path: root/handbook/ref-structure.xml

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<appendix id='ref-structure'>

<title>Reference: Directory Structure</title>

<para>
    Poky consists of several components and understanding what these are 
    and where they're located is one of the keys to use it. This section walks 
    through the Poky directory structure giving information about the various 
    files and directories.
</para>

<section id='structure-core'>
    <title>Top level core components</title>

    <section id='structure-core-bitbake'>
        <title><filename class="directory">bitbake/</filename></title>

        <para>
            A copy of BitBake is included within Poky for ease of use, and should 
            usually match the current BitBake stable release from the BitBake project. 
            Bitbake, a metadata interpreter, reads the Poky metadata and runs the tasks 
            defined in the Poky metadata. Failures are usually from the metadata, not 
            BitBake itself, so most users don't need to worry about BitBake. The 
            <filename class="directory">bitbake/bin/</filename> directory is placed 
            into the PATH environment variable by the <link 
            linkend="structure-core-script">poky-init-build-env</link> script.
        </para>
        <para>
            For more information on BitBake please see the BitBake project site at 
            <ulink url="http://bitbake.berlios.de/"/> 
            and the BitBake on-line manual at <ulink url="http://bitbake.berlios.de/manual/"/>.
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-core-build'>
        <title><filename class="directory">build/</filename></title>

        <para>
            This directory contains user configuration files and the output 
            generated by Poky in its standard configuration where the source tree is 
            combined with the output. It is also possible to place output and configuration 
            files in a directory separate from the Poky source, see the section <link 
            linkend='structure-core-script'>seperate output directory</link>.
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-core-meta'>
        <title><filename class="directory">meta/</filename></title>

        <para>
            This directory contains the core metadata, a key part of Poky. Within this 
            directory there are definitions of the machines, the Poky distribution 
            and the packages that make up a given system.
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-core-meta-extras'>
        <title><filename class="directory">meta-extras/</filename></title>

        <para>
            This directory is similar to <filename class="directory">meta/</filename>, 
            and contains some extra metadata not included in standard Poky.  These are 
            disabled by default, and are not supported as part of Poky.
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-core-meta-***'>
        <title><filename class="directory">meta-***/</filename></title>

        <para>
            These directories are optional layers to be added to core metadata, which
            are enabled by adding them to conf/bblayers.conf.
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-core-scripts'>
        <title><filename class="directory">scripts/</filename></title>

        <para>
            This directory contains various integration scripts which implement 
            extra functionality in the Poky environment, such as the QEMU 
            scripts. This directory is appended to the PATH environment variable by the 
            <link linkend="structure-core-script">poky-init-build-env</link> script.
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-core-sources'>
        <title><filename class="directory">sources/</filename></title>

        <para>
            While not part of a checkout, Poky will create this directory as 
            part of any build. Any downloads are placed in this directory (as 
            specified by the <glossterm><link linkend='var-DL_DIR'>DL_DIR</link>
            </glossterm> variable). This directory can be shared between Poky 
            builds to save downloading files multiple times. SCM checkouts are 
            also stored here as e.g. <filename class="directory">sources/svn/
            </filename>, <filename class="directory">sources/cvs/</filename> or 
            <filename class="directory">sources/git/</filename> and the 
            sources directory may contain archives of checkouts for various 
            revisions or dates.
        </para>

        <para>
            It's worth noting that BitBake creates <filename class="extension">.md5 
            </filename> stamp files for downloads. It uses these to mark downloads as 
            complete as well as for checksum and access accounting purposes. If you add 
            a file manually to the directory, you need to touch the corresponding 
            <filename class="extension">.md5</filename> file too.
        </para>

        <para>
            This location can be overridden by setting <glossterm><link 
            linkend='var-DL_DIR'>DL_DIR</link></glossterm> in <filename>local.conf
            </filename>. This directory can be shared between builds and even between 
            machines via NFS, so downloads are only made once, speeding up builds.
        </para>

    </section>

    <section id='handbook'>
        <title><filename class="directory">handbook</filename></title>

