Yocto Project Mega-Manual

Systems across a large team should meet the needs of two types of developers: those working on the contents of the operating system image itself and those developing applications. Regardless of the type of developer, their workstations must be both reasonably powerful and run Linux.

Keeping your Metadata and any software you are developing under the control of an SCM system that is compatible with the OpenEmbedded build system is advisable. Of the SCMs BitBake supports, the Yocto Project team strongly recommends using Git. Git is a distributed system that is easy to backup, allows you to work remotely, and then connects back to the infrastructure.

It is relatively easy to set up Git services and create infrastructure like http://git.yoctoproject.org, which is based on server software called gitolite with cgit being used to generate the web interface that lets you view the repositories. The gitolite software identifies users using SSH keys and allows branch-based access controls to repositories that you can control as little or as much as necessary.

Autobuilders are often the core of a development project. It is here that changes from individual developers are brought together and centrally tested and subsequent decisions about releases can be made. Autobuilders also allow for "continuous integration" style testing of software components and regression identification and tracking.

See "Yocto Project Autobuilder" for more information and links to buildbot. The Yocto Project team has found this implementation works well in this role. A public example of this is the Yocto Project Autobuilders, which we use to test the overall health of the project.

The features of this system are:

The Yocto Project itself uses a hierarchical structure and a pull model. Scripts exist to create and send pull requests (i.e. create-pull-request and send-pull-request). This model is in line with other open source projects where maintainers are responsible for specific areas of the project and a single maintainer handles the final "top-of-tree" merges.

As with any development environment, it is important to document the policy used as well as any main project guidelines so they are understood by everyone. It is also a good idea to have well structured commit messages, which are usually a part of a project's guidelines. Good commit messages are essential when looking back in time and trying to understand why changes were made.

If you discover that changes are needed to the core layer of the project, it is worth sharing those with the community as soon as possible. Chances are if you have discovered the need for changes, someone else in the community needs them also.

This section summarizes the key recommendations described in the previous sections:

As mentioned earlier in the section "Yocto Project Source Repositories", the Yocto Project maintains source repositories at http://git.yoctoproject.org/cgit.cgi. If you look at this web-interface of the repositories, each item is a separate Git repository.

Git repositories use branching techniques that track content change (not files) within a project (e.g. a new feature or updated documentation). Creating a tree-like structure based on project divergence allows for excellent historical information over the life of a project. This methodology also allows for an environment from which you can do lots of local experimentation on projects as you develop changes or new features.

A Git repository represents all development efforts for a given project. For example, the Git repository poky contains all changes and developments for Poky over the course of its entire life. That means that all changes that make up all releases are captured. The repository maintains a complete history of changes.

You can create a local copy of any repository by "cloning" it with the Git clone command. When you clone a Git repository, you end up with an identical copy of the repository on your development system. Once you have a local copy of a repository, you can take steps to develop locally. For examples on how to clone Git repositories, see the "Getting Set Up" section.

It is important to understand that Git tracks content change and not files. Git uses "branches" to organize different development efforts. For example, the poky repository has several branches that include the current krogoth branch, the master branch, and many branches for past Yocto Project releases. You can see all the branches by going to http://git.yoctoproject.org/cgit.cgi/poky/ and clicking on the [...] link beneath the "Branch" heading.

Each of these branches represents a specific area of development. The master branch represents the current or most recent development. All other branches represent offshoots of the master branch.

When you create a local copy of a Git repository, the copy has the same set of branches as the original. This means you can use Git to create a local working area (also called a branch) that tracks a specific development branch from the source Git repository. in other words, you can define your local Git environment to work on any development branch in the repository. To help illustrate, here is a set of commands that creates a local copy of the poky Git repository and then creates and checks out a local Git branch that tracks the Yocto Project 2.1.2 Release (Krogoth) development:

     $ cd ~
     $ git clone git://git.yoctoproject.org/poky
     $ cd poky
     $ git checkout -b krogoth origin/krogoth
            

In this example, the name of the top-level directory of your local Source Directory is "poky" and the name of that local working area (local branch) you just created and checked out is "krogoth". The files in your local repository now reflect the same files that are in the "krogoth" development branch of the Yocto Project's "poky" upstream repository. It is important to understand that when you create and checkout a local working branch based on a branch name, your local environment matches the "tip" of that development branch at the time you created your local branch, which could be different from the files at the time of a similarly named release. In other words, creating and checking out a local branch based on the "krogoth" branch name is not the same as cloning and checking out the "master" branch. Keep reading to see how you create a local snapshot of a Yocto Project Release.

Git uses "tags" to mark specific changes in a repository. Typically, a tag is used to mark a special point such as the final change before a project is released. You can see the tags used with the poky Git repository by going to http://git.yoctoproject.org/cgit.cgi/poky/ and clicking on the [...] link beneath the "Tag" heading.

Some key tags are dizzy-12.0.0, fido-13.0.0, jethro-14.0.0, and krogoth-15.0.2. These tags represent Yocto Project releases.

When you create a local copy of the Git repository, you also have access to all the tags. Similar to branches, you can create and checkout a local working Git branch based on a tag name. When you do this, you get a snapshot of the Git repository that reflects the state of the files when the change was made associated with that tag. The most common use is to checkout a working branch that matches a specific Yocto Project release. Here is an example:

     $ cd ~
     $ git clone git://git.yoctoproject.org/poky
     $ cd poky
     $ git checkout -b my-krogoth-15.0.2 krogoth-15.0.2
            

In this example, the name of the top-level directory of your local Yocto Project Files Git repository is poky. And, the name of the local branch you have created and checked out is my-krogoth-15.0.2. The files in your repository now exactly match the Yocto Project 2.1.2 Release tag (krogoth-15.0.2). It is important to understand that when you create and checkout a local working branch based on a tag, your environment matches a specific point in time and not the entire development branch.

Git has an extensive set of commands that lets you manage changes and perform collaboration over the life of a project. Conveniently though, you can manage with a small set of basic operations and workflows once you understand the basic philosophy behind Git. You do not have to be an expert in Git to be functional. A good place to look for instruction on a minimal set of Git commands is here. If you need to download Git, you can do so here, although any reasonably current Linux distribution should already have an installable package for Git.

If you do not know much about Git, you should educate yourself by visiting the links previously mentioned.

The following list briefly describes some basic Git operations as a way to get started. As with any set of commands, this list (in most cases) simply shows the base command and omits the many arguments they support. See the Git documentation for complete descriptions and strategies on how to use these commands:

The basic flow for pushing a change to an upstream "contrib" Git repository is as follows:

You can find general Git information on how to push a change upstream in the Git Community Book.

You can submit patches without using the create-pull-request and send-pull-request scripts described in the previous section. However, keep in mind, the preferred method is to use the scripts.

Depending on the components changed, you need to submit the email to a specific mailing list. For some guidance on which mailing list to use, see the list in the "How to Submit a Change" section. For a description of the available mailing lists, see the "Mailing Lists" section in the Yocto Project Reference Manual.

Here is the general procedure on how to submit a patch through email without using the scripts:

A BSP is a collection of recipes that, when applied during a build, results in an image that you can run on a particular board. Thus, the package when compiled into the new image, supports the operation of the board.

The remainder of this section presents the basic steps used to create a BSP using the Yocto Project's BSP Tools. Although not required for BSP creation, the meta-intel repository, which contains many BSPs supported by the Yocto Project, is part of the example.

For an example that shows how to create a new layer using the tools, see the "Creating a New BSP Layer Using the yocto-bsp Script" section in the Yocto Project Board Support Package (BSP) Developer's Guide.

The following illustration and list summarize the BSP creation general workflow.

You can view a video presentation on "Building Custom Embedded Images with Yocto" at Free Electrons. After going to the page, just search for "Embedded". You can also find supplemental information in the Yocto Project Board Support Package (BSP) Developer's Guide. Finally, there is helpful material and links on this wiki page. Although a bit dated, you might find the information on the wiki helpful.

Kernel modification involves changing the Yocto Project kernel, which could involve changing configuration options as well as adding new kernel recipes. Configuration changes can be added in the form of configuration fragments, while recipe modification comes through the kernel's recipes-kernel area in a kernel layer you create.

The remainder of this section presents a high-level overview of the Yocto Project kernel architecture and the steps to modify the kernel. You can reference the "Patching the Kernel" section for an example that changes the source code of the kernel. For information on how to configure the kernel, see the "Configuring the Kernel" section. For more information on the kernel and on modifying the kernel, see the Yocto Project Linux Kernel Development Manual.

4.1.2.1. Kernel Overview¶

Traditionally, when one thinks of a patched kernel, they think of a base kernel source tree and a fixed structure that contains kernel patches. The Yocto Project, however, employs mechanisms that, in a sense, result in a kernel source generator. By the end of this section, this analogy will become clearer.

You can find a web interface to the Yocto Project kernel source repositories at http://git.yoctoproject.org. If you look at the interface, you will see to the left a grouping of Git repositories titled "Yocto Linux Kernel." Within this group, you will find several kernels supported by the Yocto Project:

• linux-yocto-3.14 - The stable Yocto Project kernel to use with the Yocto Project Releases 1.6 and 1.7. This kernel is based on the Linux 3.14 released kernel.

• linux-yocto-3.17 - An additional, unsupported Yocto Project kernel used with the Yocto Project Release 1.7. This kernel is based on the Linux 3.17 released kernel.

• linux-yocto-3.19 - The stable Yocto Project kernel to use with the Yocto Project Release 1.8. This kernel is based on the Linux 3.19 released kernel.

• linux-yocto-4.1 - The stable Yocto Project kernel to use with the Yocto Project Release 2.0. This kernel is based on the Linux 4.1 released kernel.

• linux-yocto-4.4 - The stable Yocto Project kernel to use with the Yocto Project Release 2.1. This kernel is based on the Linux 4.4 released kernel.

• linux-yocto-dev - A development kernel based on the latest upstream release candidate available.

Note

Long Term Support Initiative (LTSI) for Yocto Project kernels is as follows:

• For Yocto Project releases 1.7, 1.8, and 2.0, the LTSI kernel is linux-yocto-3.14.

• For Yocto Project release 2.1, the LTSI kernel is linux-yocto-4.1.

The kernels are maintained using the Git revision control system that structures them using the familiar "tree", "branch", and "leaf" scheme. Branches represent diversions from general code to more specific code, while leaves represent the end-points for a complete and unique kernel whose source files, when gathered from the root of the tree to the leaf, accumulate to create the files necessary for a specific piece of hardware and its features. The following figure displays this concept:

Within the figure, the "Kernel.org Branch Point" represents the point in the tree where a supported base kernel is modified from the Linux kernel. For example, this could be the branch point for the linux-yocto-3.19 kernel. Thus, everything further to the right in the structure is based on the linux-yocto-3.19 kernel. Branch points to the right in the figure represent where the linux-yocto-3.19 kernel is modified for specific hardware or types of kernels, such as real-time kernels. Each leaf thus represents the end-point for a kernel designed to run on a specific targeted device.

The overall result is a Git-maintained repository from which all the supported kernel types can be derived for all the supported devices. A big advantage to this scheme is the sharing of common features by keeping them in "larger" branches within the tree. This practice eliminates redundant storage of similar features shared among kernels.

