Bitbake & OpenEmbedded

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Build images (Bitbake & OpenEmbedded)

The OpenEmbedded community provides a build system for embedded Linux. This environment provides cross-compilation support for many different architectures, can produce root file systems for numerous LInux distributions, and will readily build many of existing open source libraries and tools useful on and for embedded systems. At the heart of OE is the Bitbake tool which resolves dependencies between different software packages in order to build a complete embedded system; as make is to source code, so Bitbake is to software packages.

Gumstix uses OpenEmbedded as a SDK for the Angstrom distribution available on all COMs. Users are free to modify the code, design custom images, and use the many tools available for their projects. The articles below will help to get you started with OE.

Using the Open Embedded Build System for Overo Series

These instructions are for creating an·OpenEmbedded (OE) build system for the Overo series.·Much like Gentoo Ebuilds on x86, OE is a software framework to create Linux distributions. OE downloads the source code and cross compiles it for you as needed. OE builds everything from scratch including the cross compilation toolchain. This section will show you how to set up an OE environment on your Linux development system. Read more...

Bitbake Tutorial

At the core of OpenEmbedded is the Bitbake Tool. Users wanting to create new Bitbake recipes and OpenEmbedded packages may find this tutorial helpful. Read more...

Image Types and Bitbake Targets

Gumstix publishes several different prebuilt images as well as kernel and bootloader binaries. It is also possible to build these binaries using the bitbake tool. This page explains the different types of images for the Overo series and hightlights the bitbake targets used to build the Gumstix software. Read more...

OpenEmbedded Directory Layout

OpenEmbedded is a flexible, capable build tool. There is, however, a lot to know in order to fully exploit its power. A good way to learn how it works is to explore its directory layout. Read more...

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