8.1. Getting Help

The devtool command line is organized similarly to Git in that it has a number of sub-commands for each function. You can run devtool --help to see all the commands:

     $ devtool --help
     NOTE: Starting bitbake server...
     usage: devtool [--basepath BASEPATH] [--bbpath BBPATH] [-d] [-q]
                    [--color COLOR] [-h]
                    <subcommand> ...

     OpenEmbedded development tool

     options:
       --basepath BASEPATH  Base directory of SDK / build directory
       --bbpath BBPATH      Explicitly specify the BBPATH, rather than getting it
                            from the metadata
       -d, --debug          Enable debug output
       -q, --quiet          Print only errors
       --color COLOR        Colorize output (where COLOR is auto, always, never)
       -h, --help           show this help message and exit

     subcommands:
       Beginning work on a recipe:
         add                  Add a new recipe
         modify               Modify the source for an existing recipe
         upgrade              Upgrade an existing recipe
       Getting information:
         status               Show workspace status
         search               Search available recipes
         latest-version       Report the latest version of an existing recipe
       Working on a recipe in the workspace:
         build                Build a recipe
         rename               Rename a recipe file in the workspace
         edit-recipe          Edit a recipe file
         find-recipe          Find a recipe file
         configure-help       Get help on configure script options
         update-recipe        Apply changes from external source tree to recipe
         reset                Remove a recipe from your workspace
         finish               Finish working on a recipe in your workspace
       Testing changes on target:
         deploy-target        Deploy recipe output files to live target machine
         undeploy-target      Undeploy recipe output files in live target machine
         build-image          Build image including workspace recipe packages
       Advanced:
         create-workspace     Set up workspace in an alternative location
         export               Export workspace into a tar archive
         import               Import exported tar archive into workspace
         extract              Extract the source for an existing recipe
         sync                 Synchronize the source tree for an existing recipe
     Use devtool <subcommand> --help to get help on a specific command
            

As directed in the general help output, you can get more syntax on a specific command by providing the command name and using --help:

     $ devtool add --help
     NOTE: Starting bitbake server...
     usage: devtool add [-h] [--same-dir | --no-same-dir] [--fetch URI]
                        [--fetch-dev] [--version VERSION] [--no-git]
                        [--srcrev SRCREV | --autorev] [--srcbranch SRCBRANCH]
                        [--binary] [--also-native] [--src-subdir SUBDIR]
                        [--mirrors] [--provides PROVIDES]
                        [recipename] [srctree] [fetchuri]

     Adds a new recipe to the workspace to build a specified source tree. Can
     optionally fetch a remote URI and unpack it to create the source tree.

     arguments:
       recipename            Name for new recipe to add (just name - no version,
                             path or extension). If not specified, will attempt to
                             auto-detect it.
       srctree               Path to external source tree. If not specified, a
                             subdirectory of
                             /home/scottrif/poky/build/workspace/sources will be
                             used.
       fetchuri              Fetch the specified URI and extract it to create the
                             source tree

     options:
       -h, --help            show this help message and exit
       --same-dir, -s        Build in same directory as source
       --no-same-dir         Force build in a separate build directory
       --fetch URI, -f URI   Fetch the specified URI and extract it to create the
                             source tree (deprecated - pass as positional argument
                             instead)
       --fetch-dev           For npm, also fetch devDependencies
       --version VERSION, -V VERSION
                             Version to use within recipe (PV)
       --no-git, -g          If fetching source, do not set up source tree as a git
                             repository
       --srcrev SRCREV, -S SRCREV
                             Source revision to fetch if fetching from an SCM such
                             as git (default latest)
       --autorev, -a         When fetching from a git repository, set SRCREV in the
                             recipe to a floating revision instead of fixed
       --srcbranch SRCBRANCH, -B SRCBRANCH
                             Branch in source repository if fetching from an SCM
                             such as git (default master)
       --binary, -b          Treat the source tree as something that should be
                             installed verbatim (no compilation, same directory
                             structure). Useful with binary packages e.g. RPMs.
       --also-native         Also add native variant (i.e. support building recipe
                             for the build host as well as the target machine)
       --src-subdir SUBDIR   Specify subdirectory within source tree to use
       --mirrors             Enable PREMIRRORS and MIRRORS for source tree fetching
                             (disable by default).
       --provides PROVIDES, -p PROVIDES
                             Specify an alias for the item provided by the recipe.
                             E.g. virtual/libgl