Setup Linux Toolchain from Scratch

[中文]

Note

Standard process for installing the toolchain is described here. See Customized Setup of Toolchain section for some of the reasons why installing the toolchain from scratch may be necessary.

Install Prerequisites

To compile with ESP-IDF you need to get the following packages:

  • Ubuntu and Debian:

    sudo apt-get install git wget libncurses-dev flex bison gperf python3 python3-pip python3-setuptools python3-serial python3-cryptography python3-future python3-pyparsing python3-pyelftools cmake ninja-build ccache libffi-dev libssl-dev

  • Arch:

    sudo pacman -Sy --needed gcc git make ncurses flex bison gperf python-pyserial python-cryptography python-future python-pyparsing python-pyelftools cmake ninja ccache dfu-util

Note

Some older (pre-2014) Linux distributions may use pyserial version 2.x which is not supported by ESP-IDF. In this case please install a supported version via pip as it is described in section Install the Required Python Packages.

Compile the Toolchain from Source

  • Install dependencies:

    • CentOS 7:

      sudo yum install gawk gperf grep gettext ncurses-devel python3 python3-devel automake bison flex texinfo help2man libtool make

    • Ubuntu pre-16.04:

      sudo apt-get install gawk gperf grep gettext libncurses-dev python python-dev automake bison flex texinfo help2man libtool

    • Ubuntu 16.04 or newer:

      sudo apt-get install gawk gperf grep gettext python python-dev automake bison flex texinfo help2man libtool libtool-bin

    • Debian 9:

      sudo apt-get install gawk gperf grep gettext libncurses-dev python python-dev automake bison flex texinfo help2man libtool libtool-bin

    • Arch:

      sudo pacman -Sy --needed python-pip

Create the working directory and go into it:

mkdir -p ~/esp
cd ~/esp

Download crosstool-NG and build it:

git clone -b xtensa-1.22.x https://github.com/espressif/crosstool-NG.git
cd crosstool-NG
./bootstrap && ./configure --enable-local && make install

Build the toolchain:

./ct-ng xtensa-esp32-elf
./ct-ng build
chmod -R u+w builds/xtensa-esp32-elf

Toolchain will be built in ~/esp/crosstool-NG/builds/xtensa-esp32-elf. Follow instructions for standard setup to add the toolchain to your PATH.

Python 2 deprecation

Python 2 reached its end of life and support for it in ESP-IDF will be removed soon. Please install Python 3.6 or higher. Instructions for popular Linux distributions are listed above.

Next Steps

To carry on with development environment setup, proceed to section Get ESP-IDF.