4.2.3. Workflow Using Stand-Alone Cross-Development Toolchains

If you want to develop an application without prior installation of the ADT, you still can employ the Cross Development Toolchain, the QEMU emulator, and a number of supported target image files. You just need to follow these general steps:

  1. Install the cross-development toolchain for your target hardware: For information on how to install the toolchain, see the "Using a Cross-Toolchain Tarball" section in the Yocto Project Application Developer's Guide.

  2. Download the Target Image: The Yocto Project supports several target architectures and has many pre-built kernel images and root filesystem images.

    If you are going to develop your application on hardware, go to the machines download area and choose a target machine area from which to download the kernel image and root filesystem. This download area could have several files in it that support development using actual hardware. For example, the area might contain .hddimg files that combine the kernel image with the filesystem, boot loaders, and so forth. Be sure to get the files you need for your particular development process.

    If you are going to develop your application and then run and test it using the QEMU emulator, go to the machines/qemu download area. From this area, go down into the directory for your target architecture (e.g. qemux86_64 for an Intel®-based 64-bit architecture). Download kernel, root filesystem, and any other files you need for your process.

    Note

    In order to use the root filesystem in QEMU, you need to extract it. See the "Extracting the Root Filesystem" section for information on how to extract the root filesystem.
  3. Develop and Test your Application: At this point, you have the tools to develop your application. If you need to separately install and use the QEMU emulator, you can go to QEMU Home Page to download and learn about the emulator. You can see the "Using the Quick EMUlator (QEMU)" chapter for information on using QEMU within the Yocto Project.