Today we're announcing the release of Ferrocene 25.08.0, the latest update to our qualified Rust toolchain.
This release includes a compiler version bump, and a preview of our core certification.
What is Ferrocene?
Developed as an open-source, downstream Rust distribution, Ferrocene is 100% compatible with the main Rust compiler, allowing you to work seamlessly with both the toolchain distributed by the Rust project and the safety-critical Ferrocene toolchain.
Installation is a breeze: Use criticalup or download the relevant tarballs and unpack them.
Users can even use rustup link to enable familiar UX like cargo +ferrocene build.
Your team won't have to administer a license server, CI integration is a snap, and the toolchain can be used fully offline, such as while travelling or in a secure airgapped environment.
The Ferrocene compiler is qualified to ISO 26262 (TCL 3/ASIL D), IEC 61508 (T3), and IEC 62304. It is available targeting x86_64 Linux, x86_64 or Armv8-A QNX Neutrino, or your choice of RTOS on Armv8-A or Armv7E-M.
We'd love to tackle other qualifications and certifications alongside partners, particularly rail (EN 50128) and aerospace (DO-178C). Let us know if that partner can be you!
What is new in Ferrocene 25.08.0
Ferrocene 25.08.0 includes changes from Rust 1.87, and 1.88, such as new APIs, safe architecture intrinsics, + use<...> in impl Trait, and naked functions.
This release reaffirms our commitment to providing modern Rust compilers to the safety-critical world.
Read the full release notes.
Upcoming core certification
Working with our partners, Sonair and Kite Shield, we're certifying a significant subset of the core library to the IEC 61508 (SIL 2) standard.
Just like Ferrocene, it'll be open source.
When is it coming? 25.11.0. We initially planned to release it in 25.08.0, but we discovered a proplem in code coverage measurement during our final checks and made the choice to delay until 25.11.0. The fantastic folks at TÜV SÜD have already been taking a look at our certification documents and once we overcome this issue we should be set to certify. In the meantime, you can test drive it on our nightly releases!
If your project needs additional functionality certified, new certifications added, or even additional libraries certified on top of core, we encourage you to reach out!
Available for purchase today!
With Ferrocene, users can develop high-assurance software from the start, without a massive upfront investment. Ferrocene is available for purchase today for €25/month or €240/year per user, providing access to all supported versions of Ferrocene (current and future) along with basic support.
Go to ferrocene.dev to purchase Ferrocene, or contact sales for more information on custom enterprise subscriptions.
Not sure if Ferrocene has the features you and your team need? You can also schedule a Why Ferrocene session by reaching out to our sales team.
