From ab5bec6a488dd9bf945d613bfdcf3f3ad571ff31 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Felix Fietkau Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2005 11:42:30 +0000 Subject: update buildroot documentation git-svn-id: svn://svn.openwrt.org/openwrt/trunk/openwrt@406 3c298f89-4303-0410-b956-a3cf2f4a3e73 --- docs/buildroot-documentation.html | 417 +++++++++++++++++--------------------- 1 file changed, 184 insertions(+), 233 deletions(-) (limited to 'docs') diff --git a/docs/buildroot-documentation.html b/docs/buildroot-documentation.html index 8e6c08d047..5a8bb7afe1 100644 --- a/docs/buildroot-documentation.html +++ b/docs/buildroot-documentation.html @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ - Buildroot - Usage and documentation + OpenWrt Buildroot - Usage and documentation @@ -12,46 +12,41 @@
-

Buildroot

+

OpenWrt Buildroot

-

Usage and documentation by Thomas Petazzoni. Contributions from - Karsten Kruse, Ned Ludd, Martin Herren.

+

Usage and documentation by Felix Fietkau, based on uClibc Buildroot + documentation by Thomas Petazzoni. Contributions from Karsten Kruse, + Ned Ludd, Martin Herren.

Last modification : $Id$

-

About Buildroot

+

About OpenWrt Buildroot

-

Buildroot is a set of Makefiles and patches that allows to easily +

OpenWrt Buildroot is a set of Makefiles and patches that allows to easily generate both a cross-compilation toolchain and a root filesystem for your - target. The cross-compilation toolchain uses uClibc (http://www.uclibc.org/), a tiny C standard library.

-

Buildroot is useful mainly for people working with embedded systems. - Embedded systems often use processors that are not the regular x86 - processors everyone is used to have on his PC. It can be PowerPC - processors, MIPS processors, ARM processors, etc.

-

A compilation toolchain is the set of tools that allows to compile code for your system. It consists of a compiler (in our case, gcc), binary utils like assembler and linker @@ -68,7 +63,7 @@ toolchain is called the "host compilation toolchain", and more generally, the machine on which it is running, and on which you're working is called the "host system". The compilation toolchain is - provided by your distribution, and Buildroot has nothing to do + provided by your distribution, and OpenWrt Buildroot has nothing to do with it.

As said above, the compilation toolchain that comes with your system @@ -76,66 +71,34 @@ embedded system has a different processor, you need a cross-compilation toolchain: it's a compilation toolchain that runs on your host system but that generates code for your target system (and target processor). For - example, if your host system uses x86 and your target system uses ARM, the + example, if your host system uses x86 and your target system uses MIPS, the regular compilation toolchain of your host runs on x86 and generates code for x86, while the cross-compilation toolchain runs on x86 and generates - code for ARM.

- -

Even if your embedded system uses a x86 processor, you might interested - in Buildroot, for two reasons:

- - + code for MIPS.

You might wonder why such a tool is needed when you can compile gcc, binutils, uClibc and all the tools by hand. Of course, doing so is possible. But dealing with all configure options, with all problems of every gcc or binutils - version it very time-consuming and uninteresting. Buildroot automates this + version it very time-consuming and uninteresting. OpenWrt Buildroot automates this process through the use of Makefiles, and has a collection of patches for each gcc and binutils version to make them work - on most architectures.

+ on the MIPS architecture of most Broadcom based Wireless Routers.

-

Obtaining Buildroot

+

Obtaining OpenWrt Buildroot

-

Buildroot is available as daily CVS snapshots or directly using - CVS.

+

OpenWrt Buildroot is currently available as experimental snapshots

The latest snapshot is always available at http://uclibc.org/downloads/snapshots/buildroot-snapshot.tar.bz2, - and previous snapshots are also available at http://uclibc.org/downloads/snapshots/.

