Configuring and building BALDES

Documentation index

Direct Cargo builds

Install Rust/Cargo and clone the repository. The core library can be built without an external LP backend:

cargo build --release

For the CLI and routing master, initialize the vendored dependencies and build with Clp. This requires a C++14 compiler:

git submodule update --init vendor/Clp vendor/CoinUtils
cargo build --release --features clp
./target/release/baldes --help

The clp feature builds Clp 1.17.10 and CoinUtils 2.11 from those submodules. To also enable the optional HiGHS backend and integer solver, install its shared library and use cargo build --release --features clp,highs. The CLI and routing tree require clp; highs alone provides the library's HiGHS backend and generic MIP API. See below for library discovery details.

Disjoint service-start windows are optional: use cargo build --release --features multi-time-windows for the library, or --features clp,multi-time-windows for network JSON and the CLI. See multiple time windows for the Rust, Python and JSON APIs.

Python installation is covered in the pybaldes guide.

Rank-one node memory

Use cargo build --release --features clp,rank-one-node-memory to generate rank-one cuts with node memory instead of arc memory. In make config, select Rank-one memory → Node, or set CONFIG_RANK_ONE_MEMORY=node in the saved configuration. CONFIG_RANK_ONE_MEMORY=arc preserves the existing runtime policy.

The feature maps arc-memory requests (BALDESrankOneCutsMemoryType=1 or Rust MemoryType::Arc) to vertex memory during cut generation. The default-copy and all-vertices modes already use vertex memory and retain their meaning. Explicitly registered cuts retain their declared representation. Node memory retains a cut's remainder through remembered vertices, while arc memory can distinguish individual arcs entering or leaving the same vertex; the resulting limited-memory cut coefficients and LP bounds can therefore differ. Master coefficients and pricing use the selected cut representation consistently.

Python builds expose the same feature, for example maturin develop --features rank-one-node-memory.

Gurobi master backend

Download and extract the latest stable Linux release into the repository's ignored external/ directory:

./scripts/setup/gurobi_downloader

The script detects x86-64, ARM64, or PowerPC Linux, verifies Gurobi's published checksum, and prints the installation path to use in make config. It reuses verified downloads and existing installations. Use --version 13.0.3 to pin a release, --destination PATH for another directory, or --help for options. Extraction requires Python with tarfile.data_filter (Python 3.12+).

Install Gurobi and configure a valid license. Set GUROBI_HOME to its platform installation directory, containing lib/, then build:

export GUROBI_HOME=/opt/gurobi1300/linux64
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$GUROBI_HOME/lib:${LD_LIBRARY_PATH:-}"
cargo build --release --features clp,gurobi
./target/release/baldes vrptw instances/Solomon/R101.txt --master gurobi

On macOS configure DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH as needed instead. The build detects the versioned C library (for example libgurobi130.so) in $GUROBI_HOME/lib. Set GUROBI_LIB_NAME=gurobi130 explicitly if that directory contains multiple versions. Gurobi is linked dynamically and is not bundled with BALDES. License errors are reported when the backend is initialized.

GurobiMaster implements the generic Rust LpMaster interface with automatic algorithm selection, warm-basis reoptimization, primal values, duals, reduced costs, basis-aware cut cleanup, solve limits, and independent model copies. Use --features gurobi for the library backend alone; the routing CLI/tree also require clp. All three native features may be enabled together. Enumerated-node integer solving continues to use the highs feature.

Routing root/tree solves give HiGHS and Gurobi all CPUs available to the process by default. Use --master-threads N to limit their worker budget, or --master-threads 0 for all available CPUs. CPU affinity is respected. Clp and native IPM ignore this setting. HiGHS retains adaptive primal/dual simplex; Gurobi uses automatic algorithm selection. Both receive the worker budget and determine actual algorithm parallelism. Warm simplex reoptimization may remain serial, and more workers do not guarantee a faster solve. HiGHS models in one process must use a consistent worker budget because its native scheduler is shared; configure it before the first solve. Forks retain their parent's budget. In Rust, use RootOptions::master_threads; in Python, use solve_root(..., master_threads=N).

For Python, build with maturin develop --release --features clp,gurobi from python/, then pass master_solver="gurobi" to solve_root. Check pybaldes.has_gurobi to see whether that wheel includes the backend. In make config, enable Gurobi backend and set Gurobi installation, or leave its path empty to inherit GUROBI_HOME from your shell. Save and run make to build with those settings.

Interactive configuration

From the repository root:

make config       # Open the configuration window in your terminal
make              # Compile with the saved settings

make menuconfig opens the same window. Use Up/Down or J/K to select an option, Space/Enter to change it, S to save and exit, and Q/Escape to discard changes. Text fields accept Enter to confirm, Escape to cancel, Backspace to delete and Ctrl-U to clear. Home/End jump to the first/last setting; Page Up/Page Down move five settings at a time.

Settings are grouped into Build, Performance, Toolchain and Cargo. Wide terminals show contextual help and a live build summary beside the options; compact terminals keep help below the scrolling list. The header tracks unsaved changes. The menu adapts automatically when resized, down to 64 columns by 20 rows, and respects NO_COLOR for a monochrome display.

