492d09bab2
Now that the two (all of them!) br2-external related files are generated
in the same location, it makes sense they are named after the same
pattern.
When initial support for (then single) br2-external trees was added back
in a4239f7fd1 (core: introduce the BR2_EXTERNAL variable), it was not
clear-cut why that file was not named with a br2 prefix.
So rename it now.
Signed-off-by: "Yann E. MORIN" <yann.morin.1998@free.fr>
Cc: Vadim Kochan <vadim4j@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Peter Korsgaard <peter@korsgaard.com>
314 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
314 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
// -*- mode:doc -*- ;
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// vim: set syntax=asciidoc:
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[[outside-br-custom]]
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=== Keeping customizations outside of Buildroot
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As already briefly mentioned in xref:customize-dir-structure[], you can
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place project-specific customizations in two locations:
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* directly within the Buildroot tree, typically maintaining them using
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branches in a version control system so that upgrading to a newer
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Buildroot release is easy.
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* outside of the Buildroot tree, using the _br2-external_ mechanism.
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This mechanism allows to keep package recipes, board support and
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configuration files outside of the Buildroot tree, while still
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having them nicely integrated in the build logic. We call this
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location a _br2-external tree_. This section explains how to use
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the br2-external mechanism and what to provide in a br2-external
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tree.
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One can tell Buildroot to use one or more br2-external trees by setting
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the +BR2_EXTERNAL+ make variable set to the path(s) of the br2-external
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tree(s) to use. It can be passed to any Buildroot +make+ invocation. It
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is automatically saved in the hidden +.br2-external.mk+ file in the output
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directory. Thanks to this, there is no need to pass +BR2_EXTERNAL+ at
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every +make+ invocation. It can however be changed at any time by
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passing a new value, and can be removed by passing an empty value.
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.Note
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The path to a br2-external tree can be either absolute or relative.
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If it is passed as a relative path, it is important to note that it is
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interpreted relative to the main Buildroot source directory, *not* to
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the Buildroot output directory.
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.Note:
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If using an br2-external tree from before Buildroot 2016.11, you need to
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convert it before you can use it with Buildroot 2016.11 onward. See
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xref:br2-external-converting[] for help on doing so.
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Some examples:
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-----
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buildroot/ $ make BR2_EXTERNAL=/path/to/foo menuconfig
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-----
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From now on, definitions from the +/path/to/foo+ br2-external tree
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will be used:
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-----
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buildroot/ $ make
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buildroot/ $ make legal-info
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-----
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We can switch to another br2-external tree at any time:
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-----
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buildroot/ $ make BR2_EXTERNAL=/where/we/have/bar xconfig
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-----
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We can also use multiple br2-external trees:
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----
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buildroot/ $ make BR2_EXTERNAL=/path/to/foo:/where/we/have/bar menuconfig
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----
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Or disable the usage of any br2-external tree:
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-----
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buildroot/ $ make BR2_EXTERNAL= xconfig
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-----
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==== Layout of a br2-external tree
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A br2-external tree must contain at least those three files, described
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in the following chapters:
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* +external.desc+
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* +external.mk+
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* +Config.in+
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Apart from those mandatory files, there may be additional and optional
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content that may be present in a br2-external tree, like the +configs/+
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directory. They are described in the following chapters as well.
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A complete example br2-external tree layout is also described later.
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===== The +external.desc+ file
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That file describes the br2-external tree: the _name_ and _description_
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for that br2-external tree.
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The format for this file is line based, with each line starting by a
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keyword, followed by a colon and one or more spaces, followed by the
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value assigned to that keyword. There are two keywords currently
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recognised:
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* +name+, mandatory, defines the name for that br2-external tree. That
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name must only use ASCII characters in the set +[A-Za-z0-9_]+; any
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other character is forbidden. Buildroot sets the variable
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+BR2_EXTERNAL_$(NAME)_PATH+ to the absolute path of the br2-external
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tree, so that you can use it to refer to your br2-external tree. This
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variable is available both in Kconfig, so you can use it to source your
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Kconfig files (see below) and in the Makefile, so that you can use it
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to include other Makefiles (see below) or refer to other files (like
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data files) from your br2-external tree.