Note

Keep in mind the figure does not take into account all the supported Yocto Project kernel types, but rather shows a single generic kernel just for conceptual purposes. Also keep in mind that this structure represents the Yocto Project source repositories that are either pulled from during the build or established on the host development system prior to the build by either cloning a particular kernel's Git repository or by downloading and unpacking a tarball.

Upstream storage of all the available kernel source code is one thing, while representing and using the code on your host development system is another. Conceptually, you can think of the kernel source repositories as all the source files necessary for all the supported kernels. As a developer, you are just interested in the source files for the kernel on which you are working. And, furthermore, you need them available on your host system.

Kernel source code is available on your host system a couple of different ways. If you are working in the kernel all the time, you probably would want to set up your own local Git repository of the kernel tree. If you just need to make some patches to the kernel, you can access temporary kernel source files that were extracted and used during a build. We will just talk about working with the temporary source code. For more information on how to get kernel source code onto your host system, see the "Yocto Project Kernel" bulleted item earlier in the manual.

What happens during the build? When you build the kernel on your development system, all files needed for the build are taken from the source repositories pointed to by the SRC_URI variable and gathered in a temporary work area where they are subsequently used to create the unique kernel. Thus, in a sense, the process constructs a local source tree specific to your kernel to generate the new kernel image - a source generator if you will.

The following figure shows the temporary file structure created on your host system when the build occurs. This Build Directory contains all the source files used during the build.

Again, for additional information on the Yocto Project kernel's architecture and its branching strategy, see the Yocto Project Linux Kernel Development Manual. You can also reference the "Patching the Kernel" section for a detailed example that modifies the kernel.

4.1.2.2. Kernel Modification Workflow¶

This illustration and the following list summarizes the kernel modification general workflow.

1. Set up your host development system to support development using the Yocto Project: See "The Linux Distribution" and "The Build Host Packages" sections both in the Yocto Project Quick Start for requirements.

2. Establish a local copy of project files on your system: Having the Source Directory on your system gives you access to the build process and tools you need. For information on how to get these files, see the bulleted item "Yocto Project Release" earlier in this manual.

3. Establish the temporary kernel source files: Temporary kernel source files are kept in the Build Directory created by the OpenEmbedded build system when you run BitBake. If you have never built the kernel in which you are interested, you need to run an initial build to establish local kernel source files.

   If you are building an image for the first time, you need to get the build environment ready by sourcing an environment setup script (i.e. oe-init-build-env or oe-init-build-env-memres). You also need to be sure two key configuration files (local.conf and bblayers.conf) are configured appropriately.

   The entire process for building an image is overviewed in the "Building Images" section of the Yocto Project Quick Start. You might want to reference this information. You can find more information on BitBake in the BitBake User Manual.

   The build process supports several types of images to satisfy different needs. See the "Images" chapter in the Yocto Project Reference Manual for information on supported images.

4. Make changes to the kernel source code if applicable: Modifying the kernel does not always mean directly changing source files. However, if you have to do this, you make the changes to the files in the Build Directory.

5. Make kernel configuration changes if applicable: If your situation calls for changing the kernel's configuration, you can use menuconfig, which allows you to interactively develop and test the configuration changes you are making to the kernel. Saving changes you make with menuconfig updates the kernel's .config file.

   Warning

   Try to resist the temptation to directly edit an existing .config file, which is found in the Build Directory at tmp/sysroots/machine-name/kernel. Doing so, can produce unexpected results when the OpenEmbedded build system regenerates the configuration file.

   Once you are satisfied with the configuration changes made using menuconfig and you have saved them, you can directly compare the resulting .config file against an existing original and gather those changes into a configuration fragment file to be referenced from within the kernel's .bbappend file.

   Additionally, if you are working in a BSP layer and need to modify the BSP's kernel's configuration, you can use the yocto-kernel script as well as menuconfig. The yocto-kernel script lets you interactively set up kernel configurations.

6. Rebuild the kernel image with your changes: Rebuilding the kernel image applies your changes.

As mentioned earlier, devtool helps you easily develop projects whose build output must be part of an image built using the OpenEmbedded build system.

Three entry points exist that allow you to develop using devtool:

The remainder of this section presents these workflows.

devtool has more functionality than simply adding a new recipe and the supporting Metadata to a temporary workspace layer. This section provides a short reference on devtool and its commands.

     usage: devtool [--basepath BASEPATH] [--bbpath BBPATH] [-d] [-q]
                    [--color COLOR] [-h]
                    <subcommand> ...

     OpenEmbedded development tool

     optional arguments:
       --basepath BASEPATH  Base directory of SDK / build directory
       --bbpath BBPATH      Explicitly specify the BBPATH, rather than getting it
                            from the metadata
       -d, --debug          Enable debug output
       -q, --quiet          Print only errors
       --color COLOR        Colorize output (where COLOR is auto, always, never)
       -h, --help           show this help message and exit

     subcommands:
       Beginning work on a recipe:
         add                  Add a new recipe
         modify               Modify the source for an existing recipe
         upgrade              Upgrade an existing recipe
       Getting information:
         status               Show workspace status
         search               Search available recipes
       Working on a recipe in the workspace:
         build                Build a recipe
         edit-recipe          Edit a recipe file in your workspace
         configure-help       Get help on configure script options
         update-recipe        Apply changes from external source tree to recipe
         reset                Remove a recipe from your workspace
       Testing changes on target:
         deploy-target        Deploy recipe output files to live target machine
         undeploy-target      Undeploy recipe output files in live target machine
         build-image          Build image including workspace recipe packages
       Advanced:
         create-workspace     Set up workspace in an alternative location
         extract              Extract the source for an existing recipe
         sync                 Synchronize the source tree for an existing recipe
     Use devtool <subcommand> --help to get help on a specific command
                

     $ devtool add --help
     usage: devtool add [-h] [--same-dir | --no-same-dir] [--fetch URI]
                        [--version VERSION] [--no-git] [--binary] [--also-native]
                        [--src-subdir SUBDIR]
                        [recipename] [srctree] [fetchuri]

     Adds a new recipe to the workspace to build a specified source tree. Can
     optionally fetch a remote URI and unpack it to create the source tree.

     positional arguments:
       recipename            Name for new recipe to add (just name - no version,
                             path or extension). If not specified, will attempt to
                             auto-detect it.
       srctree               Path to external source tree. If not specified, a
                             subdirectory of
                             /home/scottrif/poky/build/workspace/sources will be
                             used.
       fetchuri              Fetch the specified URI and extract it to create the
                             source tree

     optional arguments:
       -h, --help            show this help message and exit
       --same-dir, -s        Build in same directory as source
       --no-same-dir         Force build in a separate build directory
       --fetch URI, -f URI   Fetch the specified URI and extract it to create the
                             source tree (deprecated - pass as positional argument
                             instead)
       --version VERSION, -V VERSION
                             Version to use within recipe (PV)
       --no-git, -g          If fetching source, do not set up source tree as a git
                             repository
       --binary, -b          Treat the source tree as something that should be
                             installed verbatim (no compilation, same directory
                             structure). Useful with binary packages e.g. RPMs.
       --also-native         Also add native variant (i.e. support building recipe
                             for the build host as well as the target machine)
       --src-subdir SUBDIR   Specify subdirectory within source tree to use
                

4.3.2.2. The Workspace Layer Structure¶

devtool uses a "Workspace" layer in which to accomplish builds. This layer is not specific to any single devtool command but is rather a common working area used across the tool.

The following figure shows the workspace structure:

     attic - A directory created if devtool believes it preserve
             anything when you run "devtool reset".  For example, if you
             run "devtool add", make changes to the recipe, and then
             run "devtool reset", devtool takes notice that the file has
             been changed and moves it into the attic should you still
             want the recipe.

     README - Provides information on what is in workspace layer and how to
              manage it.

     .devtool_md5 - A checksum file used by devtool.

     appends - A directory that contains *.bbappend files, which point to
               external source.

     conf - A configuration directory that contains the layer.conf file.

     recipes - A directory containing recipes.  This directory contains a
               folder for each directory added whose name matches that of the
               added recipe.  devtool places the recipe.bb file
               within that sub-directory.

     sources - A directory containing a working copy of the source files used
               when building the recipe.  This is the default directory used
               as the location of the source tree when you do not provide a
               source tree path.  This directory contains a folder for each
               set of source files matched to a corresponding recipe.
                

     $ devtool add jackson /home/scottrif/sources/jackson
                

     $ devtool modify recipe
                

     $ devtool update-recipe recipe
                

     $ devtool update-recipe recipe -a base-layer-directory
                 

     $ devtool reset mtr
     NOTE: Cleaning sysroot for recipe mtr...
     NOTE: Leaving source tree /home/scottrif/poky/build/workspace/sources/mtr as-is; if you no
        longer need it then please delete it manually
     $
                

     $ devtool build recipe
                

     $ devtool build-image image
                

     $ devtool deploy-target recipe target
                

     $ devtool undeploy-target recipe target
                

     $ devtool create-workspace
                

     $ devtool create-workspace /home/scottrif/new-workspace
                

     devtool status
                

     $ devtool status
     mtr: /home/scottrif/poky/build/workspace/sources/mtr (/home/scottrif/poky/build/workspace/recipes/mtr/mtr_0.86.bb)
     $
                

Quilt is a powerful tool that allows you to capture source code changes without having a clean source tree. This section outlines the typical workflow you can use to modify source code, test changes, and then preserve the changes in the form of a patch all using Quilt.

Follow these general steps:

You might find it helpful during development to modify the temporary source code used by recipes to build packages. For example, suppose you are developing a patch and you need to experiment a bit to figure out your solution. After you have initially built the package, you can iteratively tweak the source code, which is located in the Build Directory, and then you can force a re-compile and quickly test your altered code. Once you settle on a solution, you can then preserve your changes in the form of patches. If you are using Quilt for development, see the "Using Quilt in Your Workflow" section for more information.

During a build, the unpacked temporary source code used by recipes to build packages is available in the Build Directory as defined by the S variable. Below is the default value for the S variable as defined in the meta/conf/bitbake.conf configuration file in the Source Directory:

     S = "${WORKDIR}/${BP}"
            

You should be aware that many recipes override the S variable. For example, recipes that fetch their source from Git usually set S to ${WORKDIR}/git.

     BP = "${BPN}-${PV}"
                

The path to the work directory for the recipe (WORKDIR) is defined as follows:

     ${TMPDIR}/work/${MULTIMACH_TARGET_SYS}/${PN}/${EXTENDPE}${PV}-${PR}
            

The actual directory depends on several things:

As an example, assume a Source Directory top-level folder named poky, a default Build Directory at poky/build, and a qemux86-poky-linux machine target system. Furthermore, suppose your recipe is named foo_1.3.0.bb. In this case, the work directory the build system uses to build the package would be as follows:

     poky/build/tmp/work/qemux86-poky-linux/foo/1.3.0-r0
            

Now that you know where to locate the directory that has the temporary source code, you can use a Quilt as described in section "Using Quilt in Your Workflow" to make your edits, test the changes, and preserve the changes in the form of patches.

