path: root/documentation/ref-manual/ref-features.xml

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<chapter id='ref-features'>
    <title>Features</title>

    <para>
        This chapter provides a reference of shipped machine and distro features
        you can include as part of the image, a reference on image types you can
        build, and a reference on feature backfilling.
    </para>

    <para>
        Features provide a mechanism for working out which packages
        should be included in the generated images.
        Distributions can select which features they want to support through the
        <filename><link linkend='var-DISTRO_FEATURES'>DISTRO_FEATURES</link></filename>
        variable, which is set in the <filename>poky.conf</filename> distribution configuration file.
        Machine features are set in the
        <filename><link linkend='var-MACHINE_FEATURES'>MACHINE_FEATURES</link></filename>
        variable, which is set in the machine configuration file and
        specifies the hardware features for a given machine.
    </para>

    <para>
        These two variables combine to work out which kernel modules,
        utilities, and other packages to include.
        A given distribution can support a selected subset of features so some machine features might not
        be included if the distribution itself does not support them.
    </para>

    <para>
        One method you can use to determine which recipes are checking to see if a
        particular feature is contained or not is to <filename>grep</filename> through
        the <ulink url='&YOCTO_DOCS_DEV_URL;#metadata'>Metadata</ulink>
        for the feature.
        Here is an example that discovers the recipes whose build is potentially
        changed based on a given feature:
        <literallayout class='monospaced'>
     $ cd poky
     $ git grep 'contains.*MACHINE_FEATURES.*&lt;feature&gt;'
        </literallayout>
    </para>

    <section id='ref-features-machine'>
        <title>Machine Features</title>

        <para>
            The items below are features you can use with
            <link linkend='var-MACHINE_FEATURES'><filename>MACHINE_FEATURES</filename></link>.
            Features do not have a one-to-one correspondence to packages, and they can
            go beyond simply controlling the installation of a package or packages.
            Sometimes a feature can influence how certain recipes are built.
            For example, a feature might determine whether a particular configure option
            is specified within <filename>do_configure</filename> for a particular
            recipe.
        </para>

        <para>
            This feature list only represents features as shipped with the Yocto Project metadata:
            <itemizedlist>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>acpi:</emphasis> Hardware has ACPI (x86/x86_64 only)
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>alsa:</emphasis> Hardware has ALSA audio drivers
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>apm:</emphasis> Hardware uses APM (or APM emulation)
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>bluetooth:</emphasis> Hardware has integrated BT
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>ext2:</emphasis> Hardware HDD or Microdrive
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>irda:</emphasis> Hardware has IrDA support
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>keyboard:</emphasis> Hardware has a keyboard
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>pci:</emphasis> Hardware has a PCI bus
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>pcmcia:</emphasis> Hardware has PCMCIA or CompactFlash sockets
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>screen:</emphasis> Hardware has a screen
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>serial:</emphasis> Hardware has serial support (usually RS232)
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>touchscreen:</emphasis> Hardware has a touchscreen
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>usbgadget:</emphasis> Hardware is USB gadget device capable
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>usbhost:</emphasis> Hardware is USB Host capable
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>wifi:</emphasis> Hardware has integrated WiFi
                    </para></listitem>
            </itemizedlist>
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='ref-features-distro'>
        <title>Distro Features</title>

        <para>
            The items below are features you can use with
            <link linkend='var-DISTRO_FEATURES'><filename>DISTRO_FEATURES</filename></link>
            to enable features across your distribution.
            Features do not have a one-to-one correspondence to packages,
            and they can go beyond simply controlling the installation of a
            package or packages.
            In most cases, the presence or absence of a feature translates to
            the appropriate option supplied to the configure script during
            <filename>do_configure</filename> for the recipes that optionally
            support the feature.
        </para>

        <para>
            Some distro features are also machine features.
            These select features make sense to be controlled both at
            the machine and distribution configuration level.
            See the
            <ulink url='&YOCTO_DOCS_REF_URL;#var-COMBINED_FEATURES'><filename>COMBINED_FEATURES</filename></ulink>
            variable for more information.
        </para>

