VxWorks Under Linux

Here are step-by-step instructions to build a linux gcc cross compiler for m68k (Motorola 680x0) targets running vxWorks. The instructions specifically apply to the following system:

original host: sunOS 5.6 or Solaris 2.6
new host: linux redhat 6.2
target chipset: motorola 68040
target OS: vxWorks 5.3.1
gcc: 2.95.3
binutils: 2.9.1

If one or more of the above are different in your system (especially the target OS), these instructions should still be useful in showing the main steps to building a cross compiler, but you probably have to improvise when it comes to details.

There are some additional shell scripts, source files, and binaries mentioned in the instructions below. You may find all of them in

http://cahrd.tuc.noao.edu/mpg/vxworks/linuxHostingVx.tgz

I will refer to this location as UtilDir.

To simplify the instructions, I assume that the entire vxWorks 5.3.1 distribution resides in directory Tornado somewhere on the original host. I also install things in specific directories; feel free to rearrange things when you build your own system. Here we go:

copy the entire vxWorks distribution from the original host to /Tornado on the linux host
create a linux directory in /Tornado/<HOST>, where <HOST> is where the other host directories are; e.g.,

mkdir /Tornado/host/linux

install binutils

cd /
tar xzf binutils-2.9.1.tgz
cd binutils-2.9.1
mkdir vx68k

note: we build things in vx68k for convenience; e.g., if anything goes wrong we just zap the contents of vx68k and start over; or we can create another directory for a different type of target chipset.

cd vx68k
../configure --target=m68k-wrs-vxworks --prefix=/Tornado/host/linux --exec-prefix=/Tornado/host/linux > zap.log

note: piping stdout to a log file allows you to see the stderr of configure, which otherwise may go unnoticed.

make
make install

install gcc

cd /
tar xzf gcc-2.95.3.tgz
cd gcc-2.95.3
mkdir vx68k
cd vx68k
../configure --target=m68k-wrs-vxworks --prefix=/Tornado/host/linux --exec-prefix=/Tornado/host/linux \

--with-headers=/Tornado/target/h --with-libs=/Tornado/target/lib > zap.log

note: the /Tornado/target/h and /Tornado/target/lib are where all the target-specific headers and libraries are located, respectively.

in /Tornado/host/linux/m68k-wrs-vxworks/sys-include/sys/stat.h, somewhere on top, before the first occurrence of ULONG, add:

#include "../types/vxTypesOld.h"

I had to do this to get gcc to compile; it still baffles me though, because under Solaris ULONG somehow is in scope without the #include! By the way, this is more than likely a 5.3.1-specific detail.

make LANGUAGES=c
make LANGUAGES=c install

some other languages may be problematic (e.g., the link below reports a problem with Objective C).

in /Tornado/host/linux/bin, for all the executables create soft links like this:

ln -s m68k-wrs-vxworks-gcc cc68k

for 5.3.1 you can use the softlinker script in UtilDir.

throw in some additional utilities from here and there

grab xsym.c from UtilDir, and:

gcc -o xsym xsym.c
cp xsym /Tornado/host/linux/bin

find the vxsize shell script in your vxWorks distribution (e.g., /Tornado/host/sun4-solaris2/bin/vxsize) and copy it to /Tornado/host/linux/bin(for 5.3.1 you will also find it in DirUtil).
grab munch from UtilDir and copy it /Tornado/host/linux/bin
note: this part could be the messiest part, especially if the tools are binaries and you have to somehow put together the proper source code; also, the tools missing could vary from one version of vxWorks to another. Always check and see if the tool is a shell script, in which case you just copy it over. If it's a binary, search the entire vxWorks distribution tree; chances are you'll find the source code right there. If that fails, you have to search the web and enter the underworld of newsgroups :-) For this project I was lucky to find Trebisky's webpage (see acknowledgment below).

set the vxWorks environment variables. e.g., for 5.3.1:

export WIND_BASE=/Tornado
export WIND_HOST_TYPE=linux
export GCC_EXEC_PREFIX=/Tornado/host/linux/lib/gcc-lib/

create proper linux files in the make directory of the target. e.g., for 5.3.1:

cd /Tornado/target/h/make
cp defs.sun4-solaris2 defs.linux
cp rules-lib.sun4-sunos4 rules-lib.linux

note: luckily here we didn't have to modify the files; but in other cases there may be some host-specific issues that require modifying these files.

We are done! Now the best way to test things is to make a clean build of the kernel.

Acknowledgment

I was lucky to come across this document by T. Trebisky. The munch binary used here is from his archive, and so is the xsym.c, which I had to modify slightly to get it to compile. You will find his archive (trebisky.tgz) in UtilDir.

Last update: 18 June 2001

http://chard.tuc.noao.edu/mpg/vxworks/linuxHostingVx.html

behzad@noao.edu