Package repository for OpenSTLinux distribution

Applicable for

1. Disclaimers[edit source]

STMicroelectronics packages repository service is provided for evaluation purpose only, and therefore not approved for use in production.
The package licenses hosted in these repositories can be found here: OpenSTLinux licenses.
Command outputs described in this document may slightly vary depending on tools version.

1.1. Description[edit source]

OpenSTLinux provides a package repository service hosted at the non-browsable URL http://packages.openstlinux.st.com. The package repository service is designed for STM32MP157x-DKx , STM32MP157x-EV1 and STM32MP135F-DK boards and is enabled by default in the Starter Package.

Warning

Some packages provided in the OpenSTLinux distribution can't be installed or run onto the STM32MP135F-DK board. This mainly concerns graphical and related packages because of hardware technical characteristics which differ from STM32MP157x-DKx and STM32MP157x-EV1 boards.

1.2. Organization[edit source]

Within each repository, packages are organized in three groups (a.k.a components in the APT terminology):

the main group contains a wide selection of packages whose installation is automatically tested by STMicroelectronics
the untested group contains all the other packages that can be built using the bitbake world command. However their installation is not guaranteed.
the updates group contains additional packages not included in the OpenSTLinux distribution releases and updated packages. This group is managed by a dedicated layer available through github®. Further details are available by following the github® link: https://github.com/STMicroelectronics/meta-st-pkgrepo-updates.

1.3. Limitations[edit source]

Packages repository service doesn't include the packages that are shipped in the rootfs image, nor the BSP components (TF-A, U-Boot, Linux and OP-TEE). They can be installed only from the Starter Package using the STM32CubeProgrammer.

rootfs available space is about 60MB by default. For a better experience it is recommended to flash the Starter Package using the "extensible" flashlayout (*-extensible.tsv).
Extensible flashlayout does not write userfs partition to extend the rootfs partition to the size of the sdcard.

2. Usage[edit source]

2.1. Prequisite[edit source]

We assume your board has an internet connection either through the network cable or through a WiFi connection.

2.2. Apt[edit source]

OpenSTLinux packages can be handled using apt-* utilities, which are the same utilities used on a Debian system. The first apt-* command that must be run before any other is:

  apt-get update
 The software package is provided AS IS, and by downloading it, you agree to be
 bound to the terms of the software license agreement (SLA).
 The detailed content licenses can be found at
 https://wiki.st.com/stm32mpu/wiki/OpenSTLinux_licenses.
  
 Get:1 http://packages.openstlinux.st.com/4.1 kirkstone InRelease [3459 B]
 Get:2 http://packages.openstlinux.st.com/4.1 kirkstone/main armhf Packages [684kB]
 Get:3 http://packages.openstlinux.st.com/4.1 kirkstone/updates armhf Packages [29.0kB]
 Get:4 http://packages.openstlinux.st.com/4.1 kirkstone/untested armhf Packages [1252kB]
 Fetched 1968 kB in 4s (461 kB/s)
 Reading package lists... Done

This command synchronizes the local packages index from the repositories enumerated in /etc/apt/sources.list{,.d}. Once it is updated, apt-cache can be used to get the list of all available packages:

  apt-cache search .
 a52dec - ATSC A/52 surround sound stream decoder
 a52dec-doc - ATSC A/52 surround sound stream decoder
 acl - Utilities for managing POSIX Access Control Lists
 ...
 xkeyboard-config - Keyboard configuration database for X Window
 xxhash - Extremely fast non-cryptographic hash algorithm
 xz - Utilities for managing LZMA compressed files

It is possible to list only packages that match a given pattern, for example:

  apt-cache search emacs
 libreadline-doc - Library for editing typed command lines - Documentation files
 emacs-base - Emacs is the extensible, customizable, self-documenting real-time display editor
 emacs-doc - Emacs is the extensible, customizable, self-documenting real-time display editor - Documentation files
 emacs-full - Emacs is the extensible, customizable, self-documenting real-time display editor
 emacs-minimal - Emacs is the extensible, customizable, self-documenting real-time display editor
 gpm - Console mouse driver
 gpm-doc - Console mouse driver - Documentation files
 zile - Zile is lossy Emacs
 zile-doc - Zile is lossy Emacs - Documentation files
 libreadline8 - Library for editing typed command lines

You can check if a package is already installed or not:

  apt-cache policy zile
 zile:
   Installed: (none)
   Candidate: 2.4.15-r0
   Version table:
      2.4.15-r0 500
         500 http://packages.openstlinux.st.com/4.1 kirkstone/untested armhf Packages

The desired package(s) can then be easily installed:

  apt-get install zile
 Reading package lists... Done
 Building dependency tree
 Reading state information... Done
 The following additional packages will be installed:
   bdwgc
 The following NEW packages will be installed:
   bdwgc zile
 0 upgraded, 2 newly installed, 0 to remove and 1 not upgraded.
 Need to get 150 kB of archives.
 After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.
 Do you want to continue? [Y/n]
 Get:1 http://packages.openstlinux.st.com/4.1 kirkstone/untested armhf bdwgc armhf 8.2.0-r0 [70.9 kB]
 Get:2 http://packages.openstlinux.st.com/4.1 kirkstone/untested armhf zile armhf 2.4.15-r0 [79.1 kB]
 Fetched 150 kB in 1s (289 kB/s)
 
 The software package is provided AS IS, and by downloading it, you agree to be
 bound to the terms of the software license agreement (SLA).
 The detailed content licenses can be found at
 https://wiki.st.com/stm32mpu/wiki/OpenSTLinux_licenses.
 
 Selecting previously unselected package bdwgc.
 (Reading database ... 14885 files and directories currently installed.)
 Preparing to unpack .../bdwgc_8.2.0-r0_armhf.deb ...
 Unpacking bdwgc (8.2.0-r0) ...
 Selecting previously unselected package zile.
 Preparing to unpack .../zile_2.4.15-r0_armhf.deb ...
 Unpacking zile (2.4.15-r0) ...
 Setting up bdwgc (8.2.0-r0) ...
 Setting up zile (2.4.15-r0) ...

... or removed:

  apt-get remove zile
 Reading package lists... Done
 Building dependency tree
 Reading state information... Done
 The following package was automatically installed and is no longer required:
   bdwgc
 Use 'apt autoremove' to remove it.
 The following packages will be REMOVED:
   zile
 0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 to remove and 1 not upgraded.
 After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.
 Do you want to continue? [Y/n]
 
 The software package is provided AS IS, and by downloading it, you agree to be
 bound to the terms of the software license agreement (SLA).
 The detailed content licenses can be found at
 https://wiki.st.com/stm32mpu/wiki/OpenSTLinux_licenses.
   
 (Reading database ... 14890 files and directories currently installed.)
 Removing zile (2.4.15-r0) ...

This command only removes the files that were installed from this package. It does not remove the package from the apt download cache. If there is not enough space available on the system, it is recommended to clean the cache:

  apt-get clean

Likewise, some packages may have been automatically installed to respect dependencies with other packages. If they are no longer required, they can be removed to free space:

  apt-get autoremove
 Reading package lists... Done
 Building dependency tree
 Reading state information... Done
 The following packages will be REMOVED:
   bdwgc
 0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 to remove and 1 not upgraded.
 After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.
 Do you want to continue? [Y/n]
 
 The software package is provided AS IS, and by downloading it, you agree to be
 bound to the terms of the software license agreement (SLA).
 The detailed content licenses can be found at
 https://wiki.st.com/stm32mpu/wiki/OpenSTLinux_licenses.
 
 (Reading database ... 14889 files and directories currently installed.)
 Removing bdwgc (8.2.0-r0) ...

3. How to activate a local package repository[edit source]

3.1. Prerequisite[edit source]

Even if Package repository for OpenSTLinux offers lots of and various packages, you may need to use a local and personnal package repository. Using a local and personal package repository is a 'smart' and 'quick' way to update the Starter Package with your developments.

A local package repository is a collection of *.deb organized such apt needs it. The local repository should provide Packages metafiles.

Natively OpenEmbedded/Yocto build system is able to generate a valid package repository (by using bitbake package-index command listed below). So first, install the STM32MP1 OpenSTLinux distribution.

3.2. Update the repo package indexes[edit source]

Execute the bitbake package-index command:

  cd [your STM32MP1 Distribution path]/build-<DISTRO>-<MACHINE>
  bitbake package-index

3.3. HTTP server execution on the computer[edit source]

http.server python application is already installed on the board with the OpenSTLinux distribution. You just need to launch this application on your host computer, in the "[your STM32MP1 Distribution path]/build-<DISTRO>-<MACHINE>/tmp-glibc/deploy/deb" folder:

 cd [your STM32MP1 Distribution path]/build-<DISTRO>-<MACHINE>/tmp-glibc/deploy/deb
 python3 -m http.server &

3.4. How to use the local OpenSTLinux Distribution[edit source]

We use the physical IP address of the HTTP server we launched above to configure APT. That means this {{<IP>}} address should be defined as static on the host computer.
You can now configure the APT tool directly on the target via a Linux console:

 echo "deb [trusted=yes] http://<IP>:8000/stm32mp1 /" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/my_custom.list
 echo "deb [trusted=yes] http://<IP>:8000/all /" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/my_custom.list
 echo "deb [trusted=yes] http://<IP>:8000/cortexa7t2hf-neon-vfpv4 /" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/my_custom.list
 echo "deb [trusted=yes] http://<IP>:8000/cortexa7hf-neon-vfpv4 /"  >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/my_custom.list

In the above example, [trusted=yes] has been specified because the package manifest Release is not signed.

Then you can run the command to synchronize the local packages index:

  apt-get update
 The software package is provided AS IS, and by downloading it, you agree to be
 bound to the terms of the software license agreement (SLA).
 The detailed content licenses can be found at
 https://wiki.st.com/stm32mpu/wiki/OpenSTLinux_licenses.
 Ign:1 http://<IP>:8000/stm32mp1  InRelease
 Ign:2 http://<IP>:8000/all  InRelease
 Ign:3 http://<IP>:8000/cortexa7t2hf-neon-vfpv4  InRelease
 Ign:4 http://<IP>:8000/cortexa7hf-neon-vfpv4  InRelease
 Get:5 http://<IP>:8000/stm32mp1  Release [1088 B]
 Get:6 http://<IP>:8000/all  Release [1083 B]
 Get:7 http://<IP>:8000/cortexa7t2hf-neon-vfpv4  Release [1115 B]
 Get:8 http://<IP>:8000/cortexa7hf-neon-vfpv4  Release [1097 B]
 Ign:9 http://<IP>:8000/stm32mp1  Release.gpg
 Ign:10 http://<IP>:8000/all  Release.gpg
 Ign:11 http://<IP>:8000/cortexa7t2hf-neon-vfpv4  Release.gpg
 Ign:12 http://<IP>:8000/cortexa7hf-neon-vfpv4  Release.gpg
 Get:13 http://<IP>:8000/stm32mp1  Packages [165 kB]
 Get:14 http://<IP>:8000/all  Packages [109 kB]
 Get:15 http://<IP>:8000/cortexa7t2hf-neon-vfpv4  Packages [2775 kB]
 Get:16 http://<IP>:8000/cortexa7hf-neon-vfpv4  Packages [20.5 kB]
 Fetched 3073 kB in 7s (463 kB/s)
 Reading package lists... Done

The other apt-* commands are now available as described above.

4. Support[edit source]

Bug reports, request for new packages, or any other kind of support requests can be submitted through https://community.st.com.