ci: Build and cache static Qt instead of downloading a pre-built one #22899

1. 
   hebasto commented at 4:32 am on September 6, 2021: member

   This PR makes the MSVC build CI task free of pre-built static Qt binaries. It uses the approach which is documented in #22890.

   It takes about 13 minutes to build a static Qt dependency (for 8 CPUs):

   

   with the maximum total time:

   

   There is an additional benefit of this PR. It is no longer required to build a new static Qt package when a CI Windows image upgrades its building tools, and breaks the compatibility with the recent Qt package.

2. hebasto added the label Tests on Sep 6, 2021
3. hebasto added the label Windows on Sep 6, 2021
4. 
   hebasto commented at 4:34 am on September 6, 2021: member

   cc @sipsorcery @fanquake @MarcoFalke
5. hebasto force-pushed on Sep 6, 2021
6. 
   DrahtBot commented at 10:31 am on September 6, 2021: member

   The following sections might be updated with supplementary metadata relevant to reviewers and maintainers.

   Conflicts

   Reviewers, this pull request conflicts with the following ones:

   • #22890 (doc: Replace a link to Qt precompiled binaries with compile instructions by hebasto)
   • #21551 (ci: Move Windows MSVC build from AppVeyor to Cirrus by hebasto)
   • #20744 (Use std::filesystem. Remove Boost Filesystem & System by fanquake)

   If you consider this pull request important, please also help to review the conflicting pull requests. Ideally, start with the one that should be merged first.

7. hebasto marked this as a draft on Sep 6, 2021
8. 
   sipsorcery commented at 8:17 pm on September 6, 2021: member

   Concept ACK from me. I wouldn’t be upset if I never need to build Qt again.

   13 minutes is a very fast build time. Either the CirrusCI machine is extremely powerful or I have been doing something very wrong. Windows Qt builds have always taken me multiple hours.

   [Update: Probably because my Qt build was using -debug-and-release rather than just -release].

9. hebasto force-pushed on Sep 7, 2021
10. hebasto force-pushed on Sep 7, 2021
11. hebasto force-pushed on Sep 7, 2021
12. ci: Build and cache static Qt instead of downloading a pre-built one 3a68546fd0
13. hebasto force-pushed on Sep 7, 2021
14. hebasto marked this as ready for review on Sep 7, 2021
15. 
    hebasto commented at 2:29 pm on September 7, 2021: member

    Rebased on top of #21551, and is ready for reviewing :tiger2:
16. 
    sipsorcery commented at 3:44 pm on September 7, 2021: member

    utACK 3a68546fd0981e032005d3a5d2ca7b2ab9acc70b.

    I’ve tested the Qt and subsequent Bitcoin Core builds work. I don’t have a CirrusCI set up so haven’t tested that.

17. MarcoFalke merged this on Sep 7, 2021
18. MarcoFalke closed this on Sep 7, 2021

    ---

19. hebasto deleted the branch on Sep 7, 2021
20. sidhujag referenced this in commit 37c78cbdbc on Sep 7, 2021
21. DrahtBot locked this on Sep 7, 2022

Contributors
hebasto DrahtBot sipsorcery

Labels
Windows Tests