Custom Boards How-To

As explained in [[../quick](]{.title-ref}../quick.md)start/configuring`, supported boards (also known as "in-tree" boards) are configured using a standard syntax:

 cd nuttx
 ./tools/configure.sh -l board-name:config-name
  Copy files
  Select CONFIG_HOST_LINUX=y
  Refreshing...

Sometimes it is not appropriate, or not wanted, to add a new or custom board to the NuttX boards tree itself. If so, the board can be defined out-of-tree in a custom directory and still be built easily.

Add a Custom Board

The same set of files as provided for in-tree boards is required (i.e. configs, Kconfig, scripts, etc.) but these can be placed in a directory of your choice.

In this example, the files are assumed to exist in:

: ../nuttx/CustomBoards/MyCustomBoardName

> ``` {.console}
> pwd
> /home/nuttx/nuttx
>  ls -1 ../CustomBoards/MyCustomBoardName
> configs
> helpers
> include
> Kconfig
> scripts
>  ls ../CustomBoards/MyCustomBoardName/configs
> nsh
> MyCustomConfig
> 
> ```

To build the custom board, the syntax is slightly different to in-tree boards and configs:

 ./tools/configure.sh -l ../CustomBoards/MyCustomBoardName/configs/MyCustomConfig
Copy files
Select CONFIG_HOST_LINUX=y
Refreshing...

Kconfig Settings

Once the board is configured, to ensure subsequent builds run correctly, there are two Kconfig settings that need to be set. These are:

Board Selection --> Custom Board Configuration --> Custom Board Name{.interpreted-text role="menuselection"}

Board Selection --> Custom Board Configuration --> Relative custom board directory{.interpreted-text role="menuselection"}

They should be set to suit your board name and directory location.

Note

If you subsequently run a make distclean operation, then these settings will be lost. They should be added back before building, and/or before running make menuconfig.