First Day
Introduction to Linux
- Linux history and Version management
- Linux system architecture
- Processes and MMU
- System calls
- Shared libraries
- Linux components
- Toolchain
- Bootloader
- Kernel
- Root file system
- Linux distributions
- Linux packages
- The various licenses used by Linux (GPL, LGPL, etc)
Linux tools for embedded systems
- Boot loaders (UBoot, Redboot, barebox)
- Optimized libraries (eglibc, uClibc)
- Toolchains
- Embedded GUIs
- Busybox
- Embedded distributions
- Commercial
- Standard
- Tools for building custom distributions
Introduction to System Workbench
- Overview
- Eclipse
- Kernel and modules
- Platforms and Root file-systems
- The build system architecture
- Building individual packages
- Building platforms
- Building Root file-systems
| Exercise: |
Building a root file system a pre-defined platform template |
Developing applications with System Workbench
- Creating a Linux program
- Creating a library
- Static library
- Shared library
- Debugging on the target
- Using an SSH connection
- Debugging shared libraries
| Exercise: |
Create a small program, with a custom shared library, and debug it on the target |
Using U-Boot
- Introduction to U-Boot
- Booting the board through U-Boot
- Booting from NOR
- Booting from NAND
- Booting from eMMC
- U-Boot environment variables
- User-defined variables
- Predefined variables
- Variables substitution
- The U-Boot minimal shell
- Writing scripts in variables
- Executing scripts
- Using variables in scripts: the set-script pattern
- U-Boot main commands
- Booting an OS
- Accessing flash chips
- Accessing file systems (NFS, FAT, EXTx, JFFS2…)
- The full U-Boot shell
- Script structure
- Control flow instructions (if, for…)
- Booting Linux
- Linux kernel parameters
- The Linux startup sequence
| Exercise: |
Writing a script to configure the network and pass this configuration to the Linux kernel |
| Exercise: |
Booting the board on NFS, using pre-existing images |
| Exercise: |
Writing scripts to choose between boot from flash or from the network |
Second Day
Building U-Boot
- Building and installing U-Boot with its native build system
- Building U-boot with System Workbench
| Exercise: |
Configuring and building u-boot with its native build system |
| Exercise: |
Building u-boot from System Workbench |
Building the kernel
- The Linux build system
- Downloading stable source code
- Getting a tarball
- Using GIT
- Configuring the kernel
- Compiling the kernel and its modules
- Modules delivered in-tree
- Out-of-tree modules
- Installing the kernel and the modules
| Exercise: |
Configuring and compiling a target kernel for the target board with the kernel build system |
- Kernel projects
- Creating a kernel project
- Selecting the architecture and configuration
- Customizing the configuration
- Compiling the kernel
| Exercise: |
Configure and compile the kernel in the platform |
- Module projects
- Creating a module project
- Linking it to a kernel project
- Creating and building modules
| Exercise: |
Add and configure an external module |
| Exercise: |
Exercise: Configuring and compiling a target kernel for the target board with System Workbench |
Building packages
- Packages
- Tools to build packages (gcc, Makefile, pkg-config…)
- Autotools
- Cross-compiling a package with autotools
- The all-in-one applications
- Busybox, the basic utilities
- Dropbear: encrypted communications (ssh)
- Automatically starting a program at boot
- Initialization systems (busybox init, system V init)
| Exercise: |
Cross-compiling an autotools-based package |
Creating a Linux Platform
- Creating a platform project
- Importing a pre-configured platform
- Creating a platform from scratch
- Configuring the platform
- Source and installation directories
- Link to a target Rootfs
- Build configurations
| Exercise: |
Create and configure a minimum platform from scratch, using library packages |
- Populating the build environment
- Import packages in the build environment
- Build individual packages
- Build the whole platform
| Exercise: |
Build the platform, manually building some packages |
- Adding packages to a platform
- From a library
- From an existing Eclipse project
| Exercise: |
Add the previously developed application to the platform |
- Creating a new package
- Specifying the source
- Patching the official sources
- Adding package-specific resources
- Adding package configuration directives
| Exercise: |
Add a new open-source package to the platform |
Third Day
Embedded file systems
- Storage interfaces
- Flash memories and Linux MTDs
- NOR flashes
- NAND flashes
- ONENAND flashes
- The various flash file system formats
- Read-only file system
- Standard Linux file systems
- Ext2/3/4, FAT, NFS
- Ramdisks and initrd
- Creating an initramfs
- Booting through an initramfs
- Choosing the right file system formats
- Flashing the file system
Creating a root file system
- Manually building your root file system
- Device nodes, programs and libraries
- Configuration files (network, udev, …)
- Installing modules
- Looking for and installing the needed libraries
- Testing file system consistency and completeness
- Package management
| Exercise: |
Manually creating a minimal root file system using busybox and dropbear |
- Creating a rootfs project
- Creating the rootfs structure
- Add files to the base structure
- Edit standard configuration files
- File systems
- Initialization
- Starting applications
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