The Source Directory contains both general layers and BSP layers right out of the box. You can easily identify layers that ship with a Yocto Project release in the Source Directory by their folder names. Folders that represent layers typically have names that begin with the string meta-.

For example, when you set up the Source Directory structure, you will see several layers: meta, meta-skeleton, meta-selftest, meta-poky, and meta-yocto-bsp. Each of these folders represents a distinct layer.

As another example, if you set up a local copy of the meta-intel Git repository and then explore the folder of that general layer, you will discover many Intel-specific BSP layers inside. For more information on BSP layers, see the "BSP Layers" section in the Yocto Project Board Support Package (BSP) Developer's Guide.

It is very easy to create your own layers to use with the OpenEmbedded build system. The Yocto Project ships with scripts that speed up creating general layers and BSP layers. This section describes the steps you perform by hand to create a layer so that you can better understand them. For information about the layer-creation scripts, see the "Creating a New BSP Layer Using the yocto-bsp Script" section in the Yocto Project Board Support Package (BSP) Developer's Guide and the "Creating a General Layer Using the yocto-layer Script" section further down in this manual.

Follow these general steps to create your layer:

To create layers that are easier to maintain and that will not impact builds for other machines, you should consider the information in the following sections.

Before the OpenEmbedded build system can use your new layer, you need to enable it. To enable your layer, simply add your layer's path to the BBLAYERS variable in your conf/bblayers.conf file, which is found in the Build Directory. The following example shows how to enable a layer named meta-mylayer:

     LCONF_VERSION = "6"

     BBPATH = "${TOPDIR}"
     BBFILES ?= ""

     BBLAYERS ?= " \
       $HOME/poky/meta \
       $HOME/poky/meta-poky \
       $HOME/poky/meta-yocto-bsp \
       $HOME/poky/meta-mylayer \
       "
                

BitBake parses each conf/layer.conf file as specified in the BBLAYERS variable within the conf/bblayers.conf file. During the processing of each conf/layer.conf file, BitBake adds the recipes, classes and configurations contained within the particular layer to the source directory.

Recipes used to append Metadata to other recipes are called BitBake append files. BitBake append files use the .bbappend file type suffix, while the corresponding recipes to which Metadata is being appended use the .bb file type suffix.

A .bbappend file allows your layer to make additions or changes to the content of another layer's recipe without having to copy the other recipe into your layer. Your .bbappend file resides in your layer, while the main .bb recipe file to which you are appending Metadata resides in a different layer.

Append files must have the same root names as their corresponding recipes. For example, the append file someapp_2.1.2.bbappend must apply to someapp_2.1.2.bb. This means the original recipe and append file names are version number-specific. If the corresponding recipe is renamed to update to a newer version, the corresponding .bbappend file must be renamed (and possibly updated) as well. During the build process, BitBake displays an error on starting if it detects a .bbappend file that does not have a corresponding recipe with a matching name. See the BB_DANGLINGAPPENDS_WARNONLY variable for information on how to handle this error.

Being able to append information to an existing recipe not only avoids duplication, but also automatically applies recipe changes in a different layer to your layer. If you were copying recipes, you would have to manually merge changes as they occur.

As an example, consider the main formfactor recipe and a corresponding formfactor append file both from the Source Directory. Here is the main formfactor recipe, which is named formfactor_0.0.bb and located in the "meta" layer at meta/recipes-bsp/formfactor:

     SUMMARY = "Device formfactor information"
     SECTION = "base"
     LICENSE = "MIT"
     LIC_FILES_CHKSUM = "file://${COREBASE}/LICENSE;md5=4d92cd373abda3937c2bc47fbc49d690 \
                    file://${COREBASE}/meta/COPYING.MIT;md5=3da9cfbcb788c80a0384361b4de20420"
     PR = "r45"

     SRC_URI = "file://config file://machconfig"
     S = "${WORKDIR}"

     PACKAGE_ARCH = "${MACHINE_ARCH}"
     INHIBIT_DEFAULT_DEPS = "1"

     do_install() {
	     # Install file only if it has contents
             install -d ${D}${sysconfdir}/formfactor/
             install -m 0644 ${S}/config ${D}${sysconfdir}/formfactor/
	     if [ -s "${S}/machconfig" ]; then
	             install -m 0644 ${S}/machconfig ${D}${sysconfdir}/formfactor/
	     fi
     }
                

In the main recipe, note the SRC_URI variable, which tells the OpenEmbedded build system where to find files during the build.

Following is the append file, which is named formfactor_0.0.bbappend and is from the Raspberry Pi BSP Layer named meta-raspberrypi. The file is in recipes-bsp/formfactor:

     FILESEXTRAPATHS_prepend := "${THISDIR}/${PN}:"
                

By default, the build system uses the FILESPATH variable to locate files. This append file extends the locations by setting the FILESEXTRAPATHS variable. Setting this variable in the .bbappend file is the most reliable and recommended method for adding directories to the search path used by the build system to find files.

The statement in this example extends the directories to include ${THISDIR}/${PN}, which resolves to a directory named formfactor in the same directory in which the append file resides (i.e. meta-raspberrypi/recipes-bsp/formfactor/formfactor. This implies that you must have the supporting directory structure set up that will contain any files or patches you will be including from the layer.

Using the immediate expansion assignment operator := is important because of the reference to THISDIR. The trailing colon character is important as it ensures that items in the list remain colon-separated.

Each layer is assigned a priority value. Priority values control which layer takes precedence if there are recipe files with the same name in multiple layers. For these cases, the recipe file from the layer with a higher priority number takes precedence. Priority values also affect the order in which multiple .bbappend files for the same recipe are applied. You can either specify the priority manually, or allow the build system to calculate it based on the layer's dependencies.

To specify the layer's priority manually, use the BBFILE_PRIORITY variable. For example:

     BBFILE_PRIORITY_mylayer = "1"
                

You can use the BitBake layer management tool to provide a view into the structure of recipes across a multi-layer project. Being able to generate output that reports on configured layers with their paths and priorities and on .bbappend files and their applicable recipes can help to reveal potential problems.

Use the following form when running the layer management tool.

     $ bitbake-layers command [arguments]
                

The following list describes the available commands:

The yocto-layer script simplifies creating a new general layer.

The default mode of the script's operation is to prompt you for information needed to generate the layer:

Use the yocto-layer create sub-command to create a new general layer. In its simplest form, you can create a layer as follows:

     $ yocto-layer create mylayer
                

The previous example creates a layer named meta-mylayer in the current directory.

As the yocto-layer create command runs, default values for the prompts appear in brackets. Pressing enter without supplying anything for the prompts or pressing enter and providing an invalid response causes the script to accept the default value. Once the script completes, the new layer is created in the current working directory. The script names the layer by prepending meta- to the name you provide.

Minimally, the script creates the following within the layer:

If you choose to generate a sample recipe file, the script prompts you for the name for the recipe and then creates it in layer/recipes-example/example/. The script creates a .bb file and a directory, which contains a sample helloworld.c source file, along with a sample patch file. If you do not provide a recipe name, the script uses "example".

If you choose to generate a sample append file, the script prompts you for the name for the file and then creates it in layer/recipes-example-bbappend/example-bbappend/. The script creates a .bbappend file and a directory, which contains a sample patch file. If you do not provide a recipe name, the script uses "example". The script also prompts you for the version of the append file. The version should match the recipe to which the append file is associated.

The easiest way to see how the yocto-layer script works is to experiment with the script. You can also read the usage information by entering the following:

     $ yocto-layer help
                

Once you create your general layer, you must add it to your bblayers.conf file. Here is an example where a layer named meta-mylayer is added:

     BBLAYERS = ?" \
        /usr/local/src/yocto/meta \
        /usr/local/src/yocto/meta-poky \
        /usr/local/src/yocto/meta-yocto-bsp \
        /usr/local/src/yocto/meta-mylayer \
        "
                

Adding the layer to this file enables the build system to locate the layer during the build.

Probably the easiest way to customize an image is to add a package by way of the local.conf configuration file. Because it is limited to local use, this method generally only allows you to add packages and is not as flexible as creating your own customized image. When you add packages using local variables this way, you need to realize that these variable changes are in effect for every build and consequently affect all images, which might not be what you require.

To add a package to your image using the local configuration file, use the IMAGE_INSTALL variable with the _append operator:

     IMAGE_INSTALL_append = " strace"
                

Use of the syntax is important - specifically, the space between the quote and the package name, which is strace in this example. This space is required since the _append operator does not add the space.

Furthermore, you must use _append instead of the += operator if you want to avoid ordering issues. The reason for this is because doing so unconditionally appends to the variable and avoids ordering problems due to the variable being set in image recipes and .bbclass files with operators like ?=. Using _append ensures the operation takes affect.

As shown in its simplest use, IMAGE_INSTALL_append affects all images. It is possible to extend the syntax so that the variable applies to a specific image only. Here is an example:

     IMAGE_INSTALL_append_pn-core-image-minimal = " strace"
                

This example adds strace to the core-image-minimal image only.

You can add packages using a similar approach through the CORE_IMAGE_EXTRA_INSTALL variable. If you use this variable, only core-image-* images are affected.

Another method for customizing your image is to enable or disable high-level image features by using the IMAGE_FEATURES and EXTRA_IMAGE_FEATURES variables. Although the functions for both variables are nearly equivalent, best practices dictate using IMAGE_FEATURES from within a recipe and using EXTRA_IMAGE_FEATURES from within your local.conf file, which is found in the Build Directory.

To understand how these features work, the best reference is meta/classes/core-image.bbclass. This class lists out the available IMAGE_FEATURES of which most map to package groups while some, such as debug-tweaks and read-only-rootfs, resolve as general configuration settings.

In summary, the file looks at the contents of the IMAGE_FEATURES variable and then maps or configures the feature accordingly. Based on this information, the build system automatically adds the appropriate packages or configurations to the IMAGE_INSTALL variable. Effectively, you are enabling extra features by extending the class or creating a custom class for use with specialized image .bb files.

Use the EXTRA_IMAGE_FEATURES variable from within your local configuration file. Using a separate area from which to enable features with this variable helps you avoid overwriting the features in the image recipe that are enabled with IMAGE_FEATURES. The value of EXTRA_IMAGE_FEATURES is added to IMAGE_FEATURES within meta/conf/bitbake.conf.

To illustrate how you can use these variables to modify your image, consider an example that selects the SSH server. The Yocto Project ships with two SSH servers you can use with your images: Dropbear and OpenSSH. Dropbear is a minimal SSH server appropriate for resource-constrained environments, while OpenSSH is a well-known standard SSH server implementation. By default, the core-image-sato image is configured to use Dropbear. The core-image-full-cmdline and core-image-lsb images both include OpenSSH. The core-image-minimal image does not contain an SSH server.

You can customize your image and change these defaults. Edit the IMAGE_FEATURES variable in your recipe or use the EXTRA_IMAGE_FEATURES in your local.conf file so that it configures the image you are working with to include ssh-server-dropbear or ssh-server-openssh.

