Kubos CLI Command Reference¶

The kubos command is always run with a subcommand in order to do something, kubos with no subcommand will only display help information.

Command Overview¶

Command	Function
build	Build the current module.
clean	Remove files created by kubos and the build.
config	Display the target configuration info.
debug	Attach a debugger to the current target. Requires target support.
flash	Launch the compiled program (available for executable modules only). Requires target support for cross-compiling targets.
flash	(Kubos Linux Targets) Load files onto target.
init	Create a new module.
licenses	List the licenses of the current module and its dependencies.
link	Symlink a module
link-target	Symlink a target
list	List the dependencies of the current module, or the inherited targets of the current target.
target	Set or display the target device.
test	Run the tests for the current module on the current target. Requires target support for cross-compiling targets
version	Display the current active version of the CLI and Kubos source repo.
versions	Display the available versions of the KubOS source.
update	Download newer versions of the Kubos Modules
use	Set a new version of the Kubos modules to build your projects against.

kubos build¶

Synopsis¶

$ kubos build [--generate-only] [--debug-build] [--cmake-generator <cmake-generator-name>] [name ... ]
$ kubos build [ ... ] -- [ build-tool arguments ]

Description¶

Build the current module and its dependencies.

Kubos uses CMake to control the build, the basic process is:

kubos generates CMakeLists.txt describing the libraries and executables to build
kubos instructs CMake to generate the make files / ninja files / IDE project file (depending on –cmake-generator)
kubos instructs CMake to execute the build. The compiler used depends on the CMake Toolchain file provided by the active kubos target.

Options¶

--generate-only, -g: only generate the CMakeLists, don’t build
--debug-build, -d: build a debug (less-optimized) build. The effects depend on the target (this selects CMake build type Debug), but generally this means no optimization, and NDEBUG is not defined.
--release-build, -r: build a release (optimized) build. deprecated The effects depend on the target (this selects CMake build type RelWithDebInfo). This option is deprecated because it is now the default, unless –debug-build is specified.
--cmake-generator, -G: specify the CMake Generator. CMake can generate project files for various editors and IDEs.
name ...: one or more modules may be specified, in which case only these modules and their dependencies will be built. Use all_tests to cause all tests to be built.
-- ...: any options specified after – are passed unmodified on to the tool being used for building (e.g. Ninja, or make)

kubos init¶

Synopsis¶

$ kubos init <project name> [--linux]

Description¶

Create a new subdirectory containing a new project named the same as the argument provided. If a subdirectory already exists, the command will abort and not delete or overwrite any files.

Options¶

--linux, -l Create the new project as a linux application for Kubos Linux

kubos clean¶

Synopsis¶

$ kubos clean

Description¶

Delete the ‘build’ subdirectory of a project. This will remove all remaining artifacts and generated files from previous builds.

kubos test¶

Synopsis¶

$ kubos test [--list] [--no-build] [ build-arguments ] [tests-to-run ...]

Description¶

Run tests. If no arguments are specified, then the tests for the current module will be run, use kubos test all to run the tests for all modules.

The target description provides support for the test command if it is a cross-compiling target (no support is necessary to run tests natively). The scripts.test value in the target description is executed with $program expanded to the path to the binary, it should be a wrapper script that loads the binary at the specified path onto the target device, runs it, and prints output on standard output.

Options:

--list, -l List the tests that would be run, rather than running them. Implies --no-build.
--no-build, -n Don’t build anything. Try to run already-built tests. Things will fail if all the specified tests are not built!
This command also accepts the options to kubos_build, which are used if building.

Examples¶

$ kubos test
$ kubos test --list all
$ kubos test -n my-test
$ kubos test --config="path/to/test-config.json"

kubos debug¶

Synopsis¶

$ kubos debug

Description¶

If the target description supports it, launch a debugger attached to the specified executable.

kubos target¶

Synopsis¶

$ kubos target
$ kubos target <targetname>
$ kubos target --list, -l

Description¶

Display or set the current target.

Targets define the options and commands that kubos uses to compile modules and executables.

A target must define a CMake Toolchain file describing all of the rules that kubos uses to build software, it may also define commands to launch a debugger (used by kubos debug).

Options¶

--list, -l List all of the available Kubos targets.

Examples¶

$ kubos target stm32f407-disco-gcc

kubos flash¶

Synonyms: kubos start

Synopsis¶

$ kubos flash

Description¶

Flash the build of the current target to the target board.

Note: This requires target support.

kubos flash (Kubos Linux targets)¶

Synonyms: kubos start

Synopsis¶

$ kubos flash [file]

Description¶

Flash a file to the target board.

If the name of the file matches the name of the application, as specified in the module.json file, then the file is assumed to be the application binary and will be loaded into /home/system/usr/bin on the target board.

If the name of the file ends in *.itb, the file is a Kubos Linux upgrade package and will be loaded into the upgrade partition of the target board. An internal variable will be set so that the upgrade package will be installed during the next reboot of the target board.

All other files are assumed to be non-application files (ex. custom shell scripts) and will be loaded into /home/system/usr/local/bin.

Options¶

file File to flash.