        <para>
            This list only represents features as shipped with the Yocto Project metadata:
            <itemizedlist>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>alsa:</emphasis> Include ALSA support
                    (OSS compatibility kernel modules installed if available).
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>bluetooth:</emphasis> Include
                    bluetooth support (integrated BT only).</para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>cramfs:</emphasis> Include CramFS
                    support.</para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>ext2:</emphasis> Include tools for
                    supporting for devices with internal HDD/Microdrive for
                    storing files (instead of Flash only devices).
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>ipsec:</emphasis> Include IPSec
                    support.</para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>ipv6:</emphasis> Include IPv6 support.
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>irda:</emphasis> Include IrDA support.
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>keyboard:</emphasis> Include keyboard
                    support (e.g. keymaps will be loaded during boot).
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>nfs:</emphasis> Include NFS client
                    support (for mounting NFS exports on device).
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>opengl:</emphasis>
                    Include the Open Graphics Library, which is a
                    cross-language, multi-platform application programming
                    interface used for rendering two and three-dimensional
                    graphics.</para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>pci:</emphasis> Include PCI bus
                    support.</para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>pcmcia:</emphasis> Include
                    PCMCIA/CompactFlash support.</para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>ppp:</emphasis> Include PPP dialup
                    support.</para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>smbfs:</emphasis> Include SMB networks
                    client support (for mounting Samba/Microsoft Windows shares
                    on device).</para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>systemd:</emphasis> Include support
                    for this <filename>init</filename> manager, which is a full
                    replacement of for <filename>init</filename> with parallel
                    starting of services, reduced shell overhead, and other
                    features.
                    This <filename>init</filename> manager is used by many
                    distributions.</para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>usbgadget:</emphasis> Include USB
                    Gadget Device support (for USB networking/serial/storage).
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>usbhost:</emphasis> Include USB Host
                    support (allows to connect external keyboard, mouse,
                    storage, network etc).</para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>wayland:</emphasis> Include the
                    Wayland display server protocol and the library that
                    supports it.</para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>wifi:</emphasis> Include WiFi support
                    (integrated only).</para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>sdk-pms:</emphasis> Include Package
                    Management Tools in the
                    <filename>nativesdk</filename> toolchain tarball.
                    Including these tools allows for easy sandbox use when
                    creating the root filesystem while using the SDK tarball.
                    </para></listitem>
            </itemizedlist>
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='ref-features-image'>
        <title>Image Features</title>

        <para>
            The contents of images generated by the OpenEmbedded build system can be controlled by the
            <filename><link linkend='var-IMAGE_FEATURES'>IMAGE_FEATURES</link></filename>
            and <filename><link linkend='var-EXTRA_IMAGE_FEATURES'>EXTRA_IMAGE_FEATURES</link></filename>
            variables that you typically configure in your image recipes.
            Through these variables, you can add several different
            predefined packages such as development utilities or packages with debug
            information needed to investigate application problems or profile applications.
        </para>

        <para>
            Current list of
            <filename>IMAGE_FEATURES</filename> contains the following:
            <itemizedlist>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>dbg-pkgs:</emphasis> Installs debug symbol packages for all packages
                    installed in a given image.</para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>dev-pkgs:</emphasis> Installs development packages (headers and
                    extra library links) for all packages installed in a given image.</para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>doc-pkgs:</emphasis> Installs documentation packages for all packages
                    installed in a given image.</para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>nfs-server:</emphasis> Installs an NFS server.</para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>read-only-rootfs:</emphasis> Creates
                    an image whose root filesystem is read-only.
                    See the
                    "<ulink url='&YOCTO_DOCS_DEV_URL;#creating-a-read-only-root-filesystem'>Creating a Read-Only Root Filesystem</ulink>"
                    section in the Yocto Project Development Manual for more
                    information.</para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>splash:</emphasis> Enables showing a splash screen during boot.
                    By default, this screen is provided by <filename>psplash</filename>, which does
                    allow customization.
                    If you prefer to use an alternative splash screen package, you can do so by
                    setting the <filename>SPLASH</filename> variable
                    to a different package name (or names) within the image recipe or at the distro
                    configuration level.</para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>ssh-server-dropbear:</emphasis> Installs the Dropbear minimal
                    SSH server.
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>ssh-server-openssh:</emphasis> Installs the OpenSSH SSH server,
                    which is more full-featured than Dropbear.
                    Note that if both the OpenSSH SSH server and the Dropbear minimal SSH server
                    are present in <filename>IMAGE_FEATURES</filename>, then OpenSSH will take
                    precedence and Dropbear will not be installed.</para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>staticdev-pkgs:</emphasis> Installs static development
                    packages (i.e. static libraries containing <filename>*.a</filename> files) for all
                    packages installed in a given image.</para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>tools-debug:</emphasis> Installs debugging tools such as
                    <filename>strace</filename> and <filename>gdb</filename>.
                    For information on GDB, see the
                    "<ulink url='&YOCTO_DOCS_DEV_URL;#platdev-gdb-remotedebug'>Debugging With the GNU Project Debugger (GDB) Remotely</ulink>"
                    section in the Yocto Project Development Manual.
                    For information on tracing and profiling, see the
                    <ulink url='&YOCTO_DOCS_PROF_URL;'>Yocto Project Profiling and Tracing Manual</ulink>.
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>tools-profile:</emphasis> Installs profiling tools such as
                    <filename>oprofile</filename>, <filename>exmap</filename>, and
                    <filename>LTTng</filename>.
                    For general information on user-space tools, see the
                    "<ulink url='&YOCTO_DOCS_ADT_URL;#user-space-tools'>User-Space Tools</ulink>"
                    section in the Yocto Project Application Developer's Guide.</para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>tools-sdk:</emphasis> Installs a full SDK that runs on the device.
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>tools-testapps:</emphasis> Installs device testing tools (e.g.
                    touchscreen debugging).</para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>x11:</emphasis> Installs the X server</para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>x11-base:</emphasis> Installs the X server with a
                    minimal environment.</para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>x11-sato:</emphasis> Installs the OpenedHand Sato environment.
                    </para></listitem>
            </itemizedlist>
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='ref-features-backfill'>
        <title>Feature Backfilling</title>

