Summary
Builds that fetch Rust crates via the crate:// fetcher (e.g. healthdog, fatrw, and any other Rust-based recipe) fail during do_fetch because crates.io now returns HTTP 403 to requests that do not include a User-Agent header. BitBake's default FETCHCMD:wget does not set one, so every crate download fails with wget exit code 8.
Affected branches / layers
meta-balena-common (kirkstone, and any other release using the crate fetcher with stock BitBake wget defaults)- Reproduced on
meta-balena-kirkstone with DISTRO_VERSION = "6.12.2", MACHINE genericx86-64.
Reproduction
MACHINE=genericx86-64 bitbake balena-image-flasher
Fails with:
WARNING: healthdog-1.0.6-r0 do_fetch: Failed to fetch URL crate://crates.io/bitflags/1.2.1, attempting MIRRORS if available
ERROR: healthdog-1.0.6-r0 do_fetch: Fetcher failure: Fetch command ... wget -t 2 -T 100 -O .../bitflags-1.2.1.crate.tmp ... 'https://crates.io/api/v1/crates/bitflags/1.2.1/download' --progress=dot -v failed with exit code 8, no output
ERROR: healthdog-1.0.6-r0 do_fetch: Bitbake Fetcher Error: FetchError('Unable to fetch URL from any source.', 'crate://crates.io/bitflags/1.2.1')
ERROR: fatrw-0.2.21-r0 do_fetch: ... crate://crates.io/anyhow/1.0.62 ... exit code 8
Root cause
crates.io rejects requests without a recognizable User-Agent. Verified directly:
$ curl -sI 'https://crates.io/api/v1/crates/bitflags/1.2.1/download'
HTTP/2 403
$ curl -sI -A 'wget/1.21' 'https://crates.io/api/v1/crates/bitflags/1.2.1/download'
HTTP/2 302
location: https://static.crates.io/crates/bitflags/bitflags-1.2.1.crate
BitBake's wget invocation (/usr/bin/env wget -t 2 -T 100 -O ... --progress=dot -v) sends no User-Agent, which is why exit code 8 (server error response) is returned and there is "no output".
Proposed fix
Set a User-Agent for the wget fetcher at the distro level so all wget-based fetches (including the crate:// fetcher, which delegates to wget) work against crates.io and other servers that filter on UA.
In meta-balena-common/conf/distro/include/balena-os.inc:
# crates.io rejects requests without a User-Agent (HTTP 403). BitBake's default
# wget FETCHCMD does not set one, breaking Rust crate fetches.
FETCHCMD:wget = "/usr/bin/env wget -t 2 -T 100 --user-agent=balena-yocto-build --progress=dot -v"
Workaround
Add the same line to build/conf/local.conf until a fix lands.
Additional notes
- Same failure will affect every other Rust recipe (e.g. anything pulling crates such as
aho-corasick, anyhow, etc.) — the listed two recipes are just the first to be scheduled.
- A more upstream-friendly alternative is to fix this in
oe-core / BitBake itself, but a distro-level override unblocks balenaOS builds immediately.
Continued with Autopilot: Task not yet completeProvided a copy-paste-ready GitHub issue title and description documenting the crates.io HTTP 403 failure caused by missing User-Agent in BitBake's default wget FETCHCMD, including reproduction steps, root cause verification, and the proposed distro-level fix.
Summary
Builds that fetch Rust crates via the
crate://fetcher (e.g.healthdog,fatrw, and any other Rust-based recipe) fail duringdo_fetchbecausecrates.ionow returns HTTP 403 to requests that do not include aUser-Agentheader. BitBake's defaultFETCHCMD:wgetdoes not set one, so every crate download fails withwgetexit code 8.Affected branches / layers
meta-balena-common(kirkstone, and any other release using the crate fetcher with stock BitBake wget defaults)meta-balena-kirkstonewithDISTRO_VERSION = "6.12.2", MACHINEgenericx86-64.Reproduction
Fails with:
Root cause
crates.iorejects requests without a recognizableUser-Agent. Verified directly:BitBake's wget invocation (
/usr/bin/env wget -t 2 -T 100 -O ... --progress=dot -v) sends noUser-Agent, which is why exit code 8 (server error response) is returned and there is "no output".Proposed fix
Set a
User-Agentfor the wget fetcher at the distro level so all wget-based fetches (including thecrate://fetcher, which delegates to wget) work againstcrates.ioand other servers that filter on UA.In
meta-balena-common/conf/distro/include/balena-os.inc:Workaround
Add the same line to
build/conf/local.confuntil a fix lands.Additional notes
aho-corasick,anyhow, etc.) — the listed two recipes are just the first to be scheduled.oe-core/ BitBake itself, but a distro-level override unblocks balenaOS builds immediately.Continued with Autopilot: Task not yet completeProvided a copy-paste-ready GitHub issue title and description documenting the crates.io HTTP 403 failure caused by missing User-Agent in BitBake's default wget FETCHCMD, including reproduction steps, root cause verification, and the proposed distro-level fix.