You can also customize an image by creating a custom recipe that defines additional software as part of the image. The following example shows the form for the two lines you need:

     IMAGE_INSTALL = "packagegroup-core-x11-base package1 package2"

     inherit core-image
                

Defining the software using a custom recipe gives you total control over the contents of the image. It is important to use the correct names of packages in the IMAGE_INSTALL variable. You must use the OpenEmbedded notation and not the Debian notation for the names (e.g. glibc-dev instead of libc6-dev).

The other method for creating a custom image is to base it on an existing image. For example, if you want to create an image based on core-image-sato but add the additional package strace to the image, copy the meta/recipes-sato/images/core-image-sato.bb to a new .bb and add the following line to the end of the copy:

     IMAGE_INSTALL += "strace"
                

For complex custom images, the best approach for customizing an image is to create a custom package group recipe that is used to build the image or images. A good example of a package group recipe is meta/recipes-core/packagegroups/packagegroup-base.bb.

If you examine that recipe, you see that the PACKAGES variable lists the package group packages to produce. The inherit packagegroup statement sets appropriate default values and automatically adds -dev, -dbg, and -ptest complementary packages for each package specified in the PACKAGES statement.

For each package you specify in PACKAGES, you can use RDEPENDS and RRECOMMENDS entries to provide a list of packages the parent task package should contain. You can see examples of these further down in the packagegroup-base.bb recipe.

Here is a short, fabricated example showing the same basic pieces:

     DESCRIPTION = "My Custom Package Groups"

     inherit packagegroup

     PACKAGES = "\
         packagegroup-custom-apps \
         packagegroup-custom-tools \
         "

     RDEPENDS_packagegroup-custom-apps = "\
         dropbear \
         portmap \
         psplash"

     RDEPENDS_packagegroup-custom-tools = "\
         oprofile \
         oprofileui-server \
         lttng-tools"

     RRECOMMENDS_packagegroup-custom-tools = "\
         kernel-module-oprofile"
                

In the previous example, two package group packages are created with their dependencies and their recommended package dependencies listed: packagegroup-custom-apps, and packagegroup-custom-tools. To build an image using these package group packages, you need to add packagegroup-custom-apps and/or packagegroup-custom-tools to IMAGE_INSTALL. For other forms of image dependencies see the other areas of this section.

By default, the configured hostname (i.e. /etc/hostname) in an image is the same as the machine name. For example, if MACHINE equals "qemux86", the configured hostname written to /etc/hostname is "qemux86".

You can customize this name by altering the value of the "hostname" variable in the base-files recipe using either an append file or a configuration file. Use the following in an append file:

     hostname="myhostname"
                

Use the following in a configuration file:

     hostname_pn-base-files = "myhostname"
                

Changing the default value of the variable "hostname" can be useful in certain situations. For example, suppose you need to do extensive testing on an image and you would like to easily identify the image under test from existing images with typical default hostnames. In this situation, you could change the default hostname to "testme", which results in all the images using the name "testme". Once testing is complete and you do not need to rebuild the image for test any longer, you can easily reset the default hostname.

Another point of interest is that if you unset the variable, the image will have no default hostname in the filesystem. Here is an example that unsets the variable in a configuration file:

     hostname_pn-base-files = ""
                

Having no default hostname in the filesystem is suitable for environments that use dynamic hostnames such as virtual machines.

The following figure shows the basic process for creating a new recipe. The remainder of the section provides details for the steps.

You can always write a recipe from scratch. However, two choices exist that can help you quickly get a start on a new recipe:

     recipetool -h
     recipetool create [-h]
     recipetool [-d] [-q] [--color auto | always | never ] create -o OUTFILE [-m] [-x EXTERNALSRC] source

          -d       Enables debug output.
          -q       Outputs only errors (quiet mode).
          --color  Colorizes the output automatically, always, or never.
          -h       Displays Python generated syntax for recipetool.
          create   Causes recipetool to create a base recipe.  The create
                   command is further defined with these options:

                   -o OUTFILE      Specifies the full path and filename for the generated
                                   recipe.
                   -m              Causes the recipe to be machine-specific rather than
                                   architecture-specific (default).
                   -x EXTERNALSRC  Fetches and extracts source files from source
                                   and places them in EXTERNALSRC.
                                   source must be a URL.
                   -h              Displays Python-generated syntax for create.
                   source          Specifies the source code on which to base the
                                   recipe.
                    

     recipetool create -o OUTFILE source
                    

     recipetool create -o OUTFILE -x EXTERNALSRC source
                    

     recipetool create -o OUTFILE source
                    

Once you have your base recipe, you should put it in your own layer and name it appropriately. Locating it correctly ensures that the OpenEmbedded build system can find it when you use BitBake to process the recipe.

Understanding recipe file syntax is important for writing recipes. The following list overviews the basic items that make up a BitBake recipe file. For more complete BitBake syntax descriptions, see the "Syntax and Operators" chapter of the BitBake User Manual.

This next list summarizes the most important and most commonly used parts of the recipe syntax. For more information on these parts of the syntax, you can reference the Syntax and Operators chapter in the BitBake User Manual.

Creating a new recipe is usually an iterative process that requires using BitBake to process the recipe multiple times in order to progressively discover and add information to the recipe file.

Assuming you have sourced a build environment setup script (i.e. oe-init-build-env or oe-init-build-env-memres) and you are in the Build Directory, use BitBake to process your recipe. All you need to provide is the basename of the recipe as described in the previous section:

     $ bitbake basename
                

During the build, the OpenEmbedded build system creates a temporary work directory for each recipe (${WORKDIR}) where it keeps extracted source files, log files, intermediate compilation and packaging files, and so forth.

The per-recipe temporary work directory is constructed as follows and depends on several factors:

     BASE_WORKDIR ?= "${TMPDIR}/work"
     WORKDIR = "${BASE_WORKDIR}/${MULTIMACH_TARGET_SYS}/${PN}/${EXTENDPE}${PV}-${PR}"
                

As an example, assume a Source Directory top-level folder named poky, a default Build Directory at poky/build, and a qemux86-poky-linux machine target system. Furthermore, suppose your recipe is named foo_1.3.0.bb. In this case, the work directory the build system uses to build the package would be as follows:

     poky/build/tmp/work/qemux86-poky-linux/foo/1.3.0-r0
                

Inside this directory you can find sub-directories such as image, packages-split, and temp. After the build, you can examine these to determine how well the build went.

You can find more information about the build process in the "A Closer Look at the Yocto Project Development Environment" chapter of the Yocto Project Reference Manual.

You can also reference the following variables in the Yocto Project Reference Manual's glossary for more information:

The first thing your recipe must do is specify how to fetch the source files. Fetching is controlled mainly through the SRC_URI variable. Your recipe must have a SRC_URI variable that points to where the source is located. For a graphical representation of source locations, see the "Sources" section in the Yocto Project Reference Manual.

The do_fetch task uses the prefix of each entry in the SRC_URI variable value to determine which fetcher to use to get your source files. It is the SRC_URI variable that triggers the fetcher. The do_patch task uses the variable after source is fetched to apply patches. The OpenEmbedded build system uses FILESOVERRIDES for scanning directory locations for local files in SRC_URI.

The SRC_URI variable in your recipe must define each unique location for your source files. It is good practice to not hard-code pathnames in an URL used in SRC_URI. Rather than hard-code these paths, use ${PV}, which causes the fetch process to use the version specified in the recipe filename. Specifying the version in this manner means that upgrading the recipe to a future version is as simple as renaming the recipe to match the new version.

Here is a simple example from the meta/recipes-devtools/cdrtools/cdrtools-native_3.01a20.bb recipe where the source comes from a single tarball. Notice the use of the PV variable:

     SRC_URI = "ftp://ftp.berlios.de/pub/cdrecord/alpha/cdrtools-${PV}.tar.bz2"
                

Files mentioned in SRC_URI whose names end in a typical archive extension (e.g. .tar, .tar.gz, .tar.bz2, .zip, and so forth), are automatically extracted during the do_unpack task. For another example that specifies these types of files, see the "Autotooled Package" section.

Another way of specifying source is from an SCM. For Git repositories, you must specify SRCREV and you should specify PV to include the revision with SRCPV. Here is an example from the recipe meta/recipes-kernel/blktrace/blktrace_git.bb:

     SRCREV = "d6918c8832793b4205ed3bfede78c2f915c23385"

     PR = "r6"
     PV = "1.0.5+git${SRCPV}"

     SRC_URI = "git://git.kernel.dk/blktrace.git \
                file://ldflags.patch"
                

If your SRC_URI statement includes URLs pointing to individual files fetched from a remote server other than a version control system, BitBake attempts to verify the files against checksums defined in your recipe to ensure they have not been tampered with or otherwise modified since the recipe was written. Two checksums are used: SRC_URI[md5sum] and SRC_URI[sha256sum].

If your SRC_URI variable points to more than a single URL (excluding SCM URLs), you need to provide the md5 and sha256 checksums for each URL. For these cases, you provide a name for each URL as part of the SRC_URI and then reference that name in the subsequent checksum statements. Here is an example:

     SRC_URI = "${DEBIAN_MIRROR}/main/a/apmd/apmd_3.2.2.orig.tar.gz;name=tarball \
                ${DEBIAN_MIRROR}/main/a/apmd/apmd_${PV}.diff.gz;name=patch

     SRC_URI[tarball.md5sum] = "b1e6309e8331e0f4e6efd311c2d97fa8"
     SRC_URI[tarball.sha256sum] = "7f7d9f60b7766b852881d40b8ff91d8e39fccb0d1d913102a5c75a2dbb52332d"

     SRC_URI[patch.md5sum] = "57e1b689264ea80f78353519eece0c92"
     SRC_URI[patch.sha256sum] = "7905ff96be93d725544d0040e425c42f9c05580db3c272f11cff75b9aa89d430"
                

Proper values for md5 and sha256 checksums might be available with other signatures on the download page for the upstream source (e.g. md5, sha1, sha256, GPG, and so forth). Because the OpenEmbedded build system only deals with sha256sum and md5sum, you should verify all the signatures you find by hand.

If no SRC_URI checksums are specified when you attempt to build the recipe, or you provide an incorrect checksum, the build will produce an error for each missing or incorrect checksum. As part of the error message, the build system provides the checksum string corresponding to the fetched file. Once you have the correct checksums, you can copy and paste them into your recipe and then run the build again to continue.

This final example is a bit more complicated and is from the meta/recipes-sato/rxvt-unicode/rxvt-unicode_9.20.bb recipe. The example's SRC_URI statement identifies multiple files as the source files for the recipe: a tarball, a patch file, a desktop file, and an icon.

     SRC_URI = "http://dist.schmorp.de/rxvt-unicode/Attic/rxvt-unicode-${PV}.tar.bz2 \
                file://xwc.patch \
                file://rxvt.desktop \
                file://rxvt.png"
                

When you specify local files using the file:// URI protocol, the build system fetches files from the local machine. The path is relative to the FILESPATH variable and searches specific directories in a certain order: ${BP}, ${BPN}, and files. The directories are assumed to be subdirectories of the directory in which the recipe or append file resides. For another example that specifies these types of files, see the "Single .c File Package (Hello World!)" section.

