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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /><title>The Buildroot user manual</title><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="docbook-xsl.css" /><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.79.1" /></head><body><div xml:lang="en" class="book" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h1 class="title"><a id="idm45832973050656"></a>The Buildroot user manual</h1></div></div><hr /></div><div class="toc"><p><strong>Table of Contents</strong></p><dl class="toc"><dt><span class="preface"><a href="#idm45832973049408"></a></span></dt><dt><span class="part"><a href="#_getting_started">I. Getting started</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#_about_buildroot">1. About Buildroot</a></span></dt><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#requirement">2. System requirements</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="section"><a href="#requirement-mandatory">2.1. Mandatory packages</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#requirement-optional">2.2. Optional packages</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#getting-buildroot">3. Getting Buildroot</a></span></dt><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#_buildroot_quick_start">4. Buildroot quick start</a></span></dt><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#community-resources">5. Community resources</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="part"><a href="#_user_guide">II. User guide</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#configure">6. Buildroot configuration</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_cross_compilation_toolchain">6.1. Cross-compilation toolchain</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_dev_management">6.2. /dev management</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_init_system">6.3. init system</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#_configuration_of_other_components">7. Configuration of other components</a></span></dt><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#_general_buildroot_usage">8. General Buildroot usage</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="section"><a href="#make-tips">8.1. <span class="emphasis"><em>make</em></span> tips</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#full-rebuild">8.2. Understanding when a full rebuild is necessary</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#rebuild-pkg">8.3. Understanding how to rebuild packages</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_offline_builds">8.4. Offline builds</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_building_out_of_tree">8.5. Building out-of-tree</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#env-vars">8.6. Environment variables</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_dealing_efficiently_with_filesystem_images">8.7. Dealing efficiently with filesystem images</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_graphing_the_dependencies_between_packages">8.8. Graphing the dependencies between packages</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_graphing_the_build_duration">8.9. Graphing the build duration</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_graphing_the_filesystem_size_contribution_of_packages">8.10. Graphing the filesystem size contribution of packages</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_integration_with_eclipse">8.11. Integration with Eclipse</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_advanced_usage">8.12. Advanced usage</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#customize">9. Project-specific customization</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="section"><a href="#customize-dir-structure">9.1. Recommended directory structure</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#outside-br-custom">9.2. Keeping customizations outside of Buildroot</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#customize-store-buildroot-config">9.3. Storing the Buildroot configuration</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#customize-store-package-config">9.4. Storing the configuration of other components</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#rootfs-custom">9.5. Customizing the generated target filesystem</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#customize-users">9.6. Adding custom user accounts</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_customization_emphasis_after_emphasis_the_images_have_been_created">9.7. Customization <span class="emphasis"><em>after</em></span> the images have been created</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#customize-patches">9.8. Adding project-specific patches</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#customize-packages">9.9. Adding project-specific packages</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_quick_guide_to_storing_your_project_specific_customizations">9.10. Quick guide to storing your project-specific customizations</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#_frequently_asked_questions_amp_troubleshooting">10. Frequently Asked Questions &amp; Troubleshooting</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="section"><a href="#faq-boot-hang-after-starting">10.1. The boot hangs after <span class="emphasis"><em>Starting network…</em></span></a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#faq-no-compiler-on-target">10.2. Why is there no compiler on the target?</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#faq-no-dev-files-on-target">10.3. Why are there no development files on the target?</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#faq-no-doc-on-target">10.4. Why is there no documentation on the target?</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#faq-why-not-visible-package">10.5. Why are some packages not visible in the Buildroot config menu?</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#faq-why-not-use-target-as-chroot">10.6. Why not use the target directory as a chroot directory?</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#faq-no-binary-packages">10.7. Why doesn’t Buildroot generate binary packages (.deb, .ipkg…)?</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#faq-speeding-up-build">10.8. How to speed-up the build process?</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#_known_issues">11. Known issues</a></span></dt><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#legal-info">12. Legal notice and licensing</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_complying_with_open_source_licenses">12.1. Complying with open source licenses</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#legal-info-buildroot">12.2. Complying with the Buildroot license</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#_beyond_buildroot">13. Beyond Buildroot</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_boot_the_generated_images">13.1. Boot the generated images</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_chroot">13.2. Chroot</a></span></dt></dl></dd></dl></dd><dt><span class="part"><a href="#_developer_guide">III. Developer guide</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#_how_buildroot_works">14. How Buildroot works</a></span></dt><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#_coding_style">15. Coding style</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="section"><a href="#writing-rules-config-in">15.1. <code class="literal">Config.in</code> file</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#writing-rules-mk">15.2. The <code class="literal">.mk</code> file</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_the_documentation">15.3. The documentation</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_support_scripts">15.4. Support scripts</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#adding-board-support">16. Adding support for a particular board</a></span></dt><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#adding-packages">17. Adding new packages to Buildroot</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_package_directory">17.1. Package directory</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_config_files">17.2. Config files</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_the_literal_mk_literal_file">17.3. The <code class="literal">.mk</code> file</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#adding-packages-hash">17.4. The <code class="literal">.hash</code> file</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_infrastructure_for_packages_with_specific_build_systems">17.5. Infrastructure for packages with specific build systems</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_infrastructure_for_autotools_based_packages">17.6. Infrastructure for autotools-based packages</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_infrastructure_for_cmake_based_packages">17.7. Infrastructure for CMake-based packages</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_infrastructure_for_python_packages">17.8. Infrastructure for Python packages</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_infrastructure_for_luarocks_based_packages">17.9. Infrastructure for LuaRocks-based packages</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_infrastructure_for_perl_cpan_packages">17.10. Infrastructure for Perl/CPAN packages</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_infrastructure_for_virtual_packages">17.11. Infrastructure for virtual packages</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_infrastructure_for_packages_using_kconfig_for_configuration_files">17.12. Infrastructure for packages using kconfig for configuration files</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_infrastructure_for_rebar_based_packages">17.13. Infrastructure for rebar-based packages</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_infrastructure_for_waf_based_packages">17.14. Infrastructure for Waf-based packages</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_integration_of_meson_based_packages">17.15. Integration of Meson-based packages</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_integration_of_cargo_based_packages">17.16. Integration of Cargo-based packages</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_infrastructure_for_packages_building_kernel_modules">17.17. Infrastructure for packages building kernel modules</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_infrastructure_for_asciidoc_documents">17.18. Infrastructure for asciidoc documents</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#linux-kernel-specific-infra">17.19. Infrastructure specific to the Linux kernel package</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#hooks">17.20. Hooks available in the various build steps</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_gettext_integration_and_interaction_with_packages">17.21. Gettext integration and interaction with packages</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_tips_and_tricks">17.22. Tips and tricks</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_conclusion">17.23. Conclusion</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#patch-policy">18. Patching a package</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_providing_patches">18.1. Providing patches</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#patch-apply-order">18.2. How patches are applied</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_format_and_licensing_of_the_package_patches">18.3. Format and licensing of the package patches</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_integrating_patches_found_on_the_web">18.4. Integrating patches found on the Web</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#download-infra">19. Download infrastructure</a></span></dt><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#debugging-buildroot">20. Debugging Buildroot</a></span></dt><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#_contributing_to_buildroot">21. Contributing to Buildroot</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_reproducing_analyzing_and_fixing_bugs">21.1. Reproducing, analyzing and fixing bugs</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_analyzing_and_fixing_autobuild_failures">21.2. Analyzing and fixing autobuild failures</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_reviewing_and_testing_patches">21.3. Reviewing and testing patches</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#_work_on_items_from_the_todo_list">21.4. Work on items from the TODO list</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#submitting-patches">21.5. Submitting patches</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#reporting-bugs">21.6. Reporting issues/bugs or getting help</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#DEVELOPERS">22. DEVELOPERS file and get-developers</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="part"><a href="#_appendix">IV. Appendix</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#makedev-syntax">23. Makedev syntax documentation</a></span></dt><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#makeuser-syntax">24. Makeusers syntax documentation</a></span></dt><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#migrating-from-ol-versions">25. Migrating from older Buildroot versions</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="section"><a href="#br2-external-converting">25.1. Migrating to 2016.11</a></span></dt><dt><span class="section"><a href="#migrating-host-usr">25.2. Migrating to 2017.08</a></span></dt></dl></dd></dl></dd></dl></div><div class="list-of-examples"><p><strong>List of Examples</strong></p><dl><dt>17.1. <a href="#idm45832965923664">Config script: <span class="emphasis"><em>divine</em></span> package</a></dt><dt>17.2. <a href="#idm45832965920736">Config script: <span class="emphasis"><em>imagemagick</em></span> package:</a></dt></dl></div><div class="preface"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h1 class="title"><a id="idm45832973049408"></a></h1></div></div></div><p>Buildroot 2018.02.7 manual generated on 2018-10-25
18:44:36 UTC from git revision 8c9284703c</p><p>The Buildroot manual is written by the Buildroot developers.
It is licensed under the GNU General Public License, version 2. Refer to the
<a class="ulink" href="http://git.buildroot.org/buildroot/tree/COPYING?id=8c9284703c496b913d936689df72d49e095442e4" target="_top">COPYING</a>
file in the Buildroot sources for the full text of this license.</p><p>Copyright © 2004-2018 The Buildroot developers</p><div class="informalfigure"><div class="mediaobject"><img src="logo.png" alt="logo.png" /></div></div></div><div class="part"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h1 class="title"><a id="_getting_started"></a>Part I. Getting started</h1></div></div></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="_about_buildroot"></a>Chapter 1. About Buildroot</h2></div></div></div><p>Buildroot is a tool that simplifies and automates the process of
building a complete Linux system for an embedded system, using
cross-compilation.</p><p>In order to achieve this, Buildroot is able to generate a
cross-compilation toolchain, a root filesystem, a Linux kernel image
and a bootloader for your target. Buildroot can be used for any
combination of these options, independently (you can for example use
an existing cross-compilation toolchain, and build only your root
filesystem with Buildroot).</p><p>Buildroot is useful mainly for people working with embedded systems.
Embedded systems often use processors that are not the regular x86
processors everyone is used to having in his PC. They can be PowerPC
processors, MIPS processors, ARM processors, etc.</p><p>Buildroot supports numerous processors and their variants; it also
comes with default configurations for several boards available
off-the-shelf. Besides this, a number of third-party projects are based on,
or develop their BSP <a href="#ftn.idm45832969877776" class="footnote" id="idm45832969877776"><sup class="footnote">[1]</sup></a> or
SDK <a href="#ftn.idm45832970378320" class="footnote" id="idm45832970378320"><sup class="footnote">[2]</sup></a> on top of Buildroot.</p><div class="footnotes"><br /><hr style="width:100; text-align:left;margin-left: 0" /><div id="ftn.idm45832969877776" class="footnote"><p><a href="#idm45832969877776" class="simpara"><sup class="simpara">[1] </sup></a>BSP: Board Support Package</p></div><div id="ftn.idm45832970378320" class="footnote"><p><a href="#idm45832970378320" class="simpara"><sup class="simpara">[2] </sup></a>SDK: Software Development Kit</p></div></div></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="requirement"></a>Chapter 2. System requirements</h2></div></div></div><p>Buildroot is designed to run on Linux systems.</p><p>While Buildroot itself will build most host packages it needs for the
compilation, certain standard Linux utilities are expected to be
already installed on the host system. Below you will find an overview of
the mandatory and optional packages (note that package names may vary
between distributions).</p><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="requirement-mandatory"></a>2.1. Mandatory packages</h2></div></div></div><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
Build tools:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">which</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">sed</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">make</code> (version 3.81 or any later)
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">binutils</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">build-essential</code> (only for Debian based systems)
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">gcc</code> (version 4.4 or any later)
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">g++</code> (version 4.4 or any later)
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">bash</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">patch</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">gzip</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">bzip2</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">perl</code> (version 5.8.7 or any later)
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">tar</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">cpio</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">python</code> (version 2.6 or any later)
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">unzip</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">rsync</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">file</code> (must be in <code class="literal">/usr/bin/file</code>)
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">bc</code>
</li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
Source fetching tools:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">wget</code>
</li></ul></div></li></ul></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="requirement-optional"></a>2.2. Optional packages</h2></div></div></div><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
Configuration interface dependencies:
</p><p class="simpara">For these libraries, you need to install both runtime and development
data, which in many distributions are packaged separately. The
development packages typically have a <span class="emphasis"><em>-dev</em></span> or <span class="emphasis"><em>-devel</em></span> suffix.</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">ncurses5</code> to use the <span class="emphasis"><em>menuconfig</em></span> interface
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">qt4</code> to use the <span class="emphasis"><em>xconfig</em></span> interface
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">glib2</code>, <code class="literal">gtk2</code> and <code class="literal">glade2</code> to use the <span class="emphasis"><em>gconfig</em></span> interface
</li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
Source fetching tools:
</p><p class="simpara">In the official tree, most of the package sources are retrieved using
<code class="literal">wget</code> from <span class="emphasis"><em>ftp</em></span>, <span class="emphasis"><em>http</em></span> or <span class="emphasis"><em>https</em></span> locations. A few packages are only
available through a version control system. Moreover, Buildroot is
capable of downloading sources via other tools, like <code class="literal">rsync</code> or <code class="literal">scp</code>
(refer to <a class="xref" href="#download-infra" title="Chapter 19. Download infrastructure">Chapter 19, <em>Download infrastructure</em></a> for more details). If you enable
packages using any of these methods, you will need to install the
corresponding tool on the host system:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">bazaar</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">cvs</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">git</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">mercurial</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">rsync</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">scp</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">subversion</code>
</li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
Java-related packages, if the Java Classpath needs to be built for
the target system:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
The <code class="literal">javac</code> compiler
</li><li class="listitem">
The <code class="literal">jar</code> tool
</li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
Documentation generation tools:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">asciidoc</code>, version 8.6.3 or higher
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">w3m</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">python</code> with the <code class="literal">argparse</code> module (automatically present in 2.7+ and 3.2+)
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">dblatex</code> (required for the pdf manual only)
</li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
Graph generation tools:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">graphviz</code> to use <span class="emphasis"><em>graph-depends</em></span> and <span class="emphasis"><em>&lt;pkg&gt;-graph-depends</em></span>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">python-matplotlib</code> to use <span class="emphasis"><em>graph-build</em></span>
</li></ul></div></li></ul></div></div></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="getting-buildroot"></a>Chapter 3. Getting Buildroot</h2></div></div></div><p>Buildroot releases are made every 3 months, in February, May, August and
November. Release numbers are in the format YYYY.MM, so for example
2013.02, 2014.08.</p><p>Release tarballs are available at <a class="ulink" href="http://buildroot.org/downloads/" target="_top">http://buildroot.org/downloads/</a>.</p><p>For your convenience, a <a class="ulink" href="https://www.vagrantup.com/" target="_top">Vagrantfile</a> is
available in <code class="literal">support/misc/Vagrantfile</code> in the Buildroot source tree
to quickly set up a virtual machine with the needed dependencies to
get started.</p><p>If you want to setup an isolated buildroot environment on Linux or Mac
Os X, paste this line onto your terminal:</p><pre class="screen">curl -O https://buildroot.org/downloads/Vagrantfile; vagrant up</pre><p>If you are on Windows, paste this into your powershell:</p><pre class="screen">(new-object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadFile(
"https://buildroot.org/downloads/Vagrantfile","Vagrantfile");
vagrant up</pre><p>If you want to follow development, you can use the daily snapshots or
make a clone of the Git repository. Refer to the
<a class="ulink" href="http://buildroot.org/download" target="_top">Download page</a> of the Buildroot website
for more details.</p></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="_buildroot_quick_start"></a>Chapter 4. Buildroot quick start</h2></div></div></div><p><span class="strong"><strong>Important</strong></span>: you can and should <span class="strong"><strong>build everything as a normal user</strong></span>. There
is no need to be root to configure and use Buildroot. By running all
commands as a regular user, you protect your system against packages
behaving badly during compilation and installation.</p><p>The first step when using Buildroot is to create a configuration.
Buildroot has a nice configuration tool similar to the one you can
find in the <a class="ulink" href="http://www.kernel.org/" target="_top">Linux kernel</a> or in
<a class="ulink" href="http://www.busybox.net/" target="_top">BusyBox</a>.</p><p>From the buildroot directory, run</p><pre class="screen"> $ make menuconfig</pre><p>for the original curses-based configurator, or</p><pre class="screen"> $ make nconfig</pre><p>for the new curses-based configurator, or</p><pre class="screen"> $ make xconfig</pre><p>for the Qt-based configurator, or</p><pre class="screen"> $ make gconfig</pre><p>for the GTK-based configurator.</p><p>All of these "make" commands will need to build a configuration
utility (including the interface), so you may need to install
"development" packages for relevant libraries used by the
configuration utilities. Refer to <a class="xref" href="#requirement" title="Chapter 2. System requirements">Chapter 2, <em>System requirements</em></a> for more details,
specifically the <a class="link" href="#requirement-optional" title="2.2. Optional packages">optional requirements</a>
<a class="xref" href="#requirement-optional" title="2.2. Optional packages">Section 2.2, “Optional packages”</a>
to get the dependencies of your favorite interface.</p><p>For each menu entry in the configuration tool, you can find associated
help that describes the purpose of the entry. Refer to <a class="xref" href="#configure" title="Chapter 6. Buildroot configuration">Chapter 6, <em>Buildroot configuration</em></a>
for details on some specific configuration aspects.</p><p>Once everything is configured, the configuration tool generates a
<code class="literal">.config</code> file that contains the entire configuration. This file will be
read by the top-level Makefile.</p><p>To start the build process, simply run:</p><pre class="screen"> $ make</pre><p>You <span class="strong"><strong>should never</strong></span> use <code class="literal">make -jN</code> with Buildroot: top-level parallel
make is currently not supported. Instead, use the <code class="literal">BR2_JLEVEL</code> option
to tell Buildroot to run the compilation of each individual package
with <code class="literal">make -jN</code>.</p><p>The <code class="literal">make</code> command will generally perform the following steps:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
download source files (as required);
</li><li class="listitem">
configure, build and install the cross-compilation toolchain, or
simply import an external toolchain;
</li><li class="listitem">
configure, build and install selected target packages;
</li><li class="listitem">
build a kernel image, if selected;
</li><li class="listitem">
build a bootloader image, if selected;
</li><li class="listitem">
create a root filesystem in selected formats.
</li></ul></div><p>Buildroot output is stored in a single directory, <code class="literal">output/</code>.
This directory contains several subdirectories:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">images/</code> where all the images (kernel image, bootloader and root
filesystem images) are stored. These are the files you need to put
on your target system.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">build/</code> where all the components are built (this includes tools
needed by Buildroot on the host and packages compiled for the
target). This directory contains one subdirectory for each of these
components.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">staging/</code> which contains a hierarchy similar to a root filesystem
hierarchy. This directory contains the headers and libraries of the
cross-compilation toolchain and all the userspace packages selected
for the target. However, this directory is <span class="emphasis"><em>not</em></span> intended to be
the root filesystem for the target: it contains a lot of development
files, unstripped binaries and libraries that make it far too big
for an embedded system. These development files are used to compile
libraries and applications for the target that depend on other
libraries.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">target/</code> which contains <span class="emphasis"><em>almost</em></span> the complete root filesystem for
the target: everything needed is present except the device files in
<code class="literal">/dev/</code> (Buildroot can’t create them because Buildroot doesn’t run
as root and doesn’t want to run as root). Also, it doesn’t have the correct
permissions (e.g. setuid for the busybox binary). Therefore, this directory
<span class="strong"><strong>should not be used on your target</strong></span>. Instead, you should use one of
the images built in the <code class="literal">images/</code> directory. If you need an
extracted image of the root filesystem for booting over NFS, then
use the tarball image generated in <code class="literal">images/</code> and extract it as
root. Compared to <code class="literal">staging/</code>, <code class="literal">target/</code> contains only the files and
libraries needed to run the selected target applications: the
development files (headers, etc.) are not present, the binaries are
stripped.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">host/</code> contains the installation of tools compiled for the host
that are needed for the proper execution of Buildroot, including the
cross-compilation toolchain.
</li></ul></div><p>These commands, <code class="literal">make menuconfig|nconfig|gconfig|xconfig</code> and <code class="literal">make</code>, are the
basic ones that allow to easily and quickly generate images fitting
your needs, with all the features and applications you enabled.</p><p>More details about the "make" command usage are given in
<a class="xref" href="#make-tips" title="8.1. make tips">Section 8.1, “<span class="emphasis"><em>make</em></span> tips”</a>.</p></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="community-resources"></a>Chapter 5. Community resources</h2></div></div></div><p>Like any open source project, Buildroot has different ways to share
information in its community and outside.</p><p>Each of those ways may interest you if you are looking for some help,
want to understand Buildroot or contribute to the project.</p><div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist"><dt><span class="term">
Mailing List
</span></dt><dd><p class="simpara">Buildroot has a mailing list for discussion and development. It is the
main method of interaction for Buildroot users and developers.</p><p class="simpara">Only subscribers to the Buildroot mailing list are allowed to post to
this list. You can subscribe via the
<a class="ulink" href="http://lists.buildroot.org/mailman/listinfo/buildroot" target="_top">mailing list info
page</a>.</p><p class="simpara">Mails that are sent to the mailing list are also available in the
<a class="ulink" href="http://lists.buildroot.org/pipermail/buildroot" target="_top">mailing list archives</a> and
via <a class="ulink" href="http://gmane.org" target="_top">Gmane</a>, at
<a class="ulink" href="http://dir.gmane.org/gmane.comp.lib.uclibc.buildroot" target="_top"><code class="literal">gmane.comp.lib.uclibc.buildroot</code></a>.
Please search the mailing list archives before asking questions, since
there is a good chance someone else has asked the same question before.</p></dd><dt><span class="term">
IRC
</span></dt><dd><p class="simpara">The Buildroot IRC channel <a class="ulink" href="irc://freenode.net/#buildroot" target="_top">#buildroot</a> is
hosted on <a class="ulink" href="http://webchat.freenode.net" target="_top">Freenode</a>. It is a useful place to
ask quick questions or discuss on certain topics.</p><p class="simpara">When asking for help on IRC, share relevant logs or pieces of code
using a code sharing website, such as <a class="ulink" href="http://code.bulix.org" target="_top">http://code.bulix.org</a>.</p><p class="simpara">Note that for certain questions, posting to the mailing list may be
better as it will reach more people, both developers and users.</p></dd><dt><span class="term">
Bug tracker
</span></dt><dd>Bugs in Buildroot can be reported via the mailing list or alternatively
via the <a class="ulink" href="https://bugs.buildroot.org/buglist.cgi?product=buildroot" target="_top">Buildroot
bugtracker</a>. Please refer to <a class="xref" href="#reporting-bugs" title="21.6. Reporting issues/bugs or getting help">Section 21.6, “Reporting issues/bugs or getting help”</a> before creating a bug
report.</dd><dt><span class="term">
Wiki
</span></dt><dd><a class="ulink" href="http://elinux.org/Buildroot" target="_top">The Buildroot wiki page</a> is hosted on
the <a class="ulink" href="http://elinux.org" target="_top">eLinux</a> wiki. It contains some useful links, an
overview of past and upcoming events, and a TODO list.</dd><dt><span class="term">
Patchwork
</span></dt><dd><p class="simpara">Patchwork is a web-based patch tracking system designed to facilitate
the contribution and management of contributions to an open-source
project. Patches that have been sent to a mailing list are 'caught' by
the system, and appear on a web page. Any comments posted that
reference the patch are appended to the patch page too. For more
information on Patchwork see
<a class="ulink" href="http://jk.ozlabs.org/projects/patchwork/" target="_top">http://jk.ozlabs.org/projects/patchwork/</a>.</p><p class="simpara">Buildroot’s Patchwork website is mainly for use by Buildroot’s
maintainer to ensure patches aren’t missed. It is also used by Buildroot
patch reviewers (see also <a class="xref" href="#apply-patches-patchwork" title="21.3.1. Applying Patches from Patchwork">Section 21.3.1, “Applying Patches from Patchwork”</a>).
However, since the website exposes patches and their corresponding
review comments in a clean and concise web interface, it can be useful
for all Buildroot developers.</p><p class="simpara">The Buildroot patch management interface is available at
<a class="ulink" href="http://patchwork.buildroot.org" target="_top">http://patchwork.buildroot.org</a>.</p></dd></dl></div></div></div><div class="part"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h1 class="title"><a id="_user_guide"></a>Part II. User guide</h1></div></div></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="configure"></a>Chapter 6. Buildroot configuration</h2></div></div></div><p>All the configuration options in <code class="literal">make *config</code> have a help text
providing details about the option.</p><p>The <code class="literal">make *config</code> commands also offer a search tool. Read the help
message in the different frontend menus to know how to use it:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
in <span class="emphasis"><em>menuconfig</em></span>, the search tool is called by pressing <code class="literal">/</code>;
</li><li class="listitem">
in <span class="emphasis"><em>xconfig</em></span>, the search tool is called by pressing <code class="literal">Ctrl</code> + <code class="literal">f</code>.
</li></ul></div><p>The result of the search shows the help message of the matching items.
In <span class="emphasis"><em>menuconfig</em></span>, numbers in the left column provide a shortcut to the
corresponding entry. Just type this number to directly jump to the
entry, or to the containing menu in case the entry is not selectable due
to a missing dependency.</p><p>Although the menu structure and the help text of the entries should be
sufficiently self-explanatory, a number of topics require additional
explanation that cannot easily be covered in the help text and are
therefore covered in the following sections.</p><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_cross_compilation_toolchain"></a>6.1. Cross-compilation toolchain</h2></div></div></div><p>A compilation toolchain is the set of tools that allows you to compile
code for your system. It consists of a compiler (in our case, <code class="literal">gcc</code>),
binary utils like assembler and linker (in our case, <code class="literal">binutils</code>) and a
C standard library (for example
<a class="ulink" href="http://www.gnu.org/software/libc/libc.html" target="_top">GNU Libc</a>,
<a class="ulink" href="http://www.uclibc-ng.org/" target="_top">uClibc-ng</a>).</p><p>The system installed on your development station certainly already has
a compilation toolchain that you can use to compile an application
that runs on your system. If you’re using a PC, your compilation
toolchain runs on an x86 processor and generates code for an x86
processor. Under most Linux systems, the compilation toolchain uses
the GNU libc (glibc) as the C standard library. This compilation
toolchain is called the "host compilation toolchain". The machine on
which it is running, and on which you’re working, is called the "host
system" <a href="#ftn.idm45832967336240" class="footnote" id="idm45832967336240"><sup class="footnote">[3]</sup></a>.</p><p>The compilation toolchain is provided by your distribution, and
Buildroot has nothing to do with it (other than using it to build a
cross-compilation toolchain and other tools that are run on the
development host).</p><p>As said above, the compilation toolchain that comes with your system
runs on and generates code for the processor in your host system. As
your embedded system has a different processor, you need a
cross-compilation toolchain - a compilation toolchain that runs on
your <span class="emphasis"><em>host system</em></span> but generates code for your <span class="emphasis"><em>target system</em></span> (and
target processor). For example, if your host system uses x86 and your
target system uses ARM, the regular compilation toolchain on your host
runs on x86 and generates code for x86, while the cross-compilation
toolchain runs on x86 and generates code for ARM.</p><p>Buildroot provides two solutions for the cross-compilation toolchain:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
The <span class="strong"><strong>internal toolchain backend</strong></span>, called <code class="literal">Buildroot toolchain</code> in
the configuration interface.
</li><li class="listitem">
The <span class="strong"><strong>external toolchain backend</strong></span>, called <code class="literal">External toolchain</code> in
the configuration interface.
</li></ul></div><p>The choice between these two solutions is done using the <code class="literal">Toolchain
Type</code> option in the <code class="literal">Toolchain</code> menu. Once one solution has been
chosen, a number of configuration options appear, they are detailed in
the following sections.</p><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="internal-toolchain-backend"></a>6.1.1. Internal toolchain backend</h3></div></div></div><p>The <span class="emphasis"><em>internal toolchain backend</em></span> is the backend where Buildroot builds
by itself a cross-compilation toolchain, before building the userspace
applications and libraries for your target embedded system.</p><p>This backend supports several C libraries:
<a class="ulink" href="http://www.uclibc-ng.org" target="_top">uClibc-ng</a>,
<a class="ulink" href="http://www.gnu.org/software/libc/libc.html" target="_top">glibc</a> and
<a class="ulink" href="http://www.musl-libc.org" target="_top">musl</a>.</p><p>Once you have selected this backend, a number of options appear. The
most important ones allow to:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
Change the version of the Linux kernel headers used to build the
toolchain. This item deserves a few explanations. In the process of
building a cross-compilation toolchain, the C library is being
built. This library provides the interface between userspace
applications and the Linux kernel. In order to know how to "talk"
to the Linux kernel, the C library needs to have access to the
<span class="emphasis"><em>Linux kernel headers</em></span> (i.e. the <code class="literal">.h</code> files from the kernel), which
define the interface between userspace and the kernel (system
calls, data structures, etc.). Since this interface is backward
compatible, the version of the Linux kernel headers used to build
your toolchain do not need to match <span class="emphasis"><em>exactly</em></span> the version of the
Linux kernel you intend to run on your embedded system. They only
need to have a version equal or older to the version of the Linux
kernel you intend to run. If you use kernel headers that are more
recent than the Linux kernel you run on your embedded system, then
the C library might be using interfaces that are not provided by
your Linux kernel.
</li><li class="listitem">
Change the version of the GCC compiler, binutils and the C library.
</li><li class="listitem">
Select a number of toolchain options (uClibc only): whether the
toolchain should have RPC support (used mainly for NFS),
wide-char support, locale support (for internationalization),
C++ support or thread support. Depending on which options you choose,
the number of userspace applications and libraries visible in
Buildroot menus will change: many applications and libraries require
certain toolchain options to be enabled. Most packages show a comment
when a certain toolchain option is required to be able to enable
those packages. If needed, you can further refine the uClibc
configuration by running <code class="literal">make uclibc-menuconfig</code>. Note however that
all packages in Buildroot are tested against the default uClibc
configuration bundled in Buildroot: if you deviate from this
configuration by removing features from uClibc, some packages may no
longer build.
</li></ul></div><p>It is worth noting that whenever one of those options is modified,
then the entire toolchain and system must be rebuilt. See
<a class="xref" href="#full-rebuild" title="8.2. Understanding when a full rebuild is necessary">Section 8.2, “Understanding when a full rebuild is necessary”</a>.</p><p>Advantages of this backend:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
Well integrated with Buildroot
</li><li class="listitem">
Fast, only builds what’s necessary
</li></ul></div><p>Drawbacks of this backend:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
Rebuilding the toolchain is needed when doing <code class="literal">make clean</code>, which
takes time. If you’re trying to reduce your build time, consider
using the <span class="emphasis"><em>External toolchain backend</em></span>.
</li></ul></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="external-toolchain-backend"></a>6.1.2. External toolchain backend</h3></div></div></div><p>The <span class="emphasis"><em>external toolchain backend</em></span> allows to use existing pre-built
cross-compilation toolchains. Buildroot knows about a number of
well-known cross-compilation toolchains (from
<a class="ulink" href="http://www.linaro.org" target="_top">Linaro</a> for ARM,
<a class="ulink" href="http://www.mentor.com/embedded-software/sourcery-tools/sourcery-codebench/editions/lite-edition/" target="_top">Sourcery
CodeBench</a> for ARM, x86-64, PowerPC, and MIPS, and is capable of
downloading them automatically, or it can be pointed to a custom
toolchain, either available for download or installed locally.</p><p>Then, you have three solutions to use an external toolchain:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
Use a predefined external toolchain profile, and let Buildroot
download, extract and install the toolchain. Buildroot already knows
about a few CodeSourcery and Linaro toolchains. Just select the
toolchain profile in <code class="literal">Toolchain</code> from the available ones. This is
definitely the easiest solution.
</li><li class="listitem">
Use a predefined external toolchain profile, but instead of having
Buildroot download and extract the toolchain, you can tell Buildroot
where your toolchain is already installed on your system. Just
select the toolchain profile in <code class="literal">Toolchain</code> through the available
ones, unselect <code class="literal">Download toolchain automatically</code>, and fill the
<code class="literal">Toolchain path</code> text entry with the path to your cross-compiling
toolchain.
</li><li class="listitem">
Use a completely custom external toolchain. This is particularly
useful for toolchains generated using crosstool-NG or with Buildroot
itself. To do this, select the <code class="literal">Custom toolchain</code> solution in the
<code class="literal">Toolchain</code> list. You need to fill the <code class="literal">Toolchain path</code>, <code class="literal">Toolchain
prefix</code> and <code class="literal">External toolchain C library</code> options. Then, you have
to tell Buildroot what your external toolchain supports. If your
external toolchain uses the <span class="emphasis"><em>glibc</em></span> library, you only have to tell
whether your toolchain supports C++ or not and whether it has
built-in RPC support. If your external toolchain uses the <span class="emphasis"><em>uClibc</em></span>
library, then you have to tell Buildroot if it supports RPC,
wide-char, locale, program invocation, threads and C++.
At the beginning of the execution, Buildroot will tell you if
the selected options do not match the toolchain configuration.
</li></ul></div><p>Our external toolchain support has been tested with toolchains from
CodeSourcery and Linaro, toolchains generated by
<a class="ulink" href="http://crosstool-ng.org" target="_top">crosstool-NG</a>, and toolchains generated by
Buildroot itself. In general, all toolchains that support the
<span class="emphasis"><em>sysroot</em></span> feature should work. If not, do not hesitate to contact the
developers.</p><p>We do not support toolchains or SDK generated by OpenEmbedded or
Yocto, because these toolchains are not pure toolchains (i.e. just the
compiler, binutils, the C and C++ libraries). Instead these toolchains
come with a very large set of pre-compiled libraries and
programs. Therefore, Buildroot cannot import the <span class="emphasis"><em>sysroot</em></span> of the
toolchain, as it would contain hundreds of megabytes of pre-compiled
libraries that are normally built by Buildroot.</p><p>We also do not support using the distribution toolchain (i.e. the
gcc/binutils/C library installed by your distribution) as the
toolchain to build software for the target. This is because your
distribution toolchain is not a "pure" toolchain (i.e. only with the
C/C++ library), so we cannot import it properly into the Buildroot
build environment. So even if you are building a system for a x86 or
x86_64 target, you have to generate a cross-compilation toolchain with
Buildroot or crosstool-NG.</p><p>If you want to generate a custom toolchain for your project, that can
be used as an external toolchain in Buildroot, our recommendation is
definitely to build it with <a class="ulink" href="http://crosstool-ng.org" target="_top">crosstool-NG</a>. We
recommend to build the toolchain separately from Buildroot, and then
<span class="emphasis"><em>import</em></span> it in Buildroot using the external toolchain backend.</p><p>Advantages of this backend:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
Allows to use well-known and well-tested cross-compilation
toolchains.
</li><li class="listitem">
Avoids the build time of the cross-compilation toolchain, which is
often very significant in the overall build time of an embedded
Linux system.
</li></ul></div><p>Drawbacks of this backend:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
If your pre-built external toolchain has a bug, may be hard to get a
fix from the toolchain vendor, unless you build your external
toolchain by yourself using Crosstool-NG.
</li></ul></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="_external_toolchain_wrapper"></a>External toolchain wrapper</h4></div></div></div><p>When using an external toolchain, Buildroot generates a wrapper program,
that transparently passes the appropriate options (according to the
configuration) to the external toolchain programs. In case you need to
debug this wrapper to check exactly what arguments are passed, you can
set the environment variable <code class="literal">BR2_DEBUG_WRAPPER</code> to either one of:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">0</code>, empty or not set: no debug
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">1</code>: trace all arguments on a single line
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">2</code>: trace one argument per line
</li></ul></div></div></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_dev_management"></a>6.2. /dev management</h2></div></div></div><p>On a Linux system, the <code class="literal">/dev</code> directory contains special files, called
<span class="emphasis"><em>device files</em></span>, that allow userspace applications to access the
hardware devices managed by the Linux kernel. Without these <span class="emphasis"><em>device
files</em></span>, your userspace applications would not be able to use the
hardware devices, even if they are properly recognized by the Linux
kernel.</p><p>Under <code class="literal">System configuration</code>, <code class="literal">/dev management</code>, Buildroot offers four
different solutions to handle the <code class="literal">/dev</code> directory :</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
The first solution is <span class="strong"><strong>Static using device table</strong></span>. This is the old
classical way of handling device files in Linux. With this method,
the device files are persistently stored in the root filesystem
(i.e. they persist across reboots), and there is nothing that will
automatically create and remove those device files when hardware
devices are added or removed from the system. Buildroot therefore
creates a standard set of device files using a <span class="emphasis"><em>device table</em></span>, the
default one being stored in <code class="literal">system/device_table_dev.txt</code> in the
Buildroot source code. This file is processed when Buildroot
generates the final root filesystem image, and the <span class="emphasis"><em>device files</em></span>
are therefore not visible in the <code class="literal">output/target</code> directory. The
<code class="literal">BR2_ROOTFS_STATIC_DEVICE_TABLE</code> option allows to change the
default device table used by Buildroot, or to add an additional
device table, so that additional <span class="emphasis"><em>device files</em></span> are created by
Buildroot during the build. So, if you use this method, and a
<span class="emphasis"><em>device file</em></span> is missing in your system, you can for example create
a <code class="literal">board/&lt;yourcompany&gt;/&lt;yourproject&gt;/device_table_dev.txt</code> file
that contains the description of your additional <span class="emphasis"><em>device files</em></span>,
and then you can set <code class="literal">BR2_ROOTFS_STATIC_DEVICE_TABLE</code> to
<code class="literal">system/device_table_dev.txt
board/&lt;yourcompany&gt;/&lt;yourproject&gt;/device_table_dev.txt</code>. For more
details about the format of the device table file, see
<a class="xref" href="#makedev-syntax" title="Chapter 23. Makedev syntax documentation">Chapter 23, <em>Makedev syntax documentation</em></a>.
</li><li class="listitem">
The second solution is <span class="strong"><strong>Dynamic using devtmpfs only</strong></span>. <span class="emphasis"><em>devtmpfs</em></span> is
a virtual filesystem inside the Linux kernel that has been
introduced in kernel 2.6.32 (if you use an older kernel, it is not
possible to use this option). When mounted in <code class="literal">/dev</code>, this virtual
filesystem will automatically make <span class="emphasis"><em>device files</em></span> appear and
disappear as hardware devices are added and removed from the
system. This filesystem is not persistent across reboots: it is
filled dynamically by the kernel. Using <span class="emphasis"><em>devtmpfs</em></span> requires the
following kernel configuration options to be enabled:
<code class="literal">CONFIG_DEVTMPFS</code> and <code class="literal">CONFIG_DEVTMPFS_MOUNT</code>. When Buildroot is in
charge of building the Linux kernel for your embedded device, it
makes sure that those two options are enabled. However, if you
build your Linux kernel outside of Buildroot, then it is your
responsibility to enable those two options (if you fail to do so,
your Buildroot system will not boot).
</li><li class="listitem">
The third solution is <span class="strong"><strong>Dynamic using devtmpfs + mdev</strong></span>. This method
also relies on the <span class="emphasis"><em>devtmpfs</em></span> virtual filesystem detailed above (so
the requirement to have <code class="literal">CONFIG_DEVTMPFS</code> and
<code class="literal">CONFIG_DEVTMPFS_MOUNT</code> enabled in the kernel configuration still
apply), but adds the <code class="literal">mdev</code> userspace utility on top of it. <code class="literal">mdev</code>
is a program part of BusyBox that the kernel will call every time a
device is added or removed. Thanks to the <code class="literal">/etc/mdev.conf</code>
configuration file, <code class="literal">mdev</code> can be configured to for example, set
specific permissions or ownership on a device file, call a script
or application whenever a device appears or disappear,
etc. Basically, it allows <span class="emphasis"><em>userspace</em></span> to react on device addition
and removal events. <code class="literal">mdev</code> can for example be used to automatically
load kernel modules when devices appear on the system. <code class="literal">mdev</code> is
also important if you have devices that require a firmware, as it
will be responsible for pushing the firmware contents to the
kernel. <code class="literal">mdev</code> is a lightweight implementation (with fewer
features) of <code class="literal">udev</code>. For more details about <code class="literal">mdev</code> and the syntax
of its configuration file, see
<a class="ulink" href="http://git.busybox.net/busybox/tree/docs/mdev.txt" target="_top">http://git.busybox.net/busybox/tree/docs/mdev.txt</a>.
</li><li class="listitem">
The fourth solution is <span class="strong"><strong>Dynamic using devtmpfs + eudev</strong></span>. This
method also relies on the <span class="emphasis"><em>devtmpfs</em></span> virtual filesystem detailed
above, but adds the <code class="literal">eudev</code> userspace daemon on top of it. <code class="literal">eudev</code>
is a daemon that runs in the background, and gets called by the
kernel when a device gets added or removed from the system. It is a
more heavyweight solution than <code class="literal">mdev</code>, but provides higher
flexibility. <code class="literal">eudev</code> is a standalone version of <code class="literal">udev</code>, the
original userspace daemon used in most desktop Linux distributions,
which is now part of Systemd. For more details, see
<a class="ulink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udev" target="_top">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udev</a>.
</li></ul></div><p>The Buildroot developers recommendation is to start with the <span class="strong"><strong>Dynamic
using devtmpfs only</strong></span> solution, until you have the need for userspace
to be notified when devices are added/removed, or if firmwares are
needed, in which case <span class="strong"><strong>Dynamic using devtmpfs + mdev</strong></span> is usually a
good solution.</p><p>Note that if <code class="literal">systemd</code> is chosen as init system, /dev management will
be performed by the <code class="literal">udev</code> program provided by <code class="literal">systemd</code>.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_init_system"></a>6.3. init system</h2></div></div></div><p>The <span class="emphasis"><em>init</em></span> program is the first userspace program started by the
kernel (it carries the PID number 1), and is responsible for starting
the userspace services and programs (for example: web server,
graphical applications, other network servers, etc.).</p><p>Buildroot allows to use three different types of init systems, which
can be chosen from <code class="literal">System configuration</code>, <code class="literal">Init system</code>:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
The first solution is <span class="strong"><strong>BusyBox</strong></span>. Amongst many programs, BusyBox has
an implementation of a basic <code class="literal">init</code> program, which is sufficient
for most embedded systems. Enabling the <code class="literal">BR2_INIT_BUSYBOX</code> will
ensure BusyBox will build and install its <code class="literal">init</code> program. This is
the default solution in Buildroot. The BusyBox <code class="literal">init</code> program will
read the <code class="literal">/etc/inittab</code> file at boot to know what to do. The syntax
of this file can be found in
<a class="ulink" href="http://git.busybox.net/busybox/tree/examples/inittab" target="_top">http://git.busybox.net/busybox/tree/examples/inittab</a> (note that
BusyBox <code class="literal">inittab</code> syntax is special: do not use a random <code class="literal">inittab</code>
documentation from the Internet to learn about BusyBox
<code class="literal">inittab</code>). The default <code class="literal">inittab</code> in Buildroot is stored in
<code class="literal">system/skeleton/etc/inittab</code>. Apart from mounting a few important
filesystems, the main job the default inittab does is to start the
<code class="literal">/etc/init.d/rcS</code> shell script, and start a <code class="literal">getty</code> program (which
provides a login prompt).
</li><li class="listitem">
The second solution is <span class="strong"><strong>systemV</strong></span>. This solution uses the old
traditional <span class="emphasis"><em>sysvinit</em></span> program, packed in Buildroot in
<code class="literal">package/sysvinit</code>. This was the solution used in most desktop
Linux distributions, until they switched to more recent
alternatives such as Upstart or Systemd. <code class="literal">sysvinit</code> also works with
an <code class="literal">inittab</code> file (which has a slightly different syntax than the
one from BusyBox). The default <code class="literal">inittab</code> installed with this init
solution is located in <code class="literal">package/sysvinit/inittab</code>.
</li><li class="listitem">
The third solution is <span class="strong"><strong>systemd</strong></span>. <code class="literal">systemd</code> is the new generation
init system for Linux. It does far more than traditional <span class="emphasis"><em>init</em></span>
programs: aggressive parallelization capabilities, uses socket and
D-Bus activation for starting services, offers on-demand starting
of daemons, keeps track of processes using Linux control groups,
supports snapshotting and restoring of the system state,
etc. <code class="literal">systemd</code> will be useful on relatively complex embedded
systems, for example the ones requiring D-Bus and services
communicating between each other. It is worth noting that <code class="literal">systemd</code>
brings a fairly big number of large dependencies: <code class="literal">dbus</code>, <code class="literal">udev</code>
and more. For more details about <code class="literal">systemd</code>, see
<a class="ulink" href="http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd" target="_top">http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd</a>.
