`-Clink-args=resources.res` fails in 1.82

[printfn]

Code

In my .cargo/config.toml file I have:

[target.x86_64-pc-windows-msvc]
rustflags = [
    "-Clink-args=../../../icon/resources.res",
]

This used to work in Rust 1.81 but broke on 1.82.

Instead, this happened: See error message below

Minimal reproduction: https://github.com/printfn/repro/tree/rust-link-args

Version it worked on

It most recently worked on: 1.81

Version with regression

rustc --version --verbose:

rustc 1.82.0 (f6e511eec 2024-10-15)
binary: rustc
commit-hash: f6e511eec7342f59a25f7c0534f1dbea00d01b14
commit-date: 2024-10-15
host: x86_64-pc-windows-msvc
release: 1.82.0
LLVM version: 19.1.1

Detailed error

Error

cargo run
   Compiling repro v0.1.0 (C:\Users\print\repro\cli)
error: linking with `link.exe` failed: exit code: 1181
  |
  = note: "C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Visual Studio\\2022\\Community\\VC\\Tools\\MSVC\\14.41.34120\\bin\\HostX64\\x64\\link.exe" "/NOLOGO" "C:\\Users\\print\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\rustcXlOPFN\\symbols.o" "C:\\Users\\print\\repro\\target\\debug\\deps\\repro.26qtrl3wfp1ut4mm4u3lrj0wm.rcgu.o" "C:\\Users\\print\\repro\\target\\debug\\deps\\repro.2kzymqvj3183xbugivmrarp69.rcgu.o" "C:\\Users\\print\\repro\\target\\debug\\deps\\repro.2o95soo3fx3kew44tvfx0kn94.rcgu.o" "C:\\Users\\print\\repro\\target\\debug\\deps\\repro.37h2v349ylr35l522jwmg7jwe.rcgu.o" "C:\\Users\\print\\repro\\target\\debug\\deps\\repro.8ru88bk8gp4zihobsrx5sncqc.rcgu.o" "C:\\Users\\print\\repro\\target\\debug\\deps\\repro.bbgwzs8uveanm9xqmy3pk3bhj.rcgu.o" "C:\\Users\\print\\repro\\target\\debug\\deps\\repro.77iorrjxaxmlihy8uzl1njjbm.rcgu.o" "C:\\Users\\print\\.rustup\\toolchains\\stable-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\lib\\rustlib\\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\lib\\libstd-2df1f22abef96888.rlib" "C:\\Users\\print\\.rustup\\toolchains\\stable-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\lib\\rustlib\\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\lib\\libpanic_unwind-7fa781213a0698f8.rlib" "C:\\Users\\print\\.rustup\\toolchains\\stable-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\lib\\rustlib\\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\lib\\libwindows_targets-2440cb72ce7deb9b.rlib" "C:\\Users\\print\\.rustup\\toolchains\\stable-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\lib\\rustlib\\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\lib\\librustc_demangle-f04b9120076f20fa.rlib" "C:\\Users\\print\\.rustup\\toolchains\\stable-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\lib\\rustlib\\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\lib\\libstd_detect-b521ee511095af2f.rlib" "C:\\Users\\print\\.rustup\\toolchains\\stable-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\lib\\rustlib\\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\lib\\libhashbrown-124aa6c4c6ef4b4c.rlib" "C:\\Users\\print\\.rustup\\toolchains\\stable-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\lib\\rustlib\\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\lib\\librustc_std_workspace_alloc-c86a42f7194744c8.rlib" "C:\\Users\\print\\.rustup\\toolchains\\stable-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\lib\\rustlib\\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\lib\\libunwind-a416069596473508.rlib" "C:\\Users\\print\\.rustup\\toolchains\\stable-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\lib\\rustlib\\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\lib\\libcfg_if-e246a9218bd1ed0e.rlib" "C:\\Users\\print\\.rustup\\toolchains\\stable-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\lib\\rustlib\\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\lib\\liballoc-8f9b5fcbcd27c22e.rlib" "C:\\Users\\print\\.rustup\\toolchains\\stable-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\lib\\rustlib\\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\lib\\librustc_std_workspace_core-65178e86c6c71ba8.rlib" "C:\\Users\\print\\.rustup\\toolchains\\stable-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\lib\\rustlib\\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\lib\\libcore-fbeb171b69c59b37.rlib" "C:\\Users\\print\\.rustup\\toolchains\\stable-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\lib\\rustlib\\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\lib\\libcompiler_builtins-e3a3e7896142045d.rlib" "kernel32.lib" "kernel32.lib" "advapi32.lib" "ntdll.lib" "userenv.lib" "ws2_32.lib" "dbghelp.lib" "/defaultlib:msvcrt" "/NXCOMPAT" "/OUT:C:\\Users\\print\\repro\\target\\debug\\deps\\repro.exe" "/OPT:REF,NOICF" "/DEBUG" "/PDBALTPATH:%_PDB%" "/NATVIS:C:\\Users\\print\\.rustup\\toolchains\\stable-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\lib\\rustlib\\etc\\intrinsic.natvis" "/NATVIS:C:\\Users\\print\\.rustup\\toolchains\\stable-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\lib\\rustlib\\etc\\liballoc.natvis" "/NATVIS:C:\\Users\\print\\.rustup\\toolchains\\stable-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\lib\\rustlib\\etc\\libcore.natvis" "/NATVIS:C:\\Users\\print\\.rustup\\toolchains\\stable-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\\lib\\rustlib\\etc\\libstd.natvis" "../../../icon/resources.res"
  = note: LINK : fatal error LNK1181: cannot open input file '..\..\..\icon\resources.res'␍


error: could not compile `repro` (bin "repro") due to 1 previous error

If I instead run cargo +1.81 build it succeeds.

Bisection

searched nightlies: from nightly-2024-07-20 to nightly-2024-08-30
regressed nightly: nightly-2024-08-04
searched commit range: fd8d6fb...64ebd39
regressed commit: edc4dc3

bisected with cargo-bisect-rustc v0.6.9

Host triple: x86_64-pc-windows-msvc
Reproduce with:

cargo bisect-rustc --start=1.81.0 --end=2024-08-30

Bisects to #128370

[bjorn3]

Does it work if you pass the full path to the resources.res file?

[ChrisDenton]

I think it worked by accident previously. This should probably be done by adding a parent directory to the search path. E.g.:

[target.x86_64-pc-windows-msvc]
rustflags = [
    "-Clink-args=resources.res",
    "-L./icon",
]

Or maybe use a build script to get the path so the argument isn't being passed to everything in the build.

[printfn]

I've now made a minimum reproduction here: https://github.com/printfn/repro/tree/rust-link-args

Does it work if you pass the full path to the resources.res file?

Changing it to an absolute file path like -Clink-args=C:/Users/user/repro/icon/resources.res works, although I'd prefer being able to continue using a relative path so it's not specific to where the repository is located.

Changing it to

[target.x86_64-pc-windows-msvc]
rustflags = [
    "-Clink-args=resources.res",
    "-L./icon",
]

causes it to work in my minimal repro, but if I add a dependency with a build script (e.g. cargo add serde --features derive) it no longer works. Example code here: https://github.com/printfn/repro/tree/rust-link-args-serde.

[ChrisDenton]

I guess the current working directory changes for every crate. You could try a build script:

// build.rs
fn main() {
    println!("cargo::rustc-link-arg-bins=icon/resources.res");
}

[printfn]

Thanks, a build script works and is probably cleaner anyway.

I guess this resolves my issue, though it's still a bit unfortunate that this broke with a minor Rust update.