This is a kernel-style terminal menu, implemented in Rust rather than Linux's Kconfig tooling. It requires Make, Rust/Cargo, and POSIX stty in an interactive ANSI terminal (Linux/macOS). It opens in the current terminal; no desktop session, Python packages, ncurses headers or UI library downloads are needed. The helper is compiled directly with rustc into target/baldes-build before configuration, so it does not need to build the solver first.

Build options

The library, including native IPM, pricing, cuts, and HGS, is always included. These components currently have no Cargo feature switches. Algorithm settings such as cut priorities and IPM tolerances remain runtime options.

The CLI requires Clp. Selecting the CLI enables Clp; deselecting Clp also deselects the CLI. Native CPU optimization cannot be combined with a target triple. Cross compilation requires installing the Rust target and configuring its linker separately, including any enabled native solver libraries.

Before building Clp, initialize its source submodules and provide a C++14 compiler:

git submodule update --init vendor/Clp vendor/CoinUtils

HiGHS needs a shared library with 32-bit HighsInt. Discovery follows the existing Cargo build: HIGHS_DIR/lib, vendor/highs/lib, pkg-config, then the system linker path. Leaving the menu's installation field empty preserves HIGHS_DIR from your shell. Configure your runtime library search path as needed for a custom HiGHS installation.

Saved settings and automation

The menu saves a local .config, ignored by Git. Subsequent Make commands read it. A missing configuration uses release/library-only defaults with no optional solver dependencies. Cargo commands invoked directly continue to use their explicit Cargo flags; they do not read .config.

make showconfig                # Display effective settings
make print-command             # Preview the Cargo build invocation
make defconfig                 # Replace .config with defaults
make defconfig CONFIG=ci.config # Write another configuration file
make CONFIG=ci.config          # Build with it

For noninteractive use, run make defconfig and edit the file or supply a saved config via CONFIG=path. The format is CONFIG_NAME=value, using y/n for booleans and double quotes for strings. Backslashes and quotes in strings must be escaped. Missing settings take their defaults; unknown/duplicate keys, invalid values and conflicting dependencies are rejected. The file is parsed as data and is never included as Make code or sourced by a shell.

An example configuration for the CLI with both LP backends:

CONFIG_PROFILE=release
CONFIG_CLP=y
CONFIG_HIGHS=y
CONFIG_GUROBI=n
CONFIG_CLI=y
CONFIG_SIMD=off
CONFIG_NATIVE_CPU=n
CONFIG_RELEASE_DEBUG=n
CONFIG_OFFLINE=n
CONFIG_LOCKED=y
CONFIG_JOBS=0
CONFIG_RESOURCE_DIMENSIONS=2
CONFIG_TARGET=""
CONFIG_HIGHS_DIR=""
CONFIG_GUROBI_HOME=""

Other Make targets

make test and make clippy select integration tests as well as the library; Cargo may build the CLI for integration tests when its Clp requirement is enabled, even if the CLI artifact is disabled for ordinary builds. The workspace's Python extension is built separately using its existing packaging commands. CARGO=path and RUSTC=path override the tool executables.

Existing compiler/linker environment variables remain available to Cargo. The frontend prints the command and any configuration-specific environment overrides before running it and propagates Cargo's failure status to Make.

The scalar setting accepts any nonnegative usize. For example, CONFIG_RESOURCE_DIMENSIONS=5 compiles capacity 5; models may activate fewer coordinates. The saved setting overrides BALDES_RESOURCE_DIMENSIONS inherited from the shell for Make builds. Direct Cargo or maturin builds use that environment variable instead and do not read .config. Explicit Rust Graph::<D> / Solver::<D> counts remain independent of the configured default. See scalar resources.

Optional SIMD is disabled by default. In make config, cycle through off, avx2, and avx512; unsupported CPU modes are skipped. Saved modes are validated against the host CPU and require an empty target triple. Legacy n / y settings remain accepted as off / avx2. Direct Cargo builds use --features simd for AVX2 or --features simd-avx512 for AVX-512F (requires Rust 1.89 or newer). On x86-64, sufficiently long disposable-resource dominance scans use the selected kernel after runtime CPU detection. AVX-512 builds fall back to AVX2 when available. Other CPUs and small scans retain the portable implementation. Scalar capacities remain arbitrary; the optimized scan applies when the model activates one or two disposable resources and the compiled capacity is at least two. The simd feature also enables runtime-dispatched AVX2 rank-one bitset accumulation for at least 16 words, independently of the resource dimension. This feature does not require target-cpu=native and does not change numerical comparison tolerances or certification policy.

For eight-label AVX-512F dominance scans, use cargo build --release --features clp,simd-avx512 (or pass the same features to maturin). This feature includes simd and requires Rust 1.89 or newer; the default and AVX2-only builds retain the package's existing Rust requirement. Runtime dispatch prefers AVX-512F on supported x86-64 CPUs, then AVX2, then the portable implementation. No global CPU flags are required. The AVX-512 kernel needs only AVX-512F, including for the packed NG masks, and preserves first-candidate ordering and the original floating-point comparison order. See SIMD dispatch for dispatch behavior and portability details.