</li></ul></div><p>The solution recommended by Buildroot developers is to use the
<span class="strong"><strong>BusyBox init</strong></span> as it is sufficient for most embedded
systems. <span class="strong"><strong>systemd</strong></span> can be used for more complex situations.</p></div><div class="footnotes"><br /><hr style="width:100; text-align:left;margin-left: 0" /><div id="ftn.idm45832967336240" class="footnote"><p><a href="#idm45832967336240" class="simpara"><sup class="simpara">[3] </sup></a>This terminology differs from what is used by GNU
configure, where the host is the machine on which the application will
run (which is usually the same as target)</p></div></div></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="_configuration_of_other_components"></a>Chapter 7. Configuration of other components</h2></div></div></div><p>Before attempting to modify any of the components below, make sure you
have already configured Buildroot itself, and have enabled the
corresponding package.</p><div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist"><dt><span class="term">
BusyBox
</span></dt><dd><p class="simpara">If you already have a BusyBox configuration file, you can directly
specify this file in the Buildroot configuration, using
<code class="literal">BR2_PACKAGE_BUSYBOX_CONFIG</code>. Otherwise, Buildroot will start from a
default BusyBox configuration file.</p><p class="simpara">To make subsequent changes to the configuration, use <code class="literal">make
busybox-menuconfig</code> to open the BusyBox configuration editor.</p><p class="simpara">It is also possible to specify a BusyBox configuration file through an
environment variable, although this is not recommended. Refer to
<a class="xref" href="#env-vars" title="8.6. Environment variables">Section 8.6, “Environment variables”</a> for more details.</p></dd><dt><span class="term">
uClibc
</span></dt><dd>Configuration of uClibc is done in the same way as for BusyBox. The
configuration variable to specify an existing configuration file is
<code class="literal">BR2_UCLIBC_CONFIG</code>. The command to make subsequent changes is <code class="literal">make
uclibc-menuconfig</code>.</dd><dt><span class="term">
Linux kernel
</span></dt><dd><p class="simpara">If you already have a kernel configuration file, you can directly
specify this file in the Buildroot configuration, using
<code class="literal">BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_USE_CUSTOM_CONFIG</code>.</p><p class="simpara">If you do not yet have a kernel configuration file, you can either start
by specifying a defconfig in the Buildroot configuration, using
<code class="literal">BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_USE_DEFCONFIG</code>, or start by creating an empty file and
specifying it as custom configuration file, using
<code class="literal">BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_USE_CUSTOM_CONFIG</code>.</p><p class="simpara">To make subsequent changes to the configuration, use <code class="literal">make
linux-menuconfig</code> to open the Linux configuration editor.</p></dd><dt><span class="term">
Barebox
</span></dt><dd>Configuration of Barebox is done in the same way as for the Linux
kernel. The corresponding configuration variables are
<code class="literal">BR2_TARGET_BAREBOX_USE_CUSTOM_CONFIG</code> and
<code class="literal">BR2_TARGET_BAREBOX_USE_DEFCONFIG</code>. To open the configuration editor,
use <code class="literal">make barebox-menuconfig</code>.</dd><dt><span class="term">
U-Boot
</span></dt><dd>Configuration of U-Boot (version 2015.04 or newer) is done in the same
way as for the Linux kernel. The corresponding configuration variables
are <code class="literal">BR2_TARGET_UBOOT_USE_CUSTOM_CONFIG</code> and
<code class="literal">BR2_TARGET_UBOOT_USE_DEFCONFIG</code>. To open the configuration editor,
use <code class="literal">make uboot-menuconfig</code>.</dd></dl></div></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="_general_buildroot_usage"></a>Chapter 8. General Buildroot usage</h2></div></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="make-tips"></a>8.1. <span class="emphasis"><em>make</em></span> tips</h2></div></div></div><p>This is a collection of tips that help you make the most of Buildroot.</p><p><strong>Display all commands executed by make: </strong>
</p><pre class="screen"> $ make V=1 &lt;target&gt;</pre><p>
</p><p><strong>Display the list of boards with a defconfig: </strong>
</p><pre class="screen"> $ make list-defconfigs</pre><p>
</p><p><strong>Display all available targets: </strong>
</p><pre class="screen"> $ make help</pre><p>
</p><p>Not all targets are always available,
some settings in the <code class="literal">.config</code> file may hide some targets:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">busybox-menuconfig</code> only works when <code class="literal">busybox</code> is enabled;
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">linux-menuconfig</code> and <code class="literal">linux-savedefconfig</code> only work when
<code class="literal">linux</code> is enabled;
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">uclibc-menuconfig</code> is only available when the uClibc C library is
selected in the internal toolchain backend;
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">barebox-menuconfig</code> and <code class="literal">barebox-savedefconfig</code> only work when the
<code class="literal">barebox</code> bootloader is enabled.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">uboot-menuconfig</code> and <code class="literal">uboot-savedefconfig</code> only work when the
<code class="literal">U-Boot</code> bootloader is enabled.
</li></ul></div><p><strong>Cleaning: </strong>Explicit cleaning is required when any of the architecture or toolchain
configuration options are changed.</p><p>To delete all build products (including build directories, host, staging
and target trees, the images and the toolchain):</p><pre class="screen"> $ make clean</pre><p><strong>Generating the manual: </strong>The present manual sources are located in the <span class="emphasis"><em>docs/manual</em></span> directory.
To generate the manual:</p><pre class="screen"> $ make manual-clean
$ make manual</pre><p>The manual outputs will be generated in <span class="emphasis"><em>output/docs/manual</em></span>.</p><div class="itemizedlist"><p class="title"><strong>Notes</strong></p><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
A few tools are required to build the documentation (see:
<a class="xref" href="#requirement-optional" title="2.2. Optional packages">Section 2.2, “Optional packages”</a>).
</li></ul></div><p><strong>Resetting Buildroot for a new target: </strong>To delete all build products as well as the configuration:</p><pre class="screen"> $ make distclean</pre><p><strong>Notes. </strong>If <code class="literal">ccache</code> is enabled, running <code class="literal">make clean</code> or <code class="literal">distclean</code> does
not empty the compiler cache used by Buildroot. To delete it, refer
to <a class="xref" href="#ccache" title="8.12.3. Using ccache in Buildroot">Section 8.12.3, “Using <code class="literal">ccache</code> in Buildroot”</a>.</p><p><strong>Dumping the internal make variables: </strong>One can dump all the variables known to make, along with their values:</p><pre class="screen"> $ make -s printvars
VARIABLE=value_of_variable
...</pre><p>It is possible to tweak the output using some variables:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">VARS</code> will limit the listing to variables which names match the
specified make-pattern
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">QUOTED_VARS</code>, if set to <code class="literal">YES</code>, will single-quote the value
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">RAW_VARS</code>, if set to <code class="literal">YES</code>, will print the unexpanded value
</li></ul></div><p>For example:</p><pre class="screen"> $ make -s printvars VARS=BUSYBOX_%DEPENDENCIES
BUSYBOX_DEPENDENCIES=skeleton toolchain
BUSYBOX_FINAL_ALL_DEPENDENCIES=skeleton toolchain
BUSYBOX_FINAL_DEPENDENCIES=skeleton toolchain
BUSYBOX_FINAL_PATCH_DEPENDENCIES=
BUSYBOX_RDEPENDENCIES=ncurses util-linux</pre><pre class="screen"> $ make -s printvars VARS=BUSYBOX_%DEPENDENCIES QUOTED_VARS=YES
BUSYBOX_DEPENDENCIES='skeleton toolchain'
BUSYBOX_FINAL_ALL_DEPENDENCIES='skeleton toolchain'
BUSYBOX_FINAL_DEPENDENCIES='skeleton toolchain'
BUSYBOX_FINAL_PATCH_DEPENDENCIES=''
BUSYBOX_RDEPENDENCIES='ncurses util-linux'</pre><pre class="screen"> $ make -s printvars VARS=BUSYBOX_%DEPENDENCIES RAW_VARS=YES
BUSYBOX_DEPENDENCIES=skeleton toolchain
BUSYBOX_FINAL_ALL_DEPENDENCIES=$(sort $(BUSYBOX_FINAL_DEPENDENCIES) $(BUSYBOX_FINAL_PATCH_DEPENDENCIES))
BUSYBOX_FINAL_DEPENDENCIES=$(sort $(BUSYBOX_DEPENDENCIES))
BUSYBOX_FINAL_PATCH_DEPENDENCIES=$(sort $(BUSYBOX_PATCH_DEPENDENCIES))
BUSYBOX_RDEPENDENCIES=ncurses util-linux</pre><p>The output of quoted variables can be reused in shell scripts, for example:</p><pre class="screen"> $ eval $(make -s printvars VARS=BUSYBOX_DEPENDENCIES QUOTED_VARS=YES)
$ echo $BUSYBOX_DEPENDENCIES
skeleton toolchain</pre></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="full-rebuild"></a>8.2. Understanding when a full rebuild is necessary</h2></div></div></div><p>Buildroot does not attempt to detect what parts of the system should
be rebuilt when the system configuration is changed through <code class="literal">make
menuconfig</code>, <code class="literal">make xconfig</code> or one of the other configuration
tools. In some cases, Buildroot should rebuild the entire system, in
some cases, only a specific subset of packages. But detecting this in
a completely reliable manner is very difficult, and therefore the
Buildroot developers have decided to simply not attempt to do this.</p><p>Instead, it is the responsibility of the user to know when a full
rebuild is necessary. As a hint, here are a few rules of thumb that
can help you understand how to work with Buildroot:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
When the target architecture configuration is changed, a complete
rebuild is needed. Changing the architecture variant, the binary
format or the floating point strategy for example has an impact on
the entire system.
</li><li class="listitem">
When the toolchain configuration is changed, a complete rebuild
generally is needed. Changing the toolchain configuration often
involves changing the compiler version, the type of C library or
its configuration, or some other fundamental configuration item,
and these changes have an impact on the entire system.
</li><li class="listitem">
When an additional package is added to the configuration, a full
rebuild is not necessarily needed. Buildroot will detect that this
package has never been built, and will build it. However, if this
package is a library that can optionally be used by packages that
have already been built, Buildroot will not automatically rebuild
those. Either you know which packages should be rebuilt, and you
can rebuild them manually, or you should do a full rebuild. For
example, let’s suppose you have built a system with the <code class="literal">ctorrent</code>
package, but without <code class="literal">openssl</code>. Your system works, but you realize
you would like to have SSL support in <code class="literal">ctorrent</code>, so you enable the
<code class="literal">openssl</code> package in Buildroot configuration and restart the
build. Buildroot will detect that <code class="literal">openssl</code> should be built and
will be build it, but it will not detect that <code class="literal">ctorrent</code> should be
rebuilt to benefit from <code class="literal">openssl</code> to add OpenSSL support. You will
either have to do a full rebuild, or rebuild <code class="literal">ctorrent</code> itself.
</li><li class="listitem">
When a package is removed from the configuration, Buildroot does
not do anything special. It does not remove the files installed by
this package from the target root filesystem or from the toolchain
<span class="emphasis"><em>sysroot</em></span>. A full rebuild is needed to get rid of this
package. However, generally you don’t necessarily need this package
to be removed right now: you can wait for the next lunch break to
restart the build from scratch.
</li><li class="listitem">
When the sub-options of a package are changed, the package is not
automatically rebuilt. After making such changes, rebuilding only
this package is often sufficient, unless enabling the package
sub-option adds some features to the package that are useful for
another package which has already been built. Again, Buildroot does
not track when a package should be rebuilt: once a package has been
built, it is never rebuilt unless explicitly told to do so.
</li><li class="listitem">
When a change to the root filesystem skeleton is made, a full
rebuild is needed. However, when changes to the root filesystem
overlay, a post-build script or a post-image script are made,
there is no need for a full rebuild: a simple <code class="literal">make</code> invocation
will take the changes into account.
</li></ul></div><p>Generally speaking, when you’re facing a build error and you’re unsure
of the potential consequences of the configuration changes you’ve
made, do a full rebuild. If you get the same build error, then you are
sure that the error is not related to partial rebuilds of packages,
and if this error occurs with packages from the official Buildroot, do
not hesitate to report the problem! As your experience with Buildroot
progresses, you will progressively learn when a full rebuild is really
necessary, and you will save more and more time.</p><p>For reference, a full rebuild is achieved by running:</p><pre class="screen">$ make clean all</pre></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="rebuild-pkg"></a>8.3. Understanding how to rebuild packages</h2></div></div></div><p>One of the most common questions asked by Buildroot users is how to
rebuild a given package or how to remove a package without rebuilding
everything from scratch.</p><p>Removing a package is unsupported by Buildroot without
rebuilding from scratch. This is because Buildroot doesn’t keep track
of which package installs what files in the <code class="literal">output/staging</code> and
<code class="literal">output/target</code> directories, or which package would be compiled differently
depending on the availability of another package.</p><p>The easiest way to rebuild a single package from scratch is to remove
its build directory in <code class="literal">output/build</code>. Buildroot will then re-extract,
re-configure, re-compile and re-install this package from scratch. You
can ask buildroot to do this with the <code class="literal">make &lt;package&gt;-dirclean</code> command.</p><p>On the other hand, if you only want to restart the build process of a
package from its compilation step, you can run <code class="literal">make
&lt;package&gt;-rebuild</code>, followed by <code class="literal">make</code> or <code class="literal">make &lt;package&gt;</code>. It will
restart the compilation and installation of the package, but not from
scratch: it basically re-executes <code class="literal">make</code> and <code class="literal">make install</code>
inside the package, so it will only rebuild files that changed.</p><p>If you want to restart the build process of a package from its
configuration step, you can run <code class="literal">make &lt;package&gt;-reconfigure</code>, followed
by <code class="literal">make</code> or <code class="literal">make &lt;package&gt;</code>. It will restart the configuration,
compilation and installation of the package.</p><p>Internally, Buildroot creates so-called <span class="emphasis"><em>stamp files</em></span> to keep track of
which build steps have been completed for each package. They are
stored in the package build directory,
<code class="literal">output/build/&lt;package&gt;-&lt;version&gt;/</code> and are named
<code class="literal">.stamp_&lt;step-name&gt;</code>. The commands detailed above simply manipulate
these stamp files to force Buildroot to restart a specific set of
steps of a package build process.</p><p>Further details about package special make targets are explained in
<a class="xref" href="#pkg-build-steps" title="8.12.5. Package-specific make targets">Section 8.12.5, “Package-specific <span class="emphasis"><em>make</em></span> targets”</a>.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_offline_builds"></a>8.4. Offline builds</h2></div></div></div><p>If you intend to do an offline build and just want to download
all sources that you previously selected in the configurator
(<span class="emphasis"><em>menuconfig</em></span>, <span class="emphasis"><em>nconfig</em></span>, <span class="emphasis"><em>xconfig</em></span> or <span class="emphasis"><em>gconfig</em></span>), then issue:</p><pre class="screen"> $ make source</pre><p>You can now disconnect or copy the content of your <code class="literal">dl</code>
directory to the build-host.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_building_out_of_tree"></a>8.5. Building out-of-tree</h2></div></div></div><p>As default, everything built by Buildroot is stored in the directory
<code class="literal">output</code> in the Buildroot tree.</p><p>Buildroot also supports building out of tree with a syntax similar to
the Linux kernel. To use it, add <code class="literal">O=&lt;directory&gt;</code> to the make command
line:</p><pre class="screen"> $ make O=/tmp/build</pre><p>Or:</p><pre class="screen"> $ cd /tmp/build; make O=$PWD -C path/to/buildroot</pre><p>All the output files will be located under <code class="literal">/tmp/build</code>. If the <code class="literal">O</code>
path does not exist, Buildroot will create it.</p><p><span class="strong"><strong>Note:</strong></span> the <code class="literal">O</code> path can be either an absolute or a relative path, but if it’s
passed as a relative path, it is important to note that it is interpreted
relative to the main Buildroot source directory, <span class="strong"><strong>not</strong></span> the current working
directory.</p><p>When using out-of-tree builds, the Buildroot <code class="literal">.config</code> and temporary
files are also stored in the output directory. This means that you can
safely run multiple builds in parallel using the same source tree as
long as they use unique output directories.</p><p>For ease of use, Buildroot generates a Makefile wrapper in the output
directory - so after the first run, you no longer need to pass <code class="literal">O=&lt;…&gt;</code>
and <code class="literal">-C &lt;…&gt;</code>, simply run (in the output directory):</p><pre class="screen"> $ make &lt;target&gt;</pre></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="env-vars"></a>8.6. Environment variables</h2></div></div></div><p>Buildroot also honors some environment variables, when they are passed
to <code class="literal">make</code> or set in the environment:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">HOSTCXX</code>, the host C++ compiler to use
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">HOSTCC</code>, the host C compiler to use
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">UCLIBC_CONFIG_FILE=&lt;path/to/.config&gt;</code>, path to
the uClibc configuration file, used to compile uClibc, if an
internal toolchain is being built.
Note that the uClibc configuration file can also be set from the
configuration interface, so through the Buildroot <code class="literal">.config</code> file; this
is the recommended way of setting it.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">BUSYBOX_CONFIG_FILE=&lt;path/to/.config&gt;</code>, path to
the BusyBox configuration file.
Note that the BusyBox configuration file can also be set from the
configuration interface, so through the Buildroot <code class="literal">.config</code> file; this
is the recommended way of setting it.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">BR2_CCACHE_DIR</code> to override the directory where
Buildroot stores the cached files when using ccache.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">BR2_DL_DIR</code> to override the directory in which
Buildroot stores/retrieves downloaded files
Note that the Buildroot download directory can also be set from the
configuration interface, so through the Buildroot <code class="literal">.config</code> file. See
<a class="xref" href="#download-location" title="8.12.4. Location of downloaded packages">Section 8.12.4, “Location of downloaded packages”</a> for more details on how you can set the download
directory.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">BR2_GRAPH_ALT</code>, if set and non-empty, to use an alternate color-scheme in
build-time graphs
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">BR2_GRAPH_OUT</code> to set the filetype of generated graphs, either <code class="literal">pdf</code> (the
default), or <code class="literal">png</code>.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">BR2_GRAPH_DEPS_OPTS</code> to pass extra options to the dependency graph; see
<a class="xref" href="#graph-depends">Section 8.8, “Graphing the dependencies between packages”</a> for the accepted options
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">BR2_GRAPH_DOT_OPTS</code> is passed verbatim as options to the <code class="literal">dot</code> utility to
draw the dependency graph.
</li></ul></div><p>An example that uses config files located in the toplevel directory and
in your $HOME:</p><pre class="screen"> $ make UCLIBC_CONFIG_FILE=uClibc.config BUSYBOX_CONFIG_FILE=$HOME/bb.config</pre><p>If you want to use a compiler other than the default <code class="literal">gcc</code>
or <code class="literal">g</code>++ for building helper-binaries on your host, then do</p><pre class="screen"> $ make HOSTCXX=g++-4.3-HEAD HOSTCC=gcc-4.3-HEAD</pre></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_dealing_efficiently_with_filesystem_images"></a>8.7. Dealing efficiently with filesystem images</h2></div></div></div><p>Filesystem images can get pretty big, depending on the filesystem you choose,
the number of packages, whether you provisioned free space… Yet, some
locations in the filesystems images may just be <span class="emphasis"><em>empty</em></span> (e.g. a long run of
<span class="emphasis"><em>zeroes</em></span>); such a file is called a <span class="emphasis"><em>sparse</em></span> file.</p><p>Most tools can handle sparse files efficiently, and will only store or write
those parts of a sparse file that are not empty.</p><p>For example:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
<code class="literal">tar</code> accepts the <code class="literal">-S</code> option to tell it to only store non-zero blocks
of sparse files:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">tar cf archive.tar -S [files…]</code> will efficiently store sparse files
in a tarball
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">tar xf archive.tar -S</code> will efficiently store sparse files extracted
from a tarball
</li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
<code class="literal">cp</code> accepts the <code class="literal">--sparse=WHEN</code> option (<code class="literal">WHEN</code> is one of <code class="literal">auto</code>,
<code class="literal">never</code> or <code class="literal">always</code>):
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">cp --sparse=always source.file dest.file</code> will make <code class="literal">dest.file</code> a
sparse file if <code class="literal">source.file</code> has long runs of zeroes
</li></ul></div></li></ul></div><p>Other tools may have similar options. Please consult their respective man
pages.</p><p>You can use sparse files if you need to store the filesystem images (e.g.
to transfer from one machine to another), or if you need to send them (e.g.
to the Q&amp;A team).</p><p>Note however that flashing a filesystem image to a device while using the
sparse mode of <code class="literal">dd</code> may result in a broken filesystem (e.g. the block bitmap
of an ext2 filesystem may be corrupted; or, if you have sparse files in
your filesystem, those parts may not be all-zeroes when read back). You
should only use sparse files when handling files on the build machine, not
when transferring them to an actual device that will be used on the target.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_graphing_the_dependencies_between_packages"></a>8.8. Graphing the dependencies between packages</h2></div></div></div><p><a id="graph-depends"></a>One of Buildroot’s jobs is to know the dependencies between packages,
and make sure they are built in the right order. These dependencies
can sometimes be quite complicated, and for a given system, it is
often not easy to understand why such or such package was brought into
the build by Buildroot.</p><p>In order to help understanding the dependencies, and therefore better
understand what is the role of the different components in your
embedded Linux system, Buildroot is capable of generating dependency
graphs.</p><p>To generate a dependency graph of the full system you have compiled,
simply run:</p><pre class="screen">make graph-depends</pre><p>You will find the generated graph in
<code class="literal">output/graphs/graph-depends.pdf</code>.</p><p>If your system is quite large, the dependency graph may be too complex
and difficult to read. It is therefore possible to generate the
dependency graph just for a given package:</p><pre class="screen">make &lt;pkg&gt;-graph-depends</pre><p>You will find the generated graph in
<code class="literal">output/graph/&lt;pkg&gt;-graph-depends.pdf</code>.</p><p>Note that the dependency graphs are generated using the <code class="literal">dot</code> tool
from the <span class="emphasis"><em>Graphviz</em></span> project, which you must have installed on your
system to use this feature. In most distributions, it is available as
the <code class="literal">graphviz</code> package.</p><p>By default, the dependency graphs are generated in the PDF
format. However, by passing the <code class="literal">BR2_GRAPH_OUT</code> environment variable, you
can switch to other output formats, such as PNG, PostScript or
SVG. All formats supported by the <code class="literal">-T</code> option of the <code class="literal">dot</code> tool are
supported.</p><pre class="screen">BR2_GRAPH_OUT=svg make graph-depends</pre><p>The <code class="literal">graph-depends</code> behaviour can be controlled by setting options in the
<code class="literal">BR2_GRAPH_DEPS_OPTS</code> environment variable. The accepted options are:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">--depth N</code>, <code class="literal">-d N</code>, to limit the dependency depth to <code class="literal">N</code> levels. The
default, <code class="literal">0</code>, means no limit.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">--stop-on PKG</code>, <code class="literal">-s PKG</code>, to stop the graph on the package <code class="literal">PKG</code>.
<code class="literal">PKG</code> can be an actual package name, a glob, the keyword <span class="emphasis"><em>virtual</em></span>
(to stop on virtual packages), or the keyword <span class="emphasis"><em>host</em></span> (to stop on
host packages). The package is still present on the graph, but its
dependencies are not.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">--exclude PKG</code>, <code class="literal">-x PKG</code>, like <code class="literal">--stop-on</code>, but also omits <code class="literal">PKG</code> from
the graph.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">--transitive</code>, <code class="literal">--no-transitive</code>, to draw (or not) the transitive
dependencies. The default is to not draw transitive dependencies.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">--colours R,T,H</code>, the comma-separated list of colours to draw the
root package (<code class="literal">R</code>), the target packages (<code class="literal">T</code>) and the host packages
(<code class="literal">H</code>). Defaults to: <code class="literal">lightblue,grey,gainsboro</code>
</li></ul></div><pre class="screen">BR2_GRAPH_DEPS_OPTS='-d 3 --no-transitive --colours=red,green,blue' make graph-depends</pre></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_graphing_the_build_duration"></a>8.9. Graphing the build duration</h2></div></div></div><p><a id="graph-duration"></a>When the build of a system takes a long time, it is sometimes useful
to be able to understand which packages are the longest to build, to
see if anything can be done to speed up the build. In order to help
such build time analysis, Buildroot collects the build time of each
step of each package, and allows to generate graphs from this data.</p><p>To generate the build time graph after a build, run:</p><pre class="screen">make graph-build</pre><p>This will generate a set of files in <code class="literal">output/graphs</code> :</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">build.hist-build.pdf</code>, a histogram of the build time for each
package, ordered in the build order.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">build.hist-duration.pdf</code>, a histogram of the build time for each
package, ordered by duration (longest first)
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">build.hist-name.pdf</code>, a histogram of the build time for each
package, order by package name.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">build.pie-packages.pdf</code>, a pie chart of the build time per package
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">build.pie-steps.pdf</code>, a pie chart of the global time spent in each
step of the packages build process.
</li></ul></div><p>This <code class="literal">graph-build</code> target requires the Python Matplotlib and Numpy
libraries to be installed (<code class="literal">python-matplotlib</code> and <code class="literal">python-numpy</code> on
most distributions), and also the <code class="literal">argparse</code> module if you’re using a
Python version older than 2.7 (<code class="literal">python-argparse</code> on most
distributions).</p><p>By default, the output format for the graph is PDF, but a different
format can be selected using the <code class="literal">BR2_GRAPH_OUT</code> environment variable. The
only other format supported is PNG:</p><pre class="screen">BR2_GRAPH_OUT=png make graph-build</pre></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_graphing_the_filesystem_size_contribution_of_packages"></a>8.10. Graphing the filesystem size contribution of packages</h2></div></div></div><p>When your target system grows, it is sometimes useful to understand
how much each Buildroot package is contributing to the overall root
filesystem size. To help with such an analysis, Buildroot collects
data about files installed by each package and using this data,
generates a graph and CSV files detailing the size contribution of
the different packages.</p><p>To generate these data after a build, run:</p><pre class="screen">make graph-size</pre><p>This will generate:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">output/graphs/graph-size.pdf</code>, a pie chart of the contribution of
each package to the overall root filesystem size
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">output/graphs/package-size-stats.csv</code>, a CSV file giving the size
contribution of each package to the overall root filesystem size
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">output/graphs/file-size-stats.csv</code>, a CSV file giving the size
contribution of each installed file to the package it belongs, and
to the overall filesystem size.
</li></ul></div><p>This <code class="literal">graph-size</code> target requires the Python Matplotlib library to be
installed (<code class="literal">python-matplotlib</code> on most distributions), and also the
<code class="literal">argparse</code> module if you’re using a Python version older than 2.7
(<code class="literal">python-argparse</code> on most distributions).</p><p>Just like for the duration graph, a <code class="literal">BR2_GRAPH_OUT</code> environment is
supported to adjust the output file format. See <a class="xref" href="#graph-depends">Section 8.8, “Graphing the dependencies between packages”</a>
for details about this environment variable.</p><p><strong>Note. </strong>The collected filesystem size data is only meaningful after a complete
clean rebuild. Be sure to run <code class="literal">make clean all</code> before using <code class="literal">make
graph-size</code>.</p><p>To compare the root filesystem size of two different Buildroot compilations,
for example after adjusting the configuration or when switching to another
Buildroot release, use the <code class="literal">size-stats-compare</code> script. It takes two
<code class="literal">file-size-stats.csv</code> files (produced by <code class="literal">make graph-size</code>) as input.
Refer to the help text of this script for more details:</p><pre class="screen">utils/size-stats-compare -h</pre></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_integration_with_eclipse"></a>8.11. Integration with Eclipse</h2></div></div></div><p>While a part of the embedded Linux developers like classical text
editors like Vim or Emacs, and command-line based interfaces, a number
of other embedded Linux developers like richer graphical interfaces to
do their development work. Eclipse being one of the most popular
Integrated Development Environment, Buildroot integrates with Eclipse
in order to ease the development work of Eclipse users.</p><p>Our integration with Eclipse simplifies the compilation, remote
execution and remote debugging of applications and libraries that are
built on top of a Buildroot system. It does not integrate the
Buildroot configuration and build processes themselves with
Eclipse. Therefore, the typical usage model of our Eclipse integration
would be:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
Configure your Buildroot system with <code class="literal">make menuconfig</code>, <code class="literal">make
xconfig</code> or any other configuration interface provided with
Buildroot.
</li><li class="listitem">
Build your Buildroot system by running <code class="literal">make</code>.
</li><li class="listitem">
Start Eclipse to develop, execute and debug your own custom
applications and libraries, that will rely on the libraries built
and installed by Buildroot.
</li></ul></div><p>The Buildroot Eclipse integration installation process and usage is
described in detail at
<a class="ulink" href="https://github.com/mbats/eclipse-buildroot-bundle/wiki" target="_top">https://github.com/mbats/eclipse-buildroot-bundle/wiki</a>.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_advanced_usage"></a>8.12. Advanced usage</h2></div></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="_using_the_generated_toolchain_outside_buildroot"></a>8.12.1. Using the generated toolchain outside Buildroot</h3></div></div></div><p>You may want to compile, for your target, your own programs or other
software that are not packaged in Buildroot. In order to do this you
can use the toolchain that was generated by Buildroot.</p><p>The toolchain generated by Buildroot is located by default in
<code class="literal">output/host/</code>. The simplest way to use it is to add
<code class="literal">output/host/bin/</code> to your PATH environment variable and then to
use <code class="literal">ARCH-linux-gcc</code>, <code class="literal">ARCH-linux-objdump</code>, <code class="literal">ARCH-linux-ld</code>, etc.</p><p>It is possible to relocate the toolchain, this allows to distribute
the toolchain to other developers to build applications for your
target. To achieve this:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
run <code class="literal">make sdk</code>, which prepares the toolchain to be relocatable;
</li><li class="listitem">
tarball the contents of the <code class="literal">output/host</code> directory;
</li><li class="listitem">
distribute the resulting tarball.
</li></ul></div><p>Once the toolchain is installed to the new location, the user must run
the <code class="literal">relocate-sdk.sh</code> script to make sure all paths are updated with
the new location.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="_using_literal_gdb_literal_in_buildroot"></a>8.12.2. Using <code class="literal">gdb</code> in Buildroot</h3></div></div></div><p>Buildroot allows to do cross-debugging, where the debugger runs on the
build machine and communicates with <code class="literal">gdbserver</code> on the target to
control the execution of the program.</p><p>To achieve this:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
If you are using an <span class="emphasis"><em>internal toolchain</em></span> (built by Buildroot), you
must enable <code class="literal">BR2_PACKAGE_HOST_GDB</code>, <code class="literal">BR2_PACKAGE_GDB</code> and
<code class="literal">BR2_PACKAGE_GDB_SERVER</code>. This ensures that both the cross gdb and
gdbserver get built, and that gdbserver gets installed to your target.
</li><li class="listitem">
If you are using an <span class="emphasis"><em>external toolchain</em></span>, you should enable
<code class="literal">BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_GDB_SERVER_COPY</code>, which will copy the
gdbserver included with the external toolchain to the target. If your
external toolchain does not have a cross gdb or gdbserver, it is also
possible to let Buildroot build them, by enabling the same options as
for the <span class="emphasis"><em>internal toolchain backend</em></span>.
</li></ul></div><p>Now, to start debugging a program called <code class="literal">foo</code>, you should run on the
target:</p><pre class="screen">gdbserver :2345 foo</pre><p>This will cause <code class="literal">gdbserver</code> to listen on TCP port 2345 for a connection
from the cross gdb.</p><p>Then, on the host, you should start the cross gdb using the following
command line:</p><pre class="screen">&lt;buildroot&gt;/output/host/bin/&lt;tuple&gt;-gdb -x &lt;buildroot&gt;/output/staging/usr/share/buildroot/gdbinit foo</pre><p>Of course, <code class="literal">foo</code> must be available in the current directory, built
with debugging symbols. Typically you start this command from the
directory where <code class="literal">foo</code> is built (and not from <code class="literal">output/target/</code> as the
binaries in that directory are stripped).</p><p>The <code class="literal">&lt;buildroot&gt;/output/staging/usr/share/buildroot/gdbinit</code> file will tell the
cross gdb where to find the libraries of the target.</p><p>Finally, to connect to the target from the cross gdb:</p><pre class="screen">(gdb) target remote &lt;target ip address&gt;:2345</pre></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="ccache"></a>8.12.3. Using <code class="literal">ccache</code> in Buildroot</h3></div></div></div><p><a class="ulink" href="http://ccache.samba.org" target="_top">ccache</a> is a compiler cache. It stores the
object files resulting from each compilation process, and is able to
skip future compilation of the same source file (with same compiler
and same arguments) by using the pre-existing object files. When doing
almost identical builds from scratch a number of times, it can nicely
speed up the build process.</p><p><code class="literal">ccache</code> support is integrated in Buildroot. You just have to enable
<code class="literal">Enable compiler cache</code> in <code class="literal">Build options</code>. This will automatically
build <code class="literal">ccache</code> and use it for every host and target compilation.</p><p>The cache is located in <code class="literal">$HOME/.buildroot-ccache</code>. It is stored
outside of Buildroot output directory so that it can be shared by
separate Buildroot builds. If you want to get rid of the cache, simply
remove this directory.</p><p>You can get statistics on the cache (its size, number of hits,
misses, etc.) by running <code class="literal">make ccache-stats</code>.</p><p>The make target <code class="literal">ccache-options</code> and the <code class="literal">CCACHE_OPTIONS</code> variable
provide more generic access to the ccache. For example</p><pre class="screen"># set cache limit size
make CCACHE_OPTIONS="--max-size=5G" ccache-options
# zero statistics counters
make CCACHE_OPTIONS="--zero-stats" ccache-options</pre><p><code class="literal">ccache</code> makes a hash of the source files and of the compiler options.
If a compiler option is different, the cached object file will not be
used. Many compiler options, however, contain an absolute path to the
staging directory. Because of this, building in a different output
directory would lead to many cache misses.</p><p>To avoid this issue, buildroot has the <code class="literal">Use relative paths</code> option
(<code class="literal">BR2_CCACHE_USE_BASEDIR</code>). This will rewrite all absolute paths that
point inside the output directory into relative paths. Thus, changing
the output directory no longer leads to cache misses.</p><p>A disadvantage of the relative paths is that they also end up to be
relative paths in the object file. Therefore, for example, the debugger
will no longer find the file, unless you cd to the output directory
first.</p><p>See <a class="ulink" href="https://ccache.samba.org/manual.html#_compiling_in_different_directories" target="_top">the
ccache manual’s section on "Compiling in different directories"</a> for
more details about this rewriting of absolute paths.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="download-location"></a>8.12.4. Location of downloaded packages</h3></div></div></div><p>The various tarballs that are downloaded by Buildroot are all stored
in <code class="literal">BR2_DL_DIR</code>, which by default is the <code class="literal">dl</code> directory. If you want
to keep a complete version of Buildroot which is known to be working
with the associated tarballs, you can make a copy of this directory.
This will allow you to regenerate the toolchain and the target
filesystem with exactly the same versions.</p><p>If you maintain several Buildroot trees, it might be better to have a
shared download location. This can be achieved by pointing the
<code class="literal">BR2_DL_DIR</code> environment variable to a directory. If this is
set, then the value of <code class="literal">BR2_DL_DIR</code> in the Buildroot configuration is
overridden. The following line should be added to <code class="literal">&lt;~/.bashrc&gt;</code>.</p><pre class="screen"> export BR2_DL_DIR=&lt;shared download location&gt;</pre><p>The download location can also be set in the <code class="literal">.config</code> file, with the
<code class="literal">BR2_DL_DIR</code> option. Unlike most options in the .config file, this value
is overridden by the <code class="literal">BR2_DL_DIR</code> environment variable.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pkg-build-steps"></a>8.12.5. Package-specific <span class="emphasis"><em>make</em></span> targets</h3></div></div></div><p>Running <code class="literal">make &lt;package&gt;</code> builds and installs that particular package
and its dependencies.</p><p>For packages relying on the Buildroot infrastructure, there are
numerous special make targets that can be called independently like
this:</p><pre class="screen">make &lt;package&gt;-&lt;target&gt;</pre><p>The package build targets are (in the order they are executed):</p><div class="informaltable"><table class="informaltable" cellpadding="4px" style="border-collapse: collapse;border-top: 3px solid #527bbd; border-bottom: 3px solid #527bbd; border-left: 3px solid #527bbd; border-right: 3px solid #527bbd; " width="90%"><colgroup><col class="col_1" /><col class="col_2" /></colgroup><thead><tr><th style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; border-bottom: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="center" valign="top"> command/target </th><th style="border-bottom: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"> Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; border-bottom: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="center" valign="top"><p><code class="literal">source</code></p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"><p>Fetch the source (download the tarball, clone
the source repository, etc)</p></td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; border-bottom: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="center" valign="top"><p><code class="literal">depends</code></p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"><p>Build and install all dependencies required to
build the package</p></td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; border-bottom: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="center" valign="top"><p><code class="literal">extract</code></p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"><p>Put the source in the package build directory
(extract the tarball, copy the source, etc)</p></td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; border-bottom: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="center" valign="top"><p><code class="literal">patch</code></p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"><p>Apply the patches, if any</p></td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; border-bottom: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="center" valign="top"><p><code class="literal">configure</code></p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"><p>Run the configure commands, if any</p></td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; border-bottom: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="center" valign="top"><p><code class="literal">build</code></p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"><p>Run the compilation commands</p></td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; border-bottom: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="center" valign="top"><p><code class="literal">install-staging</code></p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"><p><span class="strong"><strong>target package:</strong></span> Run the installation of the package in the
staging directory, if necessary</p></td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; border-bottom: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="center" valign="top"><p><code class="literal">install-target</code></p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"><p><span class="strong"><strong>target package:</strong></span> Run the installation of the package in the
target directory, if necessary</p></td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="center" valign="top"><p><code class="literal">install</code></p></td><td style="" align="left" valign="top"><p><span class="strong"><strong>target package:</strong></span> Run the 2 previous installation commands</p>
<p><span class="strong"><strong>host package:</strong></span> Run the installation of the package in the host
directory</p></td></tr></tbody></table></div><p>Additionally, there are some other useful make targets:</p><div class="informaltable"><table class="informaltable" cellpadding="4px" style="border-collapse: collapse;border-top: 3px solid #527bbd; border-bottom: 3px solid #527bbd; border-left: 3px solid #527bbd; border-right: 3px solid #527bbd; " width="90%"><colgroup><col class="col_1" /><col class="col_2" /></colgroup><thead><tr><th style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; border-bottom: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="center" valign="top"> command/target </th><th style="border-bottom: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"> Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; border-bottom: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="center" valign="top"><p><code class="literal">show-depends</code></p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"><p>Displays the dependencies required to build the
package</p></td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; border-bottom: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="center" valign="top"><p><code class="literal">graph-depends</code></p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"><p>Generate a dependency graph of the package, in the
context of the current Buildroot configuration. See
<a class="link" href="#graph-depends">this section</a>
<a class="xref" href="#graph-depends">Section 8.8, “Graphing the dependencies between packages”</a> for more details about dependency
graphs.</p></td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; border-bottom: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="center" valign="top"><p><code class="literal">dirclean</code></p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"><p>Remove the whole package build directory</p></td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; border-bottom: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="center" valign="top"><p><code class="literal">reinstall</code></p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"><p>Re-run the install commands</p></td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; border-bottom: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="center" valign="top"><p><code class="literal">rebuild</code></p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"><p>Re-run the compilation commands - this only makes
sense when using the <code class="literal">OVERRIDE_SRCDIR</code> feature or when you modified a file
directly in the build directory</p></td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="center" valign="top"><p><code class="literal">reconfigure</code></p></td><td style="" align="left" valign="top"><p>Re-run the configure commands, then rebuild - this only
makes sense when using the <code class="literal">OVERRIDE_SRCDIR</code> feature or when you modified a
file directly in the build directory</p></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="_using_buildroot_during_development"></a>8.12.6. Using Buildroot during development</h3></div></div></div><p>The normal operation of Buildroot is to download a tarball, extract
it, configure, compile and install the software component found inside
this tarball. The source code is extracted in
<code class="literal">output/build/&lt;package&gt;-&lt;version&gt;</code>, which is a temporary directory:
whenever <code class="literal">make clean</code> is used, this directory is entirely removed, and
re-created at the next <code class="literal">make</code> invocation. Even when a Git or
Subversion repository is used as the input for the package source
code, Buildroot creates a tarball out of it, and then behaves as it
normally does with tarballs.</p><p>This behavior is well-suited when Buildroot is used mainly as an
integration tool, to build and integrate all the components of an
embedded Linux system. However, if one uses Buildroot during the
development of certain components of the system, this behavior is not
very convenient: one would instead like to make a small change to the
source code of one package, and be able to quickly rebuild the system
with Buildroot.</p><p>Making changes directly in <code class="literal">output/build/&lt;package&gt;-&lt;version&gt;</code> is not
an appropriate solution, because this directory is removed on <code class="literal">make
clean</code>.</p><p>Therefore, Buildroot provides a specific mechanism for this use case:
the <code class="literal">&lt;pkg&gt;_OVERRIDE_SRCDIR</code> mechanism. Buildroot reads an <span class="emphasis"><em>override</em></span>
file, which allows the user to tell Buildroot the location of the
source for certain packages. By default this <span class="emphasis"><em>override</em></span> file is named
<code class="literal">local.mk</code> and located in the top directory of the Buildroot source
tree, but a different location can be specified through the
<code class="literal">BR2_PACKAGE_OVERRIDE_FILE</code> configuration option.</p><p>In this <span class="emphasis"><em>override</em></span> file, Buildroot expects to find lines of the form:</p><pre class="screen">&lt;pkg1&gt;_OVERRIDE_SRCDIR = /path/to/pkg1/sources
&lt;pkg2&gt;_OVERRIDE_SRCDIR = /path/to/pkg2/sources</pre><p>For example:</p><pre class="screen">LINUX_OVERRIDE_SRCDIR = /home/bob/linux/
BUSYBOX_OVERRIDE_SRCDIR = /home/bob/busybox/</pre><p>When Buildroot finds that for a given package, an
<code class="literal">&lt;pkg&gt;_OVERRIDE_SRCDIR</code> has been defined, it will no longer attempt to
download, extract and patch the package. Instead, it will directly use
the source code available in the specified directory and <code class="literal">make clean</code>
will not touch this directory. This allows to point Buildroot to your
own directories, that can be managed by Git, Subversion, or any other
version control system. To achieve this, Buildroot will use <span class="emphasis"><em>rsync</em></span> to
copy the source code of the component from the specified
<code class="literal">&lt;pkg&gt;_OVERRIDE_SRCDIR</code> to <code class="literal">output/build/&lt;package&gt;-custom/</code>.</p><p>This mechanism is best used in conjunction with the <code class="literal">make
&lt;pkg&gt;-rebuild</code> and <code class="literal">make &lt;pkg&gt;-reconfigure</code> targets. A <code class="literal">make
&lt;pkg&gt;-rebuild all</code> sequence will <span class="emphasis"><em>rsync</em></span> the source code from
<code class="literal">&lt;pkg&gt;_OVERRIDE_SRCDIR</code> to <code class="literal">output/build/&lt;package&gt;-custom</code> (thanks to
<span class="emphasis"><em>rsync</em></span>, only the modified files are copied), and restart the build
process of just this package.</p><p>In the example of the <code class="literal">linux</code> package above, the developer can then
make a source code change in <code class="literal">/home/bob/linux</code> and then run:</p><pre class="screen">make linux-rebuild all</pre><p>and in a matter of seconds gets the updated Linux kernel image in
<code class="literal">output/images</code>. Similarly, a change can be made to the BusyBox source
code in <code class="literal">/home/bob/busybox</code>, and after:</p><pre class="screen">make busybox-rebuild all</pre><p>the root filesystem image in <code class="literal">output/images</code> contains the updated
BusyBox.</p></div></div></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="customize"></a>Chapter 9. Project-specific customization</h2></div></div></div><p>Typical actions you may need to perform for a given project are:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
configuring Buildroot (including build options and toolchain,
bootloader, kernel, package and filesystem image type selection)
</li><li class="listitem">
configuring other components, like the Linux kernel and BusyBox
</li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
customizing the generated target filesystem
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
adding or overwriting files on the target filesystem (using
<code class="literal">BR2_ROOTFS_OVERLAY</code>)
</li><li class="listitem">
modifying or deleting files on the target filesystem (using
<code class="literal">BR2_ROOTFS_POST_BUILD_SCRIPT</code>)
</li><li class="listitem">
running arbitrary commands prior to generating the filesystem image
(using <code class="literal">BR2_ROOTFS_POST_BUILD_SCRIPT</code>)
</li><li class="listitem">
setting file permissions and ownership (using
<code class="literal">BR2_ROOTFS_DEVICE_TABLE</code>)
</li><li class="listitem">
adding custom devices nodes (using
<code class="literal">BR2_ROOTFS_STATIC_DEVICE_TABLE</code>)
</li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem">
adding custom user accounts (using <code class="literal">BR2_ROOTFS_USERS_TABLES</code>)
</li><li class="listitem">
running arbitrary commands after generating the filesystem image
(using <code class="literal">BR2_ROOTFS_POST_IMAGE_SCRIPT</code>)
</li><li class="listitem">
adding project-specific patches to some packages (using
<code class="literal">BR2_GLOBAL_PATCH_DIR</code>)
</li><li class="listitem">
adding project-specific packages
</li></ul></div><p>An important note regarding such <span class="emphasis"><em>project-specific</em></span> customizations:
please carefully consider which changes are indeed project-specific and
which changes are also useful to developers outside your project. The
Buildroot community highly recommends and encourages the upstreaming of
improvements, packages and board support to the official Buildroot
project. Of course, it is sometimes not possible or desirable to
upstream because the changes are highly specific or proprietary.</p><p>This chapter describes how to make such project-specific customizations
in Buildroot and how to store them in a way that you can build the same
image in a reproducible way, even after running <span class="emphasis"><em>make clean</em></span>. By
following the recommended strategy, you can even use the same Buildroot
tree to build multiple distinct projects!</p><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="customize-dir-structure"></a>9.1. Recommended directory structure</h2></div></div></div><p>When customizing Buildroot for your project, you will be creating one or
more project-specific files that need to be stored somewhere. While most
of these files could be placed in <span class="emphasis"><em>any</em></span> location as their path is to be
specified in the Buildroot configuration, the Buildroot developers
recommend a specific directory structure which is described in this
section.</p><p>Orthogonal to this directory structure, you can choose <span class="emphasis"><em>where</em></span> you place
this structure itself: either inside the Buildroot tree, or outside of
it using a br2-external tree. Both options are valid, the choice is up
to you.</p><pre class="screen">+-- board/
| +-- &lt;company&gt;/
| +-- &lt;boardname&gt;/
| +-- linux.config
| +-- busybox.config
| +-- &lt;other configuration files&gt;
| +-- post_build.sh
| +-- post_image.sh
| +-- rootfs_overlay/
| | +-- etc/
| | +-- &lt;some file&gt;
| +-- patches/
| +-- foo/
| | +-- &lt;some patch&gt;
| +-- libbar/
| +-- &lt;some other patches&gt;
|
+-- configs/
| +-- &lt;boardname&gt;_defconfig
|
+-- package/
| +-- &lt;company&gt;/
| +-- Config.in (if not using a br2-external tree)
| +-- &lt;company&gt;.mk (if not using a br2-external tree)
| +-- package1/
| | +-- Config.in
| | +-- package1.mk
| +-- package2/
| +-- Config.in
| +-- package2.mk
|
+-- Config.in (if using a br2-external tree)
+-- external.mk (if using a br2-external tree)</pre><p>Details on the files shown above are given further in this chapter.</p><p>Note: if you choose to place this structure outside of the Buildroot
tree but in a br2-external tree, the &lt;company&gt; and possibly &lt;boardname&gt;
components may be superfluous and can be left out.</p><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="_implementing_layered_customizations"></a>9.1.1. Implementing layered customizations</h3></div></div></div><p>It is quite common for a user to have several related projects that partly
need the same customizations. Instead of duplicating these
customizations for each project, it is recommended to use a layered
customization approach, as explained in this section.</p><p>Almost all of the customization methods available in Buildroot, like
post-build scripts and root filesystem overlays, accept a
space-separated list of items. The specified items are always treated in
order, from left to right. By creating more than one such item, one for
the common customizations and another one for the really
project-specific customizations, you can avoid unnecessary duplication.