        <para>
            This is the location where this handbook is generated
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-core-script'>
        <title><filename>poky-init-build-env</filename></title>

        <para>
            This script is used to setup the Poky build environment. Sourcing this file in
            a shell makes changes to PATH and sets other core BitBake variables based on the
            current working directory. You need to use this before running Poky commands.
            Internally it uses scripts within the <filename class="directory">scripts/ 
            </filename> directory to do the bulk of the work. This script supports
            specifying any directory as the build output:
        </para>

        <programlisting>
source POKY_SRC/poky-init-build-env [BUILDDIR]
        </programlisting>

        <para>
            The above command can be typed from any directory, as long as POKY_SRC points to
            the desired Poky source tree. The optional BUILDDIR could be any directory you'd
            like Poky to generate the build output into.
        </para>
    </section>
</section>

<section id='structure-build'>
    <title><filename class="directory">build/</filename> - The Build Directory</title>

    <section id='structure-build-conf-local.conf'>
        <title><filename>build/conf/local.conf</filename></title>

        <para>
            This file contains all the local user configuration of Poky. If there
            is no <filename>local.conf</filename> present, it is created from 
            <filename>local.conf.sample</filename>. The <filename>local.conf</filename> 
            file contains documentation on the various configuration options.  Any 
            variable set here overrides any variable set elsewhere within Poky unless 
            that variable is hardcoded within Poky (e.g. by using '=' instead of '?='). 
            Some variables are hardcoded for various reasons but these variables are 
            relatively rare.
        </para>

        <para>
            Edit this file to set the <glossterm><link linkend='var-MACHINE'>MACHINE</link></glossterm> for which you want to build, which package types you
            wish to use (PACKAGE_CLASSES) or where downloaded files should go 
            (<glossterm><link linkend='var-DL_DIR'>DL_DIR</link></glossterm>).
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-build-conf-bblayers.conf'>
        <title><filename>build/conf/bblayers.conf</filename></title>

        <para>
            This file defines layers walked by bitbake. If there's no <filename>
            bblayers.conf</filename> present, it is created from <filename>bblayers.conf.sample
            </filename> when the environment setup script is sourced.
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-build-tmp'>
        <title><filename class="directory">build/tmp/</filename></title>

        <para>
            This is created by BitBake if it doesn't exist and is where all the Poky output
            is placed. To clean Poky and start a build from scratch (other than downloads), 
            you can wipe this directory. The <filename class="directory">tmp/
            </filename> directory has some important sub-components detailed below.
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-build-tmp-cache'>
        <title><filename class="directory">build/tmp/cache/</filename></title>

        <para>
            When BitBake parses the metadata it creates a cache file of the result which can
            be used when subsequently running commands. These are stored here on 
            a per machine basis.
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-build-tmp-deploy'>
        <title><filename class="directory">build/tmp/deploy/</filename></title>

        <para>Any 'end result' output from Poky is placed under here.</para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-build-tmp-deploy-deb'>
        <title><filename class="directory">build/tmp/deploy/deb/</filename></title>

        <para>
            Any .deb packages emitted by Poky are placed here, sorted into feeds for 
            different architecture types.
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-build-tmp-deploy-rpm'>
        <title><filename class="directory">build/tmp/deploy/rpm/</filename></title>

        <para>
            Any .rpm packages emitted by Poky are placed here, sorted into feeds for 
            different architecture types.
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-build-tmp-deploy-images'>
        <title><filename class="directory">build/tmp/deploy/images/</filename></title>

        <para>
            Complete filesystem images are placed here. If you want to flash the resulting 
            image from a build onto a device, look here for them.
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-build-tmp-deploy-ipk'>
        <title><filename class="directory">build/tmp/deploy/ipk/</filename></title>

        <para>Any resulting .ipk packages emitted by Poky are placed here.</para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-build-tmp-sysroots'>
        <title><filename class="directory">build/tmp/sysroots/</filename></title>

        <para>
            Any package needing to share output with other packages does so within sysroots.
            This means it contains any shared header files and any shared libraries amongst
            other data. It is subdivided by architecture so multiple builds can run within
            the one build directory.
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-build-tmp-stamps'>
        <title><filename class="directory">build/tmp/stamps/</filename></title>

