Package directory ----------------- First of all, create a directory under the +package+ directory for your software, for example +libfoo+. Some packages have been grouped by topic in a sub-directory: +multimedia+, +java+, +x11r7+, and +games+. If your package fits in one of these categories, then create your package directory in these. +Config.in+ file ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Then, create a file named +Config.in+. This file will contain the option descriptions related to our +libfoo+ software that will be used and displayed in the configuration tool. It should basically contain: --------------------------- config BR2_PACKAGE_LIBFOO bool "libfoo" help This is a comment that explains what libfoo is. http://foosoftware.org/libfoo/ --------------------------- The +bool+ line, +help+ line and other meta-informations about the configuration option must be indented with one tab. The help text itself should be indented with one tab and two spaces, and it must mention the upstream URL of the project. Of course, you can add other sub-options into a +if BR2_PACKAGE_LIBFOO...endif+ statement to configure particular things in your software. You can look at examples in other packages. The syntax of the +Config.in+ file is the same as the one for the kernel Kconfig file. The documentation for this syntax is available at http://lxr.free-electrons.com/source/Documentation/kbuild/kconfig-language.txt[] Finally you have to add your new +libfoo/Config.in+ to +package/Config.in+ (or in a category subdirectory if you decided to put your package in one of the existing categories). The files included there are 'sorted alphabetically' per category and are 'NOT' supposed to contain anything but the 'bare' name of the package. -------------------------- source "package/libfoo/Config.in" -------------------------- The +Config.in+ file of your package must also ensure that dependencies are enabled. Typically, Buildroot uses the following rules: * Use a +select+ type of dependency for dependencies on libraries. These dependencies are generally not obvious and it therefore make sense to have the kconfig system ensure that the dependencies are selected. For example, the _libgtk2_ package uses +select BR2_PACKAGE_LIBGLIB2+ to make sure this library is also enabled. * Use a +depends on+ type of dependency when the user really needs to be aware of the dependency. Typically, Buildroot uses this type of dependency for dependencies on toolchain options (large file support, RPC support, IPV6 support), or for dependencies on "big" things, such as the X.org system. In some cases, especially dependency on toolchain options, it is recommended to add a +comment+ displayed when the option is not enabled, so that the user knows why the package is not available. An example illustrates both the usage of +select+ and +depends on+. -------------------------- config BR2_PACKAGE_ACL bool "acl" select BR2_PACKAGE_ATTR depends on BR2_LARGEFILE help POSIX Access Control Lists, which are used to define more fine-grained discretionary access rights for files and directories. This package also provides libacl. http://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/acl comment "acl requires a toolchain with LARGEFILE support" depends on !BR2_LARGEFILE -------------------------- Note that these two dependency types are only transitive with the dependencies of the same kind. This means, in the following example: -------------------------- config BR2_PACKAGE_A bool "Package A" config BR2_PACKAGE_B bool "Package B" depends on BR2_PACKAGE_A config BR2_PACKAGE_C bool "Package C" depends on BR2_PACKAGE_B config BR2_PACKAGE_D bool "Package D" select BR2_PACKAGE_B config BR2_PACKAGE_E bool "Package E" select BR2_PACKAGE_D -------------------------- * Selecting +Package C+ will be visible if +Package B+ has been selected, which in turn is only visible if +Package A+ has been selected. * Selecting +Package E+ will select +Package D+, which will select +Package B+, it will not check for the dependencies of +Package B+, so it will not select +Package A+. * Since +Package B+ is selected but +Package A+ is not, this violates the dependency of +Package B+ on +Package A+. Therefore, in such a situation, the transitive dependency has to be added explicitly: -------------------------- config BR2_PACKAGE_D bool "Package D" select BR2_PACKAGE_B depends on BR2_PACKAGE_A config BR2_PACKAGE_E bool "Package E" select BR2_PACKAGE_D depends on BR2_PACKAGE_A -------------------------- Overall, for package library dependencies, +select+ should be preferred. Note that such dependencies will make sure that the dependency option is also enabled, but not necessarily built before your package. To do so, the dependency also needs to be expressed in the +.mk+ file of the package. The +.mk+ file ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Finally, here's the hardest part. Create a file named +libfoo.mk+. It describes how the package should be downloaded, configured, built, installed, etc. Depending on the package type, the +.mk+ file must be written in a different way, using different infrastructures: * *Makefiles for generic packages* (not using autotools or CMake): These are based on an infrastructure similar to the one used for autotools-based packages, but requires a little more work from the developer. They specify what should be done for the configuration, compilation, installation and cleanup of the package. This infrastructure must be used for all packages that do not use the autotools as their build system. In the future, other specialized infrastructures might be written for other build systems. We cover them through in a xref:generic-package-tutorial[tutorial] and a xref:generic-package-reference[reference]. * *Makefiles for autotools-based software* (autoconf, automake, etc.): We provide a dedicated infrastructure for such packages, since autotools is a very common build system. This infrastructure 'must' be used for new packages that rely on the autotools as their build system. We cover them through a xref:autotools-package-tutorial[tutorial] and xref:autotools-package-reference[reference]. * *Makefiles for cmake-based software*: We provide a dedicated infrastructure for such packages, as CMake is a more and more commonly used build system and has a standardized behaviour. This infrastructure 'must' be used for new packages that rely on CMake. We cover them through a xref:cmake-package-tutorial[tutorial] and xref:cmake-package-reference[reference]. * *Hand-written Makefiles:* These are currently obsolete, and no new manual Makefiles should be added. However, since there are still many of them in the tree, we keep them documented in a xref:handwritten-tutorial[tutorial].