5 Clone the project from GitHub:
7 git clone --recursive https://github.com/ArduPilot/ardupilot.git
11 Ardupilot is gradually moving from the make-based build system to
12 [Waf](https://waf.io/). The instructions below should be enough for you to
13 build Ardupilot, but you can also read more about the build system in the
14 [Waf Book](https://waf.io/book/).
16 Waf should always be called from the ardupilot's root directory. Differently
17 from the make-based build, with Waf there's a configure step to choose the
18 board to be used (default is `sitl`).
22 There are several commands in the build system for advanced usages, but here we
23 list some basic and more used commands as example.
25 * **Build ArduCopter**
27 Below shows how to build ArduCopter for the Pixhawk2/Cube. Many other boards are
28 supported and the next section shows how to get a full list of them.
31 ./waf configure --board CubeBlack
35 The first command should be called only once or when you want to change a
36 configuration option. One configuration often used is the `--board` option to
37 switch from one board to another one. For example we could switch to
38 SkyViper GPS drone and build again:
41 ./waf configure --board skyviper-v2450
45 If building for the bebop2 the binary must be built statically:
48 ./waf configure --board bebop --static
52 The "arducopter" binary should appear in the `build/<board-name>/bin` directory.
54 * **List available boards**
57 It's possible to get a list of supported boards on ArduPilot with the command
65 Here are some commands to configure waf for commonly used boards:
68 ./waf configure --board bebop --static # Bebop or Bebop2
69 ./waf configure --board edge # emlid edge
70 ./waf configure --board fmuv3 # 3DR Pixhawk 2 boards
71 ./waf configure --board navio2 # emlid navio2
72 ./waf configure --board Pixhawk1 # Pixhawk1
73 ./waf configure --board CubeBlack # Hex/ProfiCNC Cube Black (formerly known as Pixhawk 2.1)
74 ./waf configure --board Pixracer # Pixracer
75 ./waf configure --board skyviper-v2450 # SkyRocket's SkyViper GPS drone using ChibiOS
76 ./waf configure --board sitl # software-in-the-loop simulator
77 ./waf configure --board sitl --debug # software-in-the-loop simulator with debug symbols
81 * **List of available vehicle types**
83 Here is a list of the most common vehicle build targets:
86 ./waf copter # All multirotor types
87 ./waf heli # Helicopter types
88 ./waf plane # Fixed wing airplanes including VTOL
89 ./waf rover # Ground-based rovers and surface boats
90 ./waf sub # ROV and other submarines
91 ./waf antennatracker # Antenna trackers
97 Commands `clean` and `distclean` can be used to clean the objects produced by
98 the build. The first keeps the `configure` information, cleaning only the
99 objects for the current board. The second cleans everything for every board,
100 including the saved `configure` information.
102 Cleaning the build is very often not necessary and discouraged. We do
103 incremental builds reducing the build time by orders of magnitude.
106 * **Upload or install**
108 Build commands have a `--upload` option in order to upload the binary built
109 to a connected board. This option is supported by Pixhawk and Linux-based boards.
110 The command below uses the `--targets` option that is explained in the next item.
113 ./waf --targets bin/arducopter --upload
116 For Linux boards you need first to configure the IP of the board you
117 are going to upload to. This is done on configure phase with:
120 ./waf configure --board <board> --rsync-dest <destination>
123 The commands below give a concrete example (board and destination
124 IP will change according to the board used):
127 ./waf configure --board navio2 --rsync-dest root@192.168.1.2:/
128 ./waf --target bin/arducopter --upload
131 This allows to set a destination to which the `--upload` option will upload
132 the binary. Under the hood it installs to a temporary location and calls
133 `rsync <temp_install_location>/ <destination>`.
135 On Linux boards there's also an install command, which will install to a certain
136 directory, just like the temporary install above does. This can be
137 used by distributors to create .deb, .rpm or other package types:
141 DESTDIR=/my/temporary/location ./waf install
144 * **Use different targets**
146 The build commands in the items above use `copter` as argument. This
147 builds all binaries that fall under the "copter" group. See the
148 section [Advanced usage](#advanced-usage) below for more details regarding
151 This shows a list of all possible targets:
157 For example, to build only a single binary:
160 # Quad frame of ArduCopter
161 ./waf --targets bin/arducopter
163 # unit test of our math functions
164 ./waf --targets tests/test_math
169 It's possible to see all available commands and options:
175 Also, take a look on the [Advanced section](#advanced-usage) below.
179 This section contains some explanations on how the Waf build system works
180 and how you can use more advanced features.
