ardusat / embedded-dev64

Embedded Dev Box Maker (64-bit)

Embedded Dev Box Maker (64-bit)

This are the steps to create a development environment suited for cross-platform embedded development.

Box specs

• VirtualBox
• Ubuntu GNU/Linux Precise 12.04 Server 64-bit
• 512MB of RAM
• 1 CPU core
• 8MB ram
• 80GB disk space

Vagrant file

    # -*- mode: ruby -*-
    # vi: set ft=ruby :

    VAGRANTFILE_API_VERSION = "2"

    Vagrant.configure(VAGRANTFILE_API_VERSION) do |config|
      config.vm.box = "precise64"
      config.vm.network :private_network, :ip => "192.168.50.4"
      config.ssh.forward_agent = true
      config.vbguest.auto_update = true

      config.vm.provider "virtualbox" do |v|
        v.name = "Embedded Dev Box Maker (64-bit)"
        v.memory = 512
      end
    end

Steps to generate box

Download Vagrant VirtualBox box file precise64 in your host. Ubuntu 12.04 64 bits Precise LTS:

vagrant box add precise64 http://files.vagrantup.com/precise64.box 

Setup Virtual Box to use bridged connection by opening Vagrantfile and adding following line:

config.vm.network "public_network", bridge: 'Local Area Connection'

Replace 'Local Area Connection' with name of connection, otherwise on vagrant up you will be asked to choose which connection to bridge

Run Vagrant in this directory or any directory that has the Vagrant listed in this document and let the provisioning run:

vagrant up

SSH to the VM:

vagrant ssh

Add the following at the top of /etc/apt/sources.list, it makes apt select the closest mirror:

deb mirror://mirrors.ubuntu.com/mirrors.txt precise main restricted universe multiverse
deb mirror://mirrors.ubuntu.com/mirrors.txt precise-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb mirror://mirrors.ubuntu.com/mirrors.txt precise-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb mirror://mirrors.ubuntu.com/mirrors.txt precise-security main restricted universe multiverse

Configure the correct timezone:

dpkg-reconfigure tzdata

Update/upgrade all packages:

sudo apt-get update ; sudo apt-get upgrade

You may need to specifically install your kernel and headers in order to upgrade them:

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-server linux-image-server linux-server

Disconnect from your ssh session and shutdown your machine in the host:

vagrant halt

Open VirtualBox and go to the machine (Embedded Dev Box Maker (64-bit)) settings and go to Ports->USB and click on "Enable USB Controller" Click on "Add a new USB filter" and add the USB filter for your COM/Serial cable. Typical vendors are Prolific or FTDI.

Turn on your VM again and connect to it:

vagrant up; vagrant ssh

If prompted, do not install grub.

Install the compilers and build tools:

sudo apt-get install build-essential

Install the nfs server and client tools.

sudo apt-get install nfs-kernel-server nfs-common portmap

Install the python-software-properties package:

sudo apt-get install python-software-properties

Add the PPA for the gcc-arm-embedded toolchain:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:terry.guo/gcc-arm-embedded ; sudo apt-get update

Install the tools for ARM embedded development:

sudo apt-get install gcc-arm-none-eabi

Install the tools ARM embedded linux development:

sudo apt-get install gcc-arm-linux-gnueabi

Install the tools for AVR embedded development:

sudo apt-get install avrdude avrdude-doc binutils-avr avr-libc gcc-avr gdb-avr

Install multistrap and related cross-architecture package development tools:

sudo apt-get install multistrap dpkg-dev dpkg-cross

Install qemu and tools for cross-architecture binaries:

sudo apt-get install qemu qemu-user-static binfmt-support debootstrap

Install tftp support:

sudo apt-get install xinetd tftpd tftp

Install miscellaneous tools:

sudo apt-get install git subversion curl wget

Install tools for serial port communications:

sudo apt-get install screen picocom

Clean apt:

sudo apt-get clean ; sudo apt-get autoclean ; sudo apt-get autoremove

Download Arduino 1.5.5+ for Linux 64-bits into /usr/local:

cd /usr/local ; sudo wget http://downloads.arduino.cc/arduino-1.5.5-linux64.tgz
sudo tar xfz arduino-1.5.5-linux64.tgz
sudo mv arduino-1.5.5 arduino
sudo rm arduino-1.5.5-linux64.tgz

Add the following lines to the default user's profile (~/.profile):

PATH="$PATH:/usr/local/arduino/hardware/tools"
PS1="[\[\033[0;31m\]\u\[\033[0m\]@\h:\[\033[1;37m\]\w\[\033[0m\]]\$ "

Create tftpd configuration file on /etc/xinetd.d/tftp with the following:

service tftp
{
protocol        = udp
port            = 69
socket_type     = dgram
wait            = yes
user            = nobody
server          = /usr/sbin/in.tftpd
server_args     = /tftpboot
disable         = no
}

Configure tftpd:

sudo mkdir /tftpboot
sudo chmod -R 777 /tftpboot
sudo chown -R nobody /tftpboot

Set the hostname to embedded-dev64:

sudoedit /etc/hostname

Change precise64 to embedded-dev64 (or whatever you set has hostname) in the hosts file:

sudoedit /etc/hosts

Create a folder for nfs exports in the default user home directory:

cd ; mkdir exports
chmod go+w exports

Disconnect from your ssh session and shutdown your machine in the host:

vagrant halt

Repackage your freshly created embedded development environment into a new box:

vagrant package --output embedded-dev64.box

Add your new box to vagrant so it can be used in your future endeavors:

vagrant box add embedded-dev64 embedded-dev64.box 

Now you can use your embedded development environment under the name 'embedded-dev64'!