- -

To download Buildroot using CVS, you can simply follow - the rules described on the "Accessing CVS"-page (http://www.uclibc.org/cvs_anon.html) - of the uClibc website (http://www.uclibc.org), and download the - buildroot CVS module. For the impatient, here's a quick - recipe:

- -
- $ cvs -d:pserver:anonymous@uclibc.org:/var/cvs login
- $ cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@uclibc.org:/var/cvs co buildroot
-
+ href="http://openwrt.org/downloads/experimental/">http://openwrt.org/downloads/experimental/, -

Using Buildroot

+

Using OpenWrt Buildroot

-

Buildroot has a nice configuration tool similar to the one you can find - in the Linux Kernel (http://www.kernel.org/) or in Busybox - (http://www.busybox.org/). Note that - you can run everything as a normal user. There is no need to be root to - configure and use Buildroot. The first step is to run the configuration +

OpenWrt Buildroot has a nice configuration tool similar to the one you can find + in the Linux Kernel (http://www.kernel.org/) + or in Busybox (http://www.busybox.org/). + Note that you can run everything as a normal user. There is no need to be root to + configure and use the Buildroot. The first step is to run the configuration assistant:

@@ -156,12 +119,24 @@
 

This command will download, configure and compile all the selected - tools, and finally generate a target filesystem. The target filesystem will - be named root_fs_ARCH.EXT where ARCH is your - architecture and EXT depends on the type of target filesystem - selected in the Target options section of the configuration - tool.

- + tools, and finally generate target firmware images and additional packages + (depending on your selections in make menuconfig. + All the target files can be found in the bin/ subdirectory. + You can compile firmware images containing two different filesystem types: + +

jffs2 contains a writable root filesystem, which will expand to + the size of your flash image. Note that you if you use the generic firmware + Image, you need to pick the right image for your Flash size, because of different + eraseblock sizes.

+ +

squashfs contains a read-only root filesystem using a modified + squashfs filesystem with LZMA compression. When booting it, you can + create a writable second filesystem, which will contain your modifications to + the root filesystem, including the packages you install. +

Customizing the target filesystem

@@ -170,55 +145,27 @@

Customizing the Busybox configuration

-

Busybox is very configurable, and you may want to customize it. You can - follow these simple steps to do it. It's not an optimal way, but it's - simple and it works.

- -
    -
  1. Make a first compilation of buildroot with busybox without trying to - customize it.
  2. - -
  3. Go into build_ARCH/busybox/ and run make - menuconfig. The nice configuration tool appears and you can - customize everything.
  4. - -
  5. Copy the .config file to - package/busybox/busybox.config so that your customized - configuration will remains even if you remove the cross-compilation - toolchain.
  6. - -
  7. Run the compilation of buildroot again.
  8. -
- -

Otherwise, you can simply change the - package/busybox/busybox.config file if you know the options - you want to change without using the configuration tool.

+

Busybox is very configurable, and you may want to customize it. + Its configuration is completely integrated into the main menuconfig system. + You can find it under "OpenWrt Package Selection" => "Busybox Configuration"

Customizing the uClibc configuration

@@ -239,17 +186,17 @@
  • Go into the directory toolchain_build_ARCH/uClibc/ and run make menuconfig. The nice configuration assistant, similar to - the one used in the Linux Kernel or in Buildroot appears. Make + the one used in the Linux Kernel appears. Make your configuration as appropriate.
  • Copy the .config file to toolchain/uClibc/uClibc.config or toolchain/uClibc/uClibc.config-locale. The former - is used if you haven't selected locale support in Buildroot + is used if you haven't selected locale support in the Buildroot configuration, and the latter is used if you have selected locale support.
  • -
  • Run the compilation of Buildroot again
  • +
  • Run the compilation again
  • @@ -258,18 +205,17 @@ toolchain/uClibc/uClibc.config-locale without running the configuration assistant.

    -

    How Buildroot +

    How OpenWrt Buildroot works

    -

    As said above, Buildroot is basically a set of Makefiles that download, +

    As said above, OpenWrt is basically a set of Makefiles that download, configure and compiles software with the correct options. It also includes some patches for various software, mainly the ones involved in the cross-compilation tool chain (gcc, binutils and uClibc).

    -

    There is basically one Makefile per software, and they are named with - the .mk extension. Makefiles are split into three - sections:

    +

    There is basically one Makefile per software, and they are named Makefile. + Makefiles are split into three sections:

    Each directory contains at least 3 files :

    The main Makefile do the job through the following steps (once the @@ -338,24 +276,22 @@

  • Create the target directory (build_ARCH/root/ by default) and the target filesystem skeleton. This directory will contain the final root filesystem. To setup it up, it first deletes it, then it - uncompress the target/default/skel.tar.gz file to create the - main subdirectories and symlinks, copies the skeleton available in - target/default/target_skeleton and then removes useless - CVS/ directories.
  • - -
  • Make the TARGETS dependency. This is where all the job - is done : all Makefile.in files "subscribe" targets into - this global variable, so that the needed tools gets compiled.
  • + copies the skeleton available in target/default/target_skeleton + and then removes useless CVS/ directories. + +
  • Call the prepare, compile and install + targets for the subdirectories toolchain, package + and target
  • Using the uClibc toolchain

    You may want to compile your own programs or other software - that are not packaged in Buildroot. In order to do this, you can - use the toolchain that was generated by Buildroot.