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+
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.Note:
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Since it is possible to use multiple br2-external trees at once, this
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name is used by Buildroot to generate variables for each of those trees.
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That name is used to identify your br2-external tree, so try to come up
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with a name that really describes your br2-external tree, in order for
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it to be relatively unique, so that it does not clash with another name
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from another br2-external tree, especially if you are planning on
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somehow sharing your br2-external tree with third parties or using
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br2-external trees from third parties.
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* +desc+, optional, provides a short description for that br2-external
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tree. It shall fit on a single line, is mostly free-form (see below),
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and is used when displaying information about a br2-external tree (e.g.
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above the list of defconfig files, or as the prompt in the menuconfig);
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as such, it should relatively brief (40 chars is probably a good upper
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limit). The description is available in the +BR2_EXTERNAL_$(NAME)_DESC+
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variable.
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Examples of names and the corresponding +BR2_EXTERNAL_$(NAME)_PATH+
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variables:
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* +FOO+ -> +BR2_EXTERNAL_FOO_PATH+
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* +BAR_42+ -> +BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH+
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In the following examples, it is assumed the name to be set to +BAR_42+.
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.Note:
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Both +BR2_EXTERNAL_$(NAME)_PATH+ and `BR2_EXTERNAL_$(NAME)_DESC` are
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available in the Kconfig files and the Makefiles. They are also
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exported in the environment so are available in post-build, post-image
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and in-fakeroot scripts.
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===== The +Config.in+ and +external.mk+ files
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Those files (which may each be empty) can be used to define package
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recipes (i.e. +foo/Config.in+ and +foo/foo.mk+ like for packages bundled
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in Buildroot itself) or other custom configuration options or make logic.
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Buildroot automatically includes the +Config.in+ from each br2-external
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tree to make it appear in the top-level configuration menu, and includes
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the +external.mk+ from each br2-external tree with the rest of the
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makefile logic.
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The main usage of this is to store package recipes. The recommended way
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to do this is to write a +Config.in+ file that looks like:
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------
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source "$BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH/package/package1/Config.in"
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source "$BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH/package/package2/Config.in"
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------
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Then, have an +external.mk+ file that looks like:
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------
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include $(sort $(wildcard $(BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH)/package/*/*.mk))
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------
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And then in +$(BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH)/package/package1+ and
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+$(BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH)/package/package2+ create normal
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Buildroot package recipes, as explained in xref:adding-packages[].
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If you prefer, you can also group the packages in subdirectories
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called <boardname> and adapt the above paths accordingly.
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You can also define custom configuration options in +Config.in+ and
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custom make logic in +external.mk+.
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===== The +configs/+ directory
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One can store Buildroot defconfigs in the +configs+ subdirectory of
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the br2-external tree. Buildroot will automatically show them in the
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output of +make list-defconfigs+ and allow them to be loaded with the
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normal +make <name>_defconfig+ command. They will be visible in the
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'make list-defconfigs' output, below an +External configs+ label that
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contains the name of the br2-external tree they are defined in.
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.Note:
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If a defconfig file is present in more than one br2-external tree, then
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the one from the last br2-external tree is used. It is thus possible
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to override a defconfig bundled in Buildroot or another br2-external
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tree.
