Standard Setup of Toolchain for Linux¶
Install Prerequisites¶
To compile with ESP-IDF you need to get the following packages. The command to run depends on which distribution of Linux you are using:
Ubuntu and Debian:
sudo apt-get install git wget flex bison gperf python3 python3-pip python3-setuptools cmake ninja-build ccache libffi-dev libssl-dev dfu-util libusb-1.0-0
CentOS 7 & 8:
sudo yum -y update && sudo yum install git wget flex bison gperf python3 cmake ninja-build ccache dfu-util libusbx
CentOS 7 is still supported but CentOS version 8 is recommended for a better user experience.
Arch:
sudo pacman -S --needed gcc git make flex bison gperf python-pip cmake ninja ccache dfu-util libusb
Note
CMake version 3.5 or newer is required for use with ESP-IDF. Older Linux distributions may require updating, enabling of a “backports” repository, or installing of a “cmake3” package rather than “cmake”.
If you do not see your Linux distribution in the above list then please check its documentation to find out which command to use for package installation.
Additional Tips¶
Permission issues /dev/ttyUSB0¶
With some Linux distributions you may get the Failed to open port /dev/ttyUSB0 error message when flashing the ESP32. This can be solved by adding the current user to the dialout group.
Setting up Python 3 as default for CentOS¶
CentOS 7 and older is providing Python 2.7 as the default interpreter. Python 3 is recommended instead and can be installed in old distributions as follows, or please consult the documentation of your operating system for other recommended ways to achieve this:
sudo yum -y update && sudo yum install python3 python3-pip python3-setuptools
Making Python 3 the default interpreter is possible by running:
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/python python /usr/bin/python3 10 && alias pip=pip3
Setting up Python 3 as default for Ubuntu and Debian¶
Ubuntu (version 18.04 and older) and Debian (version 9 and older) are still providing Python 2.7 as the default interpreter. Python 3 is recommended instead and can be installed in old distributions as follows, or please consult the documentation of your operating system for other recommended ways to achieve this:
sudo apt-get install python3 python3-pip python3-setuptools
Making Python 3 the default interpreter is possible by running:
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/python python /usr/bin/python3 10 && alias pip=pip3
Note
This is system-wide change which may affect all of the applications.
Fixing broken pip on Ubuntu 16.04¶
Package python3-pip could be broken without possibility to upgrade it.
Package has to be removed and installed manually using script get-pip.py.:
apt remove python3-pip python3-virtualenv; rm -r ~/.local
rm -r ~/.espressif/python_env && python get-pip.py
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 Step 2. Get ESP-IDF.