The previous example also specifies a patch file. Patch files are files whose names usually end in .patch or .diff but can end with compressed suffixes such as diff.gz and patch.bz2, for example. The build system automatically applies patches as described in the "Patching Code" section.

During the build, the do_unpack task unpacks the source with ${S} pointing to where it is unpacked.

If you are fetching your source files from an upstream source archived tarball and the tarball's internal structure matches the common convention of a top-level subdirectory named ${BPN}-${PV}, then you do not need to set S. However, if SRC_URI specifies to fetch source from an archive that does not use this convention, or from an SCM like Git or Subversion, your recipe needs to define S.

If processing your recipe using BitBake successfully unpacks the source files, you need to be sure that the directory pointed to by ${S} matches the structure of the source.

Sometimes it is necessary to patch code after it has been fetched. Any files mentioned in SRC_URI whose names end in .patch or .diff or compressed versions of these suffixes (e.g. diff.gz are treated as patches. The do_patch task automatically applies these patches.

The build system should be able to apply patches with the "-p1" option (i.e. one directory level in the path will be stripped off). If your patch needs to have more directory levels stripped off, specify the number of levels using the "striplevel" option in the SRC_URI entry for the patch. Alternatively, if your patch needs to be applied in a specific subdirectory that is not specified in the patch file, use the "patchdir" option in the entry.

As with all local files referenced in SRC_URI using file://, you should place patch files in a directory next to the recipe either named the same as the base name of the recipe (BP and BPN) or "files".

Your recipe needs to have both the LICENSE and LIC_FILES_CHKSUM variables:

Most software provides some means of setting build-time configuration options before compilation. Typically, setting these options is accomplished by running a configure script with some options, or by modifying a build configuration file.

A major part of build-time configuration is about checking for build-time dependencies and possibly enabling optional functionality as a result. You need to specify any build-time dependencies for the software you are building in your recipe's DEPENDS value, in terms of other recipes that satisfy those dependencies. You can often find build-time or runtime dependencies described in the software's documentation.

The following list provides configuration items of note based on how your software is built:

Once configuration succeeds, it is always good practice to look at the log.do_configure file to ensure that the appropriate options have been enabled and no additional build-time dependencies need to be added to DEPENDS. For example, if the configure script reports that it found something not mentioned in DEPENDS, or that it did not find something that it needed for some desired optional functionality, then you would need to add those to DEPENDS. Looking at the log might also reveal items being checked for, enabled, or both that you do not want, or items not being found that are in DEPENDS, in which case you would need to look at passing extra options to the configure script as needed. For reference information on configure options specific to the software you are building, you can consult the output of the ./configure --help command within ${S} or consult the software's upstream documentation.

During a build, the do_compile task happens after source is fetched, unpacked, and configured. If the recipe passes through do_compile successfully, nothing needs to be done.

However, if the compile step fails, you need to diagnose the failure. Here are some common issues that cause failures.

During do_install, the task copies the built files along with their hierarchy to locations that would mirror their locations on the target device. The installation process copies files from the ${S}, ${B}, and ${WORKDIR} directories to the ${D} directory to create the structure as it should appear on the target system.

How your software is built affects what you must do to be sure your software is installed correctly. The following list describes what you must do for installation depending on the type of build system used by the software being built:

For the scenarios that do not use Autotools or CMake, you need to track the installation and diagnose and fix any issues until everything installs correctly. You need to look in the default location of ${D}, which is ${WORKDIR}/image, to be sure your files have been installed correctly.

If you want to install a service, which is a process that usually starts on boot and runs in the background, then you must include some additional definitions in your recipe.

If you are adding services and the service initialization script or the service file itself is not installed, you must provide for that installation in your recipe using a do_install_append function. If your recipe already has a do_install function, update the function near its end rather than adding an additional do_install_append function.

When you create the installation for your services, you need to accomplish what is normally done by make install. In other words, make sure your installation arranges the output similar to how it is arranged on the target system.

The OpenEmbedded build system provides support for starting services two different ways:

Successful packaging is a combination of automated processes performed by the OpenEmbedded build system and some specific steps you need to take. The following list describes the process:

Sometimes the name of a recipe can lead to versioning problems when the recipe is upgraded to a final release. For example, consider the irssi_0.8.16-rc1.bb recipe file in the list of example recipes in the "Storing and Naming the Recipe" section. This recipe is at a release candidate stage (i.e. "rc1"). When the recipe is released, the recipe filename becomes irssi_0.8.16.bb. The version change from 0.8.16-rc1 to 0.8.16 is seen as a decrease by the build system and package managers, so the resulting packages will not correctly trigger an upgrade.

In order to ensure the versions compare properly, the recommended convention is to set PV within the recipe to "previous_version+current_version". You can use an additional variable so that you can use the current version elsewhere. Here is an example:

     REALPV = "0.8.16-rc1"
     PV = "0.8.15+${REALPV}"
                

Post-installation scripts run immediately after installing a package on the target or during image creation when a package is included in an image. To add a post-installation script to a package, add a pkg_postinst_PACKAGENAME() function to the recipe file (.bb) and replace PACKAGENAME with the name of the package you want to attach to the postinst script. To apply the post-installation script to the main package for the recipe, which is usually what is required, specify ${PN} in place of PACKAGENAME.

A post-installation function has the following structure:

     pkg_postinst_PACKAGENAME() {
     # Commands to carry out
     }
                

The script defined in the post-installation function is called when the root filesystem is created. If the script succeeds, the package is marked as installed. If the script fails, the package is marked as unpacked and the script is executed when the image boots again.

Sometimes it is necessary for the execution of a post-installation script to be delayed until the first boot. For example, the script might need to be executed on the device itself. To delay script execution until boot time, use the following structure in the post-installation script:

     pkg_postinst_PACKAGENAME() {
     if [ x"$D" = "x" ]; then
          # Actions to carry out on the device go here
     else
          exit 1
     fi
     }
                

The previous example delays execution until the image boots again because the environment variable D points to the directory containing the image when the root filesystem is created at build time but is unset when executed on the first boot.

The final step for completing your recipe is to be sure that the software you built runs correctly. To accomplish runtime testing, add the build's output packages to your image and test them on the target.

For information on how to customize your image by adding specific packages, see the "Customizing Images" section.

To help summarize how to write a recipe, this section provides some examples given various scenarios:

     SUMMARY = "Simple helloworld application"
     SECTION = "examples"
     LICENSE = "MIT"
     LIC_FILES_CHKSUM = "file://${COMMON_LICENSE_DIR}/MIT;md5=0835ade698e0bcf8506ecda2f7b4f302"

     SRC_URI = "file://helloworld.c"

     S = "${WORKDIR}"

     do_compile() {
     	${CC} helloworld.c -o helloworld
     }

     do_install() {
     	install -d ${D}${bindir}
     	install -m 0755 helloworld ${D}${bindir}
     }
                    

     SUMMARY = "GNU Helloworld application"
     SECTION = "examples"
     LICENSE = "GPLv2+"
     LIC_FILES_CHKSUM = "file://COPYING;md5=751419260aa954499f7abaabaa882bbe"

     SRC_URI = "${GNU_MIRROR}/hello/hello-${PV}.tar.gz"

     inherit autotools gettext
                     

     CFLAGS_prepend = "-I ${S}/include "
                    

     SUMMARY = "Tools for managing memory technology devices"
     SECTION = "base"
     DEPENDS = "zlib lzo e2fsprogs util-linux"
     HOMEPAGE = "http://www.linux-mtd.infradead.org/"
     LICENSE = "GPLv2+"
     LIC_FILES_CHKSUM = "file://COPYING;md5=0636e73ff0215e8d672dc4c32c317bb3 \
                         file://include/common.h;beginline=1;endline=17;md5=ba05b07912a44ea2bf81ce409380049c"

     # Use the latest version at 26 Oct, 2013
     SRCREV = "9f107132a6a073cce37434ca9cda6917dd8d866b"
     SRC_URI = "git://git.infradead.org/mtd-utils.git \
                     file://add-exclusion-to-mkfs-jffs2-git-2.patch \
     "

     PV = "1.5.1+git${SRCPV}"

     S = "${WORKDIR}/git/"

     EXTRA_OEMAKE = "'CC=${CC}' 'RANLIB=${RANLIB}' 'AR=${AR}' 'CFLAGS=${CFLAGS} -I${S}/include -DWITHOUT_XATTR' 'BUILDDIR=${S}'"

     do_install () {
             oe_runmake install DESTDIR=${D} SBINDIR=${sbindir} MANDIR=${mandir} INCLUDEDIR=${includedir}
     }

     PACKAGES =+ "mtd-utils-jffs2 mtd-utils-ubifs mtd-utils-misc"

     FILES_mtd-utils-jffs2 = "${sbindir}/mkfs.jffs2 ${sbindir}/jffs2dump ${sbindir}/jffs2reader ${sbindir}/sumtool"
     FILES_mtd-utils-ubifs = "${sbindir}/mkfs.ubifs ${sbindir}/ubi*"
     FILES_mtd-utils-misc = "${sbindir}/nftl* ${sbindir}/ftl* ${sbindir}/rfd* ${sbindir}/doc* ${sbindir}/serve_image ${sbindir}/recv_image"

     PARALLEL_MAKE = ""

     BBCLASSEXTEND = "native"
                    

     require xorg-lib-common.inc

     SUMMARY = "Xpm: X Pixmap extension library"
     LICENSE = "BSD"
     LIC_FILES_CHKSUM = "file://COPYING;md5=51f4270b012ecd4ab1a164f5f4ed6cf7"
     DEPENDS += "libxext libsm libxt"
     PE = "1"

     XORG_PN = "libXpm"

     PACKAGES =+ "sxpm cxpm"
     FILES_cxpm = "${bindir}/cxpm"
     FILES_sxpm = "${bindir}/sxpm"
                    

To add a new machine, you need to add a new machine configuration file to the layer's conf/machine directory. This configuration file provides details about the device you are adding.

The OpenEmbedded build system uses the root name of the machine configuration file to reference the new machine. For example, given a machine configuration file named crownbay.conf, the build system recognizes the machine as "crownbay".

The most important variables you must set in your machine configuration file or include from a lower-level configuration file are as follows:

You might also need these variables:

You can find full details on these variables in the reference section. You can leverage existing machine .conf files from meta-yocto-bsp/conf/machine/.

The OpenEmbedded build system needs to be able to build a kernel for the machine. You need to either create a new kernel recipe for this machine, or extend an existing kernel recipe. You can find several kernel recipe examples in the Source Directory at meta/recipes-kernel/linux that you can use as references.

If you are creating a new kernel recipe, normal recipe-writing rules apply for setting up a SRC_URI. Thus, you need to specify any necessary patches and set S to point at the source code. You need to create a do_configure task that configures the unpacked kernel with a defconfig file. You can do this by using a make defconfig command or, more commonly, by copying in a suitable defconfig file and then running make oldconfig. By making use of inherit kernel and potentially some of the linux-*.inc files, most other functionality is centralized and the defaults of the class normally work well.