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===== Free-form content
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One can store all the board-specific configuration files there, such
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as the kernel configuration, the root filesystem overlay, or any other
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configuration file for which Buildroot allows to set the location (by
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using the +BR2_EXTERNAL_$(NAME)_PATH+ variable). For example, you
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could set the paths to a global patch directory, to a rootfs overlay
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and to the kernel configuration file as follows (e.g. by running
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`make menuconfig` and filling in these options):
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----
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BR2_GLOBAL_PATCH_DIR=$(BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH)/patches/
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BR2_ROOTFS_OVERLAY=$(BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH)/board/<boardname>/overlay/
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BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_CUSTOM_CONFIG_FILE=$(BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH)/board/<boardname>/kernel.config
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----
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===== Example layout
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Here is an example layout using all features of br2-external (the sample
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content is shown for the file above it, when it is relevant to explain
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the br2-external tree; this is all entirely made up just for the sake of
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illustration, of course):
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----
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/path/to/br2-ext-tree/
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|- external.desc
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| |name: BAR_42
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| |desc: Example br2-external tree
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| `----
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|- Config.in
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| |source "$BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH/package/pkg-1/Config.in"
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| |source "$BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH/package/pkg-2/Config.in"
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| |
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| |config BAR_42_FLASH_ADDR
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| | hex "my-board flash address"
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| | default 0x10AD
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| `----
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|- external.mk
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| |include $(sort $(wildcard $(BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH)/package/*/*.mk))
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| |
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| |flash-my-board:
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| | $(BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH)/board/my-board/flash-image \
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| | --image $(BINARIES_DIR)/image.bin \
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| | --address $(BAR_42_FLASH_ADDR)
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| `----
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|- package/pkg-1/Config.in
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| |config BR2_PACKAGE_PKG_1
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| | bool "pkg-1"
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| | help
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| | Some help about pkg-1
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| `----
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|- package/pkg-1/pkg-1.hash
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|- package/pkg-1/pkg-1.mk
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| |PKG_1_VERSION = 1.2.3
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| |PKG_1_SITE = /some/where/to/get/pkg-1
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| |PKG_1_LICENSE = blabla
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| |
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| |define PKG_1_INSTALL_INIT_SYSV
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| | $(INSTALL) -D -m 0755 $(PKG_1_PKGDIR)/S99my-daemon \
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| | $(TARGET_DIR)/etc/init.d/S99my-daemon
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| |endef
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| |$(eval $(autotools-package))
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| `----
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|- package/pkg-1/S99my-daemon
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|- package/pkg-2/Config.in
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|- package/pkg-2/pkg-2.hash
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|- package/pkg-2/pkg-2.mk
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|- configs/my-board_defconfig
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| |BR2_GLOBAL_PATCH_DIR="$(BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH)/patches/"
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| |BR2_ROOTFS_OVERLAY="$(BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH)/board/my-board/overlay/"
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| |BR2_ROOTFS_POST_IMAGE_SCRIPT="$(BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH)/board/my-board/post-image.sh"
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| |BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_CUSTOM_CONFIG_FILE="$(BR2_EXTERNAL_BAR_42_PATH)/board/my-board/kernel.config"
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| `----
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|- patches/linux/0001-some-change.patch
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|- patches/linux/0002-some-other-change.patch
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|- patches/busybox/0001-fix-something.patch
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|- board/my-board/kernel.config
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|- board/my-board/overlay/var/www/index.html
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|- board/my-board/overlay/var/www/my.css
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|- board/my-board/flash-image
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`- board/my-board/post-image.sh
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|#!/bin/sh
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|generate-my-binary-image \
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| --root ${BINARIES_DIR}/rootfs.tar \
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| --kernel ${BINARIES_DIR}/zImage \
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| --dtb ${BINARIES_DIR}/my-board.dtb \
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| --output ${BINARIES_DIR}/image.bin
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`----
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----
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The br2-external tree will then be visible in the menuconfig (with
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the layout expanded):
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----
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External options --->
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*** Example br2-external tree (in /path/to/br2-ext-tree/)
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[ ] pkg-1
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[ ] pkg-2
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(0x10AD) my-board flash address
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----
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If you are using more than one br2-external tree, it would look like
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(with the layout expanded and the second one with name +FOO_27+ but no
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+desc:+ field in +external.desc+):
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----
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External options --->
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Example br2-external tree --->
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*** Example br2-external tree (in /path/to/br2-ext-tree)
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[ ] pkg-1
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[ ] pkg-2
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(0x10AD) my-board flash address
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FOO_27 --->
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*** FOO_27 (in /path/to/another-br2-ext)
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[ ] foo
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[ ] bar
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----
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