Overview

Gumstix now uses the OpenEmbedded build system.  The "Getting started" set of pages will show you how to set up a cross development build environment on your Linux desktop or laptop. It will teach you how to check out the most recent source code for the gumstix Linux distribution, and how to use the build system to create standard images for a root file system and Linux kernel.

It will then cover how to establish a serial connection with your gumstix hardware and how to update the onboard flash memory with the kernel and root file system that you just built.

The steps for the entire process are summarized in Quick start, but it is recommended that you read through the more detailed instructions in Setting up a build environment and the following sections for a better understanding of the process.

Quick start

This section is for those who just want to get started and don't care for too many explanations along the way. It assumes that you are an experienced developer and that your development machine is running a relatively recent Linux distribution.
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Setting up a build environment

First you'll want to check out the source files for the gumstix OpenEmbedded (OE) build system. With a typical DSL connection this step should take about 20 minutes. You should have at least 10GB of free space on your hard drive.
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Setting up a serial connection

Before programming the flash we'll need to connect your gumstix to your Linux development machine so that we can transfer the new root file system and kernel.
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Replacing the file system image

Now that we've built a new root file system and established a serial connection with kermit it's time to reprogram our gumstix's flash memory.
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Staying up to date

Gumstix-oe uses subversion for source code control. You've already learned how to use subversion for the intial checkout. This section will introduce a few subversion commands you can use to stay up to date with the latest version of gumstix-oe. It will also teach you how to rebuild a new root file system and kernel image from the updated source files.
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Updating and adding packages via ipkg

Keeping up to date by rebuilding your root file system and kernel from the latest source code is not the only option available to you. You can update your current software and add functionality using pre-built binary packages. Gumstix-oe uses the ipkg package management tool.

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Working with pre-built images

If you would prefer to use pre-built images, those are also available. Gumstix maintains an autobuild system that checks out and does a clean build of the source tree twice daily. Binaries are available for connex and verdex in both glibc and uclibc versions (basix users should select the connex version). Binaries for u-boot are also available.
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