    + that are not packaged in OpenWrt. In order to do this, you can + use the toolchain that was generated by the Buildroot.

    -

    The toolchain generated by Buildroot by default is located in +

    The toolchain generated by the Buildroot by default is located in build_ARCH/staging_dir/. The simplest way to use it is to add build_ARCH/staging_dir/bin/ to your PATH environnement variable, and then to use @@ -396,7 +332,7 @@ mips-linux-gcc -o foo foo.c

    If you want to use the generated toolchain for other purposes, you can configure Buildroot to generate it elsewhere using the - option of the configuration tool : Build options -> + option of the configuration tool : Build options -> Toolchain and header file location, which defaults to $(BUILD_DIR)/staging_dir/.

    @@ -412,7 +348,7 @@ mips-linux-gcc -o foo foo.c toolchain and the target filesystem with exactly the same versions.

    -

    Extending Buildroot with +

    Extending OpenWrt with more software

    This section will only consider the case in which you want to @@ -432,7 +368,7 @@ mips-linux-gcc -o foo foo.c

     config BR2_PACKAGE_FOO
    -        bool "foo"
    +        tristate "foo"
             default n
             help
     	     This is a comment that explains what foo is.
    @@ -441,56 +377,77 @@ config BR2_PACKAGE_FOO
         

    Of course, you can add other options to configure particular things in your software.

    -

    Makefile.in file

    +

    Makefile in the package directory

    -

    Then, write a Makefile.in file. Basically, this is - a very short Makefile that adds the name of the software to - the list of TARGETS that Buildroot will generate. In - fact, the name of the software is the the identifier of the target - inside the real Makefile that will do everything (download, - compile, install), and that we study below. Back to - Makefile.in, here is an example :

    +

    To add your package to the build process, you need to edit + the Makefile in the package/ directory. Locate the + lines that look like the following:

    -ifeq ($(strip $(BR2_PACKAGE_FOO)),y)
    -TARGETS+=foo
    -endif
    +package-$(BR2_PACKAGE_FOO) += foo
     
    -

    As you can see, this short Makefile simply adds the - target foo to the list of targets handled by Buildroot - if software foo was selected using the configuration tool.

    +

    As you can see, this short line simply adds the target + foo to the list of targets handled by OpenWrt Buildroot.

    + + +

    In addition to the default dependencies, you make your package + depend on another package (e.g. a library) by adding a line: + +

    +foo-compile: bar-compile
    +
    + +

    The .control file

    +

    Additionally, you need to create a control file which contains + information about your package, readable by the ipkg package + utility.

    + +

    The file looks like this

    + +
    +     1  Package: foo
    +     2  Priority: optional
    +     3  Section: net
    +     4  Maintainer: Foo Software <foo@foosoftware.com>
    +     5  Source: http://foosoftware.com
    +     6  Description: Your Package Description
    +
    + +

    You can skip the usual Version: and Architecture + fields, as they will be generated by the make-ipkg-dir.sh script + called from your Makefile

    The real Makefile

    Finally, here's the hardest part. Create a file named - foo.mk. It will contain the Makefile rules that + Makefile. It will contain the Makefile rules that are in charge of downloading, configuring, compiling and installing the software. Below is an example that we will comment afterwards.

