithoutNdk_WorkloadLinkerDisabled_Fails ()
{
var proj = new XamarinAndroidApplicationProject {
IsRelease = true,
};
proj.SetRuntime (AndroidRuntime.NativeAOT);

using var builder = CreateApkBuilder ();
builder.ThrowOnBuildFailure = false;
Assert.IsFalse (
builder.Build (proj, parameters: new [] {
"_AndroidUseWorkloadNativeLinker=false",
}),
"Build should succeed with workload linker and no NDK."
"Build should fail without NDK when workload linker is disabled."
Comment on lines +47 to +61
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@github-actions github-actions Bot May 15, 2026

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🤖 💡 Testing — This test only asserts that the build fails, but doesn't verify why it fails. If a future regression causes the build to fail for an unrelated reason (e.g. a missing runtime pack), this test would still pass, masking the real issue.

Consider asserting on a specific error message or error code in the build output, e.g.:

Assert.IsFalse (
    builder.Build (proj, parameters: new [] {
        "_AndroidUseWorkloadNativeLinker=false",
    }),
    "Build should fail without NDK when workload linker is disabled."
);
StringAssertEx.Contains ("expected-error-string", builder.LastBuildOutput, "Expected NDK-related error.");

Rule: Test assertions must be specific

);
}
}
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1 change: 1 addition & 0 deletions ...arin.Android.Build.Tasks/Tests/Xamarin.Android.Build.Tests/Utilities/ProjectExtensions.cs
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Expand Up @@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ public static void SetRuntime (this XamarinAndroidApplicationProject project, An
return;
}
project.SetPublishAot (true);
project.SetProperty ("_SkipNdkResolution", "true");
EnablePreviewFeaturesIfNeeded (project, runtime);
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}

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2 changes: 1 addition & 1 deletion src/Xamarin.Android.Build.Tasks/Xamarin.Android.Common.targets
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Expand Up @@ -2860,7 +2860,7 @@ because xbuild doesn't support framework reference assemblies.
<PropertyGroup>
<_ProjectAndroidManifest>$(ProjectDir)$(AndroidManifest)</_ProjectAndroidManifest>
<_NdkRequired Condition="'$(EnableLLVM)' == 'True'">true</_NdkRequired>
<_NdkRequired Condition="'$(PublishAot)' == 'true'">true</_NdkRequired>
<_NdkRequired Condition="'$(PublishAot)' == 'true' and '$(_AndroidUseWorkloadNativeLinker)' != 'true'">true</_NdkRequired>
<_NdkRequired Condition="'$(_NdkRequired)' == ''">false</_NdkRequired>
</PropertyGroup>
<Error Text="AndroidManifest file does not exist" Condition="'$(_ProjectAndroidManifest)'!='' And !Exists ('$(_ProjectAndroidManifest)')"/>
Expand Down