build

Mendix 8 Build Crate

A model-agnostic, version-pinned Docker image that compiles any Mendix 8.x project (.mpr) into a deployable .mda — and runs mx check — with nothing on the host but Docker. The Mendix build toolchain (mxbuild + mx) is pulled from the official Mendix CDN at build time; no Studio Pro install, no committed binaries.

This is the build companion to the mendix-8 runtime crate. The build crate produces the .mda; the runtime crate runs it.

Why this exists

The AIDE pipeline compiles models with mxbuild driven from a bind-mounted Studio Pro install. That requires a licensed modeler on the host. This crate makes the toolchain self-contained and version-pinned: one image per Mendix major, the matching mxbuild fetched from cdn.mendix.com at docker build — so a CI runner or a contributor with only Docker can compile a Mendix 8 app without Studio Pro.

	Studio Pro on host	aide-mxtools (bind-mount)	This build crate
Needs Studio Pro installed	yes	yes (modeler bind-mounted)	no
Toolchain source	local install	local install	CDN at build
Version pinning	manual	manual	one image per version
Runs in plain CI	no	partial	yes

Image tags

Tag	Pins	Use
ontologylabs/mendix-mxbuild:8.18.35.97	Exact version (immutable)	Reproducible CI
ontologylabs/mendix-mxbuild:8	Latest 8.x in this crate	Dev, demo

Build the image

cd crates/mendix-8/build
docker build \
    --platform linux/amd64 \
    --build-arg MENDIX_VERSION=8.18.35.97 \
    -t ontologylabs/mendix-mxbuild:8.18.35.97 .
# mxbuild + mx are pulled from cdn.mendix.com/runtime/mxbuild-8.18.35.97.tar.gz at build.

Compile an app

# /path/to/project contains App.mpr
docker run --rm \
    --platform linux/amd64 \
    -v /path/to/project:/workspace \
    ontologylabs/mendix-mxbuild:8.18.35.97 \
    build /workspace/App.mpr
# → writes /path/to/project/App.mda

Then run it with the runtime crate:

unzip /path/to/project/App.mda -d /path/to/project/app
cd ../                       # the mendix-8 runtime crate
docker compose -f tests/docker-compose.smoke.yml up   # or your own compose

Validate a model (mx check)

docker run --rm -v /path/to/project:/workspace \
    ontologylabs/mendix-mxbuild:8.18.35.97 \
    check /workspace/App.mpr
# exit 0 = clean · 1 = errors · 2 = warnings only

What the entrypoint auto-injects

build.sh supplies the toolchain paths mxbuild needs unless you pass them:

• --java-home / --java-exe-path → the baked JDK ($JAVA_HOME)
• --gradle-home → the toolchain's bundled Gradle
• --loose-version-check → tolerate patch drift between toolchain and model
• --output=/workspace/<App>.mda → default output beside the .mpr

Pass any of these explicitly to override.

Notes & gotchas

• Runs as root by design. A single-shot build container, not a service. Root avoids the bind-mount uid mismatch that would block writing the .mda back into your mounted /workspace. On Linux, pass --user $(id -u) if you want host-uid-owned output; the entrypoint re-creates the Mendix settings dir under the resulting $HOME.
• .NET whitelist (MX 11 origin). mxbuild creates settings under $HOME/.local/share/Mendix and FailFast-rejects creating that path itself; the image pre-creates it. (Same fix as the AIDE aide-mxtools image.)
• amd64 emulation. On Apple Silicon, mxbuild runs x86_64 under emulation. Enable Colima Rosetta (colima start --vm-type vz --vz-rosetta) for speed; a hung emulated build is the classic symptom of Rosetta being off.
• No Mendix binary is committed. The toolchain is fetched from the CDN at build, on your licensed machine (D-DOCKER-LIB-002). See repo guard.sh.
• Mendix 8 is out of standard support. The default 8.18.35.97 mxbuild is CDN-hosted. For an older MX8 patch the CDN doesn't host, obtain the toolchain via the Mendix portal and override MXBUILD_CDN_BASE — see ../PORTAL-DOWNLOAD.md.

See provenance.yaml for the exact CDN source and versions.yaml for verified versions.