        <para>
            Sometimes it is necessary in the OpenEmbedded build system to extend
            <link linkend='var-MACHINE_FEATURES'><filename>MACHINE_FEATURES</filename></link>
            or <link linkend='var-DISTRO_FEATURES'><filename>DISTRO_FEATURES</filename></link>
            to control functionality that was previously enabled and not able
            to be disabled.
            For these cases, we need to add an
            additional feature item to appear in one of these variables,
            but we do not want to force developers who have existing values
            of the variables in their configuration to add the new feature
            in order to retain the same overall level of functionality.
            Thus, the OpenEmbedded build system has a mechanism to
            automatically "backfill" these added features into existing
            distro or machine configurations.
            You can see the list of features for which this is done by
            finding the
            <link linkend='var-DISTRO_FEATURES_BACKFILL'><filename>DISTRO_FEATURES_BACKFILL</filename></link>
            and <link linkend='var-MACHINE_FEATURES_BACKFILL'><filename>MACHINE_FEATURES_BACKFILL</filename></link>
            variables in the <filename>meta/conf/bitbake.conf</filename> file.
        </para>

        <para>
            Because such features are backfilled by default into all
            configurations as described in the previous paragraph, developers
            who wish to disable the new features need to be able to selectively
            prevent the backfilling from occurring.
            They can do this by adding the undesired feature or features to the
            <link linkend='var-DISTRO_FEATURES_BACKFILL_CONSIDERED'><filename>DISTRO_FEATURES_BACKFILL_CONSIDERED</filename></link>
            or <link linkend='var-MACHINE_FEATURES_BACKFILL_CONSIDERED'><filename>MACHINE_FEATURES_BACKFILL_CONSIDERED</filename></link>
            variables for distro features and machine features respectively.
        </para>

        <para>
            Here are two examples to help illustrate feature backfilling:
            <itemizedlist>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>The "pulseaudio" distro feature option</emphasis>:
                    Previously, PulseAudio support was enabled within the Qt and
                    GStreamer frameworks.
                    Because of this, the feature is backfilled and thus
                    enabled for all distros through the
                    <filename>DISTRO_FEATURES_BACKFILL</filename>
                    variable in the <filename>meta/conf/bitbake.conf</filename> file.
                    However, your distro needs to disable the feature.
                    You can disable the feature without affecting
                    other existing distro configurations that need PulseAudio support
                    by adding "pulseaudio" to
                    <filename>DISTRO_FEATURES_BACKFILL_CONSIDERED</filename>
                    in your distro's <filename>.conf</filename> file.
                    Adding the feature to this variable when it also
                    exists in the <filename>DISTRO_FEATURES_BACKFILL</filename>
                    variable prevents the build system from adding the feature to
                    your configuration's <filename>DISTRO_FEATURES</filename>, effectively disabling
                    the feature for that particular distro.</para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><emphasis>The "rtc" machine feature option</emphasis>:
                    Previously, real time clock (RTC) support was enabled for all
                    target devices.
                    Because of this, the feature is backfilled and thus enabled
                    for all machines through the <filename>MACHINE_FEATURES_BACKFILL</filename>
                    variable in the <filename>meta/conf/bitbake.conf</filename> file.
                    However, your target device does not have this capability.
                    You can disable RTC support for your device without
                    affecting other machines that need RTC support
                    by adding the feature to your machine's
                    <filename>MACHINE_FEATURES_BACKFILL_CONSIDERED</filename>
                    list in the machine's <filename>.conf</filename> file.
                    Adding the feature to this variable when it also
                    exists in the <filename>MACHINE_FEATURES_BACKFILL</filename>
                    variable prevents the build system from adding the feature to
                    your configuration's <filename>MACHINE_FEATURES</filename>, effectively
                    disabling RTC support for that particular machine.</para></listitem>
            </itemizedlist>
        </para>
    </section>
</chapter>

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