Each layer is typically embodied by a separate directory inside
<code class="literal">board/&lt;company&gt;/</code>. Depending on your projects, you could even introduce
more than two layers.</p><p>An example directory structure for where a user has two customization
layers <span class="emphasis"><em>common</em></span> and <span class="emphasis"><em>fooboard</em></span> is:</p><pre class="screen">+-- board/
+-- &lt;company&gt;/
+-- common/
| +-- post_build.sh
| +-- rootfs_overlay/
| | +-- ...
| +-- patches/
| +-- ...
|
+-- fooboard/
+-- linux.config
+-- busybox.config
+-- &lt;other configuration files&gt;
+-- post_build.sh
+-- rootfs_overlay/
| +-- ...
+-- patches/
+-- ...</pre><p>For example, if the user has the <code class="literal">BR2_GLOBAL_PATCH_DIR</code> configuration
option set as:</p><pre class="screen">BR2_GLOBAL_PATCH_DIR="board/&lt;company&gt;/common/patches board/&lt;company&gt;/fooboard/patches"</pre><p>then first the patches from the <span class="emphasis"><em>common</em></span> layer would be applied,
followed by the patches from the <span class="emphasis"><em>fooboard</em></span> layer.</p></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="outside-br-custom"></a>9.2. Keeping customizations outside of Buildroot</h2></div></div></div><p>As already briefly mentioned in <a class="xref" href="#customize-dir-structure" title="9.1. Recommended directory structure">Section 9.1, “Recommended directory structure”</a>, you can
place project-specific customizations in two locations:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
directly within the Buildroot tree, typically maintaining them using
branches in a version control system so that upgrading to a newer
Buildroot release is easy.
</li><li class="listitem">
outside of the Buildroot tree, using the <span class="emphasis"><em>br2-external</em></span> mechanism.
This mechanism allows to keep package recipes, board support and
configuration files outside of the Buildroot tree, while still
having them nicely integrated in the build logic. We call this
location a <span class="emphasis"><em>br2-external tree</em></span>. This section explains how to use
the br2-external mechanism and what to provide in a br2-external
tree.
</li></ul></div><p>One can tell Buildroot to use one or more br2-external trees by setting
the <code class="literal">BR2_EXTERNAL</code> make variable set to the path(s) of the br2-external
tree(s) to use. It can be passed to any Buildroot <code class="literal">make</code> invocation. It
is automatically saved in the hidden <code class="literal">.br-external.mk</code> file in the output
directory. Thanks to this, there is no need to pass <code class="literal">BR2_EXTERNAL</code> at
every <code class="literal">make</code> invocation. It can however be changed at any time by
passing a new value, and can be removed by passing an empty value.</p><p><strong>Note. </strong>The path to a br2-external tree can be either absolute or relative.
If it is passed as a relative path, it is important to note that it is
interpreted relative to the main Buildroot source directory, <span class="strong"><strong>not</strong></span> to
the Buildroot output directory.</p><p><strong>Note: </strong>If using an br2-external tree from before Buildroot 2016.11, you need to
convert it before you can use it with Buildroot 2016.11 onward. See
<a class="xref" href="#br2-external-converting" title="25.1. Migrating to 2016.11">Section 25.1, “Migrating to 2016.11”</a> for help on doing so.</p><p>Some examples:</p><pre class="screen">buildroot/ $ make BR2_EXTERNAL=/path/to/foo menuconfig</pre><p>From now on, definitions from the <code class="literal">/path/to/foo</code> br2-external tree
will be used:</p><pre class="screen">buildroot/ $ make
buildroot/ $ make legal-info</pre><p>We can switch to another br2-external tree at any time:</p><pre class="screen">buildroot/ $ make BR2_EXTERNAL=/where/we/have/bar xconfig</pre><p>We can also use multiple br2-external trees:</p><pre class="screen">buildroot/ $ make BR2_EXTERNAL=/path/to/foo:/where/we/have/bar menuconfig</pre><p>Or disable the usage of any br2-external tree:</p><pre class="screen">buildroot/ $ make BR2_EXTERNAL= xconfig</pre><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="_layout_of_a_br2_external_tree"></a>9.2.1. Layout of a br2-external tree</h3></div></div></div><p>A br2-external tree must contain at least those three files, described
in the following chapters:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">external.desc</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">external.mk</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">Config.in</code>
</li></ul></div><p>Apart from those mandatory files, there may be additional and optional
content that may be present in a br2-external tree, like the <code class="literal">configs/</code>
directory. They are described in the following chapters as well.</p><p>A complete example br2-external tree layout is also described later.</p><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="_the_literal_external_desc_literal_file"></a>The <code class="literal">external.desc</code> file</h4></div></div></div><p>That file describes the br2-external tree: the <span class="emphasis"><em>name</em></span> and <span class="emphasis"><em>description</em></span>
for that br2-external tree.</p><p>The format for this file is line based, with each line starting by a
keyword, followed by a colon and one or more spaces, followed by the
value assigned to that keyword. There are two keywords currently
recognised:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
<code class="literal">name</code>, mandatory, defines the name for that br2-external tree. That
name must only use ASCII characters in the set <code class="literal">[A-Za-z0-9_]</code>; any
other character is forbidden. Buildroot sets the variable
<code class="literal">BR2_EXTERNAL_$(NAME)_PATH</code> to the absolute path of the br2-external
tree, so that you can use it to refer to your br2-external tree. This
variable is available both in Kconfig, so you can use it to source your
Kconfig files (see below) and in the Makefile, so that you can use it
to include other Makefiles (see below) or refer to other files (like
data files) from your br2-external tree.
</p><p><strong>Note: </strong>Since it is possible to use multiple br2-external trees at once, this
name is used by Buildroot to generate variables for each of those trees.
That name is used to identify your br2-external tree, so try to come up
with a name that really describes your br2-external tree, in order for
it to be relatively unique, so that it does not clash with another name
from another br2-external tree, especially if you are planning on
somehow sharing your br2-external tree with third parties or using
br2-external trees from third parties.</p></li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">desc</code>, optional, provides a short description for that br2-external
tree. It shall fit on a single line, is mostly free-form (see below),
and is used when displaying information about a br2-external tree (e.g.
above the list of defconfig files, or as the prompt in the menuconfig);
as such, it should relatively brief (40 chars is probably a good upper
limit). The description is available in the <code class="literal">BR2_EXTERNAL_$(NAME)_DESC</code>
variable.
</li></ul></div><p>Examples of names and the corresponding <code class="literal">BR2_EXTERNAL_$(NAME)_PATH</code>
variables:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">FOO</code> → <code class="literal">BR2_EXTERNAL_FOO_PATH</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">BAR_42</code> → <code class="literal">BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH</code>
</li></ul></div><p>In the following examples, it is assumed the name to be set to <code class="literal">BAR_42</code>.</p><p><strong>Note: </strong>Both <code class="literal">BR2_EXTERNAL_$(NAME)_PATH</code> and <code class="literal">BR2_EXTERNAL_$(NAME)_DESC</code> are
available in the Kconfig files and the Makefiles. They are also
exported in the environment so are available in post-build, post-image
and in-fakeroot scripts.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="_the_literal_config_in_literal_and_literal_external_mk_literal_files"></a>The <code class="literal">Config.in</code> and <code class="literal">external.mk</code> files</h4></div></div></div><p>Those files (which may each be empty) can be used to define package
recipes (i.e. <code class="literal">foo/Config.in</code> and <code class="literal">foo/foo.mk</code> like for packages bundled
in Buildroot itself) or other custom configuration options or make logic.</p><p>Buildroot automatically includes the <code class="literal">Config.in</code> from each br2-external
tree to make it appear in the top-level configuration menu, and includes
the <code class="literal">external.mk</code> from each br2-external tree with the rest of the
makefile logic.</p><p>The main usage of this is to store package recipes. The recommended way
to do this is to write a <code class="literal">Config.in</code> file that looks like:</p><pre class="screen">source "$BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH/package/package1/Config.in"
source "$BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH/package/package2/Config.in"</pre><p>Then, have an <code class="literal">external.mk</code> file that looks like:</p><pre class="screen">include $(sort $(wildcard $(BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH)/package/*/*.mk))</pre><p>And then in <code class="literal">$(BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH)/package/package1</code> and
<code class="literal">$(BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH)/package/package2</code> create normal
Buildroot package recipes, as explained in <a class="xref" href="#adding-packages" title="Chapter 17. Adding new packages to Buildroot">Chapter 17, <em>Adding new packages to Buildroot</em></a>.
If you prefer, you can also group the packages in subdirectories
called &lt;boardname&gt; and adapt the above paths accordingly.</p><p>You can also define custom configuration options in <code class="literal">Config.in</code> and
custom make logic in <code class="literal">external.mk</code>.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="_the_literal_configs_literal_directory"></a>The <code class="literal">configs/</code> directory</h4></div></div></div><p>One can store Buildroot defconfigs in the <code class="literal">configs</code> subdirectory of
the br2-external tree. Buildroot will automatically show them in the
output of <code class="literal">make list-defconfigs</code> and allow them to be loaded with the
normal <code class="literal">make &lt;name&gt;_defconfig</code> command. They will be visible in the
<span class="emphasis"><em>make list-defconfigs</em></span> output, below an <code class="literal">External configs</code> label that
contains the name of the br2-external tree they are defined in.</p><p><strong>Note: </strong>If a defconfig file is present in more than one br2-external tree, then
the one from the last br2-external tree is used. It is thus possible
to override a defconfig bundled in Buildroot or another br2-external
tree.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="_free_form_content"></a>Free-form content</h4></div></div></div><p>One can store all the board-specific configuration files there, such
as the kernel configuration, the root filesystem overlay, or any other
configuration file for which Buildroot allows to set the location (by
using the <code class="literal">BR2_EXTERNAL_$(NAME)_PATH</code> variable). For example, you
could set the paths to a global patch directory, to a rootfs overlay
and to the kernel configuration file as follows (e.g. by running
<code class="literal">make menuconfig</code> and filling in these options):</p><pre class="screen">BR2_GLOBAL_PATCH_DIR=$(BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH)/patches/
BR2_ROOTFS_OVERLAY=$(BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH)/board/&lt;boardname&gt;/overlay/
BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_CUSTOM_CONFIG_FILE=$(BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH)/board/&lt;boardname&gt;/kernel.config</pre></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="_example_layout"></a>Example layout</h4></div></div></div><p>Here is an example layout using all features of br2-external (the sample
content is shown for the file above it, when it is relevant to explain
the br2-external tree; this is all entirely made up just for the sake of
illustration, of course):</p><pre class="screen">/path/to/br2-ext-tree/
|- external.desc
| |name: BAR_42
| |desc: Example br2-external tree
| `----
|
|- Config.in
| |source "$BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH/package/pkg-1/Config.in"
| |source "$BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH/package/pkg-2/Config.in"
| |
| |config BAR_42_FLASH_ADDR
| | hex "my-board flash address"
| | default 0x10AD
| `----
|
|- external.mk
| |include $(sort $(wildcard $(BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH)/package/*/*.mk))
| |
| |flash-my-board:
| | $(BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH)/board/my-board/flash-image \
| | --image $(BINARIES_DIR)/image.bin \
| | --address $(BAR_42_FLASH_ADDR)
| `----
|
|- package/pkg-1/Config.in
| |config BR2_PACKAGE_PKG_1
| | bool "pkg-1"
| | help
| | Some help about pkg-1
| `----
|- package/pkg-1/pkg-1.hash
|- package/pkg-1/pkg-1.mk
| |PKG_1_VERSION = 1.2.3
| |PKG_1_SITE = /some/where/to/get/pkg-1
| |PKG_1_LICENSE = blabla
| |
| |define PKG_1_INSTALL_INIT_SYSV
| | $(INSTALL) -D -m 0755 $(PKG_1_PKGDIR)/S99my-daemon \
| | $(TARGET_DIR)/etc/init.d/S99my-daemon
| |endef
| |
| |$(eval $(autotools-package))
| `----
|- package/pkg-1/S99my-daemon
|
|- package/pkg-2/Config.in
|- package/pkg-2/pkg-2.hash
|- package/pkg-2/pkg-2.mk
|
|- configs/my-board_defconfig
| |BR2_GLOBAL_PATCH_DIR="$(BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH)/patches/"
| |BR2_ROOTFS_OVERLAY="$(BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH)/board/my-board/overlay/"
| |BR2_ROOTFS_POST_IMAGE_SCRIPT="$(BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH)/board/my-board/post-image.sh"
| |BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_CUSTOM_CONFIG_FILE="$(BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH)/board/my-board/kernel.config"
| `----
|
|- patches/linux/0001-some-change.patch
|- patches/linux/0002-some-other-change.patch
|- patches/busybox/0001-fix-something.patch
|
|- board/my-board/kernel.config
|- board/my-board/overlay/var/www/index.html
|- board/my-board/overlay/var/www/my.css
|- board/my-board/flash-image
`- board/my-board/post-image.sh
|#!/bin/sh
|generate-my-binary-image \
| --root ${BINARIES_DIR}/rootfs.tar \
| --kernel ${BINARIES_DIR}/zImage \
| --dtb ${BINARIES_DIR}/my-board.dtb \
| --output ${BINARIES_DIR}/image.bin
`----</pre><p>The br2-external tree will then be visible in the menuconfig (with
the layout expanded):</p><pre class="screen">External options ---&gt;
*** Example br2-external tree (in /path/to/br2-ext-tree/)
[ ] pkg-1
[ ] pkg-2
(0x10AD) my-board flash address</pre><p>If you are using more than one br2-external tree, it would look like
(with the layout expanded and the second one with name <code class="literal">FOO_27</code> but no
<code class="literal">desc:</code> field in <code class="literal">external.desc</code>):</p><pre class="screen">External options ---&gt;
Example br2-external tree ---&gt;
*** Example br2-external tree (in /path/to/br2-ext-tree)
[ ] pkg-1
[ ] pkg-2
(0x10AD) my-board flash address
FOO_27 ---&gt;
*** FOO_27 (in /path/to/another-br2-ext)
[ ] foo
[ ] bar</pre></div></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="customize-store-buildroot-config"></a>9.3. Storing the Buildroot configuration</h2></div></div></div><p>The Buildroot configuration can be stored using the command
<code class="literal">make savedefconfig</code>.</p><p>This strips the Buildroot configuration down by removing configuration
options that are at their default value. The result is stored in a file
called <code class="literal">defconfig</code>. If you want to save it in another place, change the
<code class="literal">BR2_DEFCONFIG</code> option in the Buildroot configuration itself, or call
make with <code class="literal">make savedefconfig BR2_DEFCONFIG=&lt;path-to-defconfig&gt;</code>.</p><p>The recommended place to store this defconfig is
<code class="literal">configs/&lt;boardname&gt;_defconfig</code>. If you follow this recommendation, the
configuration will be listed in <code class="literal">make help</code> and can be set again by
running <code class="literal">make &lt;boardname&gt;_defconfig</code>.</p><p>Alternatively, you can copy the file to any other place and rebuild with
<code class="literal">make defconfig BR2_DEFCONFIG=&lt;path-to-defconfig-file&gt;</code>.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="customize-store-package-config"></a>9.4. Storing the configuration of other components</h2></div></div></div><p>The configuration files for BusyBox, the Linux kernel, Barebox, U-Boot
and uClibc should be stored as well if changed. For each of these
components, a Buildroot configuration option exists to point to an input
configuration file, e.g. <code class="literal">BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_CUSTOM_CONFIG_FILE</code>. To store
their configuration, set these configuration options to a path where you
want to save the configuration files, and then use the helper targets
described below to actually store the configuration.</p><p>As explained in <a class="xref" href="#customize-dir-structure" title="9.1. Recommended directory structure">Section 9.1, “Recommended directory structure”</a>, the recommended path to
store these configuration files is
<code class="literal">board/&lt;company&gt;/&lt;boardname&gt;/foo.config</code>.</p><p>Make sure that you create a configuration file <span class="emphasis"><em>before</em></span> changing
the <code class="literal">BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_CUSTOM_CONFIG_FILE</code> etc. options. Otherwise,
Buildroot will try to access this config file, which doesn’t exist
yet, and will fail. You can create the configuration file by running
<code class="literal">make linux-menuconfig</code> etc.</p><p>Buildroot provides a few helper targets to make the saving of
configuration files easier.</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">make linux-update-defconfig</code> saves the linux configuration to the
path specified by <code class="literal">BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_CUSTOM_CONFIG_FILE</code>. It
simplifies the config file by removing default values. However,
this only works with kernels starting from 2.6.33. For earlier
kernels, use <code class="literal">make linux-update-config</code>.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">make busybox-update-config</code> saves the busybox configuration to the
path specified by <code class="literal">BR2_PACKAGE_BUSYBOX_CONFIG</code>.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">make uclibc-update-config</code> saves the uClibc configuration to the
path specified by <code class="literal">BR2_UCLIBC_CONFIG</code>.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">make barebox-update-defconfig</code> saves the barebox configuration to the
path specified by <code class="literal">BR2_TARGET_BAREBOX_CUSTOM_CONFIG_FILE</code>.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">make uboot-update-defconfig</code> saves the U-Boot configuration to the
path specified by <code class="literal">BR2_TARGET_UBOOT_CUSTOM_CONFIG_FILE</code>.
</li><li class="listitem">
For at91bootstrap3, no helper exists so you have to copy the config
file manually to <code class="literal">BR2_TARGET_AT91BOOTSTRAP3_CUSTOM_CONFIG_FILE</code>.
</li></ul></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="rootfs-custom"></a>9.5. Customizing the generated target filesystem</h2></div></div></div><p>Besides changing the configuration through <code class="literal">make *config</code>,
there are a few other ways to customize the resulting target filesystem.</p><p>The two recommended methods, which can co-exist, are root filesystem
overlay(s) and post build script(s).</p><div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist"><dt><span class="term">
Root filesystem overlays (<code class="literal">BR2_ROOTFS_OVERLAY</code>)
</span></dt><dd><p class="simpara">A filesystem overlay is a tree of files that is copied directly
over the target filesystem after it has been built. To enable this
feature, set config option <code class="literal">BR2_ROOTFS_OVERLAY</code> (in the <code class="literal">System
configuration</code> menu) to the root of the overlay. You can even specify
multiple overlays, space-separated. If you specify a relative path,
it will be relative to the root of the Buildroot tree. Hidden
directories of version control systems, like <code class="literal">.git</code>, <code class="literal">.svn</code>, <code class="literal">.hg</code>,
etc., files called <code class="literal">.empty</code> and files ending in <code class="literal">~</code> are excluded from
the copy.</p><p class="simpara">As shown in <a class="xref" href="#customize-dir-structure" title="9.1. Recommended directory structure">Section 9.1, “Recommended directory structure”</a>, the recommended path for
this overlay is <code class="literal">board/&lt;company&gt;/&lt;boardname&gt;/rootfs-overlay</code>.</p></dd><dt><span class="term">
Post-build scripts (<code class="literal">BR2_ROOTFS_POST_BUILD_SCRIPT</code>)
</span></dt><dd><p class="simpara">Post-build scripts are shell scripts called <span class="emphasis"><em>after</em></span> Buildroot builds
all the selected software, but <span class="emphasis"><em>before</em></span> the rootfs images are
assembled. To enable this feature, specify a space-separated list of
post-build scripts in config option <code class="literal">BR2_ROOTFS_POST_BUILD_SCRIPT</code> (in
the <code class="literal">System configuration</code> menu). If you specify a relative path, it
will be relative to the root of the Buildroot tree.</p><p class="simpara">Using post-build scripts, you can remove or modify any file in your
target filesystem. You should, however, use this feature with care.
Whenever you find that a certain package generates wrong or unneeded
files, you should fix that package rather than work around it with some
post-build cleanup scripts.</p><p class="simpara">As shown in <a class="xref" href="#customize-dir-structure" title="9.1. Recommended directory structure">Section 9.1, “Recommended directory structure”</a>, the recommended path for
this script is <code class="literal">board/&lt;company&gt;/&lt;boardname&gt;/post_build.sh</code>.</p><p class="simpara">The post-build scripts are run with the main Buildroot tree as current
working directory. The path to the target filesystem is passed as the
first argument to each script. If the config option
<code class="literal">BR2_ROOTFS_POST_SCRIPT_ARGS</code> is not empty, these arguments will be
passed to the script too. All the scripts will be passed the exact
same set of arguments, it is not possible to pass different sets of
arguments to each script.</p><p class="simpara">In addition, you may also use these environment variables:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">BR2_CONFIG</code>: the path to the Buildroot .config file
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">HOST_DIR</code>, <code class="literal">STAGING_DIR</code>, <code class="literal">TARGET_DIR</code>: see
<a class="xref" href="#generic-package-reference" title="17.5.2. generic-package reference">Section 17.5.2, “<code class="literal">generic-package</code> reference”</a>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">BUILD_DIR</code>: the directory where packages are extracted and built
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">BINARIES_DIR</code>: the place where all binary files (aka images) are
stored
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">BASE_DIR</code>: the base output directory
</li></ul></div></dd></dl></div><p>Below three more methods of customizing the target filesystem are
described, but they are not recommended.</p><div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist"><dt><span class="term">
Direct modification of the target filesystem
</span></dt><dd><p class="simpara">For temporary modifications, you can modify the target filesystem
directly and rebuild the image. The target filesystem is available
under <code class="literal">output/target/</code>. After making your changes, run <code class="literal">make</code> to
rebuild the target filesystem image.</p><p class="simpara">This method allows you to do anything to the target filesystem, but if
you need to clean your Buildroot tree using <code class="literal">make clean</code>, these
changes will be lost. Such cleaning is necessary in several cases,
refer to <a class="xref" href="#full-rebuild" title="8.2. Understanding when a full rebuild is necessary">Section 8.2, “Understanding when a full rebuild is necessary”</a> for details. This solution is therefore
only useful for quick tests: <span class="emphasis"><em>changes do not survive the <code class="literal">make clean</code>
command</em></span>. Once you have validated your changes, you should make sure
that they will persist after a <code class="literal">make clean</code>, using a root filesystem
overlay or a post-build script.</p></dd><dt><span class="term">
Custom target skeleton (<code class="literal">BR2_ROOTFS_SKELETON_CUSTOM</code>)
</span></dt><dd><p class="simpara">The root filesystem image is created from a target skeleton, on top of
which all packages install their files. The skeleton is copied to the
target directory <code class="literal">output/target</code> before any package is built and
installed. The default target skeleton provides the standard Unix
filesystem layout and some basic init scripts and configuration files.</p><p class="simpara">If the default skeleton (available under <code class="literal">system/skeleton</code>) does not
match your needs, you would typically use a root filesystem overlay or
post-build script to adapt it. However, if the default skeleton is
entirely different than what you need, using a custom skeleton may be
more suitable.</p><p class="simpara">To enable this feature, enable config option
<code class="literal">BR2_ROOTFS_SKELETON_CUSTOM</code> and set <code class="literal">BR2_ROOTFS_SKELETON_CUSTOM_PATH</code>
to the path of your custom skeleton. Both options are available in the
<code class="literal">System configuration</code> menu. If you specify a relative path, it will
be relative to the root of the Buildroot tree.</p><p class="simpara">This method is not recommended because it duplicates the entire
skeleton, which prevents taking advantage of the fixes or improvements
brought to the default skeleton in later Buildroot releases.</p></dd><dt><span class="term">
Post-fakeroot scripts (<code class="literal">BR2_ROOTFS_POST_FAKEROOT_SCRIPT</code>)
</span></dt><dd><p class="simpara">When aggregating the final images, some parts of the process requires
root rights: creating device nodes in <code class="literal">/dev</code>, setting permissions or
ownership to files and directories… To avoid requiring actual root
rights, Buildroot uses <code class="literal">fakeroot</code> to simulate root rights. This is not
a complete substitute for actually being root, but is enough for what
Buildroot needs.</p><p class="simpara">Post-fakeroot scripts are shell scripts that are called at the <span class="emphasis"><em>end</em></span> of
the fakeroot phase, <span class="emphasis"><em>right before</em></span> the filesystem image generator is
called. As such, they are called in the fakeroot context.</p><p class="simpara">Post-fakeroot scripts can be useful in case you need to tweak the
filesystem to do modifications that are usually only available to the
root user.</p><p><strong>Note: </strong>It is recommended to use the existing mechanisms to set file permissions
or create entries in <code class="literal">/dev</code> (see <a class="xref" href="#customize-device-permission" title="9.5.1. Setting file permissions and ownership and adding custom devices nodes">Section 9.5.1, “Setting file permissions and ownership and adding custom devices nodes”</a>) or
to create users (see <a class="xref" href="#customize-users" title="9.6. Adding custom user accounts">Section 9.6, “Adding custom user accounts”</a>)</p><p><strong>Note: </strong>The difference between post-build scripts (above) and fakeroot scripts,
is that post-build scripts are not called in the fakeroot context.</p><p><strong>Note;. </strong>Using <code class="literal">fakeroot</code> is not an absolute substitute for actually being root.
<code class="literal">fakeroot</code> only ever fakes the file access rights and types (regular,
block-or-char device…) and uid/gid; these are emulated in-memory.</p></dd></dl></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="customize-device-permission"></a>9.5.1. Setting file permissions and ownership and adding custom devices nodes</h3></div></div></div><p>Sometimes it is needed to set specific permissions or ownership on files
or device nodes. For example, certain files may need to be owned by
root. Since the post-build scripts are not run as root, you cannot do
such changes from there unless you use an explicit fakeroot from the
post-build script.</p><p>Instead, Buildroot provides support for so-called <span class="emphasis"><em>permission tables</em></span>.
To use this feature, set config option <code class="literal">BR2_ROOTFS_DEVICE_TABLE</code> to a
space-separated list of permission tables, regular text files following
the <a class="link" href="#makedev-syntax" title="Chapter 23. Makedev syntax documentation">makedev syntax</a>
<a class="xref" href="#makedev-syntax" title="Chapter 23. Makedev syntax documentation">Chapter 23, <em>Makedev syntax documentation</em></a>.</p><p>If you are using a static device table (i.e. not using <code class="literal">devtmpfs</code>,
<code class="literal">mdev</code>, or <code class="literal">(e)udev</code>) then you can add device nodes using the same
syntax, in so-called <span class="emphasis"><em>device tables</em></span>. To use this feature, set config
option <code class="literal">BR2_ROOTFS_STATIC_DEVICE_TABLE</code> to a space-separated list of
device tables.</p><p>As shown in <a class="xref" href="#customize-dir-structure" title="9.1. Recommended directory structure">Section 9.1, “Recommended directory structure”</a>, the recommended location for
such files is <code class="literal">board/&lt;company&gt;/&lt;boardname&gt;/</code>.</p><p>It should be noted that if the specific permissions or device nodes are
related to a specific application, you should set variables
<code class="literal">FOO_PERMISSIONS</code> and <code class="literal">FOO_DEVICES</code> in the package’s <code class="literal">.mk</code> file instead
(see <a class="xref" href="#generic-package-reference" title="17.5.2. generic-package reference">Section 17.5.2, “<code class="literal">generic-package</code> reference”</a>).</p></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="customize-users"></a>9.6. Adding custom user accounts</h2></div></div></div><p>Sometimes it is needed to add specific users in the target system.
To cover this requirement, Buildroot provides support for so-called
<span class="emphasis"><em>users tables</em></span>. To use this feature, set config option
<code class="literal">BR2_ROOTFS_USERS_TABLES</code> to a space-separated list of users tables,
regular text files following the <a class="link" href="#makeuser-syntax" title="Chapter 24. Makeusers syntax documentation">makeusers syntax</a>
<a class="xref" href="#makeuser-syntax" title="Chapter 24. Makeusers syntax documentation">Chapter 24, <em>Makeusers syntax documentation</em></a>.</p><p>As shown in <a class="xref" href="#customize-dir-structure" title="9.1. Recommended directory structure">Section 9.1, “Recommended directory structure”</a>, the recommended location for
such files is <code class="literal">board/&lt;company&gt;/&lt;boardname&gt;/</code>.</p><p>It should be noted that if the custom users are related to a specific
application, you should set variable <code class="literal">FOO_USERS</code> in the package’s <code class="literal">.mk</code>
file instead (see <a class="xref" href="#generic-package-reference" title="17.5.2. generic-package reference">Section 17.5.2, “<code class="literal">generic-package</code> reference”</a>).</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_customization_emphasis_after_emphasis_the_images_have_been_created"></a>9.7. Customization <span class="emphasis"><em>after</em></span> the images have been created</h2></div></div></div><p>While post-build scripts (<a class="xref" href="#rootfs-custom" title="9.5. Customizing the generated target filesystem">Section 9.5, “Customizing the generated target filesystem”</a>) are run <span class="emphasis"><em>before</em></span>
building the filesystem image, kernel and bootloader, <span class="strong"><strong>post-image
scripts</strong></span> can be used to perform some specific actions <span class="emphasis"><em>after</em></span> all images
have been created.</p><p>Post-image scripts can for example be used to automatically extract your
root filesystem tarball in a location exported by your NFS server, or
to create a special firmware image that bundles your root filesystem and
kernel image, or any other custom action required for your project.</p><p>To enable this feature, specify a space-separated list of post-image
scripts in config option <code class="literal">BR2_ROOTFS_POST_IMAGE_SCRIPT</code> (in the <code class="literal">System
configuration</code> menu). If you specify a relative path, it will be
relative to the root of the Buildroot tree.</p><p>Just like post-build scripts, post-image scripts are run with the main
Buildroot tree as current working directory. The path to the <code class="literal">images</code>
output directory is passed as the first argument to each script. If the
config option <code class="literal">BR2_ROOTFS_POST_SCRIPT_ARGS</code> is not empty, these
arguments will be passed to the script too. All the scripts will be
passed the exact same set of arguments, it is not possible to pass
different sets of arguments to each script.</p><p>Again just like for the post-build scripts, the scripts have access to
the environment variables <code class="literal">BR2_CONFIG</code>, <code class="literal">HOST_DIR</code>, <code class="literal">STAGING_DIR</code>,
<code class="literal">TARGET_DIR</code>, <code class="literal">BUILD_DIR</code>, <code class="literal">BINARIES_DIR</code> and <code class="literal">BASE_DIR</code>.</p><p>The post-image scripts will be executed as the user that executes
Buildroot, which should normally <span class="emphasis"><em>not</em></span> be the root user. Therefore, any
action requiring root permissions in one of these scripts will require
special handling (usage of fakeroot or sudo), which is left to the
script developer.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="customize-patches"></a>9.8. Adding project-specific patches</h2></div></div></div><p>It is sometimes useful to apply <span class="emphasis"><em>extra</em></span> patches to packages - on top of
those provided in Buildroot. This might be used to support custom
features in a project, for example, or when working on a new
architecture.</p><p>The <code class="literal">BR2_GLOBAL_PATCH_DIR</code> configuration option can be used to specify
a space separated list of one or more directories containing package
patches.</p><p>For a specific version <code class="literal">&lt;packageversion&gt;</code> of a specific package
<code class="literal">&lt;packagename&gt;</code>, patches are applied from <code class="literal">BR2_GLOBAL_PATCH_DIR</code> as
follows:</p><div class="orderedlist"><ol class="orderedlist" type="1"><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
For every directory - <code class="literal">&lt;global-patch-dir&gt;</code> - that exists in
<code class="literal">BR2_GLOBAL_PATCH_DIR</code>, a <code class="literal">&lt;package-patch-dir&gt;</code> will be determined as
follows:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">&lt;global-patch-dir&gt;/&lt;packagename&gt;/&lt;packageversion&gt;/</code> if the
directory exists.
</li><li class="listitem">
Otherwise, <code class="literal">&lt;global-patch-dir&gt;/&lt;packagename&gt;</code> if the directory
exists.
</li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
Patches will then be applied from a <code class="literal">&lt;package-patch-dir&gt;</code> as
follows:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
If a <code class="literal">series</code> file exists in the package directory, then patches are
applied according to the <code class="literal">series</code> file;
</li><li class="listitem">
Otherwise, patch files matching <code class="literal">*.patch</code> are applied in
alphabetical order. So, to ensure they are applied in the right
order, it is highly recommended to name the patch files like this:
<code class="literal">&lt;number&gt;-&lt;description&gt;.patch</code>, where <code class="literal">&lt;number&gt;</code> refers to the
<span class="emphasis"><em>apply order</em></span>.
</li></ul></div></li></ol></div><p>For information about how patches are applied for a package, see
<a class="xref" href="#patch-apply-order" title="18.2. How patches are applied">Section 18.2, “How patches are applied”</a></p><p>The <code class="literal">BR2_GLOBAL_PATCH_DIR</code> option is the preferred method for
specifying a custom patch directory for packages. It can be used to
specify a patch directory for any package in buildroot. It should also
be used in place of the custom patch directory options that are
available for packages such as U-Boot and Barebox. By doing this, it
will allow a user to manage their patches from one top-level
directory.</p><p>The exception to <code class="literal">BR2_GLOBAL_PATCH_DIR</code> being the preferred method for
specifying custom patches is <code class="literal">BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_PATCH</code>.
<code class="literal">BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_PATCH</code> should be used to specify kernel patches that
are available at an URL. <span class="strong"><strong>Note:</strong></span> <code class="literal">BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_PATCH</code> specifies kernel
patches that are applied after patches available in <code class="literal">BR2_GLOBAL_PATCH_DIR</code>,
as it is done from a post-patch hook of the Linux package.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="customize-packages"></a>9.9. Adding project-specific packages</h2></div></div></div><p>In general, any new package should be added directly in the <code class="literal">package</code>
directory and submitted to the Buildroot upstream project. How to add
packages to Buildroot in general is explained in full detail in
<a class="xref" href="#adding-packages" title="Chapter 17. Adding new packages to Buildroot">Chapter 17, <em>Adding new packages to Buildroot</em></a> and will not be repeated here. However, your
project may need some proprietary packages that cannot be upstreamed.
This section will explain how you can keep such project-specific
packages in a project-specific directory.</p><p>As shown in <a class="xref" href="#customize-dir-structure" title="9.1. Recommended directory structure">Section 9.1, “Recommended directory structure”</a>, the recommended location for
project-specific packages is <code class="literal">package/&lt;company&gt;/</code>. If you are using the
br2-external tree feature (see <a class="xref" href="#outside-br-custom" title="9.2. Keeping customizations outside of Buildroot">Section 9.2, “Keeping customizations outside of Buildroot”</a>) the recommended
location is to put them in a sub-directory named <code class="literal">package/</code> in your
br2-external tree.</p><p>However, Buildroot will not be aware of the packages in this location,
unless we perform some additional steps. As explained in
<a class="xref" href="#adding-packages" title="Chapter 17. Adding new packages to Buildroot">Chapter 17, <em>Adding new packages to Buildroot</em></a>, a package in Buildroot basically consists of two
files: a <code class="literal">.mk</code> file (describing how to build the package) and a
<code class="literal">Config.in</code> file (describing the configuration options for this
package).</p><p>Buildroot will automatically include the <code class="literal">.mk</code> files in first-level
subdirectories of the <code class="literal">package</code> directory (using the pattern
<code class="literal">package/*/*.mk</code>). If we want Buildroot to include <code class="literal">.mk</code> files from
deeper subdirectories (like <code class="literal">package/&lt;company&gt;/package1/</code>) then we
simply have to add a <code class="literal">.mk</code> file in a first-level subdirectory that
includes these additional <code class="literal">.mk</code> files. Therefore, create a file
<code class="literal">package/&lt;company&gt;/&lt;company&gt;.mk</code> with following contents (assuming you
have only one extra directory level below <code class="literal">package/&lt;company&gt;/</code>):</p><pre class="screen">include $(sort $(wildcard package/&lt;company&gt;/*/*.mk))</pre><p>For the <code class="literal">Config.in</code> files, create a file <code class="literal">package/&lt;company&gt;/Config.in</code>
that includes the <code class="literal">Config.in</code> files of all your packages. An exhaustive
list has to be provided since wildcards are not supported in the source command of kconfig.
For example:</p><pre class="screen">source "package/&lt;company&gt;/package1/Config.in"
source "package/&lt;company&gt;/package2/Config.in"</pre><p>Include this new file <code class="literal">package/&lt;company&gt;/Config.in</code> from
<code class="literal">package/Config.in</code>, preferably in a company-specific menu to make
merges with future Buildroot versions easier.</p><p>If using a br2-external tree, refer to <a class="xref" href="#outside-br-custom" title="9.2. Keeping customizations outside of Buildroot">Section 9.2, “Keeping customizations outside of Buildroot”</a> for how
to fill in those files.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_quick_guide_to_storing_your_project_specific_customizations"></a>9.10. Quick guide to storing your project-specific customizations</h2></div></div></div><p>Earlier in this chapter, the different methods for making
project-specific customizations have been described. This section will
now summarize all this by providing step-by-step instructions to storing your
project-specific customizations. Clearly, the steps that are not relevant to
your project can be skipped.</p><div class="orderedlist"><ol class="orderedlist" type="1"><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">make menuconfig</code> to configure toolchain, packages and kernel.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">make linux-menuconfig</code> to update the kernel config, similar for
other configuration like busybox, uclibc, …
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">mkdir -p board/&lt;manufacturer&gt;/&lt;boardname&gt;</code>
</li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
Set the following options to <code class="literal">board/&lt;manufacturer&gt;/&lt;boardname&gt;/&lt;package&gt;.config</code>
(as far as they are relevant):
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_CUSTOM_CONFIG_FILE</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">BR2_PACKAGE_BUSYBOX_CONFIG</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">BR2_UCLIBC_CONFIG</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">BR2_TARGET_AT91BOOTSTRAP3_CUSTOM_CONFIG_FILE</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">BR2_TARGET_BAREBOX_CUSTOM_CONFIG_FILE</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">BR2_TARGET_UBOOT_CUSTOM_CONFIG_FILE</code>
</li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
Write the configuration files:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">make linux-update-defconfig</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">make busybox-update-config</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">make uclibc-update-config</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">cp &lt;output&gt;/build/at91bootstrap3-*/.config
board/&lt;manufacturer&gt;/&lt;boardname&gt;/at91bootstrap3.config</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">make barebox-update-defconfig</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">make uboot-update-defconfig</code>
</li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem">
Create <code class="literal">board/&lt;manufacturer&gt;/&lt;boardname&gt;/rootfs-overlay/</code> and fill it
with additional files you need on your rootfs, e.g.
<code class="literal">board/&lt;manufacturer&gt;/&lt;boardname&gt;/rootfs-overlay/etc/inittab</code>.
Set <code class="literal">BR2_ROOTFS_OVERLAY</code>
to <code class="literal">board/&lt;manufacturer&gt;/&lt;boardname&gt;/rootfs-overlay</code>.
</li><li class="listitem">
Create a post-build script
<code class="literal">board/&lt;manufacturer&gt;/&lt;boardname&gt;/post_build.sh</code>. Set
<code class="literal">BR2_ROOTFS_POST_BUILD_SCRIPT</code> to
<code class="literal">board/&lt;manufacturer&gt;/&lt;boardname&gt;/post_build.sh</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
If additional setuid permissions have to be set or device nodes have
to be created, create <code class="literal">board/&lt;manufacturer&gt;/&lt;boardname&gt;/device_table.txt</code>
and add that path to <code class="literal">BR2_ROOTFS_DEVICE_TABLE</code>.
</li><li class="listitem">
If additional user accounts have to be created, create
<code class="literal">board/&lt;manufacturer&gt;/&lt;boardname&gt;/users_table.txt</code> and add that path
to <code class="literal">BR2_ROOTFS_USERS_TABLES</code>.
</li><li class="listitem">
To add custom patches to certain packages, set <code class="literal">BR2_GLOBAL_PATCH_DIR</code>
to <code class="literal">board/&lt;manufacturer&gt;/&lt;boardname&gt;/patches/</code> and add your patches
for each package in a subdirectory named after the package. Each
patch should be called <code class="literal">&lt;packagename&gt;-&lt;num&gt;-&lt;description&gt;.patch</code>.
</li><li class="listitem">
Specifically for the Linux kernel, there also exists the option
<code class="literal">BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_PATCH</code> with as main advantage that it can also
download patches from a URL. If you do not need this,
<code class="literal">BR2_GLOBAL_PATCH_DIR</code> is preferred. U-Boot, Barebox, at91bootstrap
and at91bootstrap3 also have separate options, but these do not
provide any advantage over <code class="literal">BR2_GLOBAL_PATCH_DIR</code> and will likely be
removed in the future.
</li><li class="listitem">
If you need to add project-specific packages, create
<code class="literal">package/&lt;manufacturer&gt;/</code> and place your packages in that
directory. Create an overall <code class="literal">&lt;manufacturer&gt;.mk</code> file that
includes the <code class="literal">.mk</code> files of all your packages. Create an overall
<code class="literal">Config.in</code> file that sources the <code class="literal">Config.in</code> files of all your
packages. Include this <code class="literal">Config.in</code> file from Buildroot’s
<code class="literal">package/Config.in</code> file.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">make savedefconfig</code> to save the buildroot configuration.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">cp defconfig configs/&lt;boardname&gt;_defconfig</code>
</li></ol></div></div></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="_frequently_asked_questions_amp_troubleshooting"></a>Chapter 10. Frequently Asked Questions &amp; Troubleshooting</h2></div></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="faq-boot-hang-after-starting"></a>10.1. The boot hangs after <span class="emphasis"><em>Starting network…</em></span></h2></div></div></div><p>If the boot process seems to hang after the following messages
(messages not necessarily exactly similar, depending on the list of
packages selected):</p><pre class="screen">Freeing init memory: 3972K
Initializing random number generator... done.
Starting network...
Starting dropbear sshd: generating rsa key... generating dsa key... OK</pre><p>then it means that your system is running, but didn’t start a shell on
the serial console. In order to have the system start a shell on your
serial console, you have to go into the Buildroot configuration, in
<code class="literal">System configuration</code>, modify <code class="literal">Run a getty (login prompt) after boot</code>
and set the appropriate port and baud rate in the <code class="literal">getty options</code>
submenu. This will automatically tune the <code class="literal">/etc/inittab</code> file of the
generated system so that a shell starts on the correct serial port.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="faq-no-compiler-on-target"></a>10.2. Why is there no compiler on the target?</h2></div></div></div><p>It has been decided that support for the <span class="emphasis"><em>native compiler on the
target</em></span> would be stopped from the Buildroot-2012.11 release because:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
this feature was neither maintained nor tested, and often broken;
</li><li class="listitem">
this feature was only available for Buildroot toolchains;
</li><li class="listitem">
Buildroot mostly targets <span class="emphasis"><em>small</em></span> or <span class="emphasis"><em>very small</em></span> target hardware
with limited resource onboard (CPU, ram, mass-storage), for which
compiling on the target does not make much sense;
</li><li class="listitem">
Buildroot aims at easing the cross-compilation, making native
compilation on the target unnecessary.