Note: This requires target support.

kubos update¶

Synopsis¶

$ kubos update
$ kubos update <version number>

Description¶

Pull and update all of the current Kubos modules. If a version number is specified the CLI will attempt to checkout that version after downloading newer releases.

Options¶

<version number> Is optional. If a version number is specified then kubos will try to checkout the provided version number after pulling the latest updates.
--all, -a Update the Kubos source modules and the Kubos CLI python module.
--cli, -c Download and update the Kubos CLI python module only.
--latest, -l Checkout the latest release during the update process.
--source, -s Only update the source modules. This is the default if no other options are specified.
--tab-completion, -t Update the tab completion definitions. This option is only necessary after updating the CLI.

kubos version¶

Synopsis¶

$ kubos version [--list]

Description¶

Display the current version of the Kubos CLI, and the Kubos modules

Options¶

--list, -l List the available Kubos source versions

kubos versions¶

Synopsis¶

$ kubos versions [--all-versions]

Description¶

Display all of the available versions of the Kubos modules. By default only major releases are shown.

Options¶

--all-versions, -a Show every available release including minor releases.

kubos use¶

Synopsis¶

$ kubos use <version number>
$ kubos use --branch <branch_name>

Description¶

Pull and update all of the current Kubos modules. By default if no <version number>

Options¶

<version number> Kubos will try to checkout the provided version number.
--branch, -b Specify a specific branch of the Kubos source to use.

kubos link¶

Synonyms: kubos ln

Synopsis¶

$ kubos link (in a module directory)
$ kubos link <modulename>
$ kubos link /path/to/a/module

Description¶

Module linking allows you to use local versions of modules when building other modules – it’s useful when fixing a bug in a dependency that is most easily reproduced when that dependency is used by another module.

By default all of the Kubos modules are linked into all new projects.

To link a module there are two steps. First, in the directory of the dependency:

$ kubos link

This will create a symlink from the global modules directory to the current module.

Then, in the module that you would like to use the linked version of the dependency, run:

$ kubos link <depended-on-module-name>

When you run kubos build it will then pick up the linked module.

This works for direct and indirect dependencies: you can link to a module that your module does not use directly, but a dependency of your module does.

The variant of the command which takes a path to an existing module (e.g. kubos link ../path/to/a/module) performs both steps in sequence, for convenience.

Options¶

--all, -a Link all of the default Kubos modules and targets into a project in the current directory

Directories¶

When you run kubos link, links are created in a system-wide directory under yotta_PREFIX, and the links in that directory are then picked up by subsequent kubos link <modulename> commands.

kubos link-target¶

Synopsis¶

$ kubos link-target (in a target directory)
$ kubos link-target <targetename>
$ kubos link-target /path/to/a/target

Description¶

Like module linking, target linking allows you to use local versions of targets when building modules – it’s useful when developing and testing target descriptions.

By default all of the Kubos targets will be linked into all new projects.

To link a target you need to perform two steps. First, in the directory of the target:

$ kubos link-target

This will create a symlink from the global targets directory to the current target.

Then, in the module that you would like to use the linked version of the target, run:

$ kubos link-target <targetename>

When you run kubos build (provided you’ve set kubos target to <targetname>), the linked target description will be used.

The variant of the command which takes a path to an existing module (e.g. kubos link ../path/to/a/module) performs both steps in sequence, for convenience.

kubos list¶

Synonyms: kubos ls

Synopsis¶

$ kubos list [--all]
$ kubos list [--json]

Description¶

List the installed dependencies of the current module, including information on the installed versions. Unless --all is specified, dependencies are only listed under the modules that first use them, with --all dependencies that are used my multiple modules are listed multiple times (but all modules will use the same installed instance of the dependency).

The --json option will cause the list to be output in JSON format, for example:

{
  "modules": [
    {
      "name": "toplevel-module-name",
      "version": "1.0.0",
      "path": "/some/path/on/disk/toplevel-module-name",
      "specifications": [
        {
          "version": "~0.11.0",
          "name": "some-dependency-name"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "some-dependency-name",
      "version": "0.11.7",
      "path": "/some/path/on/disk/yotta_modules/some-dependency-name",
      "linkedTo": "/some/path/on/disk/some-dependency-name",
      "specifications": [
        {
          "version": "ARMmbed/some-test-dependency#^1.2.3",
          "name": "some-test-dependency",
          "testOnly": true
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "some-test-dependency",
      "version": "1.5.6",
      "path": "/some/path/on/disk/yotta_modules/some-test-dependency",
      "errors": [
        "a description of some error with this module"
      ]
    }
}

kubos licenses¶

Synopsis¶

$ kubos licenses [--all]

Description¶

List the licenses of all of the modules that the current module depends on. If --all is specified, then each unique license is listed for each module it occurs in, instead of just once.

NOTE: while kubos can list the licenses that modules have declared in their module.json files, it can make no warranties about whether modules contain code under other licenses that have not been declared.

kubos config¶

Synopsis¶

$ kubos config

Description¶

Display the merged config data for the current target (and application, if the current module defines an executable application).

The config data is produced by merging the json config data defined by the application, the current target, and any targets the current target inherits from recursively. Values defined by the application will override those defined at the same path by targets, and values defined in targets will override values defined by targets they inherit from.

The config data displayed is identical to the data that will be available to modules when they are built.