| // -*- mode:doc; -*- |
| // vim: set syntax=asciidoc: |
| |
| ==== Using the generated toolchain outside Buildroot |
| |
| You may want to compile, for your target, 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. |
| |
| The toolchain generated by Buildroot is located by default in |
| +output/host/+. The simplest way to use it is to add |
| +output/host/bin/+ to your PATH environment variable and then to |
| use +ARCH-linux-gcc+, +ARCH-linux-objdump+, +ARCH-linux-ld+, etc. |
| |
| Alternatively, Buildroot can also export the toolchain and the development |
| files of all selected packages, as an SDK, by running the command |
| +make sdk+. This generates a tarball of the content of the host directory |
| +output/host/+, named +<TARGET-TUPLE>_sdk-buildroot.tar.gz+ (which can be |
| overriden by setting the environment variable +BR2_SDK_PREFIX+) and |
| located in the output directory +output/images/+. |
| |
| This tarball can then be distributed to application developers, when |
| they want to develop their applications that are not (yet) packaged as |
| a Buildroot package. |
| |
| Upon extracting the SDK tarball, the user must run the script |
| +relocate-sdk.sh+ (located at the top directory of the SDK), to make |
| sure all paths are updated with the new location. |
| |
| Alternatively, if you just want to prepare the SDK without generating |
| the tarball (e.g. because you will just be moving the +host+ directory, |
| or will be generating the tarball on your own), Buildroot also allows |
| you to just prepare the SDK with +make prepare-sdk+ without actually |
| generating a tarball. |
| |
| For your convenience, by selecting the option |
| +BR2_PACKAGE_HOST_ENVIRONMENT_SETUP+, you can get a |
| +environment-setup+ script installed in +output/host/+ and therefore |
| in your SDK. This script can be sourced with |
| +. your/sdk/path/environment-setup+ to export a number of environment |
| variables that will help cross-compile your projects using the |
| Buildroot SDK: the +PATH+ will contain the SDK binaries, standard |
| _autotools_ variables will be defined with the appropriate values, and |
| +CONFIGURE_FLAGS+ will contain basic +./configure+ options to |
| cross-compile _autotools_ projects. It also provides some useful |
| commands. Note however that once this script is sourced, the |
| environment is setup only for cross-compilation, and no longer for |
| native compilation. |