</li></ul></div><p>If you need a compiler on your target anyway, then Buildroot is not
suitable for your purpose. In such case, you need a <span class="emphasis"><em>real
distribution</em></span> and you should opt for something like:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<a class="ulink" href="http://www.openembedded.org" target="_top">openembedded</a>
</li><li class="listitem">
<a class="ulink" href="https://www.yoctoproject.org" target="_top">yocto</a>
</li><li class="listitem">
<a class="ulink" href="http://www.emdebian.org" target="_top">emdebian</a>
</li><li class="listitem">
<a class="ulink" href="https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Architectures" target="_top">Fedora</a>
</li><li class="listitem">
<a class="ulink" href="http://en.opensuse.org/Portal:ARM" target="_top">openSUSE ARM</a>
</li><li class="listitem">
<a class="ulink" href="http://archlinuxarm.org" target="_top">Arch Linux ARM</a>
</li><li class="listitem">
…
</li></ul></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="faq-no-dev-files-on-target"></a>10.3. Why are there no development files on the target?</h2></div></div></div><p>Since there is no compiler available on the target (see
<a class="xref" href="#faq-no-compiler-on-target" title="10.2. Why is there no compiler on the target?">Section 10.2, “Why is there no compiler on the target?”</a>), it does not make sense to waste
space with headers or static libraries.</p><p>Therefore, those files are always removed from the target since the
Buildroot-2012.11 release.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="faq-no-doc-on-target"></a>10.4. Why is there no documentation on the target?</h2></div></div></div><p>Because Buildroot mostly targets <span class="emphasis"><em>small</em></span> or <span class="emphasis"><em>very small</em></span> target
hardware with limited resource onboard (CPU, ram, mass-storage), it
does not make sense to waste space with the documentation data.</p><p>If you need documentation data on your target anyway, then Buildroot
is not suitable for your purpose, and you should look for a <span class="emphasis"><em>real
distribution</em></span> (see: <a class="xref" href="#faq-no-compiler-on-target" title="10.2. Why is there no compiler on the target?">Section 10.2, “Why is there no compiler on the target?”</a>).</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="faq-why-not-visible-package"></a>10.5. Why are some packages not visible in the Buildroot config menu?</h2></div></div></div><p>If a package exists in the Buildroot tree and does not appear in the
config menu, this most likely means that some of the package’s
dependencies are not met.</p><p>To know more about the dependencies of a package, search for the
package symbol in the config menu (see <a class="xref" href="#make-tips" title="8.1. make tips">Section 8.1, “<span class="emphasis"><em>make</em></span> tips”</a>).</p><p>Then, you may have to recursively enable several options (which
correspond to the unmet dependencies) to finally be able to select
the package.</p><p>If the package is not visible due to some unmet toolchain options,
then you should certainly run a full rebuild (see <a class="xref" href="#make-tips" title="8.1. make tips">Section 8.1, “<span class="emphasis"><em>make</em></span> tips”</a> for
more explanations).</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="faq-why-not-use-target-as-chroot"></a>10.6. Why not use the target directory as a chroot directory?</h2></div></div></div><p>There are plenty of reasons to <span class="strong"><strong>not</strong></span> use the target directory a chroot
one, among these:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
file ownerships, modes and permissions are not correctly set in the
target directory;
</li><li class="listitem">
device nodes are not created in the target directory.
</li></ul></div><p>For these reasons, commands run through chroot, using the target
directory as the new root, will most likely fail.</p><p>If you want to run the target filesystem inside a chroot, or as an NFS
root, then use the tarball image generated in <code class="literal">images/</code> and extract it
as root.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="faq-no-binary-packages"></a>10.7. Why doesn’t Buildroot generate binary packages (.deb, .ipkg…)?</h2></div></div></div><p>One feature that is often discussed on the Buildroot list is the
general topic of "package management". To summarize, the idea
would be to add some tracking of which Buildroot package installs
what files, with the goals of:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
being able to remove files installed by a package when this package
gets unselected from the menuconfig;
</li><li class="listitem">
being able to generate binary packages (ipk or other format) that
can be installed on the target without re-generating a new root
filesystem image.
</li></ul></div><p>In general, most people think it is easy to do: just track which package
installed what and remove it when the package is unselected. However, it
is much more complicated than that:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
It is not only about the <code class="literal">target/</code> directory, but also the sysroot in
<code class="literal">host/&lt;tuple&gt;/sysroot</code> and the <code class="literal">host/</code> directory itself. All files
installed in those directories by various packages must be tracked.
</li><li class="listitem">
When a package is unselected from the configuration, it is not
sufficient to remove just the files it installed. One must also
remove all its reverse dependencies (i.e. packages relying on it)
and rebuild all those packages. For example, package A depends
optionally on the OpenSSL library. Both are selected, and Buildroot
is built. Package A is built with crypto support using OpenSSL.
Later on, OpenSSL gets unselected from the configuration, but
package A remains (since OpenSSL is an optional dependency, this
is possible.) If only OpenSSL files are removed, then the files
installed by package A are broken: they use a library that is no
longer present on the target. Although this is technically doable,
it adds a lot of complexity to Buildroot, which goes against the
simplicity we try to stick to.
</li><li class="listitem">
In addition to the previous problem, there is the case where the
optional dependency is not even known to Buildroot. For example,
package A in version 1.0 never used OpenSSL, but in version 2.0 it
automatically uses OpenSSL if available. If the Buildroot .mk file
hasn’t been updated to take this into account, then package A will
not be part of the reverse dependencies of OpenSSL and will not be
removed and rebuilt when OpenSSL is removed. For sure, the .mk file
of package A should be fixed to mention this optional dependency,
but in the mean time, you can have non-reproducible behaviors.
</li><li class="listitem">
The request is to also allow changes in the menuconfig to be
applied on the output directory without having to rebuild
everything from scratch. However, this is very difficult to achieve
in a reliable way: what happens when the suboptions of a package
are changed (we would have to detect this, and rebuild the package
from scratch and potentially all its reverse dependencies), what
happens if toolchain options are changed, etc. At the moment, what
Buildroot does is clear and simple so its behaviour is very
reliable and it is easy to support users. If configuration changes
done in menuconfig are applied after the next make, then it has to
work correctly and properly in all situations, and not have some
bizarre corner cases. The risk is to get bug reports like "I have
enabled package A, B and C, then ran make, then disabled package
C and enabled package D and ran make, then re-enabled package C
and enabled package E and then there is a build failure". Or worse
"I did some configuration, then built, then did some changes,
built, some more changes, built, some more changes, built, and now
it fails, but I don’t remember all the changes I did and in which
order". This will be impossible to support.
</li></ul></div><p>For all these reasons, the conclusion is that adding tracking of
installed files to remove them when the package is unselected, or to
generate a repository of binary packages, is something that is very
hard to achieve reliably and will add a lot of complexity.</p><p>On this matter, the Buildroot developers make this position statement:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
Buildroot strives to make it easy to generate a root filesystem (hence
the name, by the way.) That is what we want to make Buildroot good at:
building root filesystems.
</li><li class="listitem">
Buildroot is not meant to be a distribution (or rather, a distribution
generator.) It is the opinion of most Buildroot developers that this
is not a goal we should pursue. We believe that there are other tools
better suited to generate a distro than Buildroot is. For example,
<a class="ulink" href="http://openembedded.org/" target="_top">Open Embedded</a>, or <a class="ulink" href="https://openwrt.org/" target="_top">openWRT</a>,
are such tools.
</li><li class="listitem">
We prefer to push Buildroot in a direction that makes it easy (or even
easier) to generate complete root filesystems. This is what makes
Buildroot stands out in the crowd (among other things, of course!)
</li><li class="listitem">
We believe that for most embedded Linux systems, binary packages are
not necessary, and potentially harmful. When binary packages are
used, it means that the system can be partially upgraded, which
creates an enormous number of possible combinations of package
versions that should be tested before doing the upgrade on the
embedded device. On the other hand, by doing complete system
upgrades by upgrading the entire root filesystem image at once,
the image deployed to the embedded system is guaranteed to really
be the one that has been tested and validated.
</li></ul></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="faq-speeding-up-build"></a>10.8. How to speed-up the build process?</h2></div></div></div><p>Since Buildroot often involves doing full rebuilds of the entire
system that can be quite long, we provide below a number of tips to
help reduce the build time:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
Use a pre-built external toolchain instead of the default Buildroot
internal toolchain. By using a pre-built Linaro toolchain (on ARM)
or a Sourcery CodeBench toolchain (for ARM, x86, x86-64, MIPS,
etc.), you will save the build time of the toolchain at each
complete rebuild, approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Note that
temporarily using an external toolchain does not prevent you to
switch back to an internal toolchain (that may provide a higher
level of customization) once the rest of your system is working;
</li><li class="listitem">
Use the <code class="literal">ccache</code> compiler cache (see: <a class="xref" href="#ccache" title="8.12.3. Using ccache in Buildroot">Section 8.12.3, “Using <code class="literal">ccache</code> in Buildroot”</a>);
</li><li class="listitem">
Learn about rebuilding only the few packages you actually care
about (see <a class="xref" href="#rebuild-pkg" title="8.3. Understanding how to rebuild packages">Section 8.3, “Understanding how to rebuild packages”</a>), but beware that sometimes full
rebuilds are anyway necessary (see <a class="xref" href="#full-rebuild" title="8.2. Understanding when a full rebuild is necessary">Section 8.2, “Understanding when a full rebuild is necessary”</a>);
</li><li class="listitem">
Make sure you are not using a virtual machine for the Linux system
used to run Buildroot. Most of the virtual machine technologies are
known to cause a significant performance impact on I/O, which is
really important for building source code;
</li><li class="listitem">
Make sure that you’re using only local files: do not attempt to do
a build over NFS, which significantly slows down the build. Having
the Buildroot download folder available locally also helps a bit.
</li><li class="listitem">
Buy new hardware. SSDs and lots of RAM are key to speeding up the
builds.
</li></ul></div></div></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="_known_issues"></a>Chapter 11. Known issues</h2></div></div></div><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
It is not possible to pass extra linker options via <code class="literal">BR2_TARGET_LDFLAGS</code>
if such options contain a <code class="literal">$</code> sign. For example, the following is known
to break: <code class="literal">BR2_TARGET_LDFLAGS="-Wl,-rpath='$ORIGIN/../lib'"</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
The <code class="literal">libffi</code> package is not supported on the SuperH 2 and ARC
architectures.
</li><li class="listitem">
The <code class="literal">prboom</code> package triggers a compiler failure with the SuperH 4
compiler from Sourcery CodeBench, version 2012.09.
</li></ul></div></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="legal-info"></a>Chapter 12. Legal notice and licensing</h2></div></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_complying_with_open_source_licenses"></a>12.1. Complying with open source licenses</h2></div></div></div><p>All of the end products of Buildroot (toolchain, root filesystem, kernel,
bootloaders) contain open source software, released under various licenses.</p><p>Using open source software gives you the freedom to build rich embedded
systems, choosing from a wide range of packages, but also imposes some
obligations that you must know and honour.
Some licenses require you to publish the license text in the documentation of
your product. Others require you to redistribute the source code of the
software to those that receive your product.</p><p>The exact requirements of each license are documented in each package, and
it is your responsibility (or that of your legal office) to comply with those
requirements.
To make this easier for you, Buildroot can collect for you some material you
will probably need. To produce this material, after you have configured
Buildroot with <code class="literal">make menuconfig</code>, <code class="literal">make xconfig</code> or <code class="literal">make gconfig</code>, run:</p><pre class="screen">make legal-info</pre><p>Buildroot will collect legally-relevant material in your output directory,
under the <code class="literal">legal-info/</code> subdirectory.
There you will find:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
A <code class="literal">README</code> file, that summarizes the produced material and contains warnings
about material that Buildroot could not produce.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">buildroot.config</code>: this is the Buildroot configuration file that is usually
produced with <code class="literal">make menuconfig</code>, and which is necessary to reproduce the
build.
</li><li class="listitem">
The source code for all packages; this is saved in the <code class="literal">sources/</code> and
<code class="literal">host-sources/</code> subdirectories for target and host packages respectively.
The source code for packages that set <code class="literal">&lt;PKG&gt;_REDISTRIBUTE = NO</code> will not be
saved.
Patches that were applied are also saved, along with a file named <code class="literal">series</code>
that lists the patches in the order they were applied. Patches are under the
same license as the files that they modify.
Note: Buildroot applies additional patches to Libtool scripts of
autotools-based packages. These patches can be found under
<code class="literal">support/libtool</code> in the Buildroot source and, due to technical
limitations, are not saved with the package sources. You may need to
collect them manually.
</li><li class="listitem">
A manifest file (one for host and one for target packages) listing the
configured packages, their version, license and related information.
Some of this information might not be defined in Buildroot; such items are
marked as "unknown".
</li><li class="listitem">
The license texts of all packages, in the <code class="literal">licenses/</code> and <code class="literal">host-licenses/</code>
subdirectories for target and host packages respectively.
If the license file(s) are not defined in Buildroot, the file is not produced
and a warning in the <code class="literal">README</code> indicates this.
</li></ul></div><p>Please note that the aim of the <code class="literal">legal-info</code> feature of Buildroot is to
produce all the material that is somehow relevant for legal compliance with the
package licenses. Buildroot does not try to produce the exact material that
you must somehow make public. Certainly, more material is produced than is
needed for a strict legal compliance. For example, it produces the source code
for packages released under BSD-like licenses, that you are not required to
redistribute in source form.</p><p>Moreover, due to technical limitations, Buildroot does not produce some
material that you will or may need, such as the toolchain source code and the
Buildroot source code itself (including patches to packages for which source
distribution is required).
When you run <code class="literal">make legal-info</code>, Buildroot produces warnings in the <code class="literal">README</code>
file to inform you of relevant material that could not be saved.</p><p>Finally, keep in mind that the output of <code class="literal">make legal-info</code> is based on
declarative statements in each of the packages recipes. The Buildroot
developers try to do their best to keep those declarative statements as
accurate as possible, to the best of their knowledge. However, it is very
well possible that those declarative statements are not all fully accurate
nor exhaustive. You (or your legal department) <span class="emphasis"><em>have</em></span> to check the output
of <code class="literal">make legal-info</code> before using it as your own compliance delivery. See
the <span class="emphasis"><em>NO WARRANTY</em></span> clauses (clauses 11 and 12) in the <code class="literal">COPYING</code> file at the
root of the Buildroot distribution.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="legal-info-buildroot"></a>12.2. Complying with the Buildroot license</h2></div></div></div><p>Buildroot itself is an open source software, released under the
<a class="ulink" href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html" target="_top">GNU General
Public License, version 2</a> or (at your option) any later version, with
the exception of the package patches detailed below.
However, being a build system, it is not normally part of the end product:
if you develop the root filesystem, kernel, bootloader or toolchain for a
device, the code of Buildroot is only present on the development machine, not
in the device storage.</p><p>Nevertheless, the general view of the Buildroot developers is that you should
release the Buildroot source code along with the source code of other packages
when releasing a product that contains GPL-licensed software.
This is because the
<a class="ulink" href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html" target="_top">GNU GPL</a>
defines the "<span class="emphasis"><em>complete source code</em></span>" for an executable work as "<span class="emphasis"><em>all the
source code for all modules it contains, plus any associated interface
definition files, plus the scripts used to control compilation and installation
of the executable</em></span>".
Buildroot is part of the <span class="emphasis"><em>scripts used to control compilation and
installation of the executable</em></span>, and as such it is considered part of the
material that must be redistributed.</p><p>Keep in mind that this is only the Buildroot developers' opinion, and you
should consult your legal department or lawyer in case of any doubt.</p><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="_patches_to_packages"></a>12.2.1. Patches to packages</h3></div></div></div><p>Buildroot also bundles patch files, which are applied to the sources
of the various packages. Those patches are not covered by the license
of Buildroot. Instead, they are covered by the license of the software
to which the patches are applied. When said software is available
under multiple licenses, the Buildroot patches are only provided under
the publicly accessible licenses.</p><p>See <a class="xref" href="#patch-policy" title="Chapter 18. Patching a package">Chapter 18, <em>Patching a package</em></a> for the technical details.</p></div></div></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="_beyond_buildroot"></a>Chapter 13. Beyond Buildroot</h2></div></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_boot_the_generated_images"></a>13.1. Boot the generated images</h2></div></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="_nfs_boot"></a>13.1.1. NFS boot</h3></div></div></div><p>To achieve NFS-boot, enable <span class="emphasis"><em>tar root filesystem</em></span> in the <span class="emphasis"><em>Filesystem
images</em></span> menu.</p><p>After a complete build, just run the following commands to setup the
NFS-root directory:</p><pre class="screen">sudo tar -xavf /path/to/output_dir/rootfs.tar -C /path/to/nfs_root_dir</pre><p>Remember to add this path to <code class="literal">/etc/exports</code>.</p><p>Then, you can execute a NFS-boot from your target.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="_live_cd"></a>13.1.2. Live CD</h3></div></div></div><p>To build a live CD image, enable the <span class="emphasis"><em>iso image</em></span> option in the
<span class="emphasis"><em>Filesystem images</em></span> menu. Note that this option is only available on
the x86 and x86-64 architectures, and if you are building your kernel
with Buildroot.</p><p>You can build a live CD image with either IsoLinux, Grub or Grub 2 as
a bootloader, but only Isolinux supports making this image usable both
as a live CD and live USB (through the <span class="emphasis"><em>Build hybrid image</em></span> option).</p><p>You can test your live CD image using QEMU:</p><pre class="screen">qemu-system-i386 -cdrom output/images/rootfs.iso9660</pre><p>Or use it as a hard-drive image if it is a hybrid ISO:</p><pre class="screen">qemu-system-i386 -hda output/images/rootfs.iso9660</pre><p>It can be easily flashed to a USB drive with <code class="literal">dd</code>:</p><pre class="screen">dd if=output/images/rootfs.iso9660 of=/dev/sdb</pre></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_chroot"></a>13.2. Chroot</h2></div></div></div><p>If you want to chroot in a generated image, then there are few thing
you should be aware of:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
you should setup the new root from the <span class="emphasis"><em>tar root filesystem</em></span> image;
</li><li class="listitem">
either the selected target architecture is compatible with your host
machine, or you should use some <code class="literal">qemu-*</code> binary and correctly set it
within the <code class="literal">binfmt</code> properties to be able to run the binaries built
for the target on your host machine;
</li><li class="listitem">
Buildroot does not currently provide <code class="literal">host-qemu</code> and <code class="literal">binfmt</code>
correctly built and set for that kind of use.
</li></ul></div></div></div></div><div class="part"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h1 class="title"><a id="_developer_guide"></a>Part III. Developer guide</h1></div></div></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="_how_buildroot_works"></a>Chapter 14. How Buildroot works</h2></div></div></div><p>As mentioned above, Buildroot is basically a set of Makefiles that
download, configure, and compile software with the correct options. It
also includes patches for various software packages - mainly the ones
involved in the cross-compilation toolchain (<code class="literal">gcc</code>, <code class="literal">binutils</code> and
<code class="literal">uClibc</code>).</p><p>There is basically one Makefile per software package, and they are
named with the <code class="literal">.mk</code> extension. Makefiles are split into many different
parts.</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
The <code class="literal">toolchain/</code> directory contains the Makefiles
and associated files for all software related to the
cross-compilation toolchain: <code class="literal">binutils</code>, <code class="literal">gcc</code>, <code class="literal">gdb</code>,
<code class="literal">kernel-headers</code> and <code class="literal">uClibc</code>.
</li><li class="listitem">
The <code class="literal">arch/</code> directory contains the definitions for all the processor
architectures that are supported by Buildroot.
</li><li class="listitem">
The <code class="literal">package/</code> directory contains the Makefiles and
associated files for all user-space tools and libraries that Buildroot
can compile and add to the target root filesystem. There is one
sub-directory per package.
</li><li class="listitem">
The <code class="literal">linux/</code> directory contains the Makefiles and associated files for
the Linux kernel.
</li><li class="listitem">
The <code class="literal">boot/</code> directory contains the Makefiles and associated files for
the bootloaders supported by Buildroot.
</li><li class="listitem">
The <code class="literal">system/</code> directory contains support for system integration, e.g.
the target filesystem skeleton and the selection of an init system.
</li><li class="listitem">
The <code class="literal">fs/</code> directory contains the Makefiles and
associated files for software related to the generation of the
target root filesystem image.
</li></ul></div><p>Each directory contains at least 2 files:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">something.mk</code> is the Makefile that downloads, configures,
compiles and installs the package <code class="literal">something</code>.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">Config.in</code> is a part of the configuration tool
description file. It describes the options related to the
package.
</li></ul></div><p>The main Makefile performs the following steps (once the
configuration is done):</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
Create all the output directories: <code class="literal">staging</code>, <code class="literal">target</code>, <code class="literal">build</code>,
etc. in the output directory (<code class="literal">output/</code> by default,
another value can be specified using <code class="literal">O=</code>)
</li><li class="listitem">
Generate the toolchain target. When an internal toolchain is used, this
means generating the cross-compilation toolchain. When an external
toolchain is used, this means checking the features of the external
toolchain and importing it into the Buildroot environment.
</li><li class="listitem">
Generate all the targets listed in the <code class="literal">TARGETS</code> variable. This
variable is filled by all the individual components'
Makefiles. Generating these targets will trigger the compilation of
the userspace packages (libraries, programs), the kernel, the
bootloader and the generation of the root filesystem images,
depending on the configuration.
</li></ul></div></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="_coding_style"></a>Chapter 15. Coding style</h2></div></div></div><p>Overall, these coding style rules are here to help you to add new files in
Buildroot or refactor existing ones.</p><p>If you slightly modify some existing file, the important thing is
to keep the consistency of the whole file, so you can:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
either follow the potentially deprecated coding style used in this
file,
</li><li class="listitem">
or entirely rework it in order to make it comply with these rules.
</li></ul></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="writing-rules-config-in"></a>15.1. <code class="literal">Config.in</code> file</h2></div></div></div><p><code class="literal">Config.in</code> files contain entries for almost anything configurable in
Buildroot.</p><p>An entry has the following pattern:</p><pre class="screen">config BR2_PACKAGE_LIBFOO
bool "libfoo"
depends on BR2_PACKAGE_LIBBAZ
select BR2_PACKAGE_LIBBAR
help
This is a comment that explains what libfoo is. The help text
should be wrapped.
http://foosoftware.org/libfoo/</pre><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
The <code class="literal">bool</code>, <code class="literal">depends on</code>, <code class="literal">select</code> and <code class="literal">help</code> lines are indented
with one tab.
</li><li class="listitem">
The help text itself should be indented with one tab and two
spaces.
</li><li class="listitem">
The help text should be wrapped to fit 72 columns, where tab counts
for 8, so 62 characters in the text itself.
</li></ul></div><p>The <code class="literal">Config.in</code> files are the input for the configuration tool
used in Buildroot, which is the regular <span class="emphasis"><em>Kconfig</em></span>. For further
details about the <span class="emphasis"><em>Kconfig</em></span> language, refer to
<a class="ulink" href="http://kernel.org/doc/Documentation/kbuild/kconfig-language.txt" target="_top">http://kernel.org/doc/Documentation/kbuild/kconfig-language.txt</a>.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="writing-rules-mk"></a>15.2. The <code class="literal">.mk</code> file</h2></div></div></div><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
Header: The file starts with a header. It contains the module name,
preferably in lowercase, enclosed between separators made of 80 hashes. A
blank line is mandatory after the header:
</p><pre class="screen">################################################################################
#
# libfoo
#
################################################################################</pre></li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
Assignment: use <code class="literal">=</code> preceded and followed by one space:
</p><pre class="screen">LIBFOO_VERSION = 1.0
LIBFOO_CONF_OPTS += --without-python-support</pre><p class="simpara">Do not align the <code class="literal">=</code> signs.</p></li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
Indentation: use tab only:
</p><pre class="screen">define LIBFOO_REMOVE_DOC
$(RM) -fr $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/share/libfoo/doc \
$(TARGET_DIR)/usr/share/man/man3/libfoo*
endef</pre><p class="simpara">Note that commands inside a <code class="literal">define</code> block should always start with a tab,
so <span class="emphasis"><em>make</em></span> recognizes them as commands.</p></li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
Optional dependency:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
Prefer multi-line syntax.
</p><p class="simpara">YES:</p><pre class="screen">ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_PYTHON),y)
LIBFOO_CONF_OPTS += --with-python-support
LIBFOO_DEPENDENCIES += python
else
LIBFOO_CONF_OPTS += --without-python-support
endif</pre><p class="simpara">NO:</p><pre class="screen">LIBFOO_CONF_OPTS += --with$(if $(BR2_PACKAGE_PYTHON),,out)-python-support
LIBFOO_DEPENDENCIES += $(if $(BR2_PACKAGE_PYTHON),python,)</pre></li><li class="listitem">
Keep configure options and dependencies close together.
</li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
Optional hooks: keep hook definition and assignment together in one
if block.
</p><p class="simpara">YES:</p><pre class="screen">ifneq ($(BR2_LIBFOO_INSTALL_DATA),y)
define LIBFOO_REMOVE_DATA
$(RM) -fr $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/share/libfoo/data
endef
LIBFOO_POST_INSTALL_TARGET_HOOKS += LIBFOO_REMOVE_DATA
endif</pre><p class="simpara">NO:</p><pre class="screen">define LIBFOO_REMOVE_DATA
$(RM) -fr $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/share/libfoo/data
endef
ifneq ($(BR2_LIBFOO_INSTALL_DATA),y)
LIBFOO_POST_INSTALL_TARGET_HOOKS += LIBFOO_REMOVE_DATA
endif</pre></li></ul></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_the_documentation"></a>15.3. The documentation</h2></div></div></div><p>The documentation uses the
<a class="ulink" href="http://www.methods.co.nz/asciidoc/" target="_top">asciidoc</a> format.</p><p>For further details about the <a class="ulink" href="http://www.methods.co.nz/asciidoc/" target="_top">asciidoc</a>
syntax, refer to <a class="ulink" href="http://www.methods.co.nz/asciidoc/userguide.html" target="_top">http://www.methods.co.nz/asciidoc/userguide.html</a>.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_support_scripts"></a>15.4. Support scripts</h2></div></div></div><p>Some scripts in the <code class="literal">support/</code> and <code class="literal">utils/</code> directories are written in
Python and should follow the
<a class="ulink" href="https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0008/" target="_top">PEP8 Style Guide for Python Code</a>.</p></div></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="adding-board-support"></a>Chapter 16. Adding support for a particular board</h2></div></div></div><p>Buildroot contains basic configurations for several publicly available
hardware boards, so that users of such a board can easily build a system
that is known to work. You are welcome to add support for other boards
to Buildroot too.</p><p>To do so, you need to create a normal Buildroot configuration that
builds a basic system for the hardware: toolchain, kernel, bootloader,
filesystem and a simple BusyBox-only userspace. No specific package
should be selected: the configuration should be as minimal as
possible, and should only build a working basic BusyBox system for the
target platform. You can of course use more complicated configurations
for your internal projects, but the Buildroot project will only
integrate basic board configurations. This is because package
selections are highly application-specific.</p><p>Once you have a known working configuration, run <code class="literal">make
savedefconfig</code>. This will generate a minimal <code class="literal">defconfig</code> file at the
root of the Buildroot source tree. Move this file into the <code class="literal">configs/</code>
directory, and rename it <code class="literal">&lt;boardname&gt;_defconfig</code>.</p><p>It is recommended to use as much as possible upstream versions of the
Linux kernel and bootloaders, and to use as much as possible default
kernel and bootloader configurations. If they are incorrect for your
board, or no default exists, we encourage you to send fixes to the
corresponding upstream projects.</p><p>However, in the mean time, you may want to store kernel or bootloader
configuration or patches specific to your target platform. To do so,
create a directory <code class="literal">board/&lt;manufacturer&gt;</code> and a subdirectory
<code class="literal">board/&lt;manufacturer&gt;/&lt;boardname&gt;</code>. You can then store your patches
and configurations in these directories, and reference them from the main
Buildroot configuration. Refer to <a class="xref" href="#customize" title="Chapter 9. Project-specific customization">Chapter 9, <em>Project-specific customization</em></a> for more details.</p></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="adding-packages"></a>Chapter 17. Adding new packages to Buildroot</h2></div></div></div><p>This section covers how new packages (userspace libraries or
applications) can be integrated into Buildroot. It also shows how
existing packages are integrated, which is needed for fixing issues or
tuning their configuration.</p><p>When you add a new package, be sure to test it in various conditions;
see <a class="xref" href="#testing-package" title="17.22.2. How to test your package">Section 17.22.2, “How to test your package”</a></p><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_package_directory"></a>17.1. Package directory</h2></div></div></div><p>First of all, create a directory under the <code class="literal">package</code> directory for
your software, for example <code class="literal">libfoo</code>.</p><p>Some packages have been grouped by topic in a sub-directory:
<code class="literal">x11r7</code>, <code class="literal">qt5</code> and <code class="literal">gstreamer</code>. If your package fits in
one of these categories, then create your package directory in these.
New subdirectories are discouraged, however.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_config_files"></a>17.2. Config files</h2></div></div></div><p>For the package to be displayed in the configuration tool, you need to
create a Config file in your package directory. There are two types:
<code class="literal">Config.in</code> and <code class="literal">Config.in.host</code>.</p><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="_literal_config_in_literal_file"></a>17.2.1. <code class="literal">Config.in</code> file</h3></div></div></div><p>For packages used on the target, create a file named <code class="literal">Config.in</code>. This
file will contain the option descriptions related to our <code class="literal">libfoo</code> software
that will be used and displayed in the configuration tool. It should basically
contain:</p><pre class="screen">config BR2_PACKAGE_LIBFOO
bool "libfoo"
help
This is a comment that explains what libfoo is. The help text
should be wrapped.
http://foosoftware.org/libfoo/</pre><p>The <code class="literal">bool</code> line, <code class="literal">help</code> line and other metadata information about the
configuration option must be indented with one tab. The help text
itself should be indented with one tab and two spaces, lines should
be wrapped to fit 72 columns, where tab counts for 8, so 62 characters
in the text itself. The help text must mention the upstream URL of the
project after an empty line.</p><p>As a convention specific to Buildroot, the ordering of the attributes
is as follows:</p><div class="orderedlist"><ol class="orderedlist" type="1"><li class="listitem">
The type of option: <code class="literal">bool</code>, <code class="literal">string</code>… with the prompt
</li><li class="listitem">
If needed, the <code class="literal">default</code> value(s)
</li><li class="listitem">
Any dependency of the <code class="literal">depends on</code> form
</li><li class="listitem">
Any dependency of the <code class="literal">select</code> form
</li><li class="listitem">
The help keyword and help text.
</li></ol></div><p>You can add other sub-options into a <code class="literal">if BR2_PACKAGE_LIBFOO…endif</code>
statement to configure particular things in your software. You can look at
examples in other packages. The syntax of the <code class="literal">Config.in</code> file is the same
as the one for the kernel Kconfig file. The documentation for this syntax is
available at <a class="ulink" href="http://kernel.org/doc/Documentation/kbuild/kconfig-language.txt" target="_top">http://kernel.org/doc/Documentation/kbuild/kconfig-language.txt</a></p><p>Finally you have to add your new <code class="literal">libfoo/Config.in</code> to
<code class="literal">package/Config.in</code> (or in a category subdirectory if you decided to
put your package in one of the existing categories). The files
included there are <span class="emphasis"><em>sorted alphabetically</em></span> per category and are <span class="emphasis"><em>NOT</em></span>
supposed to contain anything but the <span class="emphasis"><em>bare</em></span> name of the package.</p><pre class="screen">source "package/libfoo/Config.in"</pre></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="_literal_config_in_host_literal_file"></a>17.2.2. <code class="literal">Config.in.host</code> file</h3></div></div></div><p>Some packages also need to be built for the host system. There are two
options here:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
The host package is only required to satisfy build-time
dependencies of one or more target packages. In this case, add
<code class="literal">host-foo</code> to the target package’s <code class="literal">BAR_DEPENDENCIES</code> variable. No
<code class="literal">Config.in.host</code> file should be created.
</li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
The host package should be explicitly selectable by the user from
the configuration menu. In this case, create a <code class="literal">Config.in.host</code> file
for that host package:
</p><pre class="screen">config BR2_PACKAGE_HOST_FOO
bool "host foo"
help
This is a comment that explains what foo for the host is.
http://foosoftware.org/foo/</pre><p class="simpara">The same coding style and options as for the <code class="literal">Config.in</code> file are valid.</p><p class="simpara">Finally you have to add your new <code class="literal">libfoo/Config.in.host</code> to
<code class="literal">package/Config.in.host</code>. The files included there are <span class="emphasis"><em>sorted alphabetically</em></span>
and are <span class="emphasis"><em>NOT</em></span> supposed to contain anything but the <span class="emphasis"><em>bare</em></span> name of the package.</p><pre class="screen">source "package/foo/Config.in.host"</pre><p class="simpara">The host package will then be available from the <code class="literal">Host utilities</code> menu.</p></li></ul></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="depends-on-vs-select"></a>17.2.3. Choosing <code class="literal">depends on</code> or <code class="literal">select</code></h3></div></div></div><p>The <code class="literal">Config.in</code> file of your package must also ensure that
dependencies are enabled. Typically, Buildroot uses the following
rules:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
Use a <code class="literal">select</code> type of dependency for dependencies on
libraries. These dependencies are generally not obvious and it
therefore make sense to have the kconfig system ensure that the
dependencies are selected. For example, the <span class="emphasis"><em>libgtk2</em></span> package uses
<code class="literal">select BR2_PACKAGE_LIBGLIB2</code> to make sure this library is also
enabled.
The <code class="literal">select</code> keyword expresses the dependency with a backward
semantic.
</li><li class="listitem">
Use a <code class="literal">depends on</code> type of dependency when the user really needs to
be aware of the dependency. Typically, Buildroot uses this type of
dependency for dependencies on target architecture, MMU support and
toolchain options (see <a class="xref" href="#dependencies-target-toolchain-options" title="17.2.4. Dependencies on target and toolchain options">Section 17.2.4, “Dependencies on target and toolchain options”</a>),
or for dependencies on "big" things, such as the X.org system.
The <code class="literal">depends on</code> keyword expresses the dependency with a forward
semantic.
</li></ul></div><p><strong>Note. </strong>The current problem with the <span class="emphasis"><em>kconfig</em></span> language is that these two
dependency semantics are not internally linked. Therefore, it may be
possible to select a package, whom one of its dependencies/requirement
is not met.</p><p>An example illustrates both the usage of <code class="literal">select</code> and <code class="literal">depends on</code>.</p><pre class="screen">config BR2_PACKAGE_RRDTOOL
bool "rrdtool"
depends on BR2_USE_WCHAR
select BR2_PACKAGE_FREETYPE
select BR2_PACKAGE_LIBART
select BR2_PACKAGE_LIBPNG
select BR2_PACKAGE_ZLIB
help
RRDtool is the OpenSource industry standard, high performance
data logging and graphing system for time series data.
http://oss.oetiker.ch/rrdtool/
comment "rrdtool needs a toolchain w/ wchar"
depends on !BR2_USE_WCHAR</pre><p>Note that these two dependency types are only transitive with the
dependencies of the same kind.</p><p>This means, in the following example:</p><pre class="screen">config BR2_PACKAGE_A
bool "Package A"
config BR2_PACKAGE_B
bool "Package B"
depends on BR2_PACKAGE_A
config BR2_PACKAGE_C
bool "Package C"
depends on BR2_PACKAGE_B
config BR2_PACKAGE_D
bool "Package D"
select BR2_PACKAGE_B
config BR2_PACKAGE_E
bool "Package E"
select BR2_PACKAGE_D</pre><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
Selecting <code class="literal">Package C</code> will be visible if <code class="literal">Package B</code> has been
selected, which in turn is only visible if <code class="literal">Package A</code> has been
selected.
</li><li class="listitem">
Selecting <code class="literal">Package E</code> will select <code class="literal">Package D</code>, which will select
<code class="literal">Package B</code>, it will not check for the dependencies of <code class="literal">Package B</code>,
so it will not select <code class="literal">Package A</code>.
</li><li class="listitem">
Since <code class="literal">Package B</code> is selected but <code class="literal">Package A</code> is not, this violates
the dependency of <code class="literal">Package B</code> on <code class="literal">Package A</code>. Therefore, in such a
situation, the transitive dependency has to be added explicitly:
</li></ul></div><pre class="screen">config BR2_PACKAGE_D
bool "Package D"
select BR2_PACKAGE_B
depends on BR2_PACKAGE_A
config BR2_PACKAGE_E
bool "Package E"
select BR2_PACKAGE_D
depends on BR2_PACKAGE_A</pre><p>Overall, for package library dependencies, <code class="literal">select</code> should be
preferred.</p><p>Note that such dependencies will ensure that the dependency option
is also enabled, but not necessarily built before your package. To do
so, the dependency also needs to be expressed in the <code class="literal">.mk</code> file of the
package.</p><p>Further formatting details: see <a class="link" href="#writing-rules-config-in" title="15.1. Config.in file">the
coding style</a>
<a class="xref" href="#writing-rules-config-in" title="15.1. Config.in file">Section 15.1, “<code class="literal">Config.in</code> file”</a>.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="dependencies-target-toolchain-options"></a>17.2.4. Dependencies on target and toolchain options</h3></div></div></div><p>Many packages depend on certain options of the toolchain: the choice of
C library, C++ support, thread support, RPC support, wchar support,
or dynamic library support. Some packages can only be built on certain
target architectures, or if an MMU is available in the processor.</p><p>These dependencies have to be expressed with the appropriate <span class="emphasis"><em>depends
on</em></span> statements in the Config.in file. Additionally, for dependencies on
toolchain options, a <code class="literal">comment</code> should be displayed when the option is
not enabled, so that the user knows why the package is not available.
Dependencies on target architecture or MMU support should not be
made visible in a comment: since it is unlikely that the user can
freely choose another target, it makes little sense to show these
dependencies explicitly.</p><p>The <code class="literal">comment</code> should only be visible if the <code class="literal">config</code> option itself would
be visible when the toolchain option dependencies are met. This means
that all other dependencies of the package (including dependencies on
target architecture and MMU support) have to be repeated on the
<code class="literal">comment</code> definition. To keep it clear, the <code class="literal">depends on</code> statement for
these non-toolchain option should be kept separate from the <code class="literal">depends on</code>
statement for the toolchain options.
If there is a dependency on a config option in that same file (typically
the main package) it is preferable to have a global <code class="literal">if … endif</code>
construct rather than repeating the <code class="literal">depends on</code> statement on the
comment and other config options.</p><p>The general format of a dependency <code class="literal">comment</code> for package foo is:</p><pre class="screen">foo needs a toolchain w/ featA, featB, featC</pre><p>for example:</p><pre class="screen">mpd needs a toolchain w/ C++, threads, wchar</pre><p>or</p><pre class="screen">crda needs a toolchain w/ threads</pre><p>Note that this text is kept brief on purpose, so that it will fit on a
80-character terminal.</p><p>The rest of this section enumerates the different target and toolchain
options, the corresponding config symbols to depend on, and the text to
use in the comment.</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
Target architecture
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
Dependency symbol: <code class="literal">BR2_powerpc</code>, <code class="literal">BR2_mips</code>, … (see <code class="literal">arch/Config.in</code>)
</li><li class="listitem">
Comment string: no comment to be added
</li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
MMU support
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
Dependency symbol: <code class="literal">BR2_USE_MMU</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
Comment string: no comment to be added
</li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
Gcc <code class="literal"><span class="emphasis"><em>_sync</em></span>*</code> built-ins used for atomic operations. They are
available in variants operating on 1 byte, 2 bytes, 4 bytes and 8
bytes. Since different architectures support atomic operations on
different sizes, one dependency symbol is available for each size:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
Dependency symbol: <code class="literal">BR2_TOOLCHAIN_HAS_SYNC_1</code> for 1 byte,
<code class="literal">BR2_TOOLCHAIN_HAS_SYNC_2</code> for 2 bytes,
<code class="literal">BR2_TOOLCHAIN_HAS_SYNC_4</code> for 4 bytes, <code class="literal">BR2_TOOLCHAIN_HAS_SYNC_8</code>
for 8 bytes.
</li><li class="listitem">
Comment string: no comment to be added
</li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
Gcc <code class="literal"><span class="emphasis"><em>_atomic</em></span>*</code> built-ins used for atomic operations.
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
Dependency symbol: <code class="literal">BR2_TOOLCHAIN_HAS_ATOMIC</code>.
</li><li class="listitem">
Comment string: no comment to be added
</li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
Kernel headers
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
Dependency symbol: <code class="literal">BR2_TOOLCHAIN_HEADERS_AT_LEAST_X_Y</code>, (replace
<code class="literal">X_Y</code> with the proper version, see <code class="literal">toolchain/toolchain-common.in</code>)
</li><li class="listitem">
Comment string: <code class="literal">headers &gt;= X.Y</code> and/or <code class="literal">headers &lt;= X.Y</code> (replace
<code class="literal">X.Y</code> with the proper version)
</li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
GCC version
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
Dependency symbol: <code class="literal">BR2_TOOLCHAIN_GCC_AT_LEAST_X_Y</code>, (replace
<code class="literal">X_Y</code> with the proper version, see <code class="literal">toolchain/toolchain-common.in</code>)
</li><li class="listitem">
Comment string: <code class="literal">gcc &gt;= X.Y</code> and/or <code class="literal">gcc &lt;= X.Y</code> (replace
<code class="literal">X.Y</code> with the proper version)
</li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
Host GCC version
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
Dependency symbol: <code class="literal">BR2_HOST_GCC_AT_LEAST_X_Y</code>, (replace
<code class="literal">X_Y</code> with the proper version, see <code class="literal">Config.in</code>)
</li><li class="listitem">
Comment string: no comment to be added
</li><li class="listitem">
Note that it is usually not the package itself that has a minimum
host GCC version, but rather a host-package on which it depends.
</li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
C library
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
Dependency symbol: <code class="literal">BR2_TOOLCHAIN_USES_GLIBC</code>,
<code class="literal">BR2_TOOLCHAIN_USES_MUSL</code>, <code class="literal">BR2_TOOLCHAIN_USES_UCLIBC</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
Comment string: for the C library, a slightly different comment text
is used: <code class="literal">foo needs a glibc toolchain</code>, or <code class="literal">foo needs a glibc
toolchain w/ C++</code>
</li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
C++ support
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
Dependency symbol: <code class="literal">BR2_INSTALL_LIBSTDCPP</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
Comment string: <code class="literal">C++</code>
</li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
Fortran support
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
Dependency symbol: <code class="literal">BR2_TOOLCHAIN_HAS_FORTRAN</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
Comment string: <code class="literal">fortran</code>
</li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
thread support
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
Dependency symbol: <code class="literal">BR2_TOOLCHAIN_HAS_THREADS</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
Comment string: <code class="literal">threads</code> (unless <code class="literal">BR2_TOOLCHAIN_HAS_THREADS_NPTL</code>
is also needed, in which case, specifying only <code class="literal">NPTL</code> is sufficient)
</li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
NPTL thread support
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
Dependency symbol: <code class="literal">BR2_TOOLCHAIN_HAS_THREADS_NPTL</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
Comment string: <code class="literal">NPTL</code>
</li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
RPC support
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
Dependency symbol: <code class="literal">BR2_TOOLCHAIN_HAS_NATIVE_RPC</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
Comment string: <code class="literal">RPC</code>
</li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
wchar support
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
Dependency symbol: <code class="literal">BR2_USE_WCHAR</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
Comment string: <code class="literal">wchar</code>
</li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
dynamic library
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
Dependency symbol: <code class="literal">!BR2_STATIC_LIBS</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
Comment string: <code class="literal">dynamic library</code>
</li></ul></div></li></ul></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="_dependencies_on_a_linux_kernel_built_by_buildroot"></a>17.2.5. Dependencies on a Linux kernel built by buildroot</h3></div></div></div><p>Some packages need a Linux kernel to be built by buildroot. These are
typically kernel modules or firmware. A comment should be added in the
Config.in file to express this dependency, similar to dependencies on
toolchain options. The general format is:</p><pre class="screen">foo needs a Linux kernel to be built</pre><p>If there is a dependency on both toolchain options and the Linux
kernel, use this format:</p><pre class="screen">foo needs a toolchain w/ featA, featB, featC and a Linux kernel to be built</pre></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="_dependencies_on_udev_dev_management"></a>17.2.6. Dependencies on udev /dev management</h3></div></div></div><p>If a package needs udev /dev management, it should depend on symbol
<code class="literal">BR2_PACKAGE_HAS_UDEV</code>, and the following comment should be added:</p><pre class="screen">foo needs udev /dev management</pre><p>If there is a dependency on both toolchain options and udev /dev
management, use this format:</p><pre class="screen">foo needs udev /dev management and a toolchain w/ featA, featB, featC</pre></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="_dependencies_on_features_provided_by_virtual_packages"></a>17.2.7. Dependencies on features provided by virtual packages</h3></div></div></div><p>Some features can be provided by more than one package, such as the
openGL libraries.</p><p>See <a class="xref" href="#virtual-package-tutorial">Section 17.11, “Infrastructure for virtual packages”</a> for more on the virtual packages.</p></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_the_literal_mk_literal_file"></a>17.3. The <code class="literal">.mk</code> file</h2></div></div></div><p><a id="adding-packages-mk"></a>Finally, here’s the hardest part. Create a file named <code class="literal">libfoo.mk</code>. It
describes how the package should be downloaded, configured, built,
installed, etc.</p><p>Depending on the package type, the <code class="literal">.mk</code> file must be written in a
different way, using different infrastructures:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<span class="strong"><strong>Makefiles for generic packages</strong></span> (not using autotools or CMake):
These are based on an infrastructure similar to the one used for
autotools-based packages, but require a little more work from the
developer. They specify what should be done for the configuration,
compilation and installation of the package. This
infrastructure must be used for all packages that do not use the
autotools as their build system. In the future, other specialized
infrastructures might be written for other build systems. We cover
them through in a <a class="link" href="#generic-package-tutorial" title="17.5.1. generic-package tutorial">tutorial</a>
<a class="xref" href="#generic-package-tutorial" title="17.5.1. generic-package tutorial">Section 17.5.1, “<code class="literal">generic-package</code> tutorial”</a> and a
<a class="link" href="#generic-package-reference" title="17.5.2. generic-package reference">reference</a>
<a class="xref" href="#generic-package-reference" title="17.5.2. generic-package reference">Section 17.5.2, “<code class="literal">generic-package</code> reference”</a>.