        <para>
            This is used by BitBake for accounting purposes to keep track of which tasks 
            have been run and when. It is also subdivided by architecture. The files are 
            empty and the important information is the filenames and timestamps.
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-build-tmp-log'>
        <title><filename class="directory">build/tmp/log/</filename></title>

        <para>
            This contains some general logs if not placing in a package's
            <glossterm><link linkend='var-WORKDIR'>WORKDIR</link></glossterm>, such as
            the log output from check_pkg or distro_check tasks.
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-build-tmp-pkgdata'>
        <title><filename class="directory">build/tmp/pkgdata/</filename></title>

        <para>
            This is an intermediate place for saving packaging data, which will be used
            in later packaging process. For detail please refer to <link linkend='ref-classes-package'>
            package.bbclass</link>.
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-build-tmp-pstagelogs'>
        <title><filename class="directory">build/tmp/pstagelogs/</filename></title>

        <para>
            This directory contains manifest for task based prebuilt. Each manifest is basically
            a file list for installed files from a given task, which would be useful for later 
            packaging or cleanup process.
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-build-tmp-work'>
        <title><filename class="directory">build/tmp/work/</filename></title>

        <para>
            This directory contains various subdirectories for each architecture, and each package built by BitBake has its own work directory under the appropriate architecture subdirectory.  All tasks are executed from this work directory.  As an example, the source for a particular package will be unpacked, patched, configured and compiled all within its own work directory.
        </para>

        <para>
            It is worth considering the structure of a typical work directory. An 
            example is the linux-rp kernel, version 2.6.20 r7 on the machine spitz 
            built within Poky.  For this package a work directory of <filename 
            class="directory">tmp/work/spitz-poky-linux-gnueabi/linux-rp-2.6.20-r7/
            </filename>, referred to as <glossterm><link linkend='var-WORKDIR'>WORKDIR
            </link></glossterm>, is created.  Within this directory, the source is 
            unpacked to linux-2.6.20 and then patched by quilt (see <link 
            linkend="usingpoky-modifying-packages-quilt">Section 3.5.1</link>).   
            Within the <filename class="directory">linux-2.6.20</filename> directory, 
            standard Quilt directories <filename class="directory">linux-2.6.20/patches</filename>
            and <filename class="directory">linux-2.6.20/.pc</filename> are created,
            and standard quilt commands can be used.
        </para>

        <para>
            There are other directories generated within <glossterm><link 
            linkend='var-WORKDIR'>WORKDIR</link></glossterm>. The most important 
            is <glossterm><link linkend='var-WORKDIR'>WORKDIR</link></glossterm><filename class="directory">/temp/</filename> which has log files for each 
            task (<filename>log.do_*.pid</filename>) and the scripts BitBake runs for 
            each task (<filename>run.do_*.pid</filename>). The <glossterm><link 
            linkend='var-WORKDIR'>WORKDIR</link></glossterm><filename 
            class="directory">/image/</filename> directory is where <command>make 
            install</command> places its output which is then split into subpackages 
            within <glossterm><link linkend='var-WORKDIR'>WORKDIR</link></glossterm>
            <filename class="directory">/packages-split/</filename>.
        </para>
    </section>
</section>

<section id='structure-meta'>
    <title><filename class="directory">meta/</filename> - The Metadata</title>

    <para>
        As mentioned previously, this is the core of Poky. It has several 
        important subdivisions:
    </para>

    <section id='structure-meta-classes'>
        <title><filename class="directory">meta/classes/</filename></title>

        <para>
            Contains the <filename class="extension">*.bbclass</filename> files. Class 
            files are used to abstract common code allowing it to be reused by multiple 
            packages. The <filename>base.bbclass</filename> file is inherited by every 
            package. Examples of other important classes are 
            <filename>autotools.bbclass</filename> that in theory allows any 
            Autotool-enabled package to work with Poky with minimal effort, or 
            <filename>kernel.bbclass</filename> that contains common code and functions 
            for working with the linux kernel. Functions like image generation or 
            packaging also have their specific class files (<filename>image.bbclass
            </filename>, <filename>rootfs_*.bbclass</filename> and 
            <filename>package*.bbclass</filename>).
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-meta-conf'>
        <title><filename class="directory">meta/conf/</filename></title>