          1  #############################################################
    -     2  #
    -     3  # foo
    -     4  #
    -     5  #############################################################
    -     6  FOO_VERSION:=1.0
    -     7  FOO_SOURCE:=less-$(FOO_VERSION).tar.gz
    -     8  FOO_SITE:=http://www.foosoftware.org/downloads
    -     9  FOO_DIR:=$(BUILD_DIR)/less-$(FOO_VERSION)
    -    10  FOO_BINARY:=foo
    -    11  FOO_TARGET_BINARY:=usr/bin/foo
    +     2  # foo
    +     3  #############################################################
    +     4  PKG_NAME:=foo
    +     5  PKG_VERSION:=1.0
    +     6  PKG_RELEASE:=1
    +     7  PKG_SOURCE:=$(PKG_NAME)-$(PKG_VERSION).tar.gz
    +     8  PKG_SITE:=http://www.foosoftware.org/downloads
    +     9  PKG_DIR:=$(BUILD_DIR)/$(PKG_NAME)-$(PKG_VERSION)
    +    10  PKG_IPK:=$(PACKAGE_DIR)/$(PKG_NAME)_$(PKG_VERSION)-$(PKG_RELEASE)_$(ARCH).ipk
    +    11  PKG_IPK_DIR:=$(PKG_DIR)/ipkg
         12
    -    13  $(DL_DIR)/$(FOO_SOURCE):
    -    14          $(WGET) -P $(DL_DIR) $(FOO_SITE)/$(FOO_SOURCE)
    +    13  $(DL_DIR)/$(PKG_SOURCE):
    +    14          $(WGET) -P $(DL_DIR) $(PKG_SITE)/$(PKG_SOURCE)
         15
    -    16  $(FOO_DIR)/.source: $(DL_DIR)/$(FOO_SOURCE)
    -    17          zcat $(DL_DIR)/$(FOO_SOURCE) | tar -C $(BUILD_DIR) $(TAR_OPTIONS) -
    -    18          touch $(FOO_DIR)/.source
    +    16  $(PKG_DIR)/.source: $(DL_DIR)/$(PKG_SOURCE)
    +    17          zcat $(DL_DIR)/$(PKG_SOURCE) | tar -C $(BUILD_DIR) $(TAR_OPTIONS) -
    +    18          touch $(PKG_DIR)/.source
         19
    -    20  $(FOO_DIR)/.configured: $(FOO_DIR)/.source
    -    21          (cd $(FOO_DIR); \
    +    20  $(PKG_DIR)/.configured: $(PKG_DIR)/.source
    +    21          (cd $(PKG_DIR); \
         22                  $(TARGET_CONFIGURE_OPTS) \
         23                  CFLAGS="$(TARGET_CFLAGS)" \
         24                  ./configure \
    @@ -500,60 +457,60 @@ endif
         28                  --prefix=/usr \
         29                  --sysconfdir=/etc \
         30          );
    -    31          touch $(FOO_DIR)/.configured;
    +    31          touch $(PKG_DIR)/.configured;
         32
    -    33  $(FOO_DIR)/$(FOO_BINARY): $(FOO_DIR)/.configured
    -    34          $(MAKE) CC=$(TARGET_CC) -C $(FOO_DIR)
    +    33  $(PKG_DIR)/foo $(PKG_DIR)/.configured
    +    34          $(MAKE) CC=$(TARGET_CC) -C $(PKG_DIR)
         35
    -    36  $(TARGET_DIR)/$(FOO_TARGET_BINARY): $(FOO_DIR)/$(FOO_BINARY)
    -    37          $(MAKE) prefix=$(TARGET_DIR)/usr -C $(FOO_DIR) install
    -    38          rm -Rf $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/man
    -    39
    -    40  foo: uclibc ncurses $(TARGET_DIR)/$(FOO_TARGET_BINARY)
    +    36  $(PKG_IPK): $(PKG_DIR)/$(PKG_BINARY)
    +    37		$(SCRIPT_DIR)/make-ipkg-dir.sh $(PKG_IPK_DIR) $(PKG_NAME).control $(PKG_VERSION)-$(PKG_RELEASE) $(ARCH)
    +    38          $(MAKE) prefix=$(PKG_IPK_DIR)/usr -C $(PKG_DIR) install
    +    39          rm -Rf $(PKG_IPK_DIR)/usr/man
    +    40  	$(IPKG_BUILD) $(PKG_IPK_DIR) $(PACKAGE_DIR)
         41
    -    42  foo-source: $(DL_DIR)/$(FOO_SOURCE)
    -    43
    -    44  foo-clean:
    -    45          $(MAKE) prefix=$(TARGET_DIR)/usr -C $(FOO_DIR) uninstall
    -    46          -$(MAKE) -C $(FOO_DIR) clean
    -    47
    -    48  foo-dirclean:
    -    49          rm -rf $(FOO_DIR)
    -    50
    +    42  $(IPKG_STATE_DIR)/info/$(PKG_NAME).list: $(PKG_IPK)  
    +    43  	$(IPKG) install $(PKG_IPK) 
    +    44  
    +    45  prepare: $(PKG_DIR)/.source
    +    46  compile: $(PKG_IPK)
    +    47  install: $(IPKG_STATE_DIR)/info/$(PKG_NAME).list
    +    48  clean:
    +    49  	rm -rf $(PKG_DIR)
    +    50		rm -f $(PKG_IPK)
     

    First of all, this Makefile example works for a single binary software. For other software such as libraries or more complex stuff with multiple binaries, it should be adapted. Look at - the other *.mk files in the package + the other Makefile files in the package directory.