182 Waf build system is composed of commands. For example, the command below
183 (`configure`) is for configuring the build with all the options used by this
187 # Configure the Linux board
188 ./waf configure --board=linux
191 Consequently, in order to build, a "build" command is issued, thus `waf build`.
192 That is the default command, so calling just `waf` is enough:
195 # Build programs from bin group
198 # Waf also accepts '-j' option to parallelize the build.
202 By default waf tries to parallelize the build automatically to all processors
203 so the `-j` option is usually not needed, unless you are using icecc (thus
204 you want a bigger value) or you don't want to stress your machine with
207 ### Program groups ###
209 Program groups are used to represent a class of programs. They can be used to
210 build all programs of a certain class without having to specify each program.
211 It's possible for two groups to overlap, except when both groups are main
212 groups. In other words, a program can belong to more than one group, but only
215 There's a special group, called "all", that comprises all programs.
217 #### Main groups ####
219 The main groups form a partition of all programs. Besides separating the
220 programs logically, they also define where they are built.
224 - bin: *the main binaries, that is, ardupilot's main products - the vehicles and
227 - examples: *programs that show how certain libraries are used or to simply
228 test their operation*
229 - benchmarks: *requires `--enable-benchmarks` during configurarion*
230 - tests: *basically unit tests to ensure changes don't break the system's
233 All build files are placed under `build/<board>/`, where `<board>` represents
234 the board/platform you selected during configuration. Each main program group
235 has a folder with its name directly under `build/<board>/`. Thus, a program
236 will be stored in `build/<board>/<main_group>/`, where `<main_group>` is the
237 main group the program belongs to. For example, for a linux build, arduplane,
238 which belongs to the main group "bin", will be located at
239 `build/linux/bin/arduplane`.
241 #### Main product groups ####
243 Those are groups for ardupilot's main products. They contain programs for the
244 product they represent. Currently only the "copter" group has more than one
245 program - one for each frame type.
247 The main product groups are:
254 #### Building a program group ####
256 Ardupilot adds to waf an option called `--program-group`, which receives as
257 argument the group you want it to build. For a build command, if you don't pass
258 any of `--targets` or `--program-group`, then the group "bin" is selected by
259 default. The option `--program-group` can be passed multiple times.
264 # Group bin is the default one
267 # Build all vehicles and Antenna Tracker
268 ./waf --program-group bin
270 # Build all benchmarks and tests
271 ./waf --program-group benchmarks --program-group tests
273 #### Shortcut for program groups ####
275 For less typing, you can use the group name as the command to waf. Examples:
278 # Build all vehicles and Antenna Tracker
284 # Build arducopter binaries
288 ### Building a specific program ###
290 In order to build a specific program, you just need to pass its path relative
291 to `build/<board>/` to the option `--targets`. Example:
294 # Build arducopter for quad frame
295 ./waf --targets bin/arducopter
297 # Build vectors unit test
298 ./waf --targets tests/test_vectors
303 The command `check` builds all programs and then executes the relevant tests.
304 In that context, a relevant test is a program from the group "tests" that makes
305 one of the following statements true:
307 - it's the first time the test is built since the last cleanup or when the
309 - the program had to be rebuilt (due to modifications in the code or
310 dependencies, for example)
311 - the test program failed in the previous check.
313 That is, the tests are run only if necessary. If you want waf to run all tests,
314 then you can use either option `--alltests` or the shortcut command
320 # Build everything and run relevant tests
323 # Build everything and run all tests
324 ./waf check --alltests
326 # Build everything and run all tests
332 It's possible to pass the option `--debug` to the `configure` command. That
333 will set compiler flags to store debugging information in the binaries so that
334 you can use them with `gdb`, for example. That option might come handy when using SITL.
336 ### Build-system wrappers ###
338 The `waf` binary on root tree is actually a wrapper to the real `waf` that's
339 maintained in its own submodule. It's possible to call the latter directly via
340 `./modules/waf/waf-light` or to use an alias if you prefer typing `waf` over
344 alias waf="<ardupilot-directory>/modules/waf/waf-light"
348 There's also a make wrapper called `Makefile.waf`. You can use
349 `make -f Makefile.waf help` for instructions on how to use it.
351 ### Command line help ###
353 You can use `waf --help` to see information about commands and options built-in
354 to waf as well as some quick help on those added by ardupilot.