</li><li class="listitem">
<span class="strong"><strong>Makefiles for autotools-based software</strong></span> (autoconf, automake, etc.):
We provide a dedicated infrastructure for such packages, since
autotools is a very common build system. This infrastructure <span class="emphasis"><em>must</em></span>
be used for new packages that rely on the autotools as their build
system. We cover them through a <a class="link" href="#autotools-package-tutorial" title="17.6.1. autotools-package tutorial">tutorial</a>
<a class="xref" href="#autotools-package-tutorial" title="17.6.1. autotools-package tutorial">Section 17.6.1, “<code class="literal">autotools-package</code> tutorial”</a>
and <a class="link" href="#autotools-package-reference" title="17.6.2. autotools-package reference">reference</a>
<a class="xref" href="#autotools-package-reference" title="17.6.2. autotools-package reference">Section 17.6.2, “<code class="literal">autotools-package</code> reference”</a>.
</li><li class="listitem">
<span class="strong"><strong>Makefiles for cmake-based software</strong></span>: We provide a dedicated
infrastructure for such packages, as CMake is a more and more
commonly used build system and has a standardized behaviour. This
infrastructure <span class="emphasis"><em>must</em></span> be used for new packages that rely on
CMake. We cover them through a <a class="link" href="#cmake-package-tutorial" title="17.7.1. cmake-package tutorial">tutorial</a>
<a class="xref" href="#cmake-package-tutorial" title="17.7.1. cmake-package tutorial">Section 17.7.1, “<code class="literal">cmake-package</code> tutorial”</a>
and <a class="link" href="#cmake-package-reference" title="17.7.2. cmake-package reference">reference</a>
<a class="xref" href="#cmake-package-reference" title="17.7.2. cmake-package reference">Section 17.7.2, “<code class="literal">cmake-package</code> reference”</a>.
</li><li class="listitem">
<span class="strong"><strong>Makefiles for Python modules</strong></span>: We have a dedicated infrastructure
for Python modules that use either the <code class="literal">distutils</code> or the
<code class="literal">setuptools</code> mechanism. We cover them through a
<a class="link" href="#python-package-tutorial" title="17.8.1. python-package tutorial">tutorial</a>
<a class="xref" href="#python-package-tutorial" title="17.8.1. python-package tutorial">Section 17.8.1, “<code class="literal">python-package</code> tutorial”</a> and a
<a class="link" href="#python-package-reference" title="17.8.2. python-package reference">reference</a>
<a class="xref" href="#python-package-reference" title="17.8.2. python-package reference">Section 17.8.2, “<code class="literal">python-package</code> reference”</a>.
</li><li class="listitem">
<span class="strong"><strong>Makefiles for Lua modules</strong></span>: We have a dedicated infrastructure for
Lua modules available through the LuaRocks web site. We cover them
through a <a class="link" href="#luarocks-package-tutorial" title="17.9.1. luarocks-package tutorial">tutorial</a>
<a class="xref" href="#luarocks-package-tutorial" title="17.9.1. luarocks-package tutorial">Section 17.9.1, “<code class="literal">luarocks-package</code> tutorial”</a> and a
<a class="link" href="#luarocks-package-reference" title="17.9.2. luarocks-package reference">reference</a>
<a class="xref" href="#luarocks-package-reference" title="17.9.2. luarocks-package reference">Section 17.9.2, “<code class="literal">luarocks-package</code> reference”</a>.
</li></ul></div><p>Further formatting details: see <a class="link" href="#writing-rules-mk" title="15.2. The .mk file">the writing
rules</a>
<a class="xref" href="#writing-rules-mk" title="15.2. The .mk file">Section 15.2, “The <code class="literal">.mk</code> file”</a>.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="adding-packages-hash"></a>17.4. The <code class="literal">.hash</code> file</h2></div></div></div><p>When possible, you must add a third file, named <code class="literal">libfoo.hash</code>, that
contains the hashes of the downloaded files for the <code class="literal">libfoo</code>
package. The only reason for not adding a <code class="literal">.hash</code> file is when hash
checking is not possible due to how the package is downloaded.</p><p>The hashes stored in that file are used to validate the integrity of the
downloaded files and of the license files.</p><p>The format of this file is one line for each file for which to check the
hash, each line being space-separated, with these three fields:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
the type of hash, one of:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">md5</code>, <code class="literal">sha1</code>, <code class="literal">sha224</code>, <code class="literal">sha256</code>, <code class="literal">sha384</code>, <code class="literal">sha512</code>, <code class="literal">none</code>
</li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
the hash of the file:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
for <code class="literal">none</code>, one or more non-space chars, usually just the string <code class="literal">xxx</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
for <code class="literal">md5</code>, 32 hexadecimal characters
</li><li class="listitem">
for <code class="literal">sha1</code>, 40 hexadecimal characters
</li><li class="listitem">
for <code class="literal">sha224</code>, 56 hexadecimal characters
</li><li class="listitem">
for <code class="literal">sha256</code>, 64 hexadecimal characters
</li><li class="listitem">
for <code class="literal">sha384</code>, 96 hexadecimal characters
</li><li class="listitem">
for <code class="literal">sha512</code>, 128 hexadecimal characters
</li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
the name of the file:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
for a source archive: the basename of the file, without any directory
component,
</li><li class="listitem">
for a license file: the path as it appears in <code class="literal">FOO_LICENSE_FILES</code>.
</li></ul></div></li></ul></div><p>Lines starting with a <code class="literal">#</code> sign are considered comments, and ignored. Empty
lines are ignored.</p><p>There can be more than one hash for a single file, each on its own line. In
this case, all hashes must match.</p><p><strong>Note. </strong>Ideally, the hashes stored in this file should match the hashes published by
upstream, e.g. on their website, in the e-mail announcement… If upstream
provides more than one type of hash (e.g. <code class="literal">sha1</code> and <code class="literal">sha512</code>), then it is
best to add all those hashes in the <code class="literal">.hash</code> file. If upstream does not
provide any hash, or only provides an <code class="literal">md5</code> hash, then compute at least one
strong hash yourself (preferably <code class="literal">sha256</code>, but not <code class="literal">md5</code>), and mention
this in a comment line above the hashes.</p><p><strong>Note. </strong>The hashes for license files are used to detect a license change when a
package version is bumped. The hashes are checked during the make legal-info
target run. For a package with multiple versions (like Qt5),
create the hash file in a subdirectory <code class="literal">&lt;packageversion&gt;</code> of that package
(see also <a class="xref" href="#patch-apply-order" title="18.2. How patches are applied">Section 18.2, “How patches are applied”</a>).</p><p><strong>Note. </strong>The number of spaces does not matter, so one can use spaces (or tabs) to
properly align the different fields.</p><p>The <code class="literal">none</code> hash type is reserved to those archives downloaded from a
repository, like a <span class="emphasis"><em>git clone</em></span>, a <span class="emphasis"><em>subversion checkout</em></span>…</p><p>The example below defines a <code class="literal">sha1</code> and a <code class="literal">sha256</code> published by upstream for
the main <code class="literal">libfoo-1.2.3.tar.bz2</code> tarball, an <code class="literal">md5</code> from upstream and a
locally-computed <code class="literal">sha256</code> hashes for a binary blob, a <code class="literal">sha256</code> for a
downloaded patch, and an archive with no hash:</p><pre class="screen"># Hashes from: http://www.foosoftware.org/download/libfoo-1.2.3.tar.bz2.{sha1,sha256}:
sha1 486fb55c3efa71148fe07895fd713ea3a5ae343a libfoo-1.2.3.tar.bz2
sha256 efc8103cc3bcb06bda6a781532d12701eb081ad83e8f90004b39ab81b65d4369 libfoo-1.2.3.tar.bz2
# md5 from: http://www.foosoftware.org/download/libfoo-1.2.3.tar.bz2.md5, sha256 locally computed:
md5 2d608f3c318c6b7557d551a5a09314f03452f1a1 libfoo-data.bin
sha256 01ba4719c80b6fe911b091a7c05124b64eeece964e09c058ef8f9805daca546b libfoo-data.bin
# Locally computed:
sha256 ff52101fb90bbfc3fe9475e425688c660f46216d7e751c4bbdb1dc85cdccacb9 libfoo-fix-blabla.patch
# No hash for 1234:
none xxx libfoo-1234.tar.gz
# Hash for license files:
sha256 a45a845012742796534f7e91fe623262ccfb99460a2bd04015bd28d66fba95b8 COPYING
sha256 01b1f9f2c8ee648a7a596a1abe8aa4ed7899b1c9e5551bda06da6e422b04aa55 doc/COPYING.LGPL</pre><p>If the <code class="literal">.hash</code> file is present, and it contains one or more hashes for a
downloaded file, the hash(es) computed by Buildroot (after download) must
match the hash(es) stored in the <code class="literal">.hash</code> file. If one or more hashes do
not match, Buildroot considers this an error, deletes the downloaded file,
and aborts.</p><p>If the <code class="literal">.hash</code> file is present, but it does not contain a hash for a
downloaded file, Buildroot considers this an error and aborts. However,
the downloaded file is left in the download directory since this
typically indicates that the <code class="literal">.hash</code> file is wrong but the downloaded
file is probably OK.</p><p>Hashes are currently checked for files fetched from http/ftp servers,
Git repositories, files copied using scp and local files. Hashes are
not checked for other version control systems (such as Subversion,
CVS, etc.) because Buildroot currently does not generate reproducible
tarballs when source code is fetched from such version control
systems.</p><p>Hashes should only be added in <code class="literal">.hash</code> files for files that are
guaranteed to be stable. For example, patches auto-generated by Github
are not guaranteed to be stable, and therefore their hashes can change
over time. Such patches should not be downloaded, and instead be added
locally to the package folder.</p><p>If the <code class="literal">.hash</code> file is missing, then no check is done at all.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_infrastructure_for_packages_with_specific_build_systems"></a>17.5. Infrastructure for packages with specific build systems</h2></div></div></div><p>By <span class="emphasis"><em>packages with specific build systems</em></span> we mean all the packages
whose build system is not one of the standard ones, such as
<span class="emphasis"><em>autotools</em></span> or <span class="emphasis"><em>CMake</em></span>. This typically includes packages whose build
system is based on hand-written Makefiles or shell scripts.</p><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="generic-package-tutorial"></a>17.5.1. <code class="literal">generic-package</code> tutorial</h3></div></div></div><pre class="screen">01: ################################################################################
02: #
03: # libfoo
04: #
05: ################################################################################
06:
07: LIBFOO_VERSION = 1.0
08: LIBFOO_SOURCE = libfoo-$(LIBFOO_VERSION).tar.gz
09: LIBFOO_SITE = http://www.foosoftware.org/download
10: LIBFOO_LICENSE = GPL-3.0+
11: LIBFOO_LICENSE_FILES = COPYING
12: LIBFOO_INSTALL_STAGING = YES
13: LIBFOO_CONFIG_SCRIPTS = libfoo-config
14: LIBFOO_DEPENDENCIES = host-libaaa libbbb
15:
16: define LIBFOO_BUILD_CMDS
17: $(MAKE) $(TARGET_CONFIGURE_OPTS) -C $(@D) all
18: endef
19:
20: define LIBFOO_INSTALL_STAGING_CMDS
21: $(INSTALL) -D -m 0755 $(@D)/libfoo.a $(STAGING_DIR)/usr/lib/libfoo.a
22: $(INSTALL) -D -m 0644 $(@D)/foo.h $(STAGING_DIR)/usr/include/foo.h
23: $(INSTALL) -D -m 0755 $(@D)/libfoo.so* $(STAGING_DIR)/usr/lib
24: endef
25:
26: define LIBFOO_INSTALL_TARGET_CMDS
27: $(INSTALL) -D -m 0755 $(@D)/libfoo.so* $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/lib
28: $(INSTALL) -d -m 0755 $(TARGET_DIR)/etc/foo.d
29: endef
30:
31: define LIBFOO_USERS
32: foo -1 libfoo -1 * - - - LibFoo daemon
33: endef
34:
35: define LIBFOO_DEVICES
36: /dev/foo c 666 0 0 42 0 - - -
37: endef
38:
39: define LIBFOO_PERMISSIONS
40: /bin/foo f 4755 foo libfoo - - - - -
41: endef
42:
43: $(eval $(generic-package))</pre><p>The Makefile begins on line 7 to 11 with metadata information: the
version of the package (<code class="literal">LIBFOO_VERSION</code>), the name of the
tarball containing the package (<code class="literal">LIBFOO_SOURCE</code>) (xz-ed tarball recommended)
the Internet location at which the tarball can be downloaded from
(<code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE</code>), the license (<code class="literal">LIBFOO_LICENSE</code>) and file with the
license text (<code class="literal">LIBFOO_LICENSE_FILES</code>). All variables must start with
the same prefix, <code class="literal">LIBFOO_</code> in this case. This prefix is always the
uppercased version of the package name (see below to understand where
the package name is defined).</p><p>On line 12, we specify that this package wants to install something to
the staging space. This is often needed for libraries, since they must
install header files and other development files in the staging space.
This will ensure that the commands listed in the
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_INSTALL_STAGING_CMDS</code> variable will be executed.</p><p>On line 13, we specify that there is some fixing to be done to some
of the <span class="emphasis"><em>libfoo-config</em></span> files that were installed during
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_INSTALL_STAGING_CMDS</code> phase.
These *-config files are executable shell script files that are
located in <span class="emphasis"><em>$(STAGING_DIR)/usr/bin</em></span> directory and are executed
by other 3rd party packages to find out the location and the linking
flags of this particular package.</p><p>The problem is that all these *-config files by default give wrong,
host system linking flags that are unsuitable for cross-compiling.</p><p>For example: <span class="emphasis"><em>-I/usr/include</em></span> instead of <span class="emphasis"><em>-I$(STAGING_DIR)/usr/include</em></span>
or: <span class="emphasis"><em>-L/usr/lib</em></span> instead of <span class="emphasis"><em>-L$(STAGING_DIR)/usr/lib</em></span></p><p>So some sed magic is done to these scripts to make them give correct
flags.
The argument to be given to <code class="literal">LIBFOO_CONFIG_SCRIPTS</code> is the file name(s)
of the shell script(s) needing fixing. All these names are relative to
<span class="emphasis"><em>$(STAGING_DIR)/usr/bin</em></span> and if needed multiple names can be given.</p><p>In addition, the scripts listed in <code class="literal">LIBFOO_CONFIG_SCRIPTS</code> are removed
from <code class="literal">$(TARGET_DIR)/usr/bin</code>, since they are not needed on the target.</p><div class="example"><a id="idm45832965923664"></a><p class="title"><strong>Example 17.1. Config script: <span class="emphasis"><em>divine</em></span> package</strong></p><div class="example-contents"><p>Package divine installs shell script <span class="emphasis"><em>$(STAGING_DIR)/usr/bin/divine-config</em></span>.</p><p>So its fixup would be:</p><pre class="screen">DIVINE_CONFIG_SCRIPTS = divine-config</pre></div></div><br class="example-break" /><div class="example"><a id="idm45832965920736"></a><p class="title"><strong>Example 17.2. Config script: <span class="emphasis"><em>imagemagick</em></span> package:</strong></p><div class="example-contents"><p>Package imagemagick installs the following scripts:
<span class="emphasis"><em>$(STAGING_DIR)/usr/bin/{Magick,Magick++,MagickCore,MagickWand,Wand}-config</em></span></p><p>So it’s fixup would be:</p><pre class="screen">IMAGEMAGICK_CONFIG_SCRIPTS = \
Magick-config Magick++-config \
MagickCore-config MagickWand-config Wand-config</pre></div></div><br class="example-break" /><p>On line 14, we specify the list of dependencies this package relies
on. These dependencies are listed in terms of lower-case package names,
which can be packages for the target (without the <code class="literal">host-</code>
prefix) or packages for the host (with the <code class="literal">host-</code>) prefix).
Buildroot will ensure that all these packages are built and installed
<span class="emphasis"><em>before</em></span> the current package starts its configuration.</p><p>The rest of the Makefile, lines 16..29, defines what should be done
at the different steps of the package configuration, compilation and
installation.
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_BUILD_CMDS</code> tells what steps should be performed to
build the package. <code class="literal">LIBFOO_INSTALL_STAGING_CMDS</code> tells what
steps should be performed to install the package in the staging space.
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_INSTALL_TARGET_CMDS</code> tells what steps should be
performed to install the package in the target space.</p><p>All these steps rely on the <code class="literal">$(@D)</code> variable, which
contains the directory where the source code of the package has been
extracted.</p><p>On lines 31..43, we define a user that is used by this package (e.g.
to run a daemon as non-root) (<code class="literal">LIBFOO_USERS</code>).</p><p>On line 35..37, we define a device-node file used by this package
(<code class="literal">LIBFOO_DEVICES</code>).</p><p>On line 39..41, we define the permissions to set to specific files
installed by this package (<code class="literal">LIBFOO_PERMISSIONS</code>).</p><p>Finally, on line 43, we call the <code class="literal">generic-package</code> function, which
generates, according to the variables defined previously, all the
Makefile code necessary to make your package working.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="generic-package-reference"></a>17.5.2. <code class="literal">generic-package</code> reference</h3></div></div></div><p>There are two variants of the generic target. The <code class="literal">generic-package</code> macro is
used for packages to be cross-compiled for the target. The
<code class="literal">host-generic-package</code> macro is used for host packages, natively compiled
for the host. It is possible to call both of them in a single <code class="literal">.mk</code>
file: once to create the rules to generate a target
package and once to create the rules to generate a host package:</p><pre class="screen">$(eval $(generic-package))
$(eval $(host-generic-package))</pre><p>This might be useful if the compilation of the target package requires
some tools to be installed on the host. If the package name is
<code class="literal">libfoo</code>, then the name of the package for the target is also
<code class="literal">libfoo</code>, while the name of the package for the host is
<code class="literal">host-libfoo</code>. These names should be used in the DEPENDENCIES
variables of other packages, if they depend on <code class="literal">libfoo</code> or
<code class="literal">host-libfoo</code>.</p><p>The call to the <code class="literal">generic-package</code> and/or <code class="literal">host-generic-package</code> macro <span class="strong"><strong>must</strong></span> be
at the end of the <code class="literal">.mk</code> file, after all variable definitions.</p><p>For the target package, the <code class="literal">generic-package</code> uses the variables defined by
the .mk file and prefixed by the uppercased package name:
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_*</code>. <code class="literal">host-generic-package</code> uses the <code class="literal">HOST_LIBFOO_*</code> variables. For
<span class="emphasis"><em>some</em></span> variables, if the <code class="literal">HOST_LIBFOO_</code> prefixed variable doesn’t
exist, the package infrastructure uses the corresponding variable
prefixed by <code class="literal">LIBFOO_</code>. This is done for variables that are likely to
have the same value for both the target and host packages. See below
for details.</p><p>The list of variables that can be set in a <code class="literal">.mk</code> file to give metadata
information is (assuming the package name is <code class="literal">libfoo</code>) :</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_VERSION</code>, mandatory, must contain the version of the
package. Note that if <code class="literal">HOST_LIBFOO_VERSION</code> doesn’t exist, it is
assumed to be the same as <code class="literal">LIBFOO_VERSION</code>. It can also be a
revision number or a tag for packages that are fetched directly
from their version control system. Examples:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
a version for a release tarball: <code class="literal">LIBFOO_VERSION = 0.1.2</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
a sha1 for a git tree: <code class="literal">LIBFOO_VERSION = cb9d6aa9429e838f0e54faa3d455bcbab5eef057</code>
</li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
a tag for a git tree <code class="literal">LIBFOO_VERSION = v0.1.2</code>
</p><p><strong>Note: </strong>Using a branch name as <code class="literal">FOO_VERSION</code> is not supported, because it does
not and can not work as people would expect it should:</p><div class="orderedlist"><ol class="orderedlist" type="1"><li class="listitem">
due to local caching, Buildroot will not re-fetch the repository,
so people who expect to be able to follow the remote repository
would be quite surprised and disappointed;
</li><li class="listitem">
because two builds can never be perfectly simultaneous, and because
the remote repository may get new commits on the branch anytime,
two users, using the same Buildroot tree and building the same
configuration, may get different source, thus rendering the build
non reproducible, and people would be quite surprised and
disappointed.
</li></ol></div></li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_SOURCE</code> may contain the name of the tarball of the package,
which Buildroot will use to download the tarball from
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE</code>. If <code class="literal">HOST_LIBFOO_SOURCE</code> is not specified, it defaults
to <code class="literal">LIBFOO_SOURCE</code>. If none are specified, then the value is assumed
to be <code class="literal">libfoo-$(LIBFOO_VERSION).tar.gz</code>.
Example: <code class="literal">LIBFOO_SOURCE = foobar-$(LIBFOO_VERSION).tar.bz2</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_PATCH</code> may contain a space-separated list of patch file
names, that Buildroot will download and apply to the package source
code. If an entry contains <code class="literal">://</code>, then Buildroot will assume it is a
full URL and download the patch from this location. Otherwise,
Buildroot will assume that the patch should be downloaded from
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE</code>. If <code class="literal">HOST_LIBFOO_PATCH</code> is not specified, it defaults
to <code class="literal">LIBFOO_PATCH</code>. Note that patches that are included in Buildroot
itself use a different mechanism: all files of the form
<code class="literal">*.patch</code> present in the package directory inside
Buildroot will be applied to the package after extraction (see
<a class="link" href="#patch-policy" title="Chapter 18. Patching a package">patching a package</a>
<a class="xref" href="#patch-policy" title="Chapter 18. Patching a package">Chapter 18, <em>Patching a package</em></a>). Finally, patches listed in
the <code class="literal">LIBFOO_PATCH</code> variable are applied <span class="emphasis"><em>before</em></span> the patches stored
in the Buildroot package directory.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE</code> provides the location of the package, which can be a
URL or a local filesystem path. HTTP, FTP and SCP are supported URL
types for retrieving package tarballs. In these cases don’t include a
trailing slash: it will be added by Buildroot between the directory
and the filename as appropriate. Git, Subversion, Mercurial,
and Bazaar are supported URL types for retrieving packages directly
from source code management systems. There is a helper function to make
it easier to download source tarballs from GitHub (refer to
<a class="xref" href="#github-download-url" title="17.22.3. How to add a package from GitHub">Section 17.22.3, “How to add a package from GitHub”</a> for details). A filesystem path may be used
to specify either a tarball or a directory containing the package
source code. See <code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE_METHOD</code> below for more details on how
retrieval works.
Note that SCP URLs should be of the form
<code class="literal">scp://[user@]host:filepath</code>, and that filepath is relative to the
user’s home directory, so you may want to prepend the path with a
slash for absolute paths:
<code class="literal">scp://[user@]host:/absolutepath</code>.
If <code class="literal">HOST_LIBFOO_SITE</code> is not specified, it defaults to
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE</code>.
Examples:
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE=http://www.libfoosoftware.org/libfoo</code>
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE=http://svn.xiph.org/trunk/Tremor</code>
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE=/opt/software/libfoo.tar.gz</code>
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE=$(TOPDIR)/../src/libfoo</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_DL_OPTS</code> is a space-separated list of additional options to
pass to the downloader. Useful for retrieving documents with
server-side checking for user logins and passwords, or to use a proxy.
All download methods valid for <code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE_METHOD</code> are supported;
valid options depend on the download method (consult the man page
for the respective download utilities).
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_EXTRA_DOWNLOADS</code> is a space-separated list of additional
files that Buildroot should download. If an entry contains <code class="literal">://</code>
then Buildroot will assume it is a complete URL and will download
the file using this URL. Otherwise, Buildroot will assume the file
to be downloaded is located at <code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE</code>. Buildroot will not do
anything with those additional files, except download them: it will
be up to the package recipe to use them from <code class="literal">$(DL_DIR)</code>.
</li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE_METHOD</code> determines the method used to fetch or copy the
package source code. In many cases, Buildroot guesses the method
from the contents of <code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE</code> and setting <code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE_METHOD</code>
is unnecessary. When <code class="literal">HOST_LIBFOO_SITE_METHOD</code> is not specified, it
defaults to the value of <code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE_METHOD</code>.
The possible values of <code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE_METHOD</code> are:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">wget</code> for normal FTP/HTTP downloads of tarballs. Used by
default when <code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE</code> begins with <code class="literal">http://</code>, <code class="literal">https://</code> or
<code class="literal">ftp://</code>.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">scp</code> for downloads of tarballs over SSH with scp. Used by
default when <code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE</code> begins with <code class="literal">scp://</code>.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">svn</code> for retrieving source code from a Subversion repository.
Used by default when <code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE</code> begins with <code class="literal">svn://</code>. When a
<code class="literal">http://</code> Subversion repository URL is specified in
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE</code>, one <span class="emphasis"><em>must</em></span> specify <code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE_METHOD=svn</code>.
Buildroot performs a checkout which is preserved as a tarball in
the download cache; subsequent builds use the tarball instead of
performing another checkout.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">cvs</code> for retrieving source code from a CVS repository.
Used by default when <code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE</code> begins with <code class="literal">cvs://</code>.
The downloaded source code is cached as with the <code class="literal">svn</code> method.
Anonymous pserver mode is assumed otherwise explicitly defined
on <code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE</code>. Both
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE=cvs://libfoo.net:/cvsroot/libfoo</code> and
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE=cvs://:ext:libfoo.net:/cvsroot/libfoo</code>
are accepted, on the former anonymous pserver access mode is
assumed.
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE</code> <span class="emphasis"><em>must</em></span> contain the source URL as well as the remote
repository directory. The module is the package name.
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_VERSION</code> is <span class="emphasis"><em>mandatory</em></span> and <span class="emphasis"><em>must</em></span> be a tag, a branch, or
a date (e.g. "2014-10-20", "2014-10-20 13:45", "2014-10-20
13:45+01" see "man cvs" for further details).
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">git</code> for retrieving source code from a Git repository. Used by
default when <code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE</code> begins with <code class="literal">git://</code>. The downloaded
source code is cached as with the <code class="literal">svn</code>
method.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">hg</code> for retrieving source code from a Mercurial repository. One
<span class="emphasis"><em>must</em></span> specify <code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE_METHOD=hg</code> when <code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE</code>
contains a Mercurial repository URL. The downloaded source code
is cached as with the <code class="literal">svn</code> method.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">bzr</code> for retrieving source code from a Bazaar repository. Used
by default when <code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE</code> begins with <code class="literal">bzr://</code>. The
downloaded source code is cached as with the <code class="literal">svn</code> method.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">file</code> for a local tarball. One should use this when
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE</code> specifies a package tarball as a local filename.
Useful for software that isn’t available publicly or in version
control.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">local</code> for a local source code directory. One should use this
when <code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE</code> specifies a local directory path containing
the package source code. Buildroot copies the contents of the
source directory into the package’s build directory. Note that
for <code class="literal">local</code> packages, no patches are applied. If you need to
still patch the source code, use <code class="literal">LIBFOO_POST_RSYNC_HOOKS</code>, see
<a class="xref" href="#hooks-rsync" title="17.20.1. Using the POST_RSYNC hook">Section 17.20.1, “Using the <code class="literal">POST_RSYNC</code> hook”</a>.
</li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_GIT_SUBMODULES</code> can be set to <code class="literal">YES</code> to create an archive
with the git submodules in the repository. This is only available
for packages downloaded with git (i.e. when
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE_METHOD=git</code>). Note that we try not to use such git
submodules when they contain bundled libraries, in which case we
prefer to use those libraries from their own package.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_STRIP_COMPONENTS</code> is the number of leading components
(directories) that tar must strip from file names on extraction.
The tarball for most packages has one leading component named
"&lt;pkg-name&gt;-&lt;pkg-version&gt;", thus Buildroot passes
--strip-components=1 to tar to remove it.
For non-standard packages that don’t have this component, or
that have more than one leading component to strip, set this
variable with the value to be passed to tar. Default: 1.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_EXCLUDES</code> is a space-separated list of patterns to exclude
when extracting the archive. Each item from that list is passed as
a tar’s <code class="literal">--exclude</code> option. By default, empty.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_DEPENDENCIES</code> lists the dependencies (in terms of package
name) that are required for the current target package to
compile. These dependencies are guaranteed to be compiled and
installed before the configuration of the current package starts. In
a similar way, <code class="literal">HOST_LIBFOO_DEPENDENCIES</code> lists the dependencies for
the current host package.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_PATCH_DEPENDENCIES</code> lists the dependencies (in terms of
package name) that are required for the current package to be
patched. These dependencies are guaranteed to be extracted and
patched before the current package is patched. In a similar way,
<code class="literal">HOST_LIBFOO_PATCH_DEPENDENCIES</code> lists the dependencies for the
current host package.
This is seldom used; usually, <code class="literal">LIBFOO_DEPENDENCIES</code> is what you
really want to use.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_PROVIDES</code> lists all the virtual packages <code class="literal">libfoo</code> is an
implementation of. See <a class="xref" href="#virtual-package-tutorial">Section 17.11, “Infrastructure for virtual packages”</a>.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_INSTALL_STAGING</code> can be set to <code class="literal">YES</code> or <code class="literal">NO</code> (default). If
set to <code class="literal">YES</code>, then the commands in the <code class="literal">LIBFOO_INSTALL_STAGING_CMDS</code>
variables are executed to install the package into the staging
directory.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_INSTALL_TARGET</code> can be set to <code class="literal">YES</code> (default) or <code class="literal">NO</code>. If
set to <code class="literal">YES</code>, then the commands in the <code class="literal">LIBFOO_INSTALL_TARGET_CMDS</code>
variables are executed to install the package into the target
directory.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_INSTALL_IMAGES</code> can be set to <code class="literal">YES</code> or <code class="literal">NO</code> (default). If
set to <code class="literal">YES</code>, then the commands in the <code class="literal">LIBFOO_INSTALL_IMAGES_CMDS</code>
variable are executed to install the package into the images
directory.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_CONFIG_SCRIPTS</code> lists the names of the files in
<span class="emphasis"><em>$(STAGING_DIR)/usr/bin</em></span> that need some special fixing to make them
cross-compiling friendly. Multiple file names separated by space can
be given and all are relative to <span class="emphasis"><em>$(STAGING_DIR)/usr/bin</em></span>. The files
listed in <code class="literal">LIBFOO_CONFIG_SCRIPTS</code> are also removed from
<code class="literal">$(TARGET_DIR)/usr/bin</code> since they are not needed on the target.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_DEVICES</code> lists the device files to be created by Buildroot
when using the static device table. The syntax to use is the
makedevs one. You can find some documentation for this syntax in the
<a class="xref" href="#makedev-syntax" title="Chapter 23. Makedev syntax documentation">Chapter 23, <em>Makedev syntax documentation</em></a>. This variable is optional.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_PERMISSIONS</code> lists the changes of permissions to be done at
the end of the build process. The syntax is once again the makedevs one.
You can find some documentation for this syntax in the <a class="xref" href="#makedev-syntax" title="Chapter 23. Makedev syntax documentation">Chapter 23, <em>Makedev syntax documentation</em></a>.
This variable is optional.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_USERS</code> lists the users to create for this package, if it installs
a program you want to run as a specific user (e.g. as a daemon, or as a
cron-job). The syntax is similar in spirit to the makedevs one, and is
described in the <a class="xref" href="#makeuser-syntax" title="Chapter 24. Makeusers syntax documentation">Chapter 24, <em>Makeusers syntax documentation</em></a>. This variable is optional.
</li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_LICENSE</code> defines the license (or licenses) under which the package
is released.
This name will appear in the manifest file produced by <code class="literal">make legal-info</code>.
If the license appears in <a class="ulink" href="https://spdx.org/licenses/" target="_top">the SPDX License List</a>,
use the SPDX short identifier to make the manifest file uniform.
Otherwise, describe the license in a precise and concise way, avoiding
ambiguous names such as <code class="literal">BSD</code> which actually name a family of licenses.
This variable is optional. If it is not defined, <code class="literal">unknown</code> will appear in
the <code class="literal">license</code> field of the manifest file for this package.
The expected format for this variable must comply with the following rules:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
If different parts of the package are released under different
licenses, then <code class="literal">comma</code> separate licenses (e.g. <code class="literal"><code class="literal">LIBFOO_LICENSE =
GPL-2.0+, LGPL-2.1+</code></code>). If there is clear distinction between which
component is licensed under what license, then annotate the license
with that component, between parenthesis (e.g. <code class="literal"><code class="literal">LIBFOO_LICENSE =
GPL-2.0+ (programs), LGPL-2.1+ (libraries)</code></code>).
</li><li class="listitem">
If the package is dual licensed, then separate licenses with the
<code class="literal">or</code> keyword (e.g. <code class="literal"><code class="literal">LIBFOO_LICENSE = AFL-2.1 or GPL-2.0+</code></code>).
</li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_LICENSE_FILES</code> is a space-separated list of files in the package
tarball that contain the license(s) under which the package is released.
<code class="literal">make legal-info</code> copies all of these files in the <code class="literal">legal-info</code> directory.
See <a class="xref" href="#legal-info" title="Chapter 12. Legal notice and licensing">Chapter 12, <em>Legal notice and licensing</em></a> for more information.
This variable is optional. If it is not defined, a warning will be produced
to let you know, and <code class="literal">not saved</code> will appear in the <code class="literal">license files</code> field
of the manifest file for this package.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_ACTUAL_SOURCE_TARBALL</code> only applies to packages whose
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE</code> / <code class="literal">LIBTOO_SOURCE</code> pair points to an archive that does
not actually contain source code, but binary code. This a very
uncommon case, only known to apply to external toolchains which come
already compiled, although theoretically it might apply to other
packages. In such cases a separate tarball is usually available with
the actual source code. Set <code class="literal">LIBFOO_ACTUAL_SOURCE_TARBALL</code> to the
name of the actual source code archive and Buildroot will download
it and use it when you run <code class="literal">make legal-info</code> to collect
legally-relevant material. Note this file will not be downloaded
during regular builds nor by <code class="literal">make source</code>.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_ACTUAL_SOURCE_SITE</code> provides the location of the actual
source tarball. The default value is <code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE</code>, so you don’t
need to set this variable if the binary and source archives are
hosted on the same directory. If <code class="literal">LIBFOO_ACTUAL_SOURCE_TARBALL</code> is
not set, it doesn’t make sense to define
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_ACTUAL_SOURCE_SITE</code>.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_REDISTRIBUTE</code> can be set to <code class="literal">YES</code> (default) or <code class="literal">NO</code> to indicate if
the package source code is allowed to be redistributed. Set it to <code class="literal">NO</code> for
non-opensource packages: Buildroot will not save the source code for this
package when collecting the <code class="literal">legal-info</code>.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_FLAT_STACKSIZE</code> defines the stack size of an application built into
the FLAT binary format. The application stack size on the NOMMU architecture
processors can’t be enlarged at run time. The default stack size for the
FLAT binary format is only 4k bytes. If the application consumes more stack,
append the required number here.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_BIN_ARCH_EXCLUDE</code> is a space-separated list of paths (relative
to the target directory) to ignore when checking that the package
installs correctly cross-compiled binaries. You seldom need to set this
variable, unless the package installs binary blobs outside the default
locations, <code class="literal">/lib/firmware</code>, <code class="literal">/usr/lib/firmware</code>, <code class="literal">/lib/modules</code>,
<code class="literal">/usr/lib/modules</code>, and <code class="literal">/usr/share</code>, which are automatically excluded.
</li></ul></div><p>The recommended way to define these variables is to use the following
syntax:</p><pre class="screen">LIBFOO_VERSION = 2.32</pre><p>Now, the variables that define what should be performed at the
different steps of the build process.</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_EXTRACT_CMDS</code> lists the actions to be performed to extract
the package. This is generally not needed as tarballs are
automatically handled by Buildroot. However, if the package uses a
non-standard archive format, such as a ZIP or RAR file, or has a
tarball with a non-standard organization, this variable allows to
override the package infrastructure default behavior.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_CONFIGURE_CMDS</code> lists the actions to be performed to
configure the package before its compilation.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_BUILD_CMDS</code> lists the actions to be performed to
compile the package.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">HOST_LIBFOO_INSTALL_CMDS</code> lists the actions to be performed
to install the package, when the package is a host package. The
package must install its files to the directory given by
<code class="literal">$(HOST_DIR)</code>. All files, including development files such as
headers should be installed, since other packages might be compiled
on top of this package.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_INSTALL_TARGET_CMDS</code> lists the actions to be
performed to install the package to the target directory, when the
package is a target package. The package must install its files to
the directory given by <code class="literal">$(TARGET_DIR)</code>. Only the files required for
<span class="emphasis"><em>execution</em></span> of the package have to be
installed. Header files, static libraries and documentation will be
removed again when the target filesystem is finalized.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_INSTALL_STAGING_CMDS</code> lists the actions to be
performed to install the package to the staging directory, when the
package is a target package. The package must install its files to
the directory given by <code class="literal">$(STAGING_DIR)</code>. All development files
should be installed, since they might be needed to compile other
packages.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_INSTALL_IMAGES_CMDS</code> lists the actions to be performed to
install the package to the images directory, when the package is a
target package. The package must install its files to the directory
given by <code class="literal">$(BINARIES_DIR)</code>. Only files that are binary images (aka
images) that do not belong in the <code class="literal">TARGET_DIR</code> but are necessary
for booting the board should be placed here. For example, a package
should utilize this step if it has binaries which would be similar
to the kernel image, bootloader or root filesystem images.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_INSTALL_INIT_SYSV</code> and <code class="literal">LIBFOO_INSTALL_INIT_SYSTEMD</code> list the
actions to install init scripts either for the systemV-like init systems
(busybox, sysvinit, etc.) or for the systemd units. These commands
will be run only when the relevant init system is installed (i.e. if
systemd is selected as the init system in the configuration, only
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_INSTALL_INIT_SYSTEMD</code> will be run).
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_HELP_CMDS</code> lists the actions to print the package help, which
is included to the main <code class="literal">make help</code> output. These commands can print
anything in any format.
This is seldom used, as packages rarely have custom rules. <span class="strong"><strong>Do not use
this variable</strong></span>, unless you really know that you need to print help.
</li></ul></div><p>The preferred way to define these variables is:</p><pre class="screen">define LIBFOO_CONFIGURE_CMDS
action 1
action 2
action 3
endef</pre><p>In the action definitions, you can use the following variables:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">$(LIBFOO_PKGDIR)</code> contains the path to the directory containing the
<code class="literal">libfoo.mk</code> and <code class="literal">Config.in</code> files. This variable is useful when it is
necessary to install a file bundled in Buildroot, like a runtime
configuration file, a splashscreen image…
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">$(@D)</code>, which contains the directory in which the package source
code has been uncompressed.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">$(DL_DIR)</code> contains the path to the directory where all the downloads made
by Buildroot are stored.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">$(TARGET_CC)</code>, <code class="literal">$(TARGET_LD)</code>, etc. to get the target
cross-compilation utilities
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">$(TARGET_CROSS)</code> to get the cross-compilation toolchain prefix
</li><li class="listitem">
Of course the <code class="literal">$(HOST_DIR)</code>, <code class="literal">$(STAGING_DIR)</code> and <code class="literal">$(TARGET_DIR)</code>
variables to install the packages properly.
</li></ul></div><p>Finally, you can also use hooks. See <a class="xref" href="#hooks" title="17.20. Hooks available in the various build steps">Section 17.20, “Hooks available in the various build steps”</a> for more information.</p></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_infrastructure_for_autotools_based_packages"></a>17.6. Infrastructure for autotools-based packages</h2></div></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="autotools-package-tutorial"></a>17.6.1. <code class="literal">autotools-package</code> tutorial</h3></div></div></div><p>First, let’s see how to write a <code class="literal">.mk</code> file for an autotools-based
package, with an example :</p><pre class="screen">01: ################################################################################
02: #
03: # libfoo
04: #
05: ################################################################################
06:
07: LIBFOO_VERSION = 1.0
08: LIBFOO_SOURCE = libfoo-$(LIBFOO_VERSION).tar.gz
09: LIBFOO_SITE = http://www.foosoftware.org/download
10: LIBFOO_INSTALL_STAGING = YES
11: LIBFOO_INSTALL_TARGET = NO
12: LIBFOO_CONF_OPTS = --disable-shared
13: LIBFOO_DEPENDENCIES = libglib2 host-pkgconf
14:
15: $(eval $(autotools-package))</pre><p>On line 7, we declare the version of the package.</p><p>On line 8 and 9, we declare the name of the tarball (xz-ed tarball recommended)
and the location of the tarball on the Web. Buildroot will automatically
download the tarball from this location.</p><p>On line 10, we tell Buildroot to install the package to the staging
directory. The staging directory, located in <code class="literal">output/staging/</code>
is the directory where all the packages are installed, including their
development files, etc. By default, packages are not installed to the
staging directory, since usually, only libraries need to be installed in
the staging directory: their development files are needed to compile
other libraries or applications depending on them. Also by default, when
staging installation is enabled, packages are installed in this location
using the <code class="literal">make install</code> command.</p><p>On line 11, we tell Buildroot to not install the package to the
target directory. This directory contains what will become the root
filesystem running on the target. For purely static libraries, it is
not necessary to install them in the target directory because they will
not be used at runtime. By default, target installation is enabled; setting
this variable to NO is almost never needed. Also by default, packages are
installed in this location using the <code class="literal">make install</code> command.</p><p>On line 12, we tell Buildroot to pass a custom configure option, that
will be passed to the <code class="literal">./configure</code> script before configuring
and building the package.</p><p>On line 13, we declare our dependencies, so that they are built
before the build process of our package starts.</p><p>Finally, on line line 15, we invoke the <code class="literal">autotools-package</code>
macro that generates all the Makefile rules that actually allows the
package to be built.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="autotools-package-reference"></a>17.6.2. <code class="literal">autotools-package</code> reference</h3></div></div></div><p>The main macro of the autotools package infrastructure is
<code class="literal">autotools-package</code>. It is similar to the <code class="literal">generic-package</code> macro. The ability to
have target and host packages is also available, with the
<code class="literal">host-autotools-package</code> macro.</p><p>Just like the generic infrastructure, the autotools infrastructure
works by defining a number of variables before calling the
<code class="literal">autotools-package</code> macro.</p><p>First, all the package metadata information variables that exist in the
generic infrastructure also exist in the autotools infrastructure:
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_VERSION</code>, <code class="literal">LIBFOO_SOURCE</code>,
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_PATCH</code>, <code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE</code>,
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_SUBDIR</code>, <code class="literal">LIBFOO_DEPENDENCIES</code>,
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_INSTALL_STAGING</code>, <code class="literal">LIBFOO_INSTALL_TARGET</code>.</p><p>A few additional variables, specific to the autotools infrastructure,
can also be defined. Many of them are only useful in very specific
cases, typical packages will therefore only use a few of them.</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_SUBDIR</code> may contain the name of a subdirectory
inside the package that contains the configure script. This is useful,
if for example, the main configure script is not at the root of the
tree extracted by the tarball. If <code class="literal">HOST_LIBFOO_SUBDIR</code> is
not specified, it defaults to <code class="literal">LIBFOO_SUBDIR</code>.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_CONF_ENV</code>, to specify additional environment
variables to pass to the configure script. By default, empty.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_CONF_OPTS</code>, to specify additional configure
options to pass to the configure script. By default, empty.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_MAKE</code>, to specify an alternate <code class="literal">make</code>
command. This is typically useful when parallel make is enabled in
the configuration (using <code class="literal">BR2_JLEVEL</code>) but that this
feature should be disabled for the given package, for one reason or
another. By default, set to <code class="literal">$(MAKE)</code>. If parallel building
is not supported by the package, then it should be set to
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_MAKE=$(MAKE1)</code>.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_MAKE_ENV</code>, to specify additional environment
variables to pass to make in the build step. These are passed before
the <code class="literal">make</code> command. By default, empty.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_MAKE_OPTS</code>, to specify additional variables to
pass to make in the build step. These are passed after the
<code class="literal">make</code> command. By default, empty.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_AUTORECONF</code>, tells whether the package should
be autoreconfigured or not (i.e. if the configure script and
Makefile.in files should be re-generated by re-running autoconf,
automake, libtool, etc.). Valid values are <code class="literal">YES</code> and
<code class="literal">NO</code>. By default, the value is <code class="literal">NO</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_AUTORECONF_ENV</code>, to specify additional environment
variables to pass to the <span class="emphasis"><em>autoreconf</em></span> program if
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_AUTORECONF=YES</code>. These are passed in the environment of
the <span class="emphasis"><em>autoreconf</em></span> command. By default, empty.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_AUTORECONF_OPTS</code> to specify additional options
passed to the <span class="emphasis"><em>autoreconf</em></span> program if
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_AUTORECONF=YES</code>. By default, empty.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_GETTEXTIZE</code>, tells whether the package should be
gettextized or not (i.e. if the package uses a different gettext
version than Buildroot provides, and it is needed to run
<span class="emphasis"><em>gettextize</em></span>.) Only valid when <code class="literal">LIBFOO_AUTORECONF=YES</code>. Valid
values are <code class="literal">YES</code> and <code class="literal">NO</code>. The default is <code class="literal">NO</code>.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_GETTEXTIZE_OPTS</code>, to specify additional options passed to
the <span class="emphasis"><em>gettextize</em></span> program, if <code class="literal">LIBFOO_GETTEXTIZE=YES</code>. You may
use that if, for example, the <code class="literal">.po</code> files are not located in the
standard place (i.e. in <code class="literal">po/</code> at the root of the package.) By
default, <span class="emphasis"><em>-f</em></span>.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_LIBTOOL_PATCH</code> tells whether the Buildroot
patch to fix libtool cross-compilation issues should be applied or
not. Valid values are <code class="literal">YES</code> and <code class="literal">NO</code>. By
default, the value is <code class="literal">YES</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_INSTALL_STAGING_OPTS</code> contains the make options
used to install the package to the staging directory. By default, the
value is <code class="literal">DESTDIR=$(STAGING_DIR) install</code>, which is
correct for most autotools packages. It is still possible to override
it.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_INSTALL_TARGET_OPTS</code> contains the make options
used to install the package to the target directory. By default, the
value is <code class="literal">DESTDIR=$(TARGET_DIR) install</code>. The default
value is correct for most autotools packages, but it is still possible
to override it if needed.
</li></ul></div><p>With the autotools infrastructure, all the steps required to build
and install the packages are already defined, and they generally work
well for most autotools-based packages. However, when required, it is
still possible to customize what is done in any particular step:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
By adding a post-operation hook (after extract, patch, configure,
build or install). See <a class="xref" href="#hooks" title="17.20. Hooks available in the various build steps">Section 17.20, “Hooks available in the various build steps”</a> for details.
</li><li class="listitem">
By overriding one of the steps. For example, even if the autotools
infrastructure is used, if the package <code class="literal">.mk</code> file defines its
own <code class="literal">LIBFOO_CONFIGURE_CMDS</code> variable, it will be used
instead of the default autotools one. However, using this method
should be restricted to very specific cases. Do not use it in the
general case.
</li></ul></div></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_infrastructure_for_cmake_based_packages"></a>17.7. Infrastructure for CMake-based packages</h2></div></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="cmake-package-tutorial"></a>17.7.1. <code class="literal">cmake-package</code> tutorial</h3></div></div></div><p>First, let’s see how to write a <code class="literal">.mk</code> file for a CMake-based package,
with an example :</p><pre class="screen">01: ################################################################################
02: #
03: # libfoo
04: #
05: ################################################################################
06:
07: LIBFOO_VERSION = 1.0
08: LIBFOO_SOURCE = libfoo-$(LIBFOO_VERSION).tar.gz
09: LIBFOO_SITE = http://www.foosoftware.org/download
10: LIBFOO_INSTALL_STAGING = YES
11: LIBFOO_INSTALL_TARGET = NO
12: LIBFOO_CONF_OPTS = -DBUILD_DEMOS=ON
13: LIBFOO_DEPENDENCIES = libglib2 host-pkgconf
14:
15: $(eval $(cmake-package))</pre><p>On line 7, we declare the version of the package.</p><p>On line 8 and 9, we declare the name of the tarball (xz-ed tarball recommended)
and the location of the tarball on the Web. Buildroot will automatically
download the tarball from this location.</p><p>On line 10, we tell Buildroot to install the package to the staging
directory. The staging directory, located in <code class="literal">output/staging/</code>
is the directory where all the packages are installed, including their
development files, etc. By default, packages are not installed to the
staging directory, since usually, only libraries need to be installed in
the staging directory: their development files are needed to compile
other libraries or applications depending on them. Also by default, when
staging installation is enabled, packages are installed in this location
using the <code class="literal">make install</code> command.</p><p>On line 11, we tell Buildroot to not install the package to the
target directory. This directory contains what will become the root
filesystem running on the target. For purely static libraries, it is
not necessary to install them in the target directory because they will
not be used at runtime. By default, target installation is enabled; setting
this variable to NO is almost never needed. Also by default, packages are
installed in this location using the <code class="literal">make install</code> command.</p><p>On line 12, we tell Buildroot to pass custom options to CMake when it is
configuring the package.</p><p>On line 13, we declare our dependencies, so that they are built
before the build process of our package starts.</p><p>Finally, on line line 15, we invoke the <code class="literal">cmake-package</code>
macro that generates all the Makefile rules that actually allows the
package to be built.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="cmake-package-reference"></a>17.7.2. <code class="literal">cmake-package</code> reference</h3></div></div></div><p>The main macro of the CMake package infrastructure is
<code class="literal">cmake-package</code>. It is similar to the <code class="literal">generic-package</code> macro. The ability to
have target and host packages is also available, with the
<code class="literal">host-cmake-package</code> macro.</p><p>Just like the generic infrastructure, the CMake infrastructure works
by defining a number of variables before calling the <code class="literal">cmake-package</code>
macro.</p><p>First, all the package metadata information variables that exist in
the generic infrastructure also exist in the CMake infrastructure:
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_VERSION</code>, <code class="literal">LIBFOO_SOURCE</code>, <code class="literal">LIBFOO_PATCH</code>, <code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE</code>,
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_SUBDIR</code>, <code class="literal">LIBFOO_DEPENDENCIES</code>, <code class="literal">LIBFOO_INSTALL_STAGING</code>,
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_INSTALL_TARGET</code>.</p><p>A few additional variables, specific to the CMake infrastructure, can
also be defined. Many of them are only useful in very specific cases,
typical packages will therefore only use a few of them.</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_SUBDIR</code> may contain the name of a subdirectory inside the
package that contains the main CMakeLists.txt file. This is useful,
if for example, the main CMakeLists.txt file is not at the root of
the tree extracted by the tarball. If <code class="literal">HOST_LIBFOO_SUBDIR</code> is not
specified, it defaults to <code class="literal">LIBFOO_SUBDIR</code>.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_CONF_ENV</code>, to specify additional environment variables to
pass to CMake. By default, empty.
</li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_CONF_OPTS</code>, to specify additional configure options to pass
to CMake. By default, empty. A number of common CMake options are
set by the <code class="literal">cmake-package</code> infrastructure; so it is normally not
necessary to set them in the package’s <code class="literal">*.mk</code> file unless you want
to override them:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE</code> is driven by <code class="literal">BR2_ENABLE_DEBUG</code>;
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX</code>;
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">BUILD_SHARED_LIBS</code> is driven by <code class="literal">BR2_STATIC_LIBS</code>;
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">BUILD_DOC</code>, <code class="literal">BUILD_DOCS</code> are disabled;
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">BUILD_EXAMPLE</code>, <code class="literal">BUILD_EXAMPLES</code> are disabled;
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">BUILD_TEST</code>, <code class="literal">BUILD_TESTS</code>, <code class="literal">BUILD_TESTING</code> are disabled.
</li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_SUPPORTS_IN_SOURCE_BUILD = NO</code> should be set when the package
cannot be built inside the source tree but needs a separate build
directory.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_MAKE</code>, to specify an alternate <code class="literal">make</code> command. This is
typically useful when parallel make is enabled in the configuration
(using <code class="literal">BR2_JLEVEL</code>) but that this feature should be disabled for
the given package, for one reason or another. By default, set to
<code class="literal">$(MAKE)</code>. If parallel building is not supported by the package,
then it should be set to <code class="literal">LIBFOO_MAKE=$(MAKE1)</code>.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_MAKE_ENV</code>, to specify additional environment variables to
pass to make in the build step. These are passed before the <code class="literal">make</code>
command. By default, empty.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_MAKE_OPTS</code>, to specify additional variables to pass to make
in the build step. These are passed after the <code class="literal">make</code> command. By
default, empty.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_INSTALL_STAGING_OPTS</code> contains the make options used to
install the package to the staging directory. By default, the value
is <code class="literal">DESTDIR=$(STAGING_DIR) install</code>, which is correct for most
CMake packages. It is still possible to override it.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_INSTALL_TARGET_OPTS</code> contains the make options used to
install the package to the target directory. By default, the value
is <code class="literal">DESTDIR=$(TARGET_DIR) install</code>. The default value is correct
for most CMake packages, but it is still possible to override it if
needed.
</li></ul></div><p>With the CMake infrastructure, all the steps required to build and
install the packages are already defined, and they generally work well
for most CMake-based packages. However, when required, it is still
possible to customize what is done in any particular step:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
By adding a post-operation hook (after extract, patch, configure,
build or install). See <a class="xref" href="#hooks" title="17.20. Hooks available in the various build steps">Section 17.20, “Hooks available in the various build steps”</a> for details.
</li><li class="listitem">
By overriding one of the steps. For example, even if the CMake
infrastructure is used, if the package <code class="literal">.mk</code> file defines its own
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_CONFIGURE_CMDS</code> variable, it will be used instead of the
default CMake one. However, using this method should be restricted
to very specific cases. Do not use it in the general case.
</li></ul></div></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_infrastructure_for_python_packages"></a>17.8. Infrastructure for Python packages</h2></div></div></div><p>This infrastructure applies to Python packages that use the standard
Python setuptools mechanism as their build system, generally
recognizable by the usage of a <code class="literal">setup.py</code> script.</p><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="python-package-tutorial"></a>17.8.1. <code class="literal">python-package</code> tutorial</h3></div></div></div><p>First, let’s see how to write a <code class="literal">.mk</code> file for a Python package,
with an example :</p><pre class="screen">01: ################################################################################
02: #
03: # python-foo
04: #
05: ################################################################################
06:
07: PYTHON_FOO_VERSION = 1.0
08: PYTHON_FOO_SOURCE = python-foo-$(PYTHON_FOO_VERSION).tar.xz
09: PYTHON_FOO_SITE = http://www.foosoftware.org/download
10: PYTHON_FOO_LICENSE = BSD-3-Clause
11: PYTHON_FOO_LICENSE_FILES = LICENSE
12: PYTHON_FOO_ENV = SOME_VAR=1
13: PYTHON_FOO_DEPENDENCIES = libmad
14: PYTHON_FOO_SETUP_TYPE = distutils
15:
16: $(eval $(python-package))</pre><p>On line 7, we declare the version of the package.</p><p>On line 8 and 9, we declare the name of the tarball (xz-ed tarball
recommended) and the location of the tarball on the Web. Buildroot
will automatically download the tarball from this location.</p><p>On line 10 and 11, we give licensing details about the package (its
license on line 10, and the file containing the license text on line
11).</p><p>On line 12, we tell Buildroot to pass custom options to the Python
<code class="literal">setup.py</code> script when it is configuring the package.</p><p>On line 13, we declare our dependencies, so that they are built
before the build process of our package starts.</p><p>On line 14, we declare the specific Python build system being used. In
this case the <code class="literal">distutils</code> Python build system is used. The two
supported ones are <code class="literal">distutils</code> and <code class="literal">setuptools</code>.</p><p>Finally, on line 16, we invoke the <code class="literal">python-package</code> macro that
generates all the Makefile rules that actually allow the package to be
built.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="python-package-reference"></a>17.8.2. <code class="literal">python-package</code> reference</h3></div></div></div><p>As a policy, packages that merely provide Python modules should all be
named <code class="literal">python-&lt;something&gt;</code> in Buildroot. Other packages that use the
Python build system, but are not Python modules, can freely choose
their name (existing examples in Buildroot are <code class="literal">scons</code> and
<code class="literal">supervisor</code>).</p><p>In their <code class="literal">Config.in</code> file, they should depend on <code class="literal">BR2_PACKAGE_PYTHON</code>
so that when Buildroot will enable Python 3 usage for modules, we will
be able to enable Python modules progressively on Python 3.</p><p>The main macro of the Python package infrastructure is
<code class="literal">python-package</code>. It is similar to the <code class="literal">generic-package</code> macro. It is
also possible to create Python host packages with the
<code class="literal">host-python-package</code> macro.</p><p>Just like the generic infrastructure, the Python infrastructure works
by defining a number of variables before calling the <code class="literal">python-package</code>
or <code class="literal">host-python-package</code> macros.</p><p>All the package metadata information variables that exist in the
<a class="link" href="#generic-package-reference" title="17.5.2. generic-package reference">generic package infrastructure</a>
<a class="xref" href="#generic-package-reference" title="17.5.2. generic-package reference">Section 17.5.2, “<code class="literal">generic-package</code> reference”</a> also
exist in the Python infrastructure: <code class="literal">PYTHON_FOO_VERSION</code>,
<code class="literal">PYTHON_FOO_SOURCE</code>, <code class="literal">PYTHON_FOO_PATCH</code>, <code class="literal">PYTHON_FOO_SITE</code>,
<code class="literal">PYTHON_FOO_SUBDIR</code>, <code class="literal">PYTHON_FOO_DEPENDENCIES</code>, <code class="literal">PYTHON_FOO_LICENSE</code>,
<code class="literal">PYTHON_FOO_LICENSE_FILES</code>, <code class="literal">PYTHON_FOO_INSTALL_STAGING</code>, etc.</p><p>Note that:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
It is not necessary to add <code class="literal">python</code> or <code class="literal">host-python</code> in the
<code class="literal">PYTHON_FOO_DEPENDENCIES</code> variable of a package, since these basic
dependencies are automatically added as needed by the Python
package infrastructure.
</li><li class="listitem">
Similarly, it is not needed to add <code class="literal">host-setuptools</code> and/or
<code class="literal">host-distutilscross</code> dependencies to <code class="literal">PYTHON_FOO_DEPENDENCIES</code> for
setuptools-based packages, since these are automatically added by
the Python infrastructure as needed.
</li></ul></div><p>One variable specific to the Python infrastructure is mandatory:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">PYTHON_FOO_SETUP_TYPE</code>, to define which Python build system is used
by the package. The two supported values are <code class="literal">distutils</code> and
<code class="literal">setuptools</code>. If you don’t know which one is used in your package,
look at the <code class="literal">setup.py</code> file in your package source code, and see
whether it imports things from the <code class="literal">distutils</code> module or the
<code class="literal">setuptools</code> module.
</li></ul></div><p>A few additional variables, specific to the Python infrastructure, can
optionally be defined, depending on the package’s needs. Many of them
are only useful in very specific cases, typical packages will
therefore only use a few of them, or none.</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">PYTHON_FOO_ENV</code>, to specify additional environment variables to
pass to the Python <code class="literal">setup.py</code> script (for both the build and install
steps). Note that the infrastructure is automatically passing
several standard variables, defined in <code class="literal">PKG_PYTHON_DISTUTILS_ENV</code>
(for distutils target packages), <code class="literal">HOST_PKG_PYTHON_DISTUTILS_ENV</code>
(for distutils host packages), <code class="literal">PKG_PYTHON_SETUPTOOLS_ENV</code> (for
setuptools target packages) and <code class="literal">HOST_PKG_PYTHON_SETUPTOOLS_ENV</code>
(for setuptools host packages).
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">PYTHON_FOO_BUILD_OPTS</code>, to specify additional options to pass to the
Python <code class="literal">setup.py</code> script during the build step. For target distutils
packages, the <code class="literal">PKG_PYTHON_DISTUTILS_BUILD_OPTS</code> options are already
passed automatically by the infrastructure.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">PYTHON_FOO_INSTALL_TARGET_OPTS</code>, <code class="literal">PYTHON_FOO_INSTALL_STAGING_OPTS</code>,
<code class="literal">HOST_PYTHON_FOO_INSTALL_OPTS</code> to specify additional options to pass
to the Python <code class="literal">setup.py</code> script during the target installation step,
the staging installation step or the host installation,
respectively. Note that the infrastructure is automatically passing
some options, defined in <code class="literal">PKG_PYTHON_DISTUTILS_INSTALL_TARGET_OPTS</code>
or <code class="literal">PKG_PYTHON_DISTUTILS_INSTALL_STAGING_OPTS</code> (for target distutils
packages), <code class="literal">HOST_PKG_PYTHON_DISTUTILS_INSTALL_OPTS</code> (for host
distutils packages), <code class="literal">PKG_PYTHON_SETUPTOOLS_INSTALL_TARGET_OPTS</code> or
<code class="literal">PKG_PYTHON_SETUPTOOLS_INSTALL_STAGING_OPTS</code> (for target setuptools
packages) and <code class="literal">HOST_PKG_PYTHON_SETUPTOOLS_INSTALL_OPTS</code> (for host
setuptools packages).
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">HOST_PYTHON_FOO_NEEDS_HOST_PYTHON</code>, to define the host python
interpreter. The usage of this variable is limited to host
packages. The two supported value are <code class="literal">python2</code> and <code class="literal">python3</code>. It
will ensure the right host python package is available and will
invoke it for the build. If some build steps are overloaded, the
right python interpreter must be explicitly called in the commands.
</li></ul></div><p>With the Python infrastructure, all the steps required to build and
install the packages are already defined, and they generally work well
for most Python-based packages. However, when required, it is still
possible to customize what is done in any particular step:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
By adding a post-operation hook (after extract, patch, configure,
build or install). See <a class="xref" href="#hooks" title="17.20. Hooks available in the various build steps">Section 17.20, “Hooks available in the various build steps”</a> for details.
</li><li class="listitem">
By overriding one of the steps. For example, even if the Python
infrastructure is used, if the package <code class="literal">.mk</code> file defines its own
<code class="literal">PYTHON_FOO_BUILD_CMDS</code> variable, it will be used instead of the
default Python one. However, using this method should be restricted
to very specific cases. Do not use it in the general case.
</li></ul></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="scanpypi"></a>17.8.3. Generating a <code class="literal">python-package</code> from a PyPI repository</h3></div></div></div><p>If the Python package for which you would like to create a Buildroot
package is available on PyPI, you may want to use the <code class="literal">scanpypi</code> tool
located in <code class="literal">utils/</code> to automate the process.</p><p>You can find the list of existing PyPI packages
<a class="ulink" href="https://pypi.python.org" target="_top">here</a>.</p><p><code class="literal">scanpypi</code> requires Python’s <code class="literal">setuptools</code> package to be installed on
your host.</p><p>When at the root of your buildroot directory just do :</p><pre class="screen">utils/scanpypi foo bar -o package</pre><p>This will generate packages <code class="literal">python-foo</code> and <code class="literal">python-bar</code> in the package
folder if they exist on <a class="ulink" href="https://pypi.python.org" target="_top">https://pypi.python.org</a>.</p><p>Find the <code class="literal">external python modules</code> menu and insert your package inside.
Keep in mind that the items inside a menu should be in alphabetical order.</p><p>Please keep in mind that you’ll most likely have to manually check the
package for any mistakes as there are things that cannot be guessed by
the generator (e.g. dependencies on any of the python core modules
such as BR2_PACKAGE_PYTHON_ZLIB). Also, please take note that the
license and license files are guessed and must be checked. You also
need to manually add the package to the <code class="literal">package/Config.in</code> file.</p><p>If your Buildroot package is not in the official Buildroot tree but in
a br2-external tree, use the -o flag as follows:</p><pre class="screen">utils/scanpypi foo bar -o other_package_dir</pre><p>This will generate packages <code class="literal">python-foo</code> and <code class="literal">python-bar</code> in the
<code class="literal">other_package_directory</code> instead of <code class="literal">package</code>.</p><p>Option <code class="literal">-h</code> will list the available options:</p><pre class="screen">utils/scanpypi -h</pre></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="python-package-cffi-backend"></a>17.8.4. <code class="literal">python-package</code> CFFI backend</h3></div></div></div><p>C Foreign Function Interface for Python (CFFI) provides a convenient
and reliable way to call compiled C code from Python using interface
declarations written in C. Python packages relying on this backend can
be identified by the appearance of a <code class="literal">cffi</code> dependency in the
<code class="literal">install_requires</code> field of their <code class="literal">setup.py</code> file.</p><p>Such a package should:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
add <code class="literal">python-cffi</code> as a runtime dependency in order to install the
compiled C library wrapper on the target. This is achieved by adding
<code class="literal">select BR2_PACKAGE_PYTHON_CFFI</code> to the package <code class="literal">Config.in</code>.
</li></ul></div><pre class="screen">config BR2_PACKAGE_PYTHON_FOO
bool "python-foo"
select BR2_PACKAGE_PYTHON_CFFI # runtime</pre><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
add <code class="literal">host-python-cffi</code> as a build-time dependency in order to
cross-compile the C wrapper. This is achieved by adding
<code class="literal">host-python-cffi</code> to the <code class="literal">PYTHON_FOO_DEPENDENCIES</code> variable.
</li></ul></div><pre class="screen">################################################################################
#
# python-foo
#
################################################################################
...
PYTHON_FOO_DEPENDENCIES = host-python-cffi
$(eval $(python-package))</pre></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_infrastructure_for_luarocks_based_packages"></a>17.9. Infrastructure for LuaRocks-based packages</h2></div></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="luarocks-package-tutorial"></a>17.9.1. <code class="literal">luarocks-package</code> tutorial</h3></div></div></div><p>First, let’s see how to write a <code class="literal">.mk</code> file for a LuaRocks-based package,
with an example :</p><pre class="screen">01: ################################################################################
02: #
03: # lua-foo
04: #
05: ################################################################################
06:
07: LUA_FOO_VERSION = 1.0.2-1
08: LUA_FOO_NAME_UPSTREAM = foo
09: LUA_FOO_DEPENDENCIES = bar
10:
11: LUA_FOO_BUILD_OPTS += BAR_INCDIR=$(STAGING_DIR)/usr/include
12: LUA_FOO_BUILD_OPTS += BAR_LIBDIR=$(STAGING_DIR)/usr/lib
13: LUA_FOO_LICENSE = luaFoo license
14: LUA_FOO_LICENSE_FILES = $(LUA_FOO_SUBDIR)/COPYING
15:
16: $(eval $(luarocks-package))</pre><p>On line 7, we declare the version of the package (the same as in the rockspec,
which is the concatenation of the upstream version and the rockspec revision,
separated by a hyphen <span class="emphasis"><em>-</em></span>).</p><p>On line 8, we declare that the package is called "foo" on LuaRocks. In
Buildroot, we give Lua-related packages a name that starts with "lua", so the
Buildroot name is different from the upstream name. <code class="literal">LUA_FOO_NAME_UPSTREAM</code>
makes the link between the two names.</p><p>On line 9, we declare our dependencies against native libraries, so that they
are built before the build process of our package starts.</p><p>On lines 11-12, we tell Buildroot to pass custom options to LuaRocks when it is
building the package.</p><p>On lines 13-14, we specify the licensing terms for the package.</p><p>Finally, on line 16, we invoke the <code class="literal">luarocks-package</code>
macro that generates all the Makefile rules that actually allows the
package to be built.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="luarocks-package-reference"></a>17.9.2. <code class="literal">luarocks-package</code> reference</h3></div></div></div><p>LuaRocks is a deployment and management system for Lua modules, and supports
various <code class="literal">build.type</code>: <code class="literal">builtin</code>, <code class="literal">make</code> and <code class="literal">cmake</code>. In the context of
Buildroot, the <code class="literal">luarocks-package</code> infrastructure only supports the <code class="literal">builtin</code>
mode. LuaRocks packages that use the <code class="literal">make</code> or <code class="literal">cmake</code> build mechanisms
should instead be packaged using the <code class="literal">generic-package</code> and <code class="literal">cmake-package</code>
infrastructures in Buildroot, respectively.</p><p>The main macro of the LuaRocks package infrastructure is <code class="literal">luarocks-package</code>:
like <code class="literal">generic-package</code> it works by defining a number of variables providing
metadata information about the package, and then calling <code class="literal">luarocks-package</code>. It
is worth mentioning that building LuaRocks packages for the host is not
supported, so the macro <code class="literal">host-luarocks-package</code> is not implemented.</p><p>Just like the generic infrastructure, the LuaRocks infrastructure works
by defining a number of variables before calling the <code class="literal">luarocks-package</code>
macro.</p><p>First, all the package metadata information variables that exist in
the generic infrastructure also exist in the LuaRocks infrastructure:
<code class="literal">LUA_FOO_VERSION</code>, <code class="literal">LUA_FOO_SOURCE</code>, <code class="literal">LUA_FOO_SITE</code>,
<code class="literal">LUA_FOO_DEPENDENCIES</code>, <code class="literal">LUA_FOO_LICENSE</code>, <code class="literal">LUA_FOO_LICENSE_FILES</code>.</p><p>Two of them are populated by the LuaRocks infrastructure (for the
<code class="literal">download</code> step). If your package is not hosted on the LuaRocks mirror
<code class="literal">$(BR2_LUAROCKS_MIRROR)</code>, you can override them:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LUA_FOO_SITE</code>, which defaults to <code class="literal">$(BR2_LUAROCKS_MIRROR)</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LUA_FOO_SOURCE</code>, which defaults to
<code class="literal">$(lowercase LUA_FOO_NAME_UPSTREAM)-$(LUA_FOO_VERSION).src.rock</code>
</li></ul></div><p>A few additional variables, specific to the LuaRocks infrastructure, are
also defined. They can be overridden in specific cases.</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LUA_FOO_NAME_UPSTREAM</code>, which defaults to <code class="literal">lua-foo</code>, i.e. the Buildroot
package name
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LUA_FOO_ROCKSPEC</code>, which defaults to
<code class="literal">$(lowercase LUA_FOO_NAME_UPSTREAM)-$(LUA_FOO_VERSION).rockspec</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LUA_FOO_SUBDIR</code>, which defaults to
<code class="literal">$(LUA_FOO_NAME_UPSTREAM)-$(LUA_FOO_VERSION_WITHOUT_ROCKSPEC_REVISION)</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LUA_FOO_BUILD_OPTS</code> contains additional build options for the
<code class="literal">luarocks build</code> call.
</li></ul></div></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_infrastructure_for_perl_cpan_packages"></a>17.10. Infrastructure for Perl/CPAN packages</h2></div></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="perl-package-tutorial"></a>17.10.1. <code class="literal">perl-package</code> tutorial</h3></div></div></div><p>First, let’s see how to write a <code class="literal">.mk</code> file for a Perl/CPAN package,
with an example :</p><pre class="screen">01: ################################################################################
02: #
03: # perl-foo-bar
04: #
05: ################################################################################
06:
07: PERL_FOO_BAR_VERSION = 0.02
08: PERL_FOO_BAR_SOURCE = Foo-Bar-$(PERL_FOO_BAR_VERSION).tar.gz
09: PERL_FOO_BAR_SITE = $(BR2_CPAN_MIRROR)/authors/id/M/MO/MONGER
10: PERL_FOO_BAR_DEPENDENCIES = perl-strictures
11: PERL_FOO_BAR_LICENSE = Artistic or GPL-1.0+
12: PERL_FOO_BAR_LICENSE_FILES = LICENSE
13:
14: $(eval $(perl-package))</pre><p>On line 7, we declare the version of the package.</p><p>On line 8 and 9, we declare the name of the tarball and the location
of the tarball on a CPAN server. Buildroot will automatically download
the tarball from this location.</p><p>On line 10, we declare our dependencies, so that they are built
before the build process of our package starts.</p><p>On line 11 and 12, we give licensing details about the package (its
license on line 11, and the file containing the license text on line
12).</p><p>Finally, on line 14, we invoke the <code class="literal">perl-package</code> macro that
generates all the Makefile rules that actually allow the package to be
built.</p><p>Most of these data can be retrieved from <a class="ulink" href="https://metacpan.org/" target="_top">https://metacpan.org/</a>.
So, this file and the Config.in can be generated by running
the script <code class="literal">utils/scancpan Foo-Bar</code> in the Buildroot directory
(or in a br2-external tree).
This script creates a Config.in file and foo-bar.mk file for the
requested package, and also recursively for all dependencies specified by
CPAN. You should still manually edit the result. In particular, the
following things should be checked.</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
If the perl module links with a shared library that is provided by
another (non-perl) package, this dependency is not added automatically.
It has to be added manually to <code class="literal">PERL_FOO_BAR_DEPENDENCIES</code>.
</li><li class="listitem">
The <code class="literal">package/Config.in</code> file has to be updated manually to include the
generated Config.in files. As a hint, the <code class="literal">scancpan</code> script prints out
the required <code class="literal">source "…"</code> statements, sorted alphabetically.
</li></ul></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="perl-package-reference"></a>17.10.2. <code class="literal">perl-package</code> reference</h3></div></div></div><p>As a policy, packages that provide Perl/CPAN modules should all be
named <code class="literal">perl-&lt;something&gt;</code> in Buildroot.</p><p>This infrastructure handles various Perl build systems :
<code class="literal">ExtUtils-MakeMaker</code> (EUMM), <code class="literal">Module-Build</code> (MB) and <code class="literal">Module-Build-Tiny</code>.
<code class="literal">Build.PL</code> is preferred by default when a package provides a <code class="literal">Makefile.PL</code>
and a <code class="literal">Build.PL</code>.</p><p>The main macro of the Perl/CPAN package infrastructure is
<code class="literal">perl-package</code>. It is similar to the <code class="literal">generic-package</code> macro. The ability to
have target and host packages is also available, with the
<code class="literal">host-perl-package</code> macro.</p><p>Just like the generic infrastructure, the Perl/CPAN infrastructure
works by defining a number of variables before calling the
<code class="literal">perl-package</code> macro.</p><p>First, all the package metadata information variables that exist in the
generic infrastructure also exist in the Perl/CPAN infrastructure:
<code class="literal">PERL_FOO_VERSION</code>, <code class="literal">PERL_FOO_SOURCE</code>,
<code class="literal">PERL_FOO_PATCH</code>, <code class="literal">PERL_FOO_SITE</code>,
<code class="literal">PERL_FOO_SUBDIR</code>, <code class="literal">PERL_FOO_DEPENDENCIES</code>,
<code class="literal">PERL_FOO_INSTALL_TARGET</code>.</p><p>Note that setting <code class="literal">PERL_FOO_INSTALL_STAGING</code> to <code class="literal">YES</code> has no effect
unless a <code class="literal">PERL_FOO_INSTALL_STAGING_CMDS</code> variable is defined. The perl
infrastructure doesn’t define these commands since Perl modules generally
don’t need to be installed to the <code class="literal">staging</code> directory.</p><p>A few additional variables, specific to the Perl/CPAN infrastructure,
can also be defined. Many of them are only useful in very specific
cases, typical packages will therefore only use a few of them.</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">PERL_FOO_PREFER_INSTALLER</code>/<code class="literal">HOST_PERL_FOO_PREFER_INSTALLER</code>,
specifies the preferred installation method. Possible values are
<code class="literal">EUMM</code> (for <code class="literal">Makefile.PL</code> based installation using
<code class="literal">ExtUtils-MakeMaker</code>) and <code class="literal">MB</code> (for <code class="literal">Build.PL</code> based installation
using <code class="literal">Module-Build</code>). This variable is only used when the package
provides both installation methods.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">PERL_FOO_CONF_ENV</code>/<code class="literal">HOST_PERL_FOO_CONF_ENV</code>, to specify additional
environment variables to pass to the <code class="literal">perl Makefile.PL</code> or <code class="literal">perl Build.PL</code>.
By default, empty.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">PERL_FOO_CONF_OPTS</code>/<code class="literal">HOST_PERL_FOO_CONF_OPTS</code>, to specify additional
configure options to pass to the <code class="literal">perl Makefile.PL</code> or <code class="literal">perl Build.PL</code>.
By default, empty.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">PERL_FOO_BUILD_OPTS</code>/<code class="literal">HOST_PERL_FOO_BUILD_OPTS</code>, to specify additional
options to pass to <code class="literal">make pure_all</code> or <code class="literal">perl Build build</code> in the build step.
By default, empty.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">PERL_FOO_INSTALL_TARGET_OPTS</code>, to specify additional options to
pass to <code class="literal">make pure_install</code> or <code class="literal">perl Build install</code> in the install step.
By default, empty.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">HOST_PERL_FOO_INSTALL_OPTS</code>, to specify additional options to
pass to <code class="literal">make pure_install</code> or <code class="literal">perl Build install</code> in the install step.
By default, empty.
</li></ul></div></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_infrastructure_for_virtual_packages"></a>17.11. Infrastructure for virtual packages</h2></div></div></div><p><a id="virtual-package-tutorial"></a>In Buildroot, a virtual package is a package whose functionalities are
provided by one or more packages, referred to as <span class="emphasis"><em>providers</em></span>. The virtual
package management is an extensible mechanism allowing the user to choose
the provider used in the rootfs.</p><p>For example, <span class="emphasis"><em>OpenGL ES</em></span> is an API for 2D and 3D graphics on embedded systems.
The implementation of this API is different for the <span class="emphasis"><em>Allwinner Tech Sunxi</em></span> and
the <span class="emphasis"><em>Texas Instruments OMAP35xx</em></span> platforms. So <code class="literal">libgles</code> will be a virtual
package and <code class="literal">sunxi-mali</code> and <code class="literal">ti-gfx</code> will be the providers.</p><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="_literal_virtual_package_literal_tutorial"></a>17.11.1. <code class="literal">virtual-package</code> tutorial</h3></div></div></div><p>In the following example, we will explain how to add a new virtual package
(<span class="emphasis"><em>something-virtual</em></span>) and a provider for it (<span class="emphasis"><em>some-provider</em></span>).</p><p>First, let’s create the virtual package.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="_virtual_package_8217_s_literal_config_in_literal_file"></a>17.11.2. Virtual package’s <code class="literal">Config.in</code> file</h3></div></div></div><p>The <code class="literal">Config.in</code> file of virtual package <span class="emphasis"><em>something-virtual</em></span> should contain:</p><pre class="screen">01: config BR2_PACKAGE_HAS_SOMETHING_VIRTUAL
02: bool
03:
04: config BR2_PACKAGE_PROVIDES_SOMETHING_VIRTUAL
05: depends on BR2_PACKAGE_HAS_SOMETHING_VIRTUAL
06: string</pre><p>In this file, we declare two options, <code class="literal">BR2_PACKAGE_HAS_SOMETHING_VIRTUAL</code> and
<code class="literal">BR2_PACKAGE_PROVIDES_SOMETHING_VIRTUAL</code>, whose values will be used by the
providers.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="_virtual_package_8217_s_literal_mk_literal_file"></a>17.11.3. Virtual package’s <code class="literal">.mk</code> file</h3></div></div></div><p>The <code class="literal">.mk</code> for the virtual package should just evaluate the <code class="literal">virtual-package</code> macro:</p><pre class="screen">01: ################################################################################
02: #
03: # something-virtual
04: #
05: ################################################################################
06:
07: $(eval $(virtual-package))</pre><p>The ability to have target and host packages is also available, with the
<code class="literal">host-virtual-package</code> macro.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="_provider_8217_s_literal_config_in_literal_file"></a>17.11.4. Provider’s <code class="literal">Config.in</code> file</h3></div></div></div><p>When adding a package as a provider, only the <code class="literal">Config.in</code> file requires some
modifications.</p><p>The <code class="literal">Config.in</code> file of the package <span class="emphasis"><em>some-provider</em></span>, which provides the
functionalities of <span class="emphasis"><em>something-virtual</em></span>, should contain:</p><pre class="screen">01: config BR2_PACKAGE_SOME_PROVIDER
02: bool "some-provider"
03: select BR2_PACKAGE_HAS_SOMETHING_VIRTUAL
04: help
05: This is a comment that explains what some-provider is.
06:
07: http://foosoftware.org/some-provider/
08:
09: if BR2_PACKAGE_SOME_PROVIDER
10: config BR2_PACKAGE_PROVIDES_SOMETHING_VIRTUAL
11: default "some-provider"
12: endif</pre><p>On line 3, we select <code class="literal">BR2_PACKAGE_HAS_SOMETHING_VIRTUAL</code>, and on line 11, we
set the value of <code class="literal">BR2_PACKAGE_PROVIDES_SOMETHING_VIRTUAL</code> to the name of the
provider, but only if it is selected.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="_provider_8217_s_literal_mk_literal_file"></a>17.11.5. Provider’s <code class="literal">.mk</code> file</h3></div></div></div><p>The <code class="literal">.mk</code> file should also declare an additional variable
<code class="literal">SOME_PROVIDER_PROVIDES</code> to contain the names of all the virtual
packages it is an implementation of:</p><pre class="screen">01: SOME_PROVIDER_PROVIDES = something-virtual</pre><p>Of course, do not forget to add the proper build and runtime dependencies for
this package!</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="_notes_on_depending_on_a_virtual_package"></a>17.11.6. Notes on depending on a virtual package</h3></div></div></div><p>When adding a package that requires a certain <code class="literal">FEATURE</code> provided by a virtual
package, you have to use <code class="literal">depends on BR2_PACKAGE_HAS_FEATURE</code>, like so:</p><pre class="screen">config BR2_PACKAGE_HAS_FEATURE
bool
config BR2_PACKAGE_FOO
bool "foo"
depends on BR2_PACKAGE_HAS_FEATURE</pre></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="_notes_on_depending_on_a_specific_provider"></a>17.11.7. Notes on depending on a specific provider</h3></div></div></div><p>If your package really requires a specific provider, then you’ll have to
make your package <code class="literal">depends on</code> this provider; you can <span class="emphasis"><em>not</em></span> <code class="literal">select</code> a
provider.</p><p>Let’s take an example with two providers for a <code class="literal">FEATURE</code>:</p><pre class="screen">config BR2_PACKAGE_HAS_FEATURE
bool
config BR2_PACKAGE_FOO
bool "foo"
select BR2_PACKAGE_HAS_FEATURE
config BR2_PACKAGE_BAR
bool "bar"
select BR2_PACKAGE_HAS_FEATURE</pre><p>And you are adding a package that needs <code class="literal">FEATURE</code> as provided by <code class="literal">foo</code>,
but not as provided by <code class="literal">bar</code>.</p><p>If you were to use <code class="literal">select BR2_PACKAGE_FOO</code>, then the user would still
be able to select <code class="literal">BR2_PACKAGE_BAR</code> in the menuconfig. This would create
a configuration inconsistency, whereby two providers of the same <code class="literal">FEATURE</code>
would be enabled at once, one explicitly set by the user, the other
implicitly by your <code class="literal">select</code>.</p><p>Instead, you have to use <code class="literal">depends on BR2_PACKAGE_FOO</code>, which avoids any
implicit configuration inconsistency.</p></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_infrastructure_for_packages_using_kconfig_for_configuration_files"></a>17.12. Infrastructure for packages using kconfig for configuration files</h2></div></div></div><p>A popular way for a software package to handle user-specified
configuration is <code class="literal">kconfig</code>. Among others, it is used by the Linux
kernel, Busybox, and Buildroot itself. The presence of a .config file
and a <code class="literal">menuconfig</code> target are two well-known symptoms of kconfig being
used.</p><p>Buildroot features an infrastructure for packages that use kconfig for
their configuration. This infrastructure provides the necessary logic to
expose the package’s <code class="literal">menuconfig</code> target as <code class="literal">foo-menuconfig</code> in
Buildroot, and to handle the copying back and forth of the configuration
file in a correct way.</p><p>The <code class="literal">kconfig-package</code> infrastructure is based on the <code class="literal">generic-package</code>
infrastructure. All variables supported by <code class="literal">generic-package</code> are
available in <code class="literal">kconfig-package</code> as well. See
<a class="xref" href="#generic-package-reference" title="17.5.2. generic-package reference">Section 17.5.2, “<code class="literal">generic-package</code> reference”</a> for more details.</p><p>In order to use the <code class="literal">kconfig-package</code> infrastructure for a Buildroot
package, the minimally required lines in the <code class="literal">.mk</code> file, in addition to
the variables required by the <code class="literal">generic-package</code> infrastructure, are:</p><pre class="screen">FOO_KCONFIG_FILE = reference-to-source-configuration-file
$(eval $(kconfig-package))</pre><p>This snippet creates the following make targets:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">foo-menuconfig</code>, which calls the package’s <code class="literal">menuconfig</code> target
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">foo-update-config</code>, which copies the configuration back to the
source configuration file. It is not possible to use this target
when fragment files are set.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">foo-update-defconfig</code>, which copies the configuration back to the
source configuration file. The configuration file will only list the
options that differ from the default values. It is not possible to
use this target when fragment files are set.
</li></ul></div><p>and ensures that the source configuration file is copied to the build
directory at the right moment.</p><p>There are two options to specify a configuration file to use, either
<code class="literal">FOO_KCONFIG_FILE</code> (as in the example, above) or <code class="literal">FOO_KCONFIG_DEFCONFIG</code>.
It is mandatory to provide either, but not both:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">FOO_KCONFIG_FILE</code> specifies the path to a defconfig or full-config file
to be used to configure the package.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">FOO_KCONFIG_DEFCONFIG</code> specifies the defconfig <span class="emphasis"><em>make</em></span> rule to call to
configure the package.
</li></ul></div><p>In addition to these minimally required lines, several optional variables can
be set to suit the needs of the package under consideration:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">FOO_KCONFIG_EDITORS</code>: a space-separated list of kconfig editors to
support, for example <span class="emphasis"><em>menuconfig xconfig</em></span>. By default, <span class="emphasis"><em>menuconfig</em></span>.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">FOO_KCONFIG_FRAGMENT_FILES</code>: a space-separated list of configuration
fragment files that are merged to the main configuration file.
Fragment files are typically used when there is a desire to stay in sync
with an upstream (def)config file, with some minor modifications.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">FOO_KCONFIG_OPTS</code>: extra options to pass when calling the kconfig
editors. This may need to include <span class="emphasis"><em>$(FOO_MAKE_OPTS)</em></span>, for example. By
default, empty.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">FOO_KCONFIG_FIXUP_CMDS</code>: a list of shell commands needed to fixup the
configuration file after copying it or running a kconfig editor. Such
commands may be needed to ensure a configuration consistent with other
configuration of Buildroot, for example. By default, empty.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">FOO_KCONFIG_DOTCONFIG</code>: path (with filename) of the <code class="literal">.config</code> file,
relative to the package source tree. The default, <code class="literal">.config</code>, should
be well suited for all packages that use the standard kconfig
infrastructure as inherited from the Linux kernel; some packages use
a derivative of kconfig that use a different location.
</li></ul></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_infrastructure_for_rebar_based_packages"></a>17.13. Infrastructure for rebar-based packages</h2></div></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="rebar-package-tutorial"></a>17.13.1. <code class="literal">rebar-package</code> tutorial</h3></div></div></div><p>First, let’s see how to write a <code class="literal">.mk</code> file for a rebar-based package,
with an example :</p><pre class="screen">01: ################################################################################
02: #
03: # erlang-foobar
04: #
05: ################################################################################
06:
07: ERLANG_FOOBAR_VERSION = 1.0
08: ERLANG_FOOBAR_SOURCE = erlang-foobar-$(ERLANG_FOOBAR_VERSION).tar.xz
09: ERLANG_FOOBAR_SITE = http://www.foosoftware.org/download
10: ERLANG_FOOBAR_DEPENDENCIES = host-libaaa libbbb
11:
12: $(eval $(rebar-package))</pre><p>On line 7, we declare the version of the package.</p><p>On line 8 and 9, we declare the name of the tarball (xz-ed tarball
recommended) and the location of the tarball on the Web. Buildroot
will automatically download the tarball from this location.</p><p>On line 10, we declare our dependencies, so that they are built
before the build process of our package starts.</p><p>Finally, on line 12, we invoke the <code class="literal">rebar-package</code> macro that
generates all the Makefile rules that actually allows the package to
be built.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="rebar-package-reference"></a>17.13.2. <code class="literal">rebar-package</code> reference</h3></div></div></div><p>The main macro of the <code class="literal">rebar</code> package infrastructure is
<code class="literal">rebar-package</code>. It is similar to the <code class="literal">generic-package</code> macro. The
ability to have host packages is also available, with the
<code class="literal">host-rebar-package</code> macro.</p><p>Just like the generic infrastructure, the <code class="literal">rebar</code> infrastructure works
by defining a number of variables before calling the <code class="literal">rebar-package</code>
macro.</p><p>First, all the package metadata information variables that exist in
the generic infrastructure also exist in the <code class="literal">rebar</code> infrastructure:
<code class="literal">ERLANG_FOOBAR_VERSION</code>, <code class="literal">ERLANG_FOOBAR_SOURCE</code>,
<code class="literal">ERLANG_FOOBAR_PATCH</code>, <code class="literal">ERLANG_FOOBAR_SITE</code>,
<code class="literal">ERLANG_FOOBAR_SUBDIR</code>, <code class="literal">ERLANG_FOOBAR_DEPENDENCIES</code>,
<code class="literal">ERLANG_FOOBAR_INSTALL_STAGING</code>, <code class="literal">ERLANG_FOOBAR_INSTALL_TARGET</code>,
<code class="literal">ERLANG_FOOBAR_LICENSE</code> and <code class="literal">ERLANG_FOOBAR_LICENSE_FILES</code>.</p><p>A few additional variables, specific to the <code class="literal">rebar</code> infrastructure,
can also be defined. Many of them are only useful in very specific
cases, typical packages will therefore only use a few of them.</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
<code class="literal">ERLANG_FOOBAR_USE_AUTOCONF</code>, to specify that the package uses
<span class="emphasis"><em>autoconf</em></span> at the configuration step. When a package sets this
variable to <code class="literal">YES</code>, the <code class="literal">autotools</code> infrastructure is used.
</p><p><strong>Note. </strong>You can also use some of the variables from the <code class="literal">autotools</code>
infrastructure: <code class="literal">ERLANG_FOOBAR_CONF_ENV</code>, <code class="literal">ERLANG_FOOBAR_CONF_OPTS</code>,
<code class="literal">ERLANG_FOOBAR_AUTORECONF</code>, <code class="literal">ERLANG_FOOBAR_AUTORECONF_ENV</code> and
<code class="literal">ERLANG_FOOBAR_AUTORECONF_OPTS</code>.</p></li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
<code class="literal">ERLANG_FOOBAR_USE_BUNDLED_REBAR</code>, to specify that the package has
a bundled version of <span class="emphasis"><em>rebar</em></span> <span class="strong"><strong>and</strong></span> that it shall be used. Valid
values are <code class="literal">YES</code> or <code class="literal">NO</code> (the default).
</p><p><strong>Note. </strong>If the package bundles a <span class="emphasis"><em>rebar</em></span> utility, but can use the generic
one that Buildroot provides, just say <code class="literal">NO</code> (i.e., do not specify
this variable). Only set if it is mandatory to use the <span class="emphasis"><em>rebar</em></span>
utility bundled in this package.</p></li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">ERLANG_FOOBAR_REBAR_ENV</code>, to specify additional environment
variables to pass to the <span class="emphasis"><em>rebar</em></span> utility.
</li></ul></div><p>With the rebar infrastructure, all the steps required to build
and install the packages are already defined, and they generally work
well for most rebar-based packages. However, when required, it is
still possible to customize what is done in any particular step:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
By adding a post-operation hook (after extract, patch, configure,
build or install). See <a class="xref" href="#hooks" title="17.20. Hooks available in the various build steps">Section 17.20, “Hooks available in the various build steps”</a> for details.
</li><li class="listitem">
By overriding one of the steps. For example, even if the rebar
infrastructure is used, if the package <code class="literal">.mk</code> file defines its
own <code class="literal">ERLANG_FOOBAR_BUILD_CMDS</code> variable, it will be used instead
of the default rebar one. However, using this method should be
restricted to very specific cases. Do not use it in the general
case.
</li></ul></div></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_infrastructure_for_waf_based_packages"></a>17.14. Infrastructure for Waf-based packages</h2></div></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="waf-package-tutorial"></a>17.14.1. <code class="literal">waf-package</code> tutorial</h3></div></div></div><p>First, let’s see how to write a <code class="literal">.mk</code> file for a Waf-based package, with
an example :</p><pre class="screen">01: ################################################################################
02: #
03: # libfoo
04: #
05: ################################################################################
06:
07: LIBFOO_VERSION = 1.0
08: LIBFOO_SOURCE = libfoo-$(LIBFOO_VERSION).tar.gz
09: LIBFOO_SITE = http://www.foosoftware.org/download
10: LIBFOO_CONF_OPTS = --enable-bar --disable-baz
11: LIBFOO_DEPENDENCIES = bar
12:
13: $(eval $(waf-package))</pre><p>On line 7, we declare the version of the package.</p><p>On line 8 and 9, we declare the name of the tarball (xz-ed tarball
recommended) and the location of the tarball on the Web. Buildroot
will automatically download the tarball from this location.</p><p>On line 10, we tell Buildroot what options to enable for libfoo.</p><p>On line 11, we tell Buildroot the depednencies of libfoo.</p><p>Finally, on line line 13, we invoke the <code class="literal">waf-package</code>
macro that generates all the Makefile rules that actually allows the
package to be built.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="waf-package-reference"></a>17.14.2. <code class="literal">waf-package</code> reference</h3></div></div></div><p>The main macro of the Waf package infrastructure is <code class="literal">waf-package</code>.
It is similar to the <code class="literal">generic-package</code> macro.</p><p>Just like the generic infrastructure, the Waf infrastructure works
by defining a number of variables before calling the <code class="literal">waf-package</code>
macro.</p><p>First, all the package metadata information variables that exist in
the generic infrastructure also exist in the Waf infrastructure:
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_VERSION</code>, <code class="literal">LIBFOO_SOURCE</code>, <code class="literal">LIBFOO_PATCH</code>, <code class="literal">LIBFOO_SITE</code>,
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_SUBDIR</code>, <code class="literal">LIBFOO_DEPENDENCIES</code>, <code class="literal">LIBFOO_INSTALL_STAGING</code>,
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_INSTALL_TARGET</code>.</p><p>An additional variable, specific to the Waf infrastructure, can
also be defined.</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_NEEDS_EXTERNAL_WAF</code> can be set to <code class="literal">YES</code> or <code class="literal">NO</code> to tell
Buildroot to use the bundled <code class="literal">waf</code> executable. If set to <code class="literal">NO</code>, the
default, then Buildroot will use the waf executable provided in the
package source tree; if set to <code class="literal">YES</code>, then Buidlroot will download,
install waf as a host tool and use it to build the package.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_WAF_OPTS</code>, to specify additional options to pass to the
<code class="literal">waf</code> script at every step of the package build process: configure,
build and installation. By default, empty.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_CONF_OPTS</code>, to specify additional options to pass to the
<code class="literal">waf</code> script for the configuration step. By default, empty.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_BUILD_OPTS</code>, to specify additional options to pass to the
<code class="literal">waf</code> script during the build step. By default, empty.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_INSTALL_STAGING_OPTS</code>, to specify additional options to pass
to the <code class="literal">waf</code> script during the staging installation step. By default,
empty.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_INSTALL_TARGET_OPTS</code>, to specify additional options to pass
to the <code class="literal">waf</code> script during the target installation step. By default,
empty.
</li></ul></div></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_integration_of_meson_based_packages"></a>17.15. Integration of Meson-based packages</h2></div></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="meson-package-tutorial"></a>17.15.1. <code class="literal">meson-package</code> tutorial</h3></div></div></div><p><a class="ulink" href="http://mesonbuild.com" target="_top">Meson</a> is an open source build system meant to be both
extremely fast, and, even more importantly, as user friendly as possible.</p><p>Buildroot does not (yet) provide a dedicated package infrastructure for
meson-based packages. So, we will explain how to write a <code class="literal">.mk</code> file for such a
package. Let’s start with an example:</p><pre class="screen">01: ################################################################################
02: #
03: # foo
04: #
05: ################################################################################
06:
07: FOO_VERSION = 1.0
08: FOO_SOURCE = foo-$(FOO_VERSION).tar.gz
09: FOO_SITE = http://www.foosoftware.org/download
10: FOO_LICENSE = GPL-3.0+
11: FOO_LICENSE_FILES = COPYING
12: FOO_INSTALL_STAGING = YES
13:
14: FOO_DEPENDENCIES = host-meson host-pkgconf bar
15:
16: FOO_CONF_OPTS += \
17: --prefix=/usr \
18: --buildtype $(if $(BR2_ENABLE_DEBUG),debug,release) \
19: --cross-file $(HOST_DIR)/etc/meson/cross-compilation.conf
20:
21: FOO_NINJA_OPTS = $(if $(VERBOSE),-v) -j$(PARALLEL_JOBS)
22:
23: ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_BAZ),y)
24: FOO_CONF_OPTS += -Dbaz
25: endif
26:
27: define FOO_CONFIGURE_CMDS
28: rm -rf $(@D)/build
29: mkdir -p $(@D)/build
30: $(TARGET_MAKE_ENV) meson $(FOO_CONF_OPTS) $(@D) $(@D)/build
31: endef
32:
33: define FOO_BUILD_CMDS
34: $(TARGET_MAKE_ENV) ninja $(FOO_NINJA_OPTS) -C $(@D)/build
35: endef
36:
37: define FOO_INSTALL_TARGET_CMDS
38: $(TARGET_MAKE_ENV) DESTDIR=$(TARGET_DIR) ninja $(FOO_NINJA_OPTS) \
39: -C $(@D)/build install
40: endef
41:
42: define FOO_INSTALL_STAGING_CMDS
43: $(TARGET_MAKE_ENV) DESTDIR=$(STAGING_DIR) ninja $(FOO_NINJA_OPTS) \
44: -C $(@D)/build install
45: endef
46:
47: $(eval $(generic-package))</pre><p>The Makefile starts with the definition of the standard variables for package
declaration (lines 7 to 11).</p><p>As seen in line 47, it is based on the
<a class="link" href="#generic-package-tutorial" title="17.5.1. generic-package tutorial"><code class="literal">generic-package</code> infrastructure</a>
<a class="xref" href="#generic-package-tutorial" title="17.5.1. generic-package tutorial">Section 17.5.1, “<code class="literal">generic-package</code> tutorial”</a>. So, it defines
the variables required by this particular infrastructure, where Meson and its
companion tool, Ninja, are invoked:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">FOO_CONFIGURE_CMDS</code>: the build directory required by Meson is created, and
Meson is invoked to generate the Ninja build file. The options required to
configure the cross-compilation of the package are passed via
<code class="literal">FOO_CONF_OPTS</code>.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">FOO_BUILD_CMDS</code>: Ninja is invoked to perform the build.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">FOO_INSTALL_TARGET_CMDS</code>: Ninja is invoked to install the files generated
during the build step in the target directory.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">FOO_INSTALL_STAGING_CMDS</code>: Ninja is invoked to install the files generated
during the build step in the staging directory, as <code class="literal">FOO_INSTALL_STAGING</code> is
set to "YES".
</li></ul></div><p>In order to have Meson available for the build, <code class="literal">FOO_DEPENDENCIES</code> needs to
contain <code class="literal">host-meson</code>. In the example, <code class="literal">host-pkgconf</code> and <code class="literal">bar</code> are also
declared as dependencies because the Meson build file of <code class="literal">foo</code> uses <code class="literal">pkg-config</code>
to determine the compilation flags and libraries of package <code class="literal">bar</code>.</p><p>If the "baz" package is selected, then support for the "baz" feature in "foo"
is activated by adding <code class="literal">-Dbaz</code> to <code class="literal">FOO_CONF_OPTS</code>, as specified in the
<code class="literal">meson_options.txt</code> file in "foo" source tree.</p><p>To sum it up, to add a new meson-based package, the Makefile example can be
copied verbatim then edited to replace all occurences of <code class="literal">FOO</code> with the
uppercase name of the new package and update the values of the standard
variables.</p></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_integration_of_cargo_based_packages"></a>17.16. Integration of Cargo-based packages</h2></div></div></div><p>Cargo is the package manager for the Rust programming language. It allows the
user to build programs or libraries written in Rust, but it also downloads and
manages their dependencies, to ensure repeatable builds. Cargo packages are
called "crates".</p><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="cargo-package-tutorial"></a>17.16.1. Cargo-based package’s <code class="literal">Config.in</code> file</h3></div></div></div><p>The <code class="literal">Config.in</code> file of Cargo-based package <span class="emphasis"><em>foo</em></span> should contain:</p><pre class="screen">01: config BR2_PACKAGE_FOO
02: bool "foo"
03: depends on BR2_PACKAGE_HOST_RUSTC_ARCH_SUPPORTS
04: select BR2_PACKAGE_HOST_CARGO
05: help
06: This is a comment that explains what foo is.
07:
08: http://foosoftware.org/foo/</pre></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="_cargo_based_package_8217_s_literal_mk_literal_file"></a>17.16.2. Cargo-based package’s <code class="literal">.mk</code> file</h3></div></div></div><p>Buildroot does not (yet) provide a dedicated package infrastructure for
Cargo-based packages. So, we will explain how to write a <code class="literal">.mk</code> file for such a
package. Let’s start with an example:</p><pre class="screen">01: ################################################################################
02: #
03: # foo
04: #
05: ################################################################################
06:
07: FOO_VERSION = 1.0
08: FOO_SOURCE = foo-$(FOO_VERSION).tar.gz
09: FOO_SITE = http://www.foosoftware.org/download
10: FOO_LICENSE = GPL-3.0+
11: FOO_LICENSE_FILES = COPYING
12:
13: FOO_DEPENDENCIES = host-cargo
14:
15: FOO_CARGO_ENV = CARGO_HOME=$(HOST_DIR)/share/cargo
16: FOO_CARGO_MODE = $(if $(BR2_ENABLE_DEBUG),debug,release)
17:
18: FOO_BIN_DIR = target/$(RUSTC_TARGET_NAME)/$(FOO_CARGO_MODE)
19:
20: FOO_CARGO_OPTS = \
21: --$(FOO_CARGO_MODE) \
22: --target=$(RUSTC_TARGET_NAME) \
23: --manifest-path=$(@D)/Cargo.toml
24:
25: define FOO_BUILD_CMDS
26: $(TARGET_MAKE_ENV) $(FOO_CARGO_ENV) \
27: cargo build $(FOO_CARGO_OPTS)
28: endef
29:
30: define FOO_INSTALL_TARGET_CMDS
31: $(INSTALL) -D -m 0755 $(@D)/$(FOO_BIN_DIR)/foo \
32: $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/bin/foo
33: endef
34:
35: $(eval $(generic-package))</pre><p>The Makefile starts with the definition of the standard variables for package
declaration (lines 7 to 11).</p><p>As seen in line 35, it is based on the
<a class="link" href="#generic-package-tutorial" title="17.5.1. generic-package tutorial"><code class="literal">generic-package</code> infrastructure</a>
<a class="xref" href="#generic-package-tutorial" title="17.5.1. generic-package tutorial">Section 17.5.1, “<code class="literal">generic-package</code> tutorial”</a>. So, it defines
the variables required by this particular infrastructure, where Cargo is
invoked:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">FOO_BUILD_CMDS</code>: Cargo is invoked to perform the build. The options required
to configure the cross-compilation of the package are passed via
<code class="literal">FOO_CONF_OPTS</code>.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">FOO_INSTALL_TARGET_CMDS</code>: The binary executable generated is installed on
the target.
</li></ul></div><p>In order to have Cargo available for the build, <code class="literal">FOO_DEPENDENCIES</code> needs to
contain <code class="literal">host-cargo</code>.</p><p>To sum it up, to add a new Cargo-based package, the Makefile example can be
copied verbatim then edited to replace all occurences of <code class="literal">FOO</code> with the
uppercase name of the new package and update the values of the standard
variables.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="_about_dependencies_management"></a>17.16.3. About Dependencies Management</h3></div></div></div><p>A crate can depend on other libraries from crates.io or git repositories, listed
in its Cargo.toml file. Before starting a build, Cargo usually downloads
automatically them. This step can also be performed independently, via the
<code class="literal">cargo fetch</code> command.</p><p>Cargo maintains a local cache of the registry index and of git checkouts of the
crates, whose location is given by <code class="literal">$CARGO_HOME</code>. As seen in the package
Makefile example at line 15, this environment variable is set to
<code class="literal">$(HOST_DIR)/share/cargo</code>.</p><p>This dependency download mechanism is not convenient when performing an offline
build, as Cargo will fail to fetch the dependencies. In that case, it is advised
to generate a tarball of the dependencies using the <code class="literal">cargo vendor</code> and add it to
<code class="literal">FOO_EXTRA_DOWNLOADS</code>.</p></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_infrastructure_for_packages_building_kernel_modules"></a>17.17. Infrastructure for packages building kernel modules</h2></div></div></div><p>Buildroot offers a helper infrastructure to make it easy to write packages that
build and install Linux kernel modules. Some packages only contain a kernel
module, other packages contain programs and libraries in addition to kernel
modules. Buildroot’s helper infrastructure supports either case.</p><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="kernel-module-tutorial"></a>17.17.1. <code class="literal">kernel-module</code> tutorial</h3></div></div></div><p>Let’s start with an example on how to prepare a simple package that only
builds a kernel module, and no other component:</p><pre class="screen">01: ################################################################################
02: #
03: # foo
04: #
05: ################################################################################
06:
07: FOO_VERSION = 1.2.3
08: FOO_SOURCE = foo-$(FOO_VERSION).tar.xz
09: FOO_SITE = http://www.foosoftware.org/download
10: FOO_LICENSE = GPL-2.0
11: FOO_LICENSE_FILES = COPYING
12:
13: $(eval $(kernel-module))
14: $(eval $(generic-package))</pre><p>Lines 7-11 define the usual meta-data to specify the version, archive name,
remote URI where to find the package source, licensing information.</p><p>On line 13, we invoke the <code class="literal">kernel-module</code> helper infrastructure, that
generates all the appropriate Makefile rules and variables to build
that kernel module.</p><p>Finally, on line 14, we invoke the
<a class="link" href="#generic-package-tutorial" title="17.5.1. generic-package tutorial"><code class="literal">generic-package</code> infrastructure</a>
<a class="xref" href="#generic-package-tutorial" title="17.5.1. generic-package tutorial">Section 17.5.1, “<code class="literal">generic-package</code> tutorial”</a>.</p><p>The dependency on <code class="literal">linux</code> is automatically added, so it is not needed to
specify it in <code class="literal">FOO_DEPENDENCIES</code>.</p><p>What you may have noticed is that, unlike other package infrastructures,
we explicitly invoke a second infrastructure. This allows a package to
build a kernel module, but also, if needed, use any one of other package
infrastructures to build normal userland components (libraries,
executables…). Using the <code class="literal">kernel-module</code> infrastructure on its own is
not sufficient; another package infrastructure <span class="strong"><strong>must</strong></span> be used.</p><p>Let’s look at a more complex example:</p><pre class="screen">01: ################################################################################
02: #
03: # foo
04: #
05: ################################################################################
06:
07: FOO_VERSION = 1.2.3
08: FOO_SOURCE = foo-$(FOO_VERSION).tar.xz
09: FOO_SITE = http://www.foosoftware.org/download
10: FOO_LICENSE = GPL-2.0
11: FOO_LICENSE_FILES = COPYING
12:
13: FOO_MODULE_SUBDIRS = driver/base
14: FOO_MODULE_MAKE_OPTS = KVERSION=$(LINUX_VERSION_PROBED)
15:
16: ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_LIBBAR),y)
17: FOO_DEPENDENCIES = libbar
18: FOO_CONF_OPTS = --enable-bar
19: FOO_MODULE_SUBDIRS += driver/bar
20: else
21: FOO_CONF_OPTS = --disable-bar
22: endif
23:
24: $(eval $(kernel-module))
26: $(eval $(autotools-package))</pre><p>Here, we see that we have an autotools-based package, that also builds
the kernel module located in sub-directory <code class="literal">driver/base</code> and, if libbar
is enabled, the kernel module located in sub-directory <code class="literal">driver/bar</code>, and
defines the variable <code class="literal">KVERSION</code> to be passed to the Linux buildsystem
when building the module(s).</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="kernel-module-reference"></a>17.17.2. <code class="literal">kernel-module</code> reference</h3></div></div></div><p>The main macro for the kernel module infrastructure is <code class="literal">kernel-module</code>.
Unlike other package infrastructures, it is not stand-alone, and requires
any of the other <code class="literal">*-package</code> macros be called after it.</p><p>The <code class="literal">kernel-module</code> macro defines post-build and post-target-install
hooks to build the kernel modules. If the package’s <code class="literal">.mk</code> needs access
to the built kernel modules, it should do so in a post-build hook,
<span class="strong"><strong>registered after</strong></span> the call to <code class="literal">kernel-module</code>. Similarly, if the
package’s <code class="literal">.mk</code> needs access to the kernel module after it has been
installed, it should do so in a post-install hook, <span class="strong"><strong>registered after</strong></span>
the call to <code class="literal">kernel-module</code>. Here’s an example:</p><pre class="screen">$(eval $(kernel-module))
define FOO_DO_STUFF_WITH_KERNEL_MODULE
# Do something with it...
endef
FOO_POST_BUILD_HOOKS += FOO_DO_STUFF_WITH_KERNEL_MODULE
$(eval $(generic-package))</pre><p>Finally, unlike the other package infrastructures, there is no
<code class="literal">host-kernel-module</code> variant to build a host kernel module.</p><p>The following additional variables can optionally be defined to further
configure the build of the kernel module:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">FOO_MODULE_SUBDIRS</code> may be set to one or more sub-directories (relative
to the package source top-directory) where the kernel module sources are.
If empty or not set, the sources for the kernel module(s) are considered
to be located at the top of the package source tree.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">FOO_MODULE_MAKE_OPTS</code> may be set to contain extra variable definitions
to pass to the Linux buildsystem.
</li></ul></div><p><a id="kernel-variables"></a>You may also reference (but you may <span class="strong"><strong>not</strong></span> set!) those variables:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LINUX_DIR</code> contains the path to where the Linux kernel has been
extracted and built.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LINUX_VERSION</code> contains the version string as configured by the user.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LINUX_VERSION_PROBED</code> contains the real version string of the kernel,
retrieved with running <code class="literal">make -C $(LINUX_DIR) kernelrelease</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">KERNEL_ARCH</code> contains the name of the current architecture, like <code class="literal">arm</code>,
<code class="literal">mips</code>…
</li></ul></div></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_infrastructure_for_asciidoc_documents"></a>17.18. Infrastructure for asciidoc documents</h2></div></div></div><p><a id="asciidoc-documents-tutorial"></a>The Buildroot manual, which you are currently reading, is entirely written
using the <a class="ulink" href="http://asciidoc.org/" target="_top">AsciiDoc</a> mark-up syntax. The manual is then
rendered to many formats:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
html
</li><li class="listitem">
split-html
</li><li class="listitem">
pdf
</li><li class="listitem">
epub
</li><li class="listitem">
text
</li></ul></div><p>Although Buildroot only contains one document written in AsciiDoc, there
is, as for packages, an infrastructure for rendering documents using the
AsciiDoc syntax.</p><p>Also as for packages, the AsciiDoc infrastructure is available from a
<a class="link" href="#outside-br-custom" title="9.2. Keeping customizations outside of Buildroot">br2-external tree</a>
<a class="xref" href="#outside-br-custom" title="9.2. Keeping customizations outside of Buildroot">Section 9.2, “Keeping customizations outside of Buildroot”</a>. This allows documentation for
a br2-external tree to match the Buildroot documentation, as it will be
rendered to the same formats and use the same layout and theme.</p><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="_literal_asciidoc_document_literal_tutorial"></a>17.18.1. <code class="literal">asciidoc-document</code> tutorial</h3></div></div></div><p>Whereas package infrastructures are suffixed with <code class="literal">-package</code>, the document
infrastructures are suffixed with <code class="literal">-document</code>. So, the AsciiDoc infrastructure
is named <code class="literal">asciidoc-document</code>.</p><p>Here is an example to render a simple AsciiDoc document.</p><pre class="screen">01: ################################################################################
02: #
03: # foo-document
04: #
05: ################################################################################
06:
07: FOO_SOURCES = $(sort $(wildcard $(pkgdir)/*))
08: $(eval $(call asciidoc-document))</pre><p>On line 7, the Makefile declares what the sources of the document are.
Currently, it is expected that the document’s sources are only local;
Buildroot will not attempt to download anything to render a document.
Thus, you must indicate where the sources are. Usually, the string
above is sufficient for a document with no sub-directory structure.</p><p>On line 8, we call the <code class="literal">asciidoc-document</code> function, which generates all
the Makefile code necessary to render the document.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="_literal_asciidoc_document_literal_reference"></a>17.18.2. <code class="literal">asciidoc-document</code> reference</h3></div></div></div><p>The list of variables that can be set in a <code class="literal">.mk</code> file to give metadata
information is (assuming the document name is <code class="literal">foo</code>) :</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">FOO_SOURCES</code>, mandatory, defines the source files for the document.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">FOO_RESOURCES</code>, optional, may contain a space-separated list of paths
to one or more directories containing so-called resources (like CSS or
images). By default, empty.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">FOO_DEPENDENCIES</code>, optional, the list of packages (most probably,
host-packages) that must be built before building this document.
If a hook of your document needs to access the <span class="emphasis"><em>Kconfig</em></span> structure,
you may add <code class="literal">prepare-kconfig</code> to the list of dependencies.
</li></ul></div><p>There are also additional hooks (see <a class="xref" href="#hooks" title="17.20. Hooks available in the various build steps">Section 17.20, “Hooks available in the various build steps”</a> for general information
on hooks), that a document may set to define extra actions to be done at
various steps:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">FOO_POST_RSYNC_HOOKS</code> to run additional commands after the sources
have been copied by Buildroot. This can for example be used to
generate part of the manual with information extracted from the
tree. As an example, Buildroot uses this hook to generate the tables
in the appendices.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">FOO_CHECK_DEPENDENCIES_HOOKS</code> to run additional tests on required
components to generate the document. In AsciiDoc, it is possible to
call filters, that is, programs that will parse an AsciiDoc block and
render it appropriately (e.g. <a class="ulink" href="http://ditaa.sourceforge.net/" target="_top">ditaa</a> or
<a class="ulink" href="https://pythonhosted.org/aafigure/" target="_top">aafigure</a>).
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">FOO_CHECK_DEPENDENCIES_&lt;FMT&gt;_HOOKS</code>, to run additional tests for
the specified format <code class="literal">&lt;FMT&gt;</code> (see the list of rendered formats, above).
</li></ul></div><p>Here is a complete example that uses all variables and all hooks:</p><pre class="screen">01: ################################################################################
02: #
03: # foo-document
04: #
05: ################################################################################
06:
07: FOO_SOURCES = $(sort $(wildcard $(pkgdir)/*))
08: FOO_RESOURCES = $(sort $(wildcard $(pkgdir)/ressources))
09:
10: define FOO_GEN_EXTRA_DOC
11: /path/to/generate-script --outdir=$(@D)
12: endef
13: FOO_POST_RSYNC_HOOKS += FOO_GEN_EXTRA_DOC
14:
15: define FOO_CHECK_MY_PROG
16: if ! which my-prog &gt;/dev/null 2&gt;&amp;1; then \
17: echo "You need my-prog to generate the foo document"; \
18: exit 1; \
19: fi
20: endef
21: FOO_CHECK_DEPENDENCIES_HOOKS += FOO_CHECK_MY_PROG
22:
23: define FOO_CHECK_MY_OTHER_PROG
24: if ! which my-other-prog &gt;/dev/null 2&gt;&amp;1; then \
25: echo "You need my-other-prog to generate the foo document as PDF"; \
26: exit 1; \
27: fi
28: endef
29: FOO_CHECK_DEPENDENCIES_PDF_HOOKS += FOO_CHECK_MY_OTHER_PROG
30:
31: $(eval $(call asciidoc-document))</pre></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="linux-kernel-specific-infra"></a>17.19. Infrastructure specific to the Linux kernel package</h2></div></div></div><p>The Linux kernel package can use some specific infrastructures based on package
hooks for building Linux kernel tools or/and building Linux kernel extensions.</p><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="linux-kernel-tools"></a>17.19.1. linux-kernel-tools</h3></div></div></div><p>Buildroot offers a helper infrastructure to build some userspace tools
for the target available within the Linux kernel sources. Since their
source code is part of the kernel source code, a special package,
<code class="literal">linux-tools</code>, exists and re-uses the sources of the Linux kernel that
runs on the target.</p><p>Let’s look at an example of a Linux tool. For a new Linux tool named
<code class="literal">foo</code>, create a new menu entry in the existing
<code class="literal">package/linux-tools/Config.in</code>. This file will contain the option
descriptions related to each kernel tool that will be used and
displayed in the configuration tool. It would basically look like:</p><pre class="screen">01: config BR2_PACKAGE_LINUX_TOOLS_FOO
02: bool "foo"
03: select BR2_PACKAGE_LINUX_TOOLS
04: help
05: This is a comment that explains what foo kernel tool is.
06:
07: http://foosoftware.org/foo/</pre><p>The name of the option starts with the prefix <code class="literal">BR2_PACKAGE_LINUX_TOOLS_</code>,
followed by the uppercase name of the tool (like is done for packages).</p><p><strong>Note. </strong>Unlike other packages, the <code class="literal">linux-tools</code> package options appear in the
<code class="literal">linux</code> kernel menu, under the <code class="literal">Linux Kernel Tools</code> sub-menu, not under
the <code class="literal">Target packages</code> main menu.</p><p>Then for each linux tool, add a new <code class="literal">.mk.in</code> file named
<code class="literal">package/linux-tools/linux-tool-foo.mk.in</code>. It would basically look like:</p><pre class="screen">01: ################################################################################
02: #
03: # foo
04: #
05: ################################################################################
06:
07: LINUX_TOOLS += foo
08:
09: FOO_DEPENDENCIES = libbbb
10:
11: define FOO_BUILD_CMDS
12: $(TARGET_MAKE_ENV) $(MAKE) -C $(LINUX_DIR)/tools foo
13: endef
14:
15: define FOO_INSTALL_STAGING_CMDS
16: $(TARGET_MAKE_ENV) $(MAKE) -C $(LINUX_DIR)/tools \
17: DESTDIR=$(STAGING_DIR) \
18: foo_install
19: endef
20:
21: define FOO_INSTALL_TARGET_CMDS
22: $(TARGET_MAKE_ENV) $(MAKE) -C $(LINUX_DIR)/tools \
23: DESTDIR=$(TARGET_DIR) \
24: foo_install
25: endef</pre><p>On line 7, we register the Linux tool <code class="literal">foo</code> to the list of available
Linux tools.</p><p>On line 9, we specify the list of dependencies this tool relies on. These
dependencies are added to the Linux package dependencies list only when the
<code class="literal">foo</code> tool is selected.</p><p>The rest of the Makefile, lines 11-25 defines what should be done at the
different steps of the Linux tool build process like for a
<a class="link" href="#generic-package-tutorial" title="17.5.1. generic-package tutorial"><code class="literal">generic package</code></a>
<a class="xref" href="#generic-package-tutorial" title="17.5.1. generic-package tutorial">Section 17.5.1, “<code class="literal">generic-package</code> tutorial”</a>. They will actually be
used only when the <code class="literal">foo</code> tool is selected. The only supported commands are
<code class="literal">_BUILD_CMDS</code>, <code class="literal">_INSTALL_STAGING_CMDS</code> and <code class="literal">_INSTALL_TARGET_CMDS</code>.</p><p><strong>Note. </strong>One <span class="strong"><strong>must not</strong></span> call <code class="literal">$(eval $(generic-package))</code> or any other
package infrastructure! Linux tools are not packages by themselves,
they are part of the <code class="literal">linux-tools</code> package.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="linux-kernel-ext"></a>17.19.2. linux-kernel-extensions</h3></div></div></div><p>Some packages provide new features that require the Linux kernel tree
to be modified. This can be in the form of patches to be applied on
the kernel tree, or in the form of new files to be added to the
tree. The Buildroot’s Linux kernel extensions infrastructure provides
a simple solution to automatically do this, just after the kernel
sources are extracted and before the kernel patches are
applied. Examples of extensions packaged using this mechanism are the
real-time extensions Xenomai and RTAI, as well as the set of
out-of-tree LCD screens drivers <code class="literal">fbtft</code>.</p><p>Let’s look at an example on how to add a new Linux extension <code class="literal">foo</code>.</p><p>First, create the package <code class="literal">foo</code> that provides the extension: this
package is a standard package; see the previous chapters on how to
create such a package. This package is in charge of downloading the
sources archive, checking the hash, defining the licence informations
and building user space tools if any.</p><p>Then create the <span class="emphasis"><em>Linux extension</em></span> proper: create a new menu entry in
the existing <code class="literal">linux/Config.ext.in</code>. This file contains the option
descriptions related to each kernel extension that will be used and
displayed in the configuration tool. It would basically look like:</p><pre class="screen">01: config BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_EXT_FOO
02: bool "foo"
03: help
04: This is a comment that explains what foo kernel extension is.
05:
06: http://foosoftware.org/foo/</pre><p>Then for each linux extension, add a new <code class="literal">.mk</code> file named
<code class="literal">linux/linux-ext-foo.mk</code>. It should basically contain:</p><pre class="screen">01: ################################################################################
02: #
03: # foo
04: #
05: ################################################################################
06:
07: LINUX_EXTENSIONS += foo
08:
09: define FOO_PREPARE_KERNEL
10: $(FOO_DIR)/prepare-kernel-tree.sh --linux-dir=$(@D)
11: endef</pre><p>On line 7, we add the Linux extension <code class="literal">foo</code> to the list of available
Linux extensions.</p><p>On line 9-11, we define what should be done by the extension to modify
the Linux kernel tree; this is specific to the linux extension and can
use the variables defined by the <code class="literal">foo</code> package, like: <code class="literal">$(FOO_DIR)</code> or
<code class="literal">$(FOO_VERSION)</code>… as well as all the Linux variables, like:
<code class="literal">$(LINUX_VERSION)</code> or <code class="literal">$(LINUX_VERSION_PROBED)</code>, <code class="literal">$(KERNEL_ARCH)</code>…
See the <a class="link" href="#kernel-variables">definition of those kernel variables</a>
<a class="xref" href="#kernel-variables">Section 17.17.2, “<code class="literal">kernel-module</code> reference”</a>.</p></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="hooks"></a>17.20. Hooks available in the various build steps</h2></div></div></div><p>The generic infrastructure (and as a result also the derived autotools
and cmake infrastructures) allow packages to specify hooks.
These define further actions to perform after existing steps.
Most hooks aren’t really useful for generic packages, since the <code class="literal">.mk</code>
file already has full control over the actions performed in each step
of the package construction.</p><p>The following hook points are available:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_PRE_DOWNLOAD_HOOKS</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_POST_DOWNLOAD_HOOKS</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_PRE_EXTRACT_HOOKS</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_POST_EXTRACT_HOOKS</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_PRE_RSYNC_HOOKS</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_POST_RSYNC_HOOKS</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_PRE_PATCH_HOOKS</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_POST_PATCH_HOOKS</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_PRE_CONFIGURE_HOOKS</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_POST_CONFIGURE_HOOKS</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_PRE_BUILD_HOOKS</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_POST_BUILD_HOOKS</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_PRE_INSTALL_HOOKS</code> (for host packages only)
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_POST_INSTALL_HOOKS</code> (for host packages only)
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_PRE_INSTALL_STAGING_HOOKS</code> (for target packages only)
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_POST_INSTALL_STAGING_HOOKS</code> (for target packages only)
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_PRE_INSTALL_TARGET_HOOKS</code> (for target packages only)
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_POST_INSTALL_TARGET_HOOKS</code> (for target packages only)
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_PRE_INSTALL_IMAGES_HOOKS</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_POST_INSTALL_IMAGES_HOOKS</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_PRE_LEGAL_INFO_HOOKS</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">LIBFOO_POST_LEGAL_INFO_HOOKS</code>
</li></ul></div><p>These variables are <span class="emphasis"><em>lists</em></span> of variable names containing actions to be
performed at this hook point. This allows several hooks to be
registered at a given hook point. Here is an example:</p><pre class="screen">define LIBFOO_POST_PATCH_FIXUP
action1
action2
endef
LIBFOO_POST_PATCH_HOOKS += LIBFOO_POST_PATCH_FIXUP</pre><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="hooks-rsync"></a>17.20.1. Using the <code class="literal">POST_RSYNC</code> hook</h3></div></div></div><p>The <code class="literal">POST_RSYNC</code> hook is run only for packages that use a local source,
either through the <code class="literal">local</code> site method or the <code class="literal">OVERRIDE_SRCDIR</code>
mechanism. In this case, package sources are copied using <code class="literal">rsync</code> from
the local location into the buildroot build directory. The <code class="literal">rsync</code>
command does not copy all files from the source directory, though.
Files belonging to a version control system, like the directories
<code class="literal">.git</code>, <code class="literal">.hg</code>, etc. are not copied. For most packages this is
sufficient, but a given package can perform additional actions using
the <code class="literal">POST_RSYNC</code> hook.</p><p>In principle, the hook can contain any command you want. One specific
use case, though, is the intentional copying of the version control
directory using <code class="literal">rsync</code>. The <code class="literal">rsync</code> command you use in the hook can, among
others, use the following variables:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">$(SRCDIR)</code>: the path to the overridden source directory
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">$(@D)</code>: the path to the build directory
</li></ul></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="_target_finalize_hook"></a>17.20.2. Target-finalize hook</h3></div></div></div><p>Packages may also register hooks in <code class="literal">LIBFOO_TARGET_FINALIZE_HOOKS</code>.
These hooks are run after all packages are built, but before the
filesystem images are generated. They are seldom used, and your
package probably do not need them.</p></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_gettext_integration_and_interaction_with_packages"></a>17.21. Gettext integration and interaction with packages</h2></div></div></div><p>Many packages that support internationalization use the gettext
library. Dependencies for this library are fairly complicated and
therefore, deserve some explanation.</p><p>The <span class="emphasis"><em>glibc</em></span> C library integrates a full-blown implementation of
<span class="emphasis"><em>gettext</em></span>, supporting translation. Native Language Support is
therefore built-in in <span class="emphasis"><em>glibc</em></span>.</p><p>On the other hand, the <span class="emphasis"><em>uClibc</em></span> and <span class="emphasis"><em>musl</em></span> C libraries only provide a
stub implementation of the gettext functionality, which allows to
compile libraries and programs using gettext functions, but without
providing the translation capabilities of a full-blown gettext
implementation. With such C libraries, if real Native Language Support
is necessary, it can be provided by the <code class="literal">libintl</code> library of the
<code class="literal">gettext</code> package.</p><p>Due to this, and in order to make sure that Native Language Support is
properly handled, packages in Buildroot that can use NLS support
should:</p><div class="orderedlist"><ol class="orderedlist" type="1"><li class="listitem">
Ensure NLS support is enabled when <code class="literal">BR2_SYSTEM_ENABLE_NLS=y</code>. This
is done automatically for <span class="emphasis"><em>autotools</em></span> packages and therefore should
only be done for packages using other package infrastructures.
</li><li class="listitem">
Add <code class="literal">$(TARGET_NLS_DEPENDENCIES)</code> to the package
<code class="literal">&lt;pkg&gt;_DEPENDENCIES</code> variable. This addition should be done
unconditionally: the value of this variable is automatically
adjusted by the core infrastructure to contain the relevant list of
packages. If NLS support is disabled, this variable is empty. If
NLS support is enabled, this variable contains <code class="literal">host-gettext</code> so
that tools needed to compile translation files are available on the
host. In addition, if <span class="emphasis"><em>uClibc</em></span> or <span class="emphasis"><em>musl</em></span> are used, this variable
also contains <code class="literal">gettext</code> in order to get the full-blown <span class="emphasis"><em>gettext</em></span>
implementation.
</li><li class="listitem">
If needed, add <code class="literal">$(TARGET_NLS_LIBS)</code> to the linker flags, so that
the package gets linked with <code class="literal">libintl</code>. This is generally not
needed with <span class="emphasis"><em>autotools</em></span> packages as they usually detect
automatically that they should link with <code class="literal">libintl</code>. However,
packages using other build systems, or problematic autotools-based
packages may need this. <code class="literal">$(TARGET_NLS_LIBS)</code> should be added
unconditionally to the linker flags, as the core automatically
makes it empty or defined to <code class="literal">-lintl</code> depending on the
configuration.
</li></ol></div><p>No changes should be made to the <code class="literal">Config.in</code> file to support NLS.</p><p>Finally, certain packages need some gettext utilities on the target,
such as the <code class="literal">gettext</code> program itself, which allows to retrieve
translated strings, from the command line. In such a case, the package
should:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
use <code class="literal">select BR2_PACKAGE_GETTEXT</code> in their <code class="literal">Config.in</code> file,
indicating in a comment above that it’s a runtime dependency only.
</li><li class="listitem">
not add any <code class="literal">gettext</code> dependency in the <code class="literal">DEPENDENCIES</code> variable of
their <code class="literal">.mk</code> file.
</li></ul></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_tips_and_tricks"></a>17.22. Tips and tricks</h2></div></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="package-name-variable-relation"></a>17.22.1. Package name, config entry name and makefile variable relationship</h3></div></div></div><p>In Buildroot, there is some relationship between:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
the <span class="emphasis"><em>package name</em></span>, which is the package directory name (and the
name of the <code class="literal">*.mk</code> file);
</li><li class="listitem">
the config entry name that is declared in the <code class="literal">Config.in</code> file;
</li><li class="listitem">
the makefile variable prefix.
</li></ul></div><p>It is mandatory to maintain consistency between these elements,
using the following rules:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
the package directory and the <code class="literal">*.mk</code> name are the <span class="emphasis"><em>package name</em></span>
itself (e.g.: <code class="literal">package/foo-bar_boo/foo-bar_boo.mk</code>);
</li><li class="listitem">
the <span class="emphasis"><em>make</em></span> target name is the <span class="emphasis"><em>package name</em></span> itself (e.g.:
<code class="literal">foo-bar_boo</code>);
</li><li class="listitem">
the config entry is the upper case <span class="emphasis"><em>package name</em></span> with <code class="literal">.</code> and <code class="literal">-</code>
characters substituted with <code class="literal">_</code>, prefixed with <code class="literal">BR2_PACKAGE_</code> (e.g.:
<code class="literal">BR2_PACKAGE_FOO_BAR_BOO</code>);
</li><li class="listitem">
the <code class="literal">*.mk</code> file variable prefix is the upper case <span class="emphasis"><em>package name</em></span>
with <code class="literal">.</code> and <code class="literal">-</code> characters substituted with <code class="literal">_</code> (e.g.:
<code class="literal">FOO_BAR_BOO_VERSION</code>).
</li></ul></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="testing-package"></a>17.22.2. How to test your package</h3></div></div></div><p>Once you have added your new package, it is important that you test it
under various conditions: does it build for all architectures? Does it
build with the different C libraries? Does it need threads, NPTL? And
so on…</p><p>Buildroot runs <a class="ulink" href="http://autobuild.buildroot.org/" target="_top">autobuilders</a> which
continuously test random configurations. However, these only build the
<code class="literal">master</code> branch of the git tree, and your new fancy package is not yet
there.</p><p>Buildroot provides a script in <code class="literal">utils/test-pkg</code> that uses the same base
configurations as used by the autobuilders so you can test your package
in the same conditions.</p><p>First, create a config snippet that contains all the necessary options
needed to enable your package, but without any architecture or toolchain
option. For example, let’s create a config snippet that just enables
<code class="literal">libcurl</code>, without any TLS backend:</p><pre class="screen">$ cat libcurl.config
BR2_PACKAGE_LIBCURL=y</pre><p>If your package needs more configuration options, you can add them to the
config snippet. For example, here’s how you would test <code class="literal">libcurl</code> with
<code class="literal">openssl</code> as a TLS backend and the <code class="literal">curl</code> program:</p><pre class="screen">$ cat libcurl.config
BR2_PACKAGE_LIBCURL=y
BR2_PACKAGE_CURL=y
BR2_PACKAGE_OPENSSL=y</pre><p>Then run the <code class="literal">test-pkg</code> script, by telling it what config snippet to use
and what package to test:</p><pre class="screen">$ ./utils/test-pkg -c libcurl.config -p libcurl</pre><p>This will try to build your package against all the toolchains used
by the autobuilders (except for the internal toolchains, because it takes
too long to do so). The output lists all toolchains and the corresponding
result (excerpt, results are fake):</p><pre class="screen">$ ./utils/test-pkg -c libcurl.config -p libcurl
armv5-ctng-linux-gnueabi [ 1/11]: OK
armv7-ctng-linux-gnueabihf [ 2/11]: OK
br-aarch64-glibc [ 3/11]: SKIPPED
br-arcle-hs38 [ 4/11]: SKIPPED
br-arm-basic [ 5/11]: FAILED
br-arm-cortex-a9-glibc [ 6/11]: OK
br-arm-cortex-a9-musl [ 7/11]: FAILED
br-arm-cortex-m4-full [ 8/11]: OK
br-arm-full [ 9/11]: OK
br-arm-full-nothread [10/11]: FAILED
br-arm-full-static [11/11]: OK
11 builds, 2 skipped, 2 build failed, 1 legal-info failed</pre><p>The results mean:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">OK</code>: the build was successful.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">SKIPPED</code>: one or more configuration options listed in the config
snippet were not present in the final configuration. This is due to
options having dependencies not satisfied by the toolchain, such as
for example a package that <code class="literal">depends on BR2_USE_MMU</code> with a noMMU
toolchain. The missing options are reported in <code class="literal">missing.config</code> in
the output build directory (<code class="literal">~/br-test-pkg/TOOLCHAIN_NAME/</code> by
default).
</li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
<code class="literal">FAILED</code>: the build failed. Inspect the <code class="literal">logfile</code> file in the output
build directory to see what went wrong:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
the actual build failed,
</li><li class="listitem">
the legal-info failed,
</li><li class="listitem">
one of the preliminary steps (downloading the config file, applying
the configuration, running <code class="literal">dirclean</code> for the package) failed.
</li></ul></div></li></ul></div><p>When there are failures, you can just re-run the script with the same
options (after you fixed your package); the script will attempt to
re-build the package specified with <code class="literal">-p</code> for all toolchains, without
the need to re-build all the dependencies of that package.</p><p>The <code class="literal">test-pkg</code> script accepts a few options, for which you can get some
help by running:</p><pre class="screen">$ ./utils/test-pkg -h</pre></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="github-download-url"></a>17.22.3. How to add a package from GitHub</h3></div></div></div><p>Packages on GitHub often don’t have a download area with release tarballs.
However, it is possible to download tarballs directly from the repository
on GitHub. As GitHub is known to have changed download mechanisms in the
past, the <span class="emphasis"><em>github</em></span> helper function should be used as shown below.</p><pre class="screen"># Use a tag or a full commit ID
FOO_VERSION = v1.0
FOO_SITE = $(call github,&lt;user&gt;,&lt;package&gt;,$(FOO_VERSION))</pre><div class="itemizedlist"><p class="title"><strong>Notes</strong></p><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
The FOO_VERSION can either be a tag or a commit ID.
</li><li class="listitem">
The tarball name generated by github matches the default one from
Buildroot (e.g.: <code class="literal">foo-f6fb6654af62045239caed5950bc6c7971965e60.tar.gz</code>),
so it is not necessary to specify it in the <code class="literal">.mk</code> file.
</li><li class="listitem">
When using a commit ID as version, you should use the full 40 hex characters.
</li></ul></div><p>If the package you wish to add does have a release section on GitHub, the
maintainer may have uploaded a release tarball, or the release may just point
to the automatically generated tarball from the git tag. If there is a
release tarball uploaded by the maintainer, we prefer to use that since it
may be slightly different (e.g. it contains a configure script so we don’t
need to do AUTORECONF).</p><p>You can see on the release page if it’s an uploaded tarball or a git tag:</p><div class="informalfigure"><div class="mediaobject"><img src="github_hash_mongrel2.png" alt="github_hash_mongrel2.png" /></div></div><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
If it looks like the image above then it was uploaded by the
maintainer and you should use that link (in that example:
<span class="emphasis"><em>mongrel2-v1.9.2.tar.bz2</em></span>) to specify <code class="literal">FOO_SITE</code>, and not use the
<span class="emphasis"><em>github</em></span> helper.
</li><li class="listitem">
On the other hand, if there’s is <span class="strong"><strong>only</strong></span> the "Source code" link, then
it’s an automatically generated tarball and you should use the
<span class="emphasis"><em>github</em></span> helper function.
</li></ul></div></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_conclusion"></a>17.23. Conclusion</h2></div></div></div><p>As you can see, adding a software package to Buildroot is simply a
matter of writing a Makefile using an existing example and modifying it
according to the compilation process required by the package.</p><p>If you package software that might be useful for other people, don’t
forget to send a patch to the Buildroot mailing list (see
<a class="xref" href="#submitting-patches" title="21.5. Submitting patches">Section 21.5, “Submitting patches”</a>)!</p></div></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="patch-policy"></a>Chapter 18. Patching a package</h2></div></div></div><p>While integrating a new package or updating an existing one, it may be
necessary to patch the source of the software to get it cross-built within
Buildroot.</p><p>Buildroot offers an infrastructure to automatically handle this during
the builds. It supports three ways of applying patch sets: downloaded patches,
patches supplied within buildroot and patches located in a user-defined
global patch directory.</p><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_providing_patches"></a>18.1. Providing patches</h2></div></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="_downloaded"></a>18.1.1. Downloaded</h3></div></div></div><p>If it is necessary to apply a patch that is available for download, then add it
to the <code class="literal">&lt;packagename&gt;_PATCH</code> variable. If an entry contains <code class="literal">://</code>,
then Buildroot will assume it is a full URL and download the patch
from this location. Otherwise, Buildroot will assume that the patch should be
downloaded from <code class="literal">&lt;packagename&gt;_SITE</code>. It can be a single patch,
or a tarball containing a patch series.</p><p>Like for all downloads, a hash should be added to the <code class="literal">&lt;packagename&gt;.hash</code>
file.</p><p>This method is typically used for packages from Debian.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="_within_buildroot"></a>18.1.2. Within Buildroot</h3></div></div></div><p>Most patches are provided within Buildroot, in the package
directory; these typically aim to fix cross-compilation, libc support,
or other such issues.</p><p>These patch files should be named <code class="literal">&lt;number&gt;-&lt;description&gt;.patch</code>.</p><div class="itemizedlist"><p class="title"><strong>Notes</strong></p><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
The patch files coming with Buildroot should not contain any package version
reference in their filename.
</li><li class="listitem">
The field <code class="literal">&lt;number&gt;</code> in the patch file name refers to the <span class="emphasis"><em>apply order</em></span>,
and shall start at 1; It is preferred to pad the number with zeros up to 4
digits, like <span class="emphasis"><em>git-format-patch</em></span> does. E.g.: <code class="literal">0001-foobar-the-buz.patch</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
Previously, it was mandatory for patches to be prefixed with the name of
the package, like <code class="literal">&lt;package&gt;-&lt;number&gt;-&lt;description&gt;.patch</code>, but that is
no longer the case. Existing packages will be fixed as time passes. <span class="emphasis"><em>Do
not prefix patches with the package name.</em></span>
</li><li class="listitem">
Previously, a <code class="literal">series</code> file, as used by <code class="literal">quilt</code>, could also be added in
the package directory. In that case, the <code class="literal">series</code> file defines the patch
application order. This is deprecated, and will be removed in the future.
<span class="emphasis"><em>Do not use a series file.</em></span>
</li></ul></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="_global_patch_directory"></a>18.1.3. Global patch directory</h3></div></div></div><p>The <code class="literal">BR2_GLOBAL_PATCH_DIR</code> configuration file option can be
used to specify a space separated list of one or more directories
containing global package patches. See <a class="xref" href="#customize-patches" title="9.8. Adding project-specific patches">Section 9.8, “Adding project-specific patches”</a> for
details.</p></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="patch-apply-order"></a>18.2. How patches are applied</h2></div></div></div><div class="orderedlist"><ol class="orderedlist" type="1"><li class="listitem">
Run the <code class="literal">&lt;packagename&gt;_PRE_PATCH_HOOKS</code> commands if defined;
</li><li class="listitem">
Cleanup the build directory, removing any existing <code class="literal">*.rej</code> files;
</li><li class="listitem">
If <code class="literal">&lt;packagename&gt;_PATCH</code> is defined, then patches from these
tarballs are applied;
</li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
If there are some <code class="literal">*.patch</code> files in the package’s Buildroot
directory or in a package subdirectory named <code class="literal">&lt;packageversion&gt;</code>,
then:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
If a <code class="literal">series</code> file exists in the package directory, then patches are
applied according to the <code class="literal">series</code> file;
</li><li class="listitem">
Otherwise, patch files matching <code class="literal">*.patch</code> are applied in alphabetical
order.
So, to ensure they are applied in the right order, it is highly
recommended to name the patch files like this:
<code class="literal">&lt;number&gt;-&lt;description&gt;.patch</code>, where <code class="literal">&lt;number&gt;</code> refers to the
<span class="emphasis"><em>apply order</em></span>.
</li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem">
If <code class="literal">BR2_GLOBAL_PATCH_DIR</code> is defined, the directories will be
enumerated in the order they are specified. The patches are applied
as described in the previous step.
</li><li class="listitem">
Run the <code class="literal">&lt;packagename&gt;_POST_PATCH_HOOKS</code> commands if defined.
</li></ol></div><p>If something goes wrong in the steps <span class="emphasis"><em>3</em></span> or <span class="emphasis"><em>4</em></span>, then the build fails.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_format_and_licensing_of_the_package_patches"></a>18.3. Format and licensing of the package patches</h2></div></div></div><p>Patches are released under the same license as the software they apply
to (see <a class="xref" href="#legal-info-buildroot" title="12.2. Complying with the Buildroot license">Section 12.2, “Complying with the Buildroot license”</a>).</p><p>A message explaining what the patch does, and why it is needed, should
be added in the header commentary of the patch.</p><p>You should add a <code class="literal">Signed-off-by</code> statement in the header of the each
patch to help with keeping track of the changes and to certify that the
patch is released under the same license as the software that is modified.</p><p>If the software is under version control, it is recommended to use the
upstream SCM software to generate the patch set.</p><p>Otherwise, concatenate the header with the output of the
<code class="literal">diff -purN package-version.orig/ package-version/</code> command.</p><p>If you update an existing patch (e.g. when bumping the package version),
make sure the existing From header and Signed-off-by tags are not
removed, but do update the rest of the patch comment when appropriate.</p><p>At the end, the patch should look like:</p><pre class="screen">configure.ac: add C++ support test
Signed-off-by: John Doe &lt;john.doe@noname.org&gt;
--- configure.ac.orig
+++ configure.ac
@@ -40,2 +40,12 @@
AC_PROG_MAKE_SET
+
+AC_CACHE_CHECK([whether the C++ compiler works],
+ [rw_cv_prog_cxx_works],
+ [AC_LANG_PUSH([C++])
+ AC_LINK_IFELSE([AC_LANG_PROGRAM([], [])],
+ [rw_cv_prog_cxx_works=yes],
+ [rw_cv_prog_cxx_works=no])
+ AC_LANG_POP([C++])])
+
+AM_CONDITIONAL([CXX_WORKS], [test "x$rw_cv_prog_cxx_works" = "xyes"])</pre></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_integrating_patches_found_on_the_web"></a>18.4. Integrating patches found on the Web</h2></div></div></div><p>When integrating a patch of which you are not the author, you have to
add a few things in the header of the patch itself.</p><p>Depending on whether the patch has been obtained from the project
repository itself, or from somewhere on the web, add one of the
following tags:</p><pre class="screen">Backported from: &lt;some commit id&gt;</pre><p>or</p><pre class="screen">Fetch from: &lt;some url&gt;</pre><p>It is also sensible to add a few words about any changes to the patch
that may have been necessary.</p></div></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="download-infra"></a>Chapter 19. Download infrastructure</h2></div></div></div><p>TODO</p></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="debugging-buildroot"></a>Chapter 20. Debugging Buildroot</h2></div></div></div><p>It is possible to instrument the steps <code class="literal">Buildroot</code> does when building
packages. Define the variable <code class="literal">BR2_INSTRUMENTATION_SCRIPTS</code> to contain
the path of one or more scripts (or other executables), in a
space-separated list, you want called before and after each step. The
scripts are called in sequence, with three parameters:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">start</code> or <code class="literal">end</code> to denote the start (resp. the end) of a step;
</li><li class="listitem">
the name of the step about to be started, or which just ended;
</li><li class="listitem">
the name of the package.
</li></ul></div><p>For example :</p><pre class="screen">make BR2_INSTRUMENTATION_SCRIPTS="/path/to/my/script1 /path/to/my/script2"</pre><p>The list of steps is:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">extract</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">patch</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">configure</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">build</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">install-host</code>, when a host-package is installed in <code class="literal">$(HOST_DIR)</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">install-target</code>, when a target-package is installed in <code class="literal">$(TARGET_DIR)</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">install-staging</code>, when a target-package is installed in <code class="literal">$(STAGING_DIR)</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">install-image</code>, when a target-package installs files in <code class="literal">$(BINARIES_DIR)</code>
</li></ul></div><p>The script has access to the following variables:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">BR2_CONFIG</code>: the path to the Buildroot .config file
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">HOST_DIR</code>, <code class="literal">STAGING_DIR</code>, <code class="literal">TARGET_DIR</code>: see
<a class="xref" href="#generic-package-reference" title="17.5.2. generic-package reference">Section 17.5.2, “<code class="literal">generic-package</code> reference”</a>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">BUILD_DIR</code>: the directory where packages are extracted and built
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">BINARIES_DIR</code>: the place where all binary files (aka images) are
stored
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">BASE_DIR</code>: the base output directory
</li></ul></div></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="_contributing_to_buildroot"></a>Chapter 21. Contributing to Buildroot</h2></div></div></div><p>There are many ways in which you can contribute to Buildroot: analyzing
and fixing bugs, analyzing and fixing package build failures detected by
the autobuilders, testing and reviewing patches sent by other
developers, working on the items in our TODO list and sending your own
improvements to Buildroot or its manual. The following sections give a
little more detail on each of these items.</p><p>If you are interested in contributing to Buildroot, the first thing you
should do is to subscribe to the Buildroot mailing list. This list is
the main way of interacting with other Buildroot developers and to send
contributions to. If you aren’t subscribed yet, then refer to
<a class="xref" href="#community-resources" title="Chapter 5. Community resources">Chapter 5, <em>Community resources</em></a> for the subscription link.</p><p>If you are going to touch the code, it is highly recommended to use a
git repository of Buildroot, rather than starting from an extracted
source code tarball. Git is the easiest way to develop from and directly
send your patches to the mailing list. Refer to <a class="xref" href="#getting-buildroot" title="Chapter 3. Getting Buildroot">Chapter 3, <em>Getting Buildroot</em></a>
for more information on obtaining a Buildroot git tree.</p><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_reproducing_analyzing_and_fixing_bugs"></a>21.1. Reproducing, analyzing and fixing bugs</h2></div></div></div><p>A first way of contributing is to have a look at the open bug reports in
the <a class="ulink" href="https://bugs.buildroot.org/buglist.cgi?product=buildroot" target="_top">Buildroot bug
tracker</a>. As we strive to keep the bug count as small as possible, all
help in reproducing, analyzing and fixing reported bugs is more than
welcome. Don’t hesitate to add a comment to bug reports reporting your
findings, even if you don’t yet see the full picture.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_analyzing_and_fixing_autobuild_failures"></a>21.2. Analyzing and fixing autobuild failures</h2></div></div></div><p>The Buildroot autobuilders are a set of build machines that continuously
run Buildroot builds based on random configurations. This is done for
all architectures supported by Buildroot, with various toolchains, and
with a random selection of packages. With the large commit activity on
Buildroot, these autobuilders are a great help in detecting problems
very early after commit.</p><p>All build results are available at <a class="ulink" href="http://autobuild.buildroot.org" target="_top">http://autobuild.buildroot.org</a>,
statistics are at <a class="ulink" href="http://autobuild.buildroot.org/stats.php" target="_top">http://autobuild.buildroot.org/stats.php</a>. Every day,
an overview of all failed packages is sent to the mailing list.</p><p>Detecting problems is great, but obviously these problems have to be
fixed as well. Your contribution is very welcome here! There are
basically two things that can be done:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
Analyzing the problems. The daily summary mails do not contain details
about the actual failures: in order to see what’s going on you have to
open the build log and check the last output. Having someone doing
this for all packages in the mail is very useful for other developers,
as they can make a quick initial analysis based on this output alone.
</li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
Fixing a problem. When fixing autobuild failures, you should follow
these steps:
</p><div class="orderedlist"><ol class="orderedlist" type="1"><li class="listitem">
Check if you can reproduce the problem by building with the same
configuration. You can do this manually, or use the
<a class="ulink" href="http://git.buildroot.org/buildroot-test/tree/utils/br-reproduce-build" target="_top">br-reproduce-build</a>
script that will automatically clone a Buildroot git repository,
checkout the correct revision, download and set the right
configuration, and start the build.
</li><li class="listitem">
Analyze the problem and create a fix.
</li><li class="listitem">
Verify that the problem is really fixed by starting from a clean
Buildroot tree and only applying your fix.
</li><li class="listitem">
Send the fix to the Buildroot mailing list (see
<a class="xref" href="#submitting-patches" title="21.5. Submitting patches">Section 21.5, “Submitting patches”</a>). In case you created a patch against the
package sources, you should also send the patch upstream so that the
problem will be fixed in a later release, and the patch in Buildroot
can be removed.
In the commit message of a patch fixing an autobuild failure, add a
reference to the build result directory, as follows:
</li></ol></div></li></ul></div><pre class="screen">Fixes http://autobuild.buildroot.org/results/51000a9d4656afe9e0ea6f07b9f8ed374c2e4069</pre></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_reviewing_and_testing_patches"></a>21.3. Reviewing and testing patches</h2></div></div></div><p>With the amount of patches sent to the mailing list each day, the
maintainer has a very hard job to judge which patches are ready to apply
and which ones aren’t. Contributors can greatly help here by reviewing
and testing these patches.</p><p>In the review process, do not hesitate to respond to patch submissions
for remarks, suggestions or anything that will help everyone to
understand the patches and make them better. Please use internet
style replies in plain text emails when responding to patch
submissions.</p><p>To indicate approval of a patch, there are three formal tags that keep
track of this approval. To add your tag to a patch, reply to it with the
approval tag below the original author’s Signed-off-by line. These tags
will be picked up automatically by patchwork (see
<a class="xref" href="#apply-patches-patchwork" title="21.3.1. Applying Patches from Patchwork">Section 21.3.1, “Applying Patches from Patchwork”</a>) and will be part of the commit log when
the patch is accepted.</p><div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist"><dt><span class="term">
Tested-by
</span></dt><dd>
Indicates that the patch has been tested successfully.
You are encouraged to specify what kind of testing you performed
(compile-test on architecture X and Y, runtime test on target A,
…). This additional information helps other testers and the
maintainer.
</dd><dt><span class="term">
Reviewed-by
</span></dt><dd>
Indicates that you code-reviewed the patch and did your
best in spotting problems, but you are not sufficiently familiar with
the area touched to provide an Acked-by tag. This means that there
may be remaining problems in the patch that would be spotted by
someone with more experience in that area. Should such problems be
detected, your Reviewed-by tag remains appropriate and you cannot
be blamed.
</dd><dt><span class="term">
Acked-by
</span></dt><dd>
Indicates that you code-reviewed the patch and you are
familiar enough with the area touched to feel that the patch can be
committed as-is (no additional changes required). In case it later
turns out that something is wrong with the patch, your Acked-by could
be considered inappropriate. The difference between Acked-by and
Reviewed-by is thus mainly that you are prepared to take the blame on
Acked patches, but not on Reviewed ones.
</dd></dl></div><p>If you reviewed a patch and have comments on it, you should simply reply
to the patch stating these comments, without providing a Reviewed-by or
Acked-by tag. These tags should only be provided if you judge the patch
to be good as it is.</p><p>It is important to note that neither Reviewed-by nor Acked-by imply
that testing has been performed. To indicate that you both reviewed and
tested the patch, provide two separate tags (Reviewed/Acked-by and
Tested-by).</p><p>Note also that <span class="emphasis"><em>any developer</em></span> can provide Tested/Reviewed/Acked-by
tags, without exception, and we encourage everyone to do this. Buildroot
does not have a defined group of <span class="emphasis"><em>core</em></span> developers, it just so happens
that some developers are more active than others. The maintainer will
value tags according to the track record of their submitter. Tags
provided by a regular contributor will naturally be trusted more than
tags provided by a newcomer. As you provide tags more regularly, your
<span class="emphasis"><em>trustworthiness</em></span> (in the eyes of the maintainer) will go up, but <span class="emphasis"><em>any</em></span>
tag provided is valuable.</p><p>Buildroot’s Patchwork website can be used to pull in patches for testing
purposes. Please see <a class="xref" href="#apply-patches-patchwork" title="21.3.1. Applying Patches from Patchwork">Section 21.3.1, “Applying Patches from Patchwork”</a> for more
information on using Buildroot’s Patchwork website to apply patches.</p><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="apply-patches-patchwork"></a>21.3.1. Applying Patches from Patchwork</h3></div></div></div><p>The main use of Buildroot’s Patchwork website for a developer is for
pulling in patches into their local git repository for testing
purposes.</p><p>When browsing patches in the patchwork management interface, an <code class="literal">mbox</code>
link is provided at the top of the page. Copy this link address and
run the following commands:</p><pre class="screen">$ git checkout -b &lt;test-branch-name&gt;
$ wget -O - &lt;mbox-url&gt; | git am</pre><p>Another option for applying patches is to create a bundle. A bundle is
a set of patches that you can group together using the patchwork
interface. Once the bundle is created and the bundle is made public,
you can copy the <code class="literal">mbox</code> link for the bundle and apply the bundle
using the above commands.</p></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="_work_on_items_from_the_todo_list"></a>21.4. Work on items from the TODO list</h2></div></div></div><p>If you want to contribute to Buildroot but don’t know where to start,
and you don’t like any of the above topics, you can always work on items
from the <a class="ulink" href="http://elinux.org/Buildroot#Todo_list" target="_top">Buildroot TODO list</a>.
Don’t hesitate to discuss an item first on the mailing list or on IRC.
Do edit the wiki to indicate when you start working on an item, so we
avoid duplicate efforts.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="submitting-patches"></a>21.5. Submitting patches</h2></div></div></div><div class="note" style="margin-left: 0; margin-right: 10%;"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p><span class="emphasis"><em>Please, do not attach patches to bugs, send them to the mailing list
instead</em></span>.</p></div><p>If you made some changes to Buildroot and you would like to contribute
them to the Buildroot project, proceed as follows.</p><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="_the_formatting_of_a_patch"></a>21.5.1. The formatting of a patch</h3></div></div></div><p>We expect patches to be formatted in a specific way. This is necessary
to make it easy to review patches, to be able to apply them easily to
the git repository, to make it easy to find back in the history how
and why things have changed, and to make it possible to use <code class="literal">git
bisect</code> to locate the origin of a problem.</p><p>First of all, it is essential that the patch has a good commit
message. The commit message should start with a separate line with a
brief summary of the change, starting with the name of the affected
package. The body of the commit message should describe <span class="emphasis"><em>why</em></span> this
change is needed, and if necessary also give details about <span class="emphasis"><em>how</em></span> it
was done. When writing the commit message, think of how the reviewers
will read it, but also think about how you will read it when you look
at this change again a few years down the line.</p><p>Second, the patch itself should do only one change, but do it
completely. Two unrelated or weakly related changes should usually be
done in two separate patches. This usually means that a patch affects
only a single package. If several changes are related, it is often
still possible to split them up in small patches and apply them in a
specific order. Small patches make it easier to review, and often
make it easier to understand afterwards why a change was done.
However, each patch must be complete. It is not allowed that the
build is broken when only the first but not the second patch is
applied. This is necessary to be able to use <code class="literal">git bisect</code> afterwards.</p><p>Of course, while you’re doing your development, you’re probably going
back and forth between packages, and certainly not committing things
immediately in a way that is clean enough for submission. So most
developers rewrite the history of commits to produce a clean set of
commits that is appropriate for submission. To do this, you need to
use <span class="emphasis"><em>interactive rebasing</em></span>. You can learn about it
<a class="ulink" href="https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Tools-Rewriting-History" target="_top">in the Pro
Git book</a>. Sometimes, it is even easier to discard you history with
<code class="literal">git reset --soft origin/master</code> and select individual changes with
<code class="literal">git add -i</code> or <code class="literal">git add -p</code>.</p><p>Finally, the patch should be signed off. This is done by adding
<code class="literal">Signed-off-by: Your Real Name &lt;<a class="ulink" href="mailto:your@email.address" target="_top">your@email.address</a>&gt;</code> at the end of the
commit message. <code class="literal">git commit -s</code> does that for you, if configured
properly. The <code class="literal">Signed-off-by</code> tag means that you publish the patch
under the Buildroot license (i.e. GPL-2.0+, except for package patches,
which have the upstream license), and that you are allowed to do so.
See <a class="ulink" href="http://developercertificate.org/" target="_top">the Developer Certificate of
Origin</a> for details.</p><p>When adding new packages, you should submit every package in a
separate patch. This patch should have the update to
<code class="literal">package/Config.in</code>, the package <code class="literal">Config.in</code> file, the <code class="literal">.mk</code> file, the
<code class="literal">.hash</code> file, any init script, and all package patches. If the package
has many sub-options, these are sometimes better added as separate
follow-up patches. The summary line should be something like
<code class="literal">&lt;packagename&gt;: new package</code>. The body of the commit message can be
empty for simple packages, or it can contain the description of the
package (like the Config.in help text). If anything special has to be
done to build the package, this should also be explained explicitly in
the commit message body.</p><p>When you bump a package to a new version, you should also submit a
separate patch for each package. Don’t forget to update the <code class="literal">.hash</code>
file, or add it if it doesn’t exist yet. Also don’t forget to check if
the <code class="literal">_LICENSE</code> and <code class="literal">_LICENSE_FILES</code> are still valid. The summary line
should be something like <code class="literal">&lt;packagename&gt;: bump to version &lt;new
version&gt;</code>. If the new version only contains security updates compared
to the existing one, the summary should be <code class="literal">&lt;packagename&gt;: security
bump to version &lt;new version&gt;</code> and the commit message body should show
the CVE numbers that are fixed. If some package patches can be removed
in the new version, it should be explained explicitly why they can be
removed, preferably with the upstream commit ID. Also any other
required changes should be explained explicitly, like configure
options that no longer exist or are no longer needed.</p><p>If you are interested in getting notified of build failures and of
further changes in the packages you added or modified, please add
yourself to the DEVELOPERS file. This should be done in the same patch
creating or modifying the package. See <a class="link" href="#DEVELOPERS" title="Chapter 22. DEVELOPERS file and get-developers">the DEVELOPERS file</a>
<a class="xref" href="#DEVELOPERS" title="Chapter 22. DEVELOPERS file and get-developers">Chapter 22, <em>DEVELOPERS file and get-developers</em></a>
for more information.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="_preparing_a_patch_series"></a>21.5.2. Preparing a patch series</h3></div></div></div><p>Starting from the changes committed in your local git view, <span class="emphasis"><em>rebase</em></span>
your development branch on top of the upstream tree before generating
a patch set. To do so, run:</p><pre class="screen">$ git fetch --all --tags
$ git rebase origin/master</pre><p>Now, you are ready to generate then submit your patch set.</p><p>To generate it, run:</p><pre class="screen">$ git format-patch -M -n -s -o outgoing origin/master</pre><p>This will generate patch files in the <code class="literal">outgoing</code> subdirectory,
automatically adding the <code class="literal">Signed-off-by</code> line.</p><p>Once patch files are generated, you can review/edit the commit message
before submitting them, using your favorite text editor.</p><p>Buildroot provides a handy tool to know to whom your patches should be
sent, called <code class="literal">get-developers</code> (see <a class="xref" href="#DEVELOPERS" title="Chapter 22. DEVELOPERS file and get-developers">Chapter 22, <em>DEVELOPERS file and get-developers</em></a> for more
information). This tool reads your patches and outputs the appropriate
<code class="literal">git send-email</code> command to use:</p><pre class="screen">$ ./utils/get-developers outgoing/*</pre><p>Use the output of <code class="literal">get-developers</code> to send your patches:</p><pre class="screen">$ git send-email --to buildroot@buildroot.org --cc bob --cc alice outgoing/*</pre><p>Note that <code class="literal">git</code> should be configured to use your mail account.
To configure <code class="literal">git</code>, see <code class="literal">man git-send-email</code> or google it.</p><p>If you do not use <code class="literal">git send-email</code>, make sure posted <span class="strong"><strong>patches are not
line-wrapped</strong></span>, otherwise they cannot easily be applied. In such a case,
fix your e-mail client, or better yet, learn to use <code class="literal">git send-email</code>.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="_cover_letter"></a>21.5.3. Cover letter</h3></div></div></div><p>If you want to present the whole patch set in a separate mail, add
<code class="literal">--cover-letter</code> to the <code class="literal">git format-patch</code> command (see <code class="literal">man
git-format-patch</code> for further information). This will generate a
template for an introduction e-mail to your patch series.</p><p>A <span class="emphasis"><em>cover letter</em></span> may be useful to introduce the changes you propose
in the following cases:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
large number of commits in the series;
</li><li class="listitem">
deep impact of the changes in the rest of the project;
</li><li class="listitem">
RFC <a href="#ftn.idm45832964578176" class="footnote" id="idm45832964578176"><sup class="footnote">[4]</sup></a>;
</li><li class="listitem">
whenever you feel it will help presenting your work, your choices,
the review process, etc.
</li></ul></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="_patch_revision_changelog"></a>21.5.4. Patch revision changelog</h3></div></div></div><p>When improvements are requested, the new revision of each commit
should include a changelog of the modifications between each
submission. Note that when your patch series is introduced by a cover
letter, an overall changelog may be added to the cover letter in
addition to the changelog in the individual commits.
The best thing to rework a patch series is by interactive rebasing:
<code class="literal">git rebase -i origin/master</code>. Consult the git manual for more
information.</p><p>When added to the individual commits, this changelog is added when
editing the commit message. Below the <code class="literal">Signed-off-by</code> section, add
<code class="literal">---</code> and your changelog.</p><p>Although the changelog will be visible for the reviewers in the mail
thread, as well as in <a class="ulink" href="http://patchwork.buildroot.org" target="_top">patchwork</a>, <code class="literal">git</code>
will automatically ignores lines below <code class="literal">---</code> when the patch will be
merged. This is the intended behavior: the changelog is not meant to
be preserved forever in the <code class="literal">git</code> history of the project.</p><p>Hereafter the recommended layout:</p><pre class="screen">Patch title: short explanation, max 72 chars
A paragraph that explains the problem, and how it manifests itself. If
the problem is complex, it is OK to add more paragraphs. All paragraphs
should be wrapped at 72 characters.
A paragraph that explains the root cause of the problem. Again, more
than on paragraph is OK.
Finally, one or more paragraphs that explain how the problem is solved.
Don't hesitate to explain complex solutions in detail.
Signed-off-by: John DOE &lt;john.doe@example.net&gt;
---
Changes v2 -&gt; v3:
- foo bar (suggested by Jane)
- bar buz
Changes v1 -&gt; v2:
- alpha bravo (suggested by John)
- charly delta</pre><p>Any patch revision should include the version number. The version number
is simply composed of the letter <code class="literal">v</code> followed by an <code class="literal">integer</code> greater or
equal to two (i.e. "PATCH v2", "PATCH v3" …).</p><p>This can be easily handled with <code class="literal">git format-patch</code> by using the option
<code class="literal">--subject-prefix</code>:</p><pre class="screen">$ git format-patch --subject-prefix "PATCH v4" \
-M -s -o outgoing origin/master</pre><p>Since git version 1.8.1, you can also use <code class="literal">-v &lt;n&gt;</code> (where &lt;n&gt; is the
version number):</p><pre class="screen">$ git format-patch -v4 -M -s -o outgoing origin/master</pre><p>When you provide a new version of a patch, please mark the old one as
superseded in <a class="ulink" href="http://patchwork.buildroot.org" target="_top">patchwork</a>. You need to
create an account on <a class="ulink" href="http://patchwork.buildroot.org" target="_top">patchwork</a> to be
able to modify the status of your patches. Note that you can only change
the status of patches you submitted yourself, which means the email
address you register in <a class="ulink" href="http://patchwork.buildroot.org" target="_top">patchwork</a> should
match the one you use for sending patches to the mailing list.</p><p>You can also add the <code class="literal">--in-reply-to &lt;message-id&gt;</code> option when
submitting a patch to the mailing list. The id of the mail to reply to
can be found under the "Message Id" tag on
<a class="ulink" href="http://patchwork.buildroot.org" target="_top">patchwork</a>. The advantage of
<span class="strong"><strong>in-reply-to</strong></span> is that patchwork will automatically mark the previous
version of the patch as superseded.</p></div></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="reporting-bugs"></a>21.6. Reporting issues/bugs or getting help</h2></div></div></div><p>Before reporting any issue, please check in
<a class="link" href="#community-resources" title="Chapter 5. Community resources">the mailing list archive</a>
<a class="xref" href="#community-resources" title="Chapter 5. Community resources">Chapter 5, <em>Community resources</em></a> whether someone has
already reported and/or fixed a similar problem.</p><p>However you choose to report bugs or get help, either by
opening a bug in the <a class="link" href="#community-resources" title="Chapter 5. Community resources">bug tracker</a>
<a class="xref" href="#community-resources" title="Chapter 5. Community resources">Chapter 5, <em>Community resources</em></a> or by
<a class="link" href="#community-resources" title="Chapter 5. Community resources">sending a mail to the mailing list</a>
<a class="xref" href="#community-resources" title="Chapter 5. Community resources">Chapter 5, <em>Community resources</em></a>, there are
a number of details to provide in order to help people reproduce and
find a solution to the issue.</p><p>Try to think as if you were trying to help someone else; in
that case, what would you need?</p><p>Here is a short list of details to provide in such case:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
host machine (OS/release)
</li><li class="listitem">
version of Buildroot
</li><li class="listitem">
target for which the build fails
</li><li class="listitem">
package(s) for which the build fails
</li><li class="listitem">
the command that fails and its output
</li><li class="listitem">
any information you think that may be relevant
</li></ul></div><p>Additionally, you should add the <code class="literal">.config</code> file (or if you know how, a
<code class="literal">defconfig</code>; see <a class="xref" href="#customize-store-buildroot-config" title="9.3. Storing the Buildroot configuration">Section 9.3, “Storing the Buildroot configuration”</a>).</p><p>If some of these details are too large, do not hesitate to use a
pastebin service. Note that not all available pastebin services will
preserve Unix-style line terminators when downloading raw pastes.
Following pastebin services are known to work correctly:
- <a class="ulink" href="https://gist.github.com/" target="_top">https://gist.github.com/</a>
- <a class="ulink" href="http://code.bulix.org/" target="_top">http://code.bulix.org/</a></p></div><div class="footnotes"><br /><hr style="width:100; text-align:left;margin-left: 0" /><div id="ftn.idm45832964578176" class="footnote"><p><a href="#idm45832964578176" class="simpara"><sup class="simpara">[4] </sup></a>RFC: (Request for comments) change proposal</p></div></div></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="DEVELOPERS"></a>Chapter 22. DEVELOPERS file and get-developers</h2></div></div></div><p>The main Buildroot directory contains a file named <code class="literal">DEVELOPERS</code> that
lists the developers involved with various areas of Buildroot. Thanks
to this file, the <code class="literal">get-developer</code> tool allows to:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
Calculate the list of developers to whom patches should be sent, by
parsing the patches and matching the modified files with the
relevant developers. See <a class="xref" href="#submitting-patches" title="21.5. Submitting patches">Section 21.5, “Submitting patches”</a> for details.
</li><li class="listitem">
Find which developers are taking care of a given architecture or
package, so that they can be notified when a build failure occurs on
this architecture or package. This is done in interaction with
Buildroot’s autobuild infrastructure.
</li></ul></div><p>We ask developers adding new packages, new boards, or generally new
functionality in Buildroot, to register themselves in the <code class="literal">DEVELOPERS</code>
file. As an example, we expect a developer contributing a new package
to include in his patch the appropriate modification to the
<code class="literal">DEVELOPERS</code> file.</p><p>The <code class="literal">DEVELOPERS</code> file format is documented in detail inside the file
itself.</p><p>The <code class="literal">get-developer</code> tool, located in <code class="literal">utils/</code> allows to use
the <code class="literal">DEVELOPERS</code> file for various tasks:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
When passing one or several patches as command line argument,
<code class="literal">get-developer</code> will return the appropriate <code class="literal">git send-email</code>
command.
</li><li class="listitem">
When using the <code class="literal">-a &lt;arch&gt;</code> command line option, <code class="literal">get-developer</code> will
return the list of developers in charge of the given architecture.
</li><li class="listitem">
When using the <code class="literal">-p &lt;package&gt;</code> command line option, <code class="literal">get-developer</code>
will return the list of developers in charge of the given package.
</li><li class="listitem">
When using the <code class="literal">-c</code> command line option, <code class="literal">get-developer</code> will look
at all files under version control in the Buildroot repository, and
list the ones that are not handled by any developer. The purpose of
this option is to help completing the <code class="literal">DEVELOPERS</code> file.
</li><li class="listitem">
When using without any arguments, it validates the integrity of the
DEVELOPERS file and will note WARNINGS for items that don’t match.
</li></ul></div></div></div><div class="part"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h1 class="title"><a id="_appendix"></a>Part IV. Appendix</h1></div></div></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="makedev-syntax"></a>Chapter 23. Makedev syntax documentation</h2></div></div></div><p>The makedev syntax is used in several places in Buildroot to
define changes to be made for permissions, or which device files to
create and how to create them, in order to avoid calls to mknod.</p><p>This syntax is derived from the makedev utility, and more complete
documentation can be found in the <code class="literal">package/makedevs/README</code> file.</p><p>It takes the form of a space separated list of fields, one file per
line; the fields are:</p><div class="informaltable"><table class="informaltable" cellpadding="4px" style="border-collapse: collapse;border-top: 3px solid #527bbd; border-bottom: 3px solid #527bbd; border-left: 3px solid #527bbd; border-right: 3px solid #527bbd; "><colgroup><col class="col_1" /><col class="col_2" /><col class="col_3" /><col class="col_4" /><col class="col_5" /><col class="col_6" /><col class="col_7" /><col class="col_8" /><col class="col_9" /><col class="col_10" /></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"><p>name</p></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"><p>type</p></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"><p>mode</p></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"><p>uid</p></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"><p>gid</p></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"><p>major</p></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"><p>minor</p></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"><p>start</p></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"><p>inc</p></td><td style="" align="left" valign="top"><p>count</p></td></tr></tbody></table></div><p>There are a few non-trivial blocks:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">name</code> is the path to the file you want to create/modify
</li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
<code class="literal">type</code> is the type of the file, being one of:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: circle; "><li class="listitem">
f: a regular file
</li><li class="listitem">
d: a directory
</li><li class="listitem">
r: a directory recursively
</li><li class="listitem">
c: a character device file
</li><li class="listitem">
b: a block device file
</li><li class="listitem">
p: a named pipe
</li></ul></div></li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">mode</code> are the usual permissions settings (only numerical values
are allowed)
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">uid</code> and <code class="literal">gid</code> are the UID and GID to set on this file; can be
either numerical values or actual names
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">major</code> and <code class="literal">minor</code> are here for device files, set to <code class="literal">-</code> for other
files
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">start</code>, <code class="literal">inc</code> and <code class="literal">count</code> are for when you want to create a batch
of files, and can be reduced to a loop, beginning at <code class="literal">start</code>,
incrementing its counter by <code class="literal">inc</code> until it reaches <code class="literal">count</code>
</li></ul></div><p>Let’s say you want to change the permissions of a given file; using
this syntax, you will need to write:</p><pre class="screen">/usr/bin/foo f 755 0 0 - - - - -
/usr/bin/bar f 755 root root - - - - -
/data/buz f 644 buz-user buz-group - - - - -</pre><p>Alternatively, if you want to change owner/permission of a directory
recursively, you can write (to set UID to foo, GID to bar and access
rights to rwxr-x--- for the directory /usr/share/myapp and all files
and directories below it):</p><pre class="screen">/usr/share/myapp r 750 foo bar - - - - -</pre><p>On the other hand, if you want to create the device file <code class="literal">/dev/hda</code>
and the corresponding 15 files for the partitions, you will need for
<code class="literal">/dev/hda</code>:</p><pre class="screen">/dev/hda b 640 root root 3 0 0 0 -</pre><p>and then for device files corresponding to the partitions of
<code class="literal">/dev/hda</code>, <code class="literal">/dev/hdaX</code>, <code class="literal">X</code> ranging from 1 to 15:</p><pre class="screen">/dev/hda b 640 root root 3 1 1 1 15</pre><p>Extended attributes are supported if
<code class="literal">BR2_ROOTFS_DEVICE_TABLE_SUPPORTS_EXTENDED_ATTRIBUTES</code> is enabled.
This is done by adding a line starting with <code class="literal">|xattr</code> after
the line describing the file. Right now, only capability
is supported as extended attribute.</p><div class="informaltable"><table class="informaltable" cellpadding="4px" style="border-collapse: collapse;border-top: 3px solid #527bbd; border-bottom: 3px solid #527bbd; border-left: 3px solid #527bbd; border-right: 3px solid #527bbd; "><colgroup><col class="col_1" /><col class="col_2" /></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"><p>|xattr</p></td><td style="" align="left" valign="top"><p>capability</p></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">|xattr</code> is a "flag" that indicate an extended attribute
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">capability</code> is a capability to add to the previous file
</li></ul></div><p>If you want to add the capability cap_sys_admin to the binary foo,
you will write :</p><pre class="screen">/usr/bin/foo f 755 root root - - - - -
|xattr cap_sys_admin+eip</pre><p>You can add several capabilities to a file by using several <code class="literal">|xattr</code> lines.
If you want to add the capability cap_sys_admin and cap_net_admin to the
binary foo, you will write :</p><pre class="screen">/usr/bin/foo f 755 root root - - - - -
|xattr cap_sys_admin+eip
|xattr cap_net_admin+eip</pre></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="makeuser-syntax"></a>Chapter 24. Makeusers syntax documentation</h2></div></div></div><p>The syntax to create users is inspired by the makedev syntax, above, but
is specific to Buildroot.</p><p>The syntax for adding a user is a space-separated list of fields, one
user per line; the fields are:</p><div class="informaltable"><table class="informaltable" cellpadding="4px" style="border-collapse: collapse;border-top: 3px solid #527bbd; border-bottom: 3px solid #527bbd; border-left: 3px solid #527bbd; border-right: 3px solid #527bbd; "><colgroup><col class="col_1" /><col class="col_2" /><col class="col_3" /><col class="col_4" /><col class="col_5" /><col class="col_6" /><col class="col_7" /><col class="col_8" /><col class="col_9" /></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"><p>username</p></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"><p>uid</p></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"><p>group</p></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"><p>gid</p></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"><p>password</p></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"><p>home</p></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"><p>shell</p></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid #527bbd; " align="left" valign="top"><p>groups</p></td><td style="" align="left" valign="top"><p>comment</p></td></tr></tbody></table></div><p>Where:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">username</code> is the desired user name (aka login name) for the user.
It can not be <code class="literal">root</code>, and must be unique. If set to <code class="literal">-</code>, then just a
group will be created.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">uid</code> is the desired UID for the user. It must be unique, and not
<code class="literal">0</code>. If set to <code class="literal">-1</code>, then a unique UID will be computed by Buildroot
in the range [1000…1999]
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">group</code> is the desired name for the user’s main group. It can not
be <code class="literal">root</code>. If the group does not exist, it will be created.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">gid</code> is the desired GID for the user’s main group. It must be unique,
and not <code class="literal">0</code>. If set to <code class="literal">-1</code>, and the group does not already exist, then
a unique GID will be computed by Buildroot in the range [1000..1999]
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">password</code> is the crypt(3)-encoded password. If prefixed with <code class="literal">!</code>,
then login is disabled. If prefixed with <code class="literal">=</code>, then it is interpreted
as clear-text, and will be crypt-encoded (using MD5). If prefixed with
<code class="literal">!=</code>, then the password will be crypt-encoded (using MD5) and login
will be disabled. If set to <code class="literal">*</code>, then login is not allowed. If set to
<code class="literal">-</code>, then no password value will be set.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">home</code> is the desired home directory for the user. If set to <span class="emphasis"><em>-</em></span>, no
home directory will be created, and the user’s home will be <code class="literal">/</code>.
Explicitly setting <code class="literal">home</code> to <code class="literal">/</code> is not allowed.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">shell</code> is the desired shell for the user. If set to <code class="literal">-</code>, then
<code class="literal">/bin/false</code> is set as the user’s shell.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">groups</code> is the comma-separated list of additional groups the user
should be part of. If set to <code class="literal">-</code>, then the user will be a member of
no additional group. Missing groups will be created with an arbitrary
<code class="literal">gid</code>.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">comment</code> (aka <a class="ulink" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gecos_field" target="_top">GECOS</a>
field) is an almost-free-form text.
</li></ul></div><p>There are a few restrictions on the content of each field:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
except for <code class="literal">comment</code>, all fields are mandatory.
</li><li class="listitem">
except for <code class="literal">comment</code>, fields may not contain spaces.
</li><li class="listitem">
no field may contain a colon (<code class="literal">:</code>).
</li></ul></div><p>If <code class="literal">home</code> is not <code class="literal">-</code>, then the home directory, and all files below,
will belong to the user and its main group.</p><p>Examples:</p><pre class="screen">foo -1 bar -1 !=blabla /home/foo /bin/sh alpha,bravo Foo user</pre><p>This will create this user:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">username</code> (aka login name) is: <code class="literal">foo</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">uid</code> is computed by Buildroot
</li><li class="listitem">
main <code class="literal">group</code> is: <code class="literal">bar</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
main group <code class="literal">gid</code> is computed by Buildroot
</li><li class="listitem">
clear-text <code class="literal">password</code> is: <code class="literal">blabla</code>, will be crypt(3)-encoded, and login is disabled.
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">home</code> is: <code class="literal">/home/foo</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">shell</code> is: <code class="literal">/bin/sh</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">foo</code> is also a member of <code class="literal">groups</code>: <code class="literal">alpha</code> and <code class="literal">bravo</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">comment</code> is: <code class="literal">Foo user</code>
</li></ul></div><pre class="screen">test 8000 wheel -1 = - /bin/sh - Test user</pre><p>This will create this user:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">username</code> (aka login name) is: <code class="literal">test</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">uid</code> is : <code class="literal">8000</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
main <code class="literal">group</code> is: <code class="literal">wheel</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
main group <code class="literal">gid</code> is computed by Buildroot, and will use the value defined in the rootfs skeleton
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">password</code> is empty (aka no password).
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">home</code> is <code class="literal">/</code> but will not belong to <code class="literal">test</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">shell</code> is: <code class="literal">/bin/sh</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">test</code> is not a member of any additional <code class="literal">groups</code>
</li><li class="listitem">
<code class="literal">comment</code> is: <code class="literal">Test user</code>
</li></ul></div></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a id="migrating-from-ol-versions"></a>Chapter 25. Migrating from older Buildroot versions</h2></div></div></div><p>Some versions have introduced backward incompatibilities. This section
explains those incompatibilities, and for each explains what to do to
complete the migration.</p><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="br2-external-converting"></a>25.1. Migrating to 2016.11</h2></div></div></div><p>Before Buildroot 2016.11, it was possible to use only one br2-external
tree at once. With Buildroot 2016.11 came the possibility to use more
than one simultaneously (for details, see <a class="xref" href="#outside-br-custom" title="9.2. Keeping customizations outside of Buildroot">Section 9.2, “Keeping customizations outside of Buildroot”</a>).</p><p>This however means that older br2-external trees are not usable as-is.
A minor change has to be made: adding a name to your br2-external tree.</p><p>This can be done very easily in just a few steps:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
First, create a new file named <code class="literal">external.desc</code>, at the root of your
br2-external tree, with a single line defining the name of your
br2-external tree:
</p><pre class="screen">$ echo 'name: NAME_OF_YOUR_TREE' &gt;external.desc</pre><p><strong>Note. </strong>Be careful when choosing a name: It has to be unique and be made
with only ASCII characters from the set <code class="literal">[A-Za-z0-9_]</code>.</p></li><li class="listitem"><p class="simpara">
Then, change every occurence of <code class="literal">BR2_EXTERNAL</code> in your br2-external
tree with the new variable:
</p><pre class="screen">$ find . -type f | xargs sed -i 's/BR2_EXTERNAL/BR2_EXTERNAL_NAME_OF_YOUR_TREE_PATH/g'</pre></li></ul></div><p>Now, your br2-external tree can be used with Buildroot 2016.11 onward.</p><p><strong>Note: </strong>This change makes your br2-external tree incompatible with Buildroot
before 2016.11.</p></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="migrating-host-usr"></a>25.2. Migrating to 2017.08</h2></div></div></div><p>Before Buildroot 2017.08, host packages were installed in <code class="literal">$(HOST_DIR)/usr</code>
(with e.g. the autotools' <code class="literal">--prefix=$(HOST_DIR)/usr</code>). With Buildroot
2017.08, they are now installed directly in <code class="literal">$(HOST_DIR)</code>.</p><p>Whenever a package installs an executable that is linked with a library
in <code class="literal">$(HOST_DIR)/lib</code>, it must have an RPATH pointing to that directory.</p><p>An RPATH pointing to <code class="literal">$(HOST_DIR)/usr/lib</code> is no longer accepted.</p></div></div></div></div></body></html>
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