If you are extending an existing kernel recipe, it is usually a matter of adding a suitable defconfig file. The file needs to be added into a location similar to defconfig files used for other machines in a given kernel recipe. A possible way to do this is by listing the file in the SRC_URI and adding the machine to the expression in COMPATIBLE_MACHINE:

     COMPATIBLE_MACHINE = '(qemux86|qemumips)'
                

For more information on defconfig files, see the "Changing the Configuration" section in the Yocto Project Linux Kernel Development Manual.

A formfactor configuration file provides information about the target hardware for which the image is being built and information that the build system cannot obtain from other sources such as the kernel. Some examples of information contained in a formfactor configuration file include framebuffer orientation, whether or not the system has a keyboard, the positioning of the keyboard in relation to the screen, and the screen resolution.

The build system uses reasonable defaults in most cases. However, if customization is necessary, you need to create a machconfig file in the meta/recipes-bsp/formfactor/files directory. This directory contains directories for specific machines such as qemuarm and qemux86. For information about the settings available and the defaults, see the meta/recipes-bsp/formfactor/files/config file found in the same area.

Following is an example for "qemuarm" machine:

     HAVE_TOUCHSCREEN=1
     HAVE_KEYBOARD=1

     DISPLAY_CAN_ROTATE=0
     DISPLAY_ORIENTATION=0
     #DISPLAY_WIDTH_PIXELS=640
     #DISPLAY_HEIGHT_PIXELS=480
     #DISPLAY_BPP=16
     DISPLAY_DPI=150
     DISPLAY_SUBPIXEL_ORDER=vrgb
                

If you are building a library and the library offers static linking, you can control which static library files (*.a files) get included in the built library.

The PACKAGES and FILES_* variables in the meta/conf/bitbake.conf configuration file define how files installed by the do_install task are packaged. By default, the PACKAGES variable includes ${PN}-staticdev, which represents all static library files.

Following is part of the BitBake configuration file, where you can see how the static library files are defined:

     PACKAGE_BEFORE_PN ?= ""
     PACKAGES = "${PN}-dbg ${PN}-staticdev ${PN}-dev ${PN}-doc ${PN}-locale ${PACKAGE_BEFORE_PN} ${PN}"
     PACKAGES_DYNAMIC = "^${PN}-locale-.*"
     FILES = ""

     FILES_${PN} = "${bindir}/* ${sbindir}/* ${libexecdir}/* ${libdir}/lib*${SOLIBS} \
                 ${sysconfdir} ${sharedstatedir} ${localstatedir} \
                 ${base_bindir}/* ${base_sbindir}/* \
                 ${base_libdir}/*${SOLIBS} \
                 ${base_prefix}/lib/udev/rules.d ${prefix}/lib/udev/rules.d \
                 ${datadir}/${BPN} ${libdir}/${BPN}/* \
                 ${datadir}/pixmaps ${datadir}/applications \
                 ${datadir}/idl ${datadir}/omf ${datadir}/sounds \
                 ${libdir}/bonobo/servers"

     FILES_${PN}-bin = "${bindir}/* ${sbindir}/*"

     FILES_${PN}-doc = "${docdir} ${mandir} ${infodir} ${datadir}/gtk-doc \
                 ${datadir}/gnome/help"
     SECTION_${PN}-doc = "doc"

     FILES_SOLIBSDEV ?= "${base_libdir}/lib*${SOLIBSDEV} ${libdir}/lib*${SOLIBSDEV}"
     FILES_${PN}-dev = "${includedir} ${FILES_SOLIBSDEV} ${libdir}/*.la \
                     ${libdir}/*.o ${libdir}/pkgconfig ${datadir}/pkgconfig \
                     ${datadir}/aclocal ${base_libdir}/*.o \
                     ${libdir}/${BPN}/*.la ${base_libdir}/*.la"
     SECTION_${PN}-dev = "devel"
     ALLOW_EMPTY_${PN}-dev = "1"
     RDEPENDS_${PN}-dev = "${PN} (= ${EXTENDPKGV})"

     FILES_${PN}-staticdev = "${libdir}/*.a ${base_libdir}/*.a ${libdir}/${BPN}/*.a"
     SECTION_${PN}-staticdev = "devel"
     RDEPENDS_${PN}-staticdev = "${PN}-dev (= ${EXTENDPKGV})"
                

The build system offers the ability to build libraries with different target optimizations or architecture formats and combine these together into one system image. You can link different binaries in the image against the different libraries as needed for specific use cases. This feature is called "Multilib."

An example would be where you have most of a system compiled in 32-bit mode using 32-bit libraries, but you have something large, like a database engine, that needs to be a 64-bit application and uses 64-bit libraries. Multilib allows you to get the best of both 32-bit and 64-bit libraries.

While the Multilib feature is most commonly used for 32 and 64-bit differences, the approach the build system uses facilitates different target optimizations. You could compile some binaries to use one set of libraries and other binaries to use a different set of libraries. The libraries could differ in architecture, compiler options, or other optimizations.

Several examples exist in the meta-skeleton layer found in the Source Directory:

     MACHINE = "qemux86-64"
     require conf/multilib.conf
     MULTILIBS = "multilib:lib32"
     DEFAULTTUNE_virtclass-multilib-lib32 = "x86"
     IMAGE_INSTALL_append = " lib32-glib-2.0"
                    

     $ bitbake core-image-sato
                    

     $ bitbake lib32-glib-2.0
                    

Situations can exist where you need to install and use multiple versions of the same library on the same system at the same time. These situations almost always exist when a library API changes and you have multiple pieces of software that depend on the separate versions of the library. To accommodate these situations, you can install multiple versions of the same library in parallel on the same system.

The process is straightforward as long as the libraries use proper versioning. With properly versioned libraries, all you need to do to individually specify the libraries is create separate, appropriately named recipes where the PN part of the name includes a portion that differentiates each library version (e.g.the major part of the version number). Thus, instead of having a single recipe that loads one version of a library (e.g. clutter), you provide multiple recipes that result in different versions of the libraries you want. As an example, the following two recipes would allow the two separate versions of the clutter library to co-exist on the same system:

     clutter-1.6_1.6.20.bb
     clutter-1.8_1.8.4.bb
                

Additionally, if you have other recipes that depend on a given library, you need to use the DEPENDS variable to create the dependency. Continuing with the same example, if you want to have a recipe depend on the 1.8 version of the clutter library, use the following in your recipe:

     DEPENDS = "clutter-1.8"
                

Enabling the generation of introspection data (GIR files) in your library package involves the following:

You might find that you do not want to generate introspection data. Or, perhaps QEMU does not work on your build host and target architecture combination. If so, you can use either of the following methods to disable GIR file generations:

If you disable introspection data, you can still obtain it through other means such as copying the data from a suitable sysroot, or by generating it on the target hardware. The OpenEmbedded build system does not currently provide specific support for these techniques.

Use the following procedure to test if generating introspection data is working in an image:

The following know issues exist for GObject Introspection Support:

This section provides some background on the wic utility. While none of this information is required to use wic, you might find it interesting.

In order to use the wic utility with the OpenEmbedded Build system, your system needs to meet the following requirements:

You can get general help for the wic by entering the wic command by itself or by entering the command with a help argument as follows:

     $ wic -h
     $ wic --help
                

Currently, wic supports two commands: create and list. You can get help for these commands as follows:

     $ wic help command
                

You can also get detailed help on a number of topics from the help system. The output of wic --help displays a list of available help topics under a "Help topics" heading. You can have the help system display the help text for a given topic by prefacing the topic with wic help:

     $ wic help help_topic
                

You can find out more about the images wic creates using the existing kickstart files with the following form of the command:

     $ wic list image help
                

where image is either directdisk or mkefidisk.

You can use wic in two different modes, depending on how much control you need for specifying the Openembedded build artifacts that are used for creating the image: Raw and Cooked:

Regardless of the mode you use, you need to have the build artifacts ready and available. Additionally, the environment must be set up using the oe-init-build-env or oe-init-build-env-memres script found in the Build Directory.

     $ wic create image_name.wks [options] [...]

         Where:

             image_name.wks
                               An OpenEmbedded kickstart file.  You can provide
                               your own custom file or use a file from a set of
                               existing files as described by further options.

             -o OUTDIR, --outdir=OUTDIR
                               The name of a directory in which to create image.

             -i PROPERTIES_FILE, --infile=PROPERTIES_FILE
                               The name of a file containing the values for image
                               properties as a JSON file.

             -e IMAGE_NAME, --image-name=IMAGE_NAME
                               The name of the image from which to use the artifacts
                               (e.g. core-image-sato).

             -r ROOTFS_DIR, --rootfs-dir=ROOTFS_DIR
                               The path to the /rootfs directory to use as the
                               .wks rootfs source.

             -b BOOTIMG_DIR, --bootimg-dir=BOOTIMG_DIR
                               The path to the directory containing the boot artifacts
                               (e.g. /EFI or /syslinux) to use as the .wks bootimg
                               source.

             -k KERNEL_DIR, --kernel-dir=KERNEL_DIR
                               The path to the directory containing the kernel to use
                               in the .wks boot image.

             -n NATIVE_SYSROOT, --native-sysroot=NATIVE_SYSROOT
                               The path to the native sysroot containing the tools to use
                               to build the image.

             -s, --skip-build-check
                               Skips the build check.

             -D, --debug
                               Output debug information.
                    

     $ wic create kickstart_file -e image_name

         Where:

             kickstart_file
                               An OpenEmbedded kickstart file. You can provide your own
                               custom file or supplied file.

             image_name
                               Specifies the image built using the OpenEmbedded build
                               system.
                    

If you do not want to create your own .wks file, you can use an existing file provided by the wic installation. Use the following command to list the available files:

     $ wic list images
     directdisk Create a 'pcbios' direct disk image
     mkefidisk Create an EFI disk image
                 

When you use an existing file, you do not have to use the .wks extension. Here is an example in Raw Mode that uses the directdisk file:

     $ wic create directdisk -r rootfs_dir -b bootimg_dir \
           -k kernel_dir -n native_sysroot
                

Here are the actual partition language commands used in the mkefidisk.wks file to generate an image:

     # short-description: Create an EFI disk image
     # long-description: Creates a partitioned EFI disk image that the user
     # can directly dd to boot media.

     part /boot --source bootimg-efi --ondisk sda --label msdos --active --align 1024

     part / --source rootfs --ondisk sda --fstype=ext3 --label platform --align 1024

     part swap --ondisk sda --size 44 --label swap1 --fstype=swap

     bootloader  --timeout=10  --append="rootwait rootfstype=ext3 console=ttyPCH0,115200 console=tty0 vmalloc=256MB snd-hda-intel.enable_msi=0"
                

This section provides several examples that show how to use the wic utility. All the examples assume the list of requirements in the "Requirements" section have been met. The examples assume the previously generated image is core-image-minimal.

     $ wic create mkefidisk -e core-image-minimal
     Checking basic build environment...
     Done.

     Creating image(s)...