        <para>
            This is the core set of configuration files which start from 
            <filename>bitbake.conf</filename> and from which all other configuration 
            files are included (see the includes at the end of the file, even 
            <filename>local.conf</filename> is loaded from there!). While 
            <filename>bitbake.conf</filename> sets up the defaults, these can often be 
            overridden by user (<filename>local.conf</filename>), machine or 
            distribution configuration files.
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-meta-conf-machine'>
        <title><filename class="directory">meta/conf/machine/</filename></title>

        <para>
            Contains all the machine configuration files. If you set MACHINE="spitz", the 
            end result is Poky looking for a <filename>spitz.conf</filename> file in this directory. The includes
            directory contains various data common to multiple machines. If you want to add
            support for a new machine to Poky, this is the directory to look in.
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-meta-conf-distro'>
        <title><filename class="directory">meta/conf/distro/</filename></title>

        <para>
            Any distribution specific configuration is controlled from here. OpenEmbedded 
            supports multiple distributions of which Poky is one. Poky only contains the 
            Poky distribution so poky.conf is the main file here.  This includes the 
            versions and SRCDATES for applications which are configured here. An example of 
            an alternative configuration is poky-bleeding.conf although this mainly inherits
            its configuration from Poky itself.
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-meta-recipes-bsp'>
        <title><filename class="directory">meta/recipes-bsp/</filename></title>

        <para>
            Anything linking to specific hardware or hardware configuration information
            are placed here, such as uboot, grub, etc.
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-meta-recipes-connectivity'>
        <title><filename class="directory">meta/recipes-connectivity/</filename></title>

        <para>
            Libraries and applications related to communication with other devices
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-meta-recipes-core'>
        <title><filename class="directory">meta/recipes-core/</filename></title>

        <para>
            What's needed to build a basic working Linux image including commonly used dependencies
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-meta-recipes-devtools'>
        <title><filename class="directory">meta/recipes-devtools/</filename></title>

        <para>
            Tools primarily used by the build system (but can also be used on targets)
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-meta-recipes-extended'>
        <title><filename class="directory">meta/recipes-extended/</filename></title>

        <para>
            Applications which whilst not essential add features compared to the alternatives in 
            core. May be needed for full tool functionality or LSB compliance.
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-meta-recipes-gnome'>
        <title><filename class="directory">meta/recipes-gnome/</filename></title>

        <para>
            All things related to the GTK+ application framework
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-meta-recipes-graphics'>
        <title><filename class="directory">meta/recipes-graphics/</filename></title>

        <para>
            X and other graphically related system libraries
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-meta-recipes-kernel'>
        <title><filename class="directory">meta/recipes-kernel/</filename></title>

        <para>
            The kernel and generic applications/libraries with strong kernel dependencies
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-meta-recipes-multimedia'>
        <title><filename class="directory">meta/recipes-multimedia/</filename></title>

        <para>
            Codecs and support utilties for audio, images and video
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-meta-recipes-qt'>
        <title><filename class="directory">meta/recipes-qt/</filename></title>

        <para>
            All things related to the QT application framework
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-meta-recipes-sato'>
        <title><filename class="directory">meta/recipes-sato/</filename></title>

        <para>
            The Sato demo/reference UI/UX, its associated apps and configuration
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-meta-packages'>
        <title><filename class="directory">meta/packages/</filename></title>

        <para>
            this is a catch-all place for the rest which not fits into above
            recipes-***. Images and tasks are also placed here.
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='structure-meta-site'>
        <title><filename class="directory">meta/site/</filename></title>

        <para>
            Certain autoconf test results cannot be determined when cross compiling since it 
            can't run tests on a live system. This directory therefore contains a list of 
            cached results for various architectures which is passed to autoconf.
        </para>
    </section>
</section>

</appendix>
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