coreelec:build_ce

CoreELEC build-system

The CoreELEC “build-system” simplifies the complex task of cross-compiling hundreds of inter-dependent source packages into a working CoreELEC image with a few simple commands.

  • Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. It is possible to use other Linux distrutions but Ubuntu 20.04 LTS is the distribution recommended by Team CoreELEC
  • 50GB free disk space
  • Active Internet Connection
  • Time, a build can take several hours

Prior to building CoreELEC, ensure the build environment is up to date

  • Update Ubuntu
sudo apt update

The build-essential meta-package contains everything required for compiling basic software written in C and C++, while the git tool is needed to obtain the CoreELEC sources.

  • Install build-essenstials and git
sudo apt install build-essential git python3

For those who don't want to install build-essentials or preserve space, the bare minimum tools required for building CoreELEC are: make, gcc and git

sudo apt install make gcc git python3

Obtaining the Sources

From a terminal, use the git command to obtain the CoreELEC sources from Github. This requires about 350 MB of free space.

  • ensure being in the user home folder
cd ~
  • to clone the CoreELEC sources type
git clone https://github.com/CoreELEC/CoreELEC.git
  • to access the CoreELEC folder type
cd CoreELEC


Switching between versions

The git checkout command is used to switch between branches in a repository.

It checks the branches and updates the files in the working directory to match the version already available in that branch.

Ensure to be in the CoreELEC folder.

  • enter the latest build
git checkout coreelec-19

To switch to an older build, specify the build tag eq: git checkout 19.2-Matrix_rc2

  • create .tar update file
make
  • create image file
make image

The build file will be located in ~/CoreELEC/target/

NOTE: The above steps can also be used to select (and build) CoreELEC 20 by replacing coreelec-19 with coreelec-20.

For coreelec-20 there are two devices. Default one is amlogic-ne (new era with Linux 5.4). To build Amlogic-ng DEVICE=Amlogic-ng must be used like

DEVICE=Amlogic-ng make

Ensure to be in the CoreELEC folder.

  • enter the latest build
git checkout coreelec-9.2

To switch to an older build, specify the build tag eq: git checkout 9.2.5

  • create .tar update file
PROJECT=Amlogic-ng make

or

PROJECT=Amlogic make
  • create image file
PROJECT=Amlogic-ng make image

or

PROJECT=Amlogic make image

The build file will be located in ~/CoreELEC/target/


Building addons

To build the corresponding addons

Ensure to be in the CoreELEC folder

  • enter
./scripts/create_addon addon_name

The build file(s) will be located in ~/CoreELEC/target/addons/

Removing the sources

  • ensure being in the user home folder
cd ~
  • to remove the CoreELEC files enter
rm -rf CoreELEC

Building with docker

To build CoreELEC in a docker container, please follow these instructions.

WSL2 PATH variable

WSL2 users should be aware the PATH environment variable needs to be set manually.

By default, WSL includes Windows path names the PATH variable. This can cause the CoreELEC build to fail. To prevent this from happening, 2 solutions are available:

Prior to starting the build enter:

export PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games:/usr/lib/wsl/lib

Create an advanced configuration settings file called wsl.conf with following content:

# Setting this key to 'True', or removing this entry, will add Windows path elements to the $PATH environment variable.
[interop]
appendWindowsPath=False

save the file to the \etc folder of the Ubuntu VM

eq: \\wsl$\Ubuntu\etc

exit WSL & wait at least 8 seconds before relaunching.

More information can be found here

Support

WSL is maintained by and supported by Team Microsoft.