     Info: The new image(s) can be found here:
      /var/tmp/wic/build/mkefidisk-201310230946-sda.direct

     The following build artifacts were used to create the image(s):
      ROOTFS_DIR: /home/trz/yocto/yocto-image/build/tmp/work/minnow-poky-linux/core-image-minimal/1.0-r0/rootfs
      BOOTIMG_DIR: /home/trz/yocto/yocto-image/build/tmp/work/minnow-poky-linux/core-image-minimal/1.0-r0/core-image-minimal-1.0/hddimg
      KERNEL_DIR: /home/trz/yocto/yocto-image/build/tmp/sysroots/minnow/usr/src/kernel
      NATIVE_SYSROOT: /home/trz/yocto/yocto-image/build/tmp/sysroots/x86_64-linux


     The image(s) were created using OE kickstart file:
      /home/trz/yocto/yocto-image/scripts/lib/image/canned-wks/mkefidisk.wks
                    

     $ sudo dd if=/var/tmp/wic/build/mkefidisk-201310230946-sda.direct of=/dev/sdb
     [sudo] password for trz:
     182274+0 records in
     182274+0 records out
     93324288 bytes (93 MB) copied, 14.4777 s, 6.4 MB/s
     [trz@empanada ~]$ sudo eject /dev/sdb
                    

     $ cp /home/trz/yocto/yocto-image/scripts/lib/image/canned-wks/directdisk.wks \
          /home/trz/yocto/yocto-image/scripts/lib/image/canned-wks/directdisksdb.wks
                    

     part /boot --source bootimg-pcbios --ondisk sdb --label boot --active --align 1024
     part / --source rootfs --ondisk sdb --fstype=ext3 --label platform --align 1024
                    

     $ wic create directdisksdb -e core-image-minimal
     Checking basic build environment...
     Done.

     Creating image(s)...

     Info: The new image(s) can be found here:
      /var/tmp/wic/build/directdisksdb-201310231131-sdb.direct

     The following build artifacts were used to create the image(s):
      ROOTFS_DIR: /home/trz/yocto/yocto-image/build/tmp/work/nuc-poky-linux/core-image-minimal/1.0-r0/rootfs
      BOOTIMG_DIR: /home/trz/yocto/yocto-image/build/tmp/sysroots/nuc/usr/share
      KERNEL_DIR: /home/trz/yocto/yocto-image/build/tmp/sysroots/nuc/usr/src/kernel
      NATIVE_SYSROOT: /home/trz/yocto/yocto-image/build/tmp/sysroots/x86_64-linux


     The image(s) were created using OE kickstart file:
      /home/trz/yocto/yocto-image/scripts/lib/image/canned-wks/directdisksdb.wks
                    

     $ sudo dd if=/var/tmp/wic/build/directdisksdb-201310231131-sdb.direct of=/dev/sdb
     86018+0 records in
     86018+0 records out
     44041216 bytes (44 MB) copied, 13.0734 s, 3.4 MB/s
     [trz@empanada tmp]$ sudo eject /dev/sdb
                    

     $ wic create directdisk -e core-image-minimal

     Checking basic build environment...
     Done.

     Creating image(s)...

     Info: The new image(s) can be found here:
      /var/tmp/wic/build/directdisk-201309252350-sda.direct

     The following build artifacts were used to create the image(s):

     ROOTFS_DIR: /home/trz/yocto/yocto-image/build/tmp/work/crownbay_noemgd-poky-linux/core-image-minimal/1.0-r0/rootfs
     BOOTIMG_DIR: /home/trz/yocto/yocto-image/build/tmp/sysroots/crownbay-noemgd/usr/share
     KERNEL_DIR: /home/trz/yocto/yocto-image/build/tmp/sysroots/crownbay-noemgd/usr/src/kernel
     NATIVE_SYSROOT: /home/trz/yocto/yocto-image/build/tmp/sysroots/crownbay-noemgd/usr/src/kernel

     The image(s) were created using OE kickstart file:
      /home/trz/yocto/yocto-image/scripts/lib/image/canned-wks/directdisk.wks
                    

     $ wic create ~/test.wks -o /home/trz/testwic --rootfs-dir \
          /home/trz/yocto/yocto-image/build/tmp/work/crownbay_noemgd-poky-linux/core-image-minimal/1.0-r0/rootfs \
          --bootimg-dir /home/trz/yocto/yocto-image/build/tmp/sysroots/crownbay-noemgd/usr/share \
          --kernel-dir /home/trz/yocto/yocto-image/build/tmp/sysroots/crownbay-noemgd/usr/src/kernel \
          --native-sysroot /home/trz/yocto/yocto-image/build/tmp/sysroots/x86_64-linux

     Creating image(s)...

     Info: The new image(s) can be found here:
      /home/trz/testwic/build/test-201309260032-sda.direct

     The following build artifacts were used to create the image(s):

     ROOTFS_DIR: /home/trz/yocto/yocto-image/build/tmp/work/crownbay_noemgd-poky-linux/core-image-minimal/1.0-r0/rootfs
     BOOTIMG_DIR: /home/trz/yocto/yocto-image/build/tmp/sysroots/crownbay-noemgd/usr/share
     KERNEL_DIR: /home/trz/yocto/yocto-image/build/tmp/sysroots/crownbay-noemgd/usr/src/kernel
     NATIVE_SYSROOT: /home/trz/yocto/yocto-image/build/tmp/sysroots/crownbay-noemgd/usr/src/kernel

     The image(s) were created using OE kickstart file:
      /home/trz/test.wks
                    

Plug-ins allow wic functionality to be extended and specialized by users. This section documents the plugin interface, which is currently restricted to source plug ins.

Source plug ins provide a mechanism to customize various aspects of the image generation process in wic, mainly the contents of partitions. The plug ins provide a mechanism for mapping values specified in .wks files using the --source keyword to a particular plugin implementation that populates a corresponding partition.

A source plugin is created as a subclass of SourcePlugin. The plugin file containing it is added to scripts/lib/wic/plugins/source/ to make the plugin implementation available to the wic implementation. For more information, see scripts/lib/wic/pluginbase.py.

Source plugins can also be implemented and added by external layers. As such, any plugins found in a scripts/lib/wic/plugins/source/ directory in an external layer are also made available.

When the wic implementation needs to invoke a partition-specific implementation, it looks for the plugin that has the same name as the --source parameter given to that partition. For example, if the partition is set up as follows:

     part /boot --source bootimg-pcbios   ...
                

The methods defined as class members of the plugin having the matching bootimg-pcbios.name class member are used.

To be more concrete, here is the plugin definition that matches a --source bootimg-pcbios usage, along with an example method called by the wic implementation when it needs to invoke an implementation-specific partition-preparation function:

    class BootimgPcbiosPlugin(SourcePlugin):
        name = 'bootimg-pcbios'

    @classmethod
        def do_prepare_partition(self, part, ...)
                

If the subclass itself does not implement a function, a default version in a superclass is located and used, which is why all plugins must be derived from SourcePlugin.

The SourcePlugin class defines the following methods, which is the current set of methods that can be implemented or overridden by --source plugins. Any methods not implemented by a SourcePlugin subclass inherit the implementations present in the SourcePlugin class. For more information, see the SourcePlugin source for details:

This scheme is extensible. Adding more hooks is a simple matter of adding more plugin methods to SourcePlugin and derived classes. The code that then needs to call the plugin methods uses plugin.get_source_plugin_methods() to find the method or methods needed by the call. Retrieval of those methods is accomplished by filling up a dict with keys containing the method names of interest. On success, these will be filled in with the actual methods. Please see the wic implementation for examples and details.

The current wic implementation supports only the basic kickstart partitioning commands: partition (or part for short) and bootloader.

The following is a list of the commands, their syntax, and meanings. The commands are based on the Fedora kickstart versions but with modifications to reflect wic capabilities. You can see the original documentation for those commands at the following links:

     part [mntpoint]
     partition [mntpoint]
                    

     part / --source rootfs --ondisk sdb --fstype=ext3 --label platform --align 1024
                    

The easiest way to define kernel configurations is to set them through the menuconfig tool. This tool provides an interactive method with which to set kernel configurations. For general information on menuconfig, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menuconfig.

To use the menuconfig tool in the Yocto Project development environment, you must launch it using BitBake. Thus, the environment must be set up using the oe-init-build-env or oe-init-build-env-memres script found in the Build Directory. You must also be sure of the state of your build in the Source Directory. The following commands run menuconfig assuming the Source Directory's top-level folder is ~/poky:

     $ cd poky
     $ source oe-init-build-env
     $ bitbake linux-yocto -c kernel_configme -f
     $ bitbake linux-yocto -c menuconfig
                

Once menuconfig comes up, its standard interface allows you to interactively examine and configure all the kernel configuration parameters. After making your changes, simply exit the tool and save your changes to create an updated version of the .config configuration file.

Consider an example that configures the linux-yocto-3.14 kernel. The OpenEmbedded build system recognizes this kernel as linux-yocto. Thus, the following commands from the shell in which you previously sourced the environment initialization script cleans the shared state cache and the WORKDIR directory and then runs menuconfig:

     $ bitbake linux-yocto -c menuconfig
                

Once menuconfig launches, use the interface to navigate through the selections to find the configuration settings in which you are interested. For example, consider the CONFIG_SMP configuration setting. You can find it at Processor Type and Features under the configuration selection Symmetric Multi-processing Support. After highlighting the selection, use the arrow keys to select or deselect the setting. When you are finished with all your selections, exit out and save them.

Saving the selections updates the .config configuration file. This is the file that the OpenEmbedded build system uses to configure the kernel during the build. You can find and examine this file in the Build Directory in tmp/work/. The actual .config is located in the area where the specific kernel is built. For example, if you were building a Linux Yocto kernel based on the Linux 3.14 kernel and you were building a QEMU image targeted for x86 architecture, the .config file would be located here:

     poky/build/tmp/work/qemux86-poky-linux/linux-yocto-3.14.11+git1+84f...
        ...656ed30-r1/linux-qemux86-standard-build
                

Within the .config file, you can see the kernel settings. For example, the following entry shows that symmetric multi-processor support is not set:

     # CONFIG_SMP is not set
                

A good method to isolate changed configurations is to use a combination of the menuconfig tool and simple shell commands. Before changing configurations with menuconfig, copy the existing .config and rename it to something else, use menuconfig to make as many changes as you want and save them, then compare the renamed configuration file against the newly created file. You can use the resulting differences as your base to create configuration fragments to permanently save in your kernel layer.

A defconfig file is simply a .config renamed to "defconfig". You can use a defconfig file to retain a known set of kernel configurations from which the OpenEmbedded build system can draw to create the final .config file.

To create a defconfig, start with a complete, working Linux kernel .config file. Copy that file to the appropriate ${PN} directory in your layer's recipes-kernel/linux directory, and rename the copied file to "defconfig". Then, add the following lines to the linux-yocto .bbappend file in your layer:

     FILESEXTRAPATHS_prepend := "${THISDIR}/${PN}:"
     SRC_URI += "file://defconfig"
                

The SRC_URI tells the build system how to search for the file, while the FILESEXTRAPATHS extends the FILESPATH variable (search directories) to include the ${PN} directory you created to hold the configuration changes.

For more information on configuring the kernel, see the "Changing the Configuration" and "Generating Configuration Files" sections, both in the Yocto Project Linux Kernel Development Manual.

