Rust for Embedded Applications

Rust is an open source programming language.

This install guide is for developers using Rust for their embedded applications.

If you are using Rust to build Linux applications on an Arm Linux platform, see Rust for Linux Applications instead.

This install guide describes a setup using an Ubuntu Linux host.

For a thorough review of all options, see The Embedded Rust Book .

How do I install Rust for Embedded Applications?

How do I download and install Rust?

Run the following command to download and install Rust:

    

        
        
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh -s -- -y

    

Start a new shell or run the following command to continue:

    

        
        
source "$HOME/.cargo/env"

    

To confirm the installation is complete, run the following (cargo is the Rust package manager):

    

        
        
rustc --version
cargo version

    

The output is similar to:

    

        
        rustc 1.98.0 (88d9e12ae 2026-08-18)
cargo 1.98.0 (797e8a9bc 2026-08-05)

        
    

How do I add Arm cross-compilation support?

Add cross compilation support for the required Arm Architectures. For example, to add support for Armv7-M architecture, you can use:

    

        
        
rustup target add thumbv7m-none-eabi

    

For a full list of supported architectures, use:

    

        
        
rustup target list

    

How do I install cargo-generate?

To generate a project from a template, you need cargo-generate. Install it with:

    

        
        
sudo apt install -y libssl-dev pkg-config build-essential
cargo install cargo-generate

    

How do I install cargo-binutils? (optional)

Other utilities are also available. For completeness, install them with:

    

        
        
cargo install cargo-binutils
rustup component add llvm-tools

    

You are now ready to build an embedded application in Rust.