    -

    At lines 6-11, a couple of useful variables are defined :

    +

    At lines 4-11, a couple of useful variables are defined :

      - -
    • FOO_VERSION : The version of foo that +
    • PKG_NAME : The package name, e.g. foo.
    • + +
    • PKG_VERSION : The version of the package that should be downloaded.
    • -
    • FOO_SOURCE : The name of the tarball of - foo on the download website of FTP site. As you can see - FOO_VERSION is used.
    • +
    • PKG_RELEASE : The release number that will be + appended to the version number of your ipkg package. + +
    • PKG_SOURCE : The name of the tarball of + your package on the download website of FTP site. As you can see + PKG_NAME and PKG_VERSION are used.
    • -
    • FOO_SITE : The HTTP or FTP site from which - foo archive is downloaded. It must include the complete +
    • PKG_SITE : The HTTP or FTP site from which + the archive is downloaded. It must include the complete path to the directory where FOO_SOURCE can be found.
    • -
    • FOO_DIR : The directory into which the software +
    • PKG_DIR : The directory into which the software will be configured and compiled. Basically, it's a subdirectory of BUILD_DIR which is created upon decompression of the tarball.
    • -
    • FOO_BINARY : Software binary name. As said - previously, this is an example for a single binary software.
    • - -
    • FOO_TARGET_BINARY : The full path of the binary - inside the target filesystem.
    • +
    • PKG_IPK : The resulting ipkg pacakge
    @@ -590,34 +547,33 @@ endif file). It basically runs make inside the source directory.

    -

    Lines 36-38 defines a target and associated rules that install - the software inside the target filesystem. It depends on the - binary file in the source directory, to make sure the software has - been compiled. It uses the install target of the +

    Lines 36-40 defines a target and associated rules that create + the ipkg package which can optionally be embedded into + the resulting firmware image. It depends on the binary file in + the source directory, to make sure the software has been compiled. + It uses the make-ipkg-dir.sh script, which will create the ipkg + build directory for your package, copy your control file into + that directory and add version and architecture information. + Then it calls the install target of the software Makefile by passing a prefix argument, so that the Makefile doesn't try to install the software inside host /usr but inside target /usr. After the installation, the /usr/man directory inside the target filesystem is - removed to save space.

    - -

    Line 40 defines the main target of the software, the one - referenced in the Makefile.in file. This targets - should first of all depends on the dependecies of the software (in - our example, uclibc and ncurses), and then to the - final binary. This last dependency will call all previous - dependencies in the right order.

    - -

    Line 42 defines a simple target that only downloads the code - source. This is not used during normal operation of Buildroot, but - might be useful.

    + removed to save space. + Finally IPKG_BUILD is called to create the package.

    -

    Lignes 44-46 define a simple target to clean the software build - by calling the Makefiles with the appropriate option.

    +

    Line 42 and 43 define the installation target of your package, + which will embed the software into the target filesystem.

    -

    Lines 48-49 define a simple target to completely remove the - directory in which the software was uncompressed, configured and - compiled.

    +

    Lines 45-50 define the main targets that the Makefile in the + package dir calls. +

      +
    • prepare : Download and unpack the source
    • +
    • compile : Compile the source and create the package
    • +
    • install : Embed the package into the target filesystem
    • +
    • clean : Remove all the files created by the build process
    • +

    Conclusion

    @@ -627,17 +583,12 @@ endif the software.

    If you package software that might be useful for other persons, - don't forget to send a patch to Buildroot developers !

    - -

    Ressources

    + don't forget to send a patch to OpenWrt developers !

    -

    To learn more about Buildroot you can visit these - websites:

    +

    Resources

    - +

    To learn more about OpenWrt Buildroot you can visit this + website: http://openwrt.org/

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