Configuration fragments are simply kernel options that appear in a file placed where the OpenEmbedded build system can find and apply them. Syntactically, the configuration statement is identical to what would appear in the .config file, which is in the Build Directory:

     tmp/work/arch-poky-linux/linux-yocto-release_specific_string/linux-arch-build_type
                

It is simple to create a configuration fragment. For example, issuing the following from the shell creates a configuration fragment file named my_smp.cfg that enables multi-processor support within the kernel:

     $ echo "CONFIG_SMP=y" >> my_smp.cfg
                

Where do you put your configuration fragment files? You can place these files in the same area pointed to by SRC_URI. The OpenEmbedded build system picks up the configuration and adds it to the kernel's configuration. For example, suppose you had a set of configuration options in a file called myconfig.cfg. If you put that file inside a directory named linux-yocto that resides in the same directory as the kernel's append file and then add a SRC_URI statement such as the following to the kernel's append file, those configuration options will be picked up and applied when the kernel is built.

     SRC_URI += "file://myconfig.cfg"
                

As mentioned earlier, you can group related configurations into multiple files and name them all in the SRC_URI statement as well. For example, you could group separate configurations specifically for Ethernet and graphics into their own files and add those by using a SRC_URI statement like the following in your append file:

     SRC_URI += "file://myconfig.cfg \
            file://eth.cfg \
            file://gfx.cfg"
                

You can make sure the .config file is as lean or efficient as possible by reading the output of the kernel configuration fragment audit, noting any issues, making changes to correct the issues, and then repeating.

As part of the kernel build process, the do_kernel_configcheck task runs. This task validates the kernel configuration by checking the final .config file against the input files. During the check, the task produces warning messages for the following issues:

For each output warning, a message points to the file that contains a list of the options and a pointer to the configuration fragment that defines them. Collectively, the files are the key to streamlining the configuration.

To streamline the configuration, do the following:

Iteratively working through steps two through four eventually yields a minimal, streamlined configuration file. Once you have the best .config, you can build the Linux Yocto kernel.

This section describes part of the kernel configuration audit phase that most developers can ignore. During this part of the audit phase, the contents of the final .config file are compared against the fragments specified by the system. These fragments can be system fragments, distro fragments, or user specified configuration elements. Regardless of their origin, the OpenEmbedded build system warns the user if a specific option is not included in the final kernel configuration.

In order to not overwhelm the user with configuration warnings, by default the system only reports on missing "hardware" options because a missing hardware option could mean a boot failure or that important hardware is not available.

To determine whether or not a given option is "hardware" or "non-hardware", the kernel Metadata contains files that classify individual or groups of options as either hardware or non-hardware. To better show this, consider a situation where the Yocto Project kernel cache contains the following files:

     kernel-cache/features/drm-psb/hardware.cfg
     kernel-cache/features/kgdb/hardware.cfg
     kernel-cache/ktypes/base/hardware.cfg
     kernel-cache/bsp/mti-malta32/hardware.cfg
     kernel-cache/bsp/fsl-mpc8315e-rdb/hardware.cfg
     kernel-cache/bsp/qemu-ppc32/hardware.cfg
     kernel-cache/bsp/qemuarma9/hardware.cfg
     kernel-cache/bsp/mti-malta64/hardware.cfg
     kernel-cache/bsp/arm-versatile-926ejs/hardware.cfg
     kernel-cache/bsp/common-pc/hardware.cfg
     kernel-cache/bsp/common-pc-64/hardware.cfg
     kernel-cache/features/rfkill/non-hardware.cfg
     kernel-cache/ktypes/base/non-hardware.cfg
     kernel-cache/features/aufs/non-hardware.kcf
     kernel-cache/features/ocf/non-hardware.kcf
     kernel-cache/ktypes/base/non-hardware.kcf
     kernel-cache/ktypes/base/hardware.kcf
     kernel-cache/bsp/qemu-ppc32/hardware.kcf
                

The following list provides explanations for the various files:

Here is a specific example using the kernel-cache/bsp/mti-malta32/hardware.cfg:

     CONFIG_SERIAL_8250
     CONFIG_SERIAL_8250_CONSOLE
     CONFIG_SERIAL_8250_NR_UARTS
     CONFIG_SERIAL_8250_PCI
     CONFIG_SERIAL_CORE
     CONFIG_SERIAL_CORE_CONSOLE
     CONFIG_VGA_ARB
                

The kernel configuration audit automatically detects these files (hence the names must be exactly the ones discussed here), and uses them as inputs when generating warnings about the final .config file.

A user-specified kernel Metadata repository, or recipe space feature, can use these same files to classify options that are found within its .cfg files as hardware or non-hardware, to prevent the OpenEmbedded build system from producing an error or warning when an option is not in the final .config file.

The first step is to create a layer so you can isolate your changes. Rather than use the yocto-layer script to create the layer, this example steps through the process by hand. If you want information on the script that creates a general layer, see the "Creating a General Layer Using the yocto-layer Script" section.

These two commands create a directory you can use for your layer:

     $ cd ~/poky
     $ mkdir meta-mylayer
                

Creating a directory that follows the Yocto Project layer naming conventions sets up the layer for your changes. The layer is where you place your configuration files, append files, and patch files. To learn more about creating a layer and filling it with the files you need, see the "Understanding and Creating Layers" section.

Each time you build a kernel image, the kernel source code is fetched and unpacked into the following directory:

     ${S}/linux
                

See the "Finding Temporary Source Code" section and the S variable for more information about where source is kept during a build.

For this example, we are going to patch the init/calibrate.c file by adding some simple console printk statements that we can see when we boot the image using QEMU.

Two methods exist by which you can create the patch: devtool and Quilt. For kernel patches, the Git workflow is more appropriate. This section assumes the Git workflow and shows the steps specific to this example.

These steps get your layer set up for the build:

Do the following to make sure the build parameters are set up for the example. Once you set up these build parameters, they do not have to change unless you change the target architecture of the machine you are building:

The following steps build your modified kernel image:

These steps boot the image and allow you to see the changes

General considerations exist that help you create more secure images. You should consider the following suggestions to help make your device more secure:

The Yocto Project has security flags that you can enable that help make your build output more secure. The security flags are in the meta/conf/distro/include/security_flags.inc file in your Source Directory (e.g. poky).

Use the following line in your local.conf file or in your custom distribution configuration file to enable the security compiler and linker flags for your build:

     require conf/distro/include/security_flags.inc
                

You can take some steps that are specific to the OpenEmbedded build system to make your images more secure:

The Yocto Project provides tools for making your image more secure. You can find these tools in the meta-security layer of the Yocto Project Source Repositories.

The following list presents the overall steps you need to consider and perform to create distributions with smaller root filesystems, achieve faster boot times, maintain your critical functionality, and avoid initial RAM disks:

Before you can reach your destination, you need to know where you are going. Here is an example list that you can use as a guide when creating very small distributions:

It is easiest to have something to start with when creating your own distribution. You can use the Yocto Project out-of-the-box to create the poky-tiny distribution. Ultimately, you will want to make changes in your own distribution that are likely modeled after poky-tiny.

Understanding some memory concepts will help you reduce the system size. Memory consists of static, dynamic, and temporary memory. Static memory is the TEXT (code), DATA (initialized data in the code), and BSS (uninitialized data) sections. Dynamic memory represents memory that is allocated at runtime: stacks, hash tables, and so forth. Temporary memory is recovered after the boot process. This memory consists of memory used for decompressing the kernel and for the __init__ functions.

To help you see where you currently are with kernel and root filesystem sizes, you can use two tools found in the Source Directory in the scripts/tiny/ directory:

This next tool and command help you organize configuration fragments and view file dependencies in a human-readable form:

The root filesystem is made up of packages for booting, libraries, and applications. To change things, you can configure how the packaging happens, which changes the way you build them. You can also modify the filesystem itself or select a different filesystem.

First, find out what is hogging your root filesystem by running the dirsize.py script from your root directory:

     $ cd root-directory-of-image
     $ dirsize.py 100000 > dirsize-100k.log
     $ cat dirsize-100k.log
                

You can apply a filter to the script to ignore files under a certain size. The previous example filters out any files below 100 Kbytes. The sizes reported by the tool are uncompressed, and thus will be smaller by a relatively constant factor in a compressed root filesystem. When you examine your log file, you can focus on areas of the root filesystem that take up large amounts of memory.

You need to be sure that what you eliminate does not cripple the functionality you need. One way to see how packages relate to each other is by using the Dependency Explorer UI with the BitBake command:

     $ cd image-directory
     $ bitbake -u depexp -g image
                

Use the interface to select potential packages you wish to eliminate and see their dependency relationships.

When deciding how to reduce the size, get rid of packages that result in minimal impact on the feature set. For example, you might not need a VGA display. Or, you might be able to get by with devtmpfs and mdev instead of udev.

Use your local.conf file to make changes. For example, to eliminate udev and glib, set the following in the local configuration file:

     VIRTUAL-RUNTIME_dev_manager = ""
                

Finally, you should consider exactly the type of root filesystem you need to meet your needs while also reducing its size. For example, consider cramfs, squashfs, ubifs, ext2, or an initramfs using initramfs. Be aware that ext3 requires a 1 Mbyte journal. If you are okay with running read-only, you do not need this journal.

The kernel is built by including policies for hardware-independent aspects. What subsystems do you enable? For what architecture are you building? Which drivers do you build by default?

Run the ksize.py script from the top-level Linux build directory to get an idea of what is making up the kernel:

     $ cd top-level-linux-build-directory
     $ ksize.py > ksize.log
     $ cat ksize.log
                

When you examine the log, you will see how much space is taken up with the built-in .o files for drivers, networking, core kernel files, filesystem, sound, and so forth. The sizes reported by the tool are uncompressed, and thus will be smaller by a relatively constant factor in a compressed kernel image. Look to reduce the areas that are large and taking up around the "90% rule."

To examine, or drill down, into any particular area, use the -d option with the script:

     $ ksize.py -d > ksize.log
                

Using this option breaks out the individual file information for each area of the kernel (e.g. drivers, networking, and so forth).

Use your log file to see what you can eliminate from the kernel based on features you can let go. For example, if you are not going to need sound, you do not need any drivers that support sound.

After figuring out what to eliminate, you need to reconfigure the kernel to reflect those changes during the next build. You could run menuconfig and make all your changes at once. However, that makes it difficult to see the effects of your individual eliminations and also makes it difficult to replicate the changes for perhaps another target device. A better method is to start with no configurations using allnoconfig, create configuration fragments for individual changes, and then manage the fragments into a single configuration file using merge_config.sh. The tool makes it easy for you to iterate using the configuration change and build cycle.

Each time you make configuration changes, you need to rebuild the kernel and check to see what impact your changes had on the overall size.

Packaging requirements add size to the image. One way to reduce the size of the image is to remove all the packaging requirements from the image. This reduction includes both removing the package manager and its unique dependencies as well as removing the package management data itself.

To eliminate all the packaging requirements for an image, be sure that "package-management" is not part of your IMAGE_FEATURES statement for the image. When you remove this feature, you are removing the package manager as well as its dependencies from the root filesystem.

Depending on your particular circumstances, other areas that you can trim likely exist. The key to finding these areas is through tools and methods described here combined with experimentation and iteration. Here are a couple of areas to experiment with: