1.. SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-SA-2.0-UK
2
3**************************
4Source Directory Structure
5**************************
6
7The :term:`Source Directory` consists of numerous files,
8directories and subdirectories; understanding their locations and
9contents is key to using the Yocto Project effectively. This chapter
10describes the Source Directory and gives information about those files
11and directories.
12
13For information on how to establish a local Source Directory on your
14development system, see the
15":ref:`dev-manual/start:locating yocto project source files`"
16section in the Yocto Project Development Tasks Manual.
17
18.. note::
19
20   The OpenEmbedded build system does not support file or directory
21   names that contain spaces. Be sure that the Source Directory you use
22   does not contain these types of names.
23
24.. _structure-core:
25
26Top-Level Core Components
27=========================
28
29This section describes the top-level components of the :term:`Source Directory`.
30
31.. _structure-core-bitbake:
32
33``bitbake/``
34------------
35
36This directory includes a copy of BitBake for ease of use. The copy
37usually matches the current stable BitBake release from the BitBake
38project. BitBake, a :term:`Metadata` interpreter, reads the
39Yocto Project Metadata and runs the tasks defined by that data. Failures
40are usually caused by errors in your Metadata and not from BitBake
41itself.
42
43When you run the ``bitbake`` command, the main BitBake executable (which
44resides in the ``bitbake/bin/`` directory) starts. Sourcing the
45environment setup script (i.e. :ref:`structure-core-script`) places
46the ``scripts/`` and ``bitbake/bin/`` directories (in that order) into
47the shell's ``PATH`` environment variable.
48
49For more information on BitBake, see the :doc:`BitBake User Manual
50<bitbake:index>`.
51
52.. _structure-core-build:
53
54``build/``
55----------
56
57This directory contains user configuration files and the output
58generated by the OpenEmbedded build system in its standard configuration
59where the source tree is combined with the output. The :term:`Build Directory`
60is created initially when you ``source`` the OpenEmbedded build environment
61setup script (i.e. :ref:`structure-core-script`).
62
63It is also possible to place output and configuration files in a
64directory separate from the :term:`Source Directory` by
65providing a directory name when you ``source`` the setup script. For
66information on separating output from your local Source Directory files
67(commonly described as an "out of tree" build), see the
68":ref:`structure-core-script`" section.
69
70See the ":ref:`The Build Directory --- build/ <structure-build>`" section for details
71about the contents of the :term:`Build Directory`.
72
73.. _handbook:
74
75``documentation/``
76------------------
77
78This directory holds the source for the Yocto Project documentation as
79well as templates and tools that allow you to generate PDF and HTML
80versions of the manuals. Each manual is contained in its own sub-folder;
81for example, the files for this reference manual reside in the
82``ref-manual/`` directory.
83
84.. _structure-core-meta:
85
86``meta/``
87---------
88
89This directory contains the minimal, underlying OpenEmbedded-Core
90metadata. The directory holds recipes, common classes, and machine
91configuration for strictly emulated targets (``qemux86``, ``qemuarm``,
92and so forth.)
93
94.. _structure-core-meta-poky:
95
96``meta-poky/``
97--------------
98
99Designed above the ``meta/`` content, this directory adds just enough
100metadata to define the Poky reference distribution.
101
102.. _structure-core-meta-yocto-bsp:
103
104``meta-yocto-bsp/``
105-------------------
106
107This directory contains the Yocto Project reference hardware Board
108Support Packages (BSPs). For more information on BSPs, see the
109:doc:`/bsp-guide/index`.
110
111.. _structure-meta-selftest:
112
113``meta-selftest/``
114------------------
115
116This directory adds additional recipes and append files used by the
117OpenEmbedded selftests to verify the behavior of the build system. You
118do not have to add this layer to your ``bblayers.conf`` file unless you
119want to run the selftests.
120
121.. _structure-meta-skeleton:
122
123``meta-skeleton/``
124------------------
125
126This directory contains template recipes for BSP and kernel development.
127
128.. _structure-core-scripts:
129
130``scripts/``
131------------
132
133This directory contains various integration scripts that implement extra
134functionality in the Yocto Project environment (e.g. QEMU scripts). The
135:ref:`structure-core-script` script prepends this directory to the
136shell's ``PATH`` environment variable.
137
138The ``scripts`` directory has useful scripts that assist in contributing
139back to the Yocto Project, such as ``create-pull-request`` and
140``send-pull-request``.
141
142.. _structure-core-script:
143
144``oe-init-build-env``
145---------------------
146
147This script sets up the OpenEmbedded build environment. Running this
148script with the ``source`` command in a shell makes changes to ``PATH``
149and sets other core BitBake variables based on the current working
150directory. You need to run an environment setup script before running
151BitBake commands. The script uses other scripts within the ``scripts``
152directory to do the bulk of the work.
153
154When you run this script, your Yocto Project environment is set up, a
155:term:`Build Directory` is created, your working directory becomes the
156:term:`Build Directory`, and you are presented with some simple
157suggestions as to what to do next, including a list of some possible
158targets to build. Here is an example::
159
160   $ source oe-init-build-env
161
162   ### Shell environment set up for builds. ###
163
164   You can now run 'bitbake <target>'
165
166   Common targets are:
167       core-image-minimal
168       core-image-sato
169       meta-toolchain
170       meta-ide-support
171
172   You can also run generated QEMU images with a command like 'runqemu qemux86-64'
173
174The default output of the ``oe-init-build-env`` script is from the
175``conf-summary.txt`` and ``conf-notes.txt`` files, which are found in the ``meta-poky`` directory
176within the :term:`Source Directory`. If you design a
177custom distribution, you can include your own versions of these
178configuration files where you can provide a brief summary and detailed usage
179notes, such as a list of the targets defined by your distribution.
180See the
181":ref:`dev-manual/custom-template-configuration-directory:creating a custom template configuration directory`"
182section in the Yocto Project Development Tasks Manual for more
183information.
184
185By default, running this script without a :term:`Build Directory` argument
186creates the ``build/`` directory in your current working directory. If
187you provide a :term:`Build Directory` argument when you ``source`` the script,
188you direct the OpenEmbedded build system to create a :term:`Build Directory` of
189your choice. For example, the following command creates a
190:term:`Build Directory` named ``mybuilds/`` that is outside of the
191:term:`Source Directory`::
192
193   $ source oe-init-build-env ~/mybuilds
194
195The OpenEmbedded build system uses the template configuration files, which
196are found by default in the ``meta-poky/conf/templates/default`` directory in the Source
197Directory. See the
198":ref:`dev-manual/custom-template-configuration-directory:creating a custom template configuration directory`"
199section in the Yocto Project Development Tasks Manual for more
200information.
201
202.. note::
203
204   The OpenEmbedded build system does not support file or directory
205   names that contain spaces. If you attempt to run the ``oe-init-build-env``
206   script from a Source Directory that contains spaces in either the
207   filenames or directory names, the script returns an error indicating
208   no such file or directory. Be sure to use a Source Directory free of
209   names containing spaces.
210
211.. _structure-basic-top-level:
212
213``LICENSE, README, and README.hardware``
214----------------------------------------
215
216These files are standard top-level files.
217
218.. _structure-build:
219
220The Build Directory --- ``build/``
221==================================
222
223The OpenEmbedded build system creates the :term:`Build Directory` when you run
224the build environment setup script :ref:`structure-core-script`. If you do not
225give the :term:`Build Directory` a specific name when you run the setup script,
226the name defaults to ``build/``.
227
228For subsequent parsing and processing, the name of the Build directory
229is available via the :term:`TOPDIR` variable.
230
231.. _structure-build-buildhistory:
232
233``build/buildhistory/``
234-----------------------
235
236The OpenEmbedded build system creates this directory when you enable
237build history via the :ref:`ref-classes-buildhistory` class file. The directory
238organizes build information into image, packages, and SDK
239subdirectories. For information on the build history feature, see the
240":ref:`dev-manual/build-quality:maintaining build output quality`"
241section in the Yocto Project Development Tasks Manual.
242
243.. _structure-build-cache:
244
245``build/cache/``
246----------------
247
248This directory contains several internal files used by the OpenEmbedded
249build system.
250
251It also contains ``sanity_info``, a text file keeping track of important
252build information such as the values of :term:`TMPDIR`, :term:`SSTATE_DIR`,
253as well as the name and version of the host distribution.
254
255.. _structure-build-conf-local.conf:
256
257``build/conf/local.conf``
258-------------------------
259
260This configuration file contains all the local user configurations for
261your build environment. The ``local.conf`` file contains documentation
262on the various configuration options. Any variable set here overrides
263any variable set elsewhere within the environment unless that variable
264is hard-coded within a file (e.g. by using '=' instead of '?='). Some
265variables are hard-coded for various reasons but such variables are
266relatively rare.
267
268At a minimum, you would normally edit this file to select the target
269:term:`MACHINE`, which package types you wish to use
270(:term:`PACKAGE_CLASSES`), and the location from
271which you want to access downloaded files (:term:`DL_DIR`).
272
273If ``local.conf`` is not present when you start the build, the
274OpenEmbedded build system creates it from ``local.conf.sample`` when you
275``source`` the top-level build environment setup script
276:ref:`structure-core-script`.
277
278The source ``local.conf.sample`` file used depends on the
279:term:`TEMPLATECONF` script variable, which defaults to ``meta-poky/conf/templates/default``
280when you are building from the Yocto Project development environment,
281and to ``meta/conf/templates/default`` when you are building from the OpenEmbedded-Core
282environment. Because the script variable points to the source of the
283``local.conf.sample`` file, this implies that you can configure your
284build environment from any layer by setting the variable in the
285top-level build environment setup script as follows::
286
287   TEMPLATECONF=your_layer/conf/templates/your_template_name
288
289Once the build process gets the sample
290file, it uses ``sed`` to substitute final
291``${``\ :term:`OEROOT`\ ``}`` values for all
292``##OEROOT##`` values.
293
294.. note::
295
296   You can see how the :term:`TEMPLATECONF` variable is used by looking at the
297   ``scripts/oe-setup-builddir`` script in the :term:`Source Directory`.
298   You can find the Yocto Project version of the ``local.conf.sample`` file in
299   the ``meta-poky/conf/templates/default`` directory.
300
301.. _structure-build-conf-bblayers.conf:
302
303``build/conf/bblayers.conf``
304----------------------------
305
306This configuration file defines
307:ref:`layers <dev-manual/layers:understanding and creating layers>`,
308which are directory trees, traversed (or walked) by BitBake. The
309``bblayers.conf`` file uses the :term:`BBLAYERS`
310variable to list the layers BitBake tries to find.
311
312If ``bblayers.conf`` is not present when you start the build, the
313OpenEmbedded build system creates it from ``bblayers.conf.sample`` when
314you ``source`` the top-level build environment setup script (i.e.
315:ref:`structure-core-script`).
316
317As with the ``local.conf`` file, the source ``bblayers.conf.sample``
318file used depends on the :term:`TEMPLATECONF` script variable, which
319defaults to ``meta-poky/conf/templates/default`` when you are building from the Yocto
320Project development environment, and to ``meta/conf/templates/default`` when you are
321building from the OpenEmbedded-Core environment. Because the script
322variable points to the source of the ``bblayers.conf.sample`` file, this
323implies that you can base your build from any layer by setting the
324variable in the top-level build environment setup script as follows::
325
326   TEMPLATECONF=your_layer/conf/templates/your_template_name
327
328Once the build process gets the sample file, it uses ``sed`` to substitute final
329``${``\ :term:`OEROOT`\ ``}`` values for all ``##OEROOT##`` values.
330
331.. note::
332
333   You can see how the :term:`TEMPLATECONF` variable is defined by the ``scripts/oe-setup-builddir``
334   script in the :term:`Source Directory`. You can find the Yocto Project
335   version of the ``bblayers.conf.sample`` file in the ``meta-poky/conf/templates/default``
336   directory.
337
338.. _structure-build-downloads:
339
340``build/downloads/``
341--------------------
342
343This directory contains downloaded upstream source tarballs. You can
344reuse the directory for multiple builds or move the directory to another
345location. You can control the location of this directory through the
346:term:`DL_DIR` variable.
347
348.. _structure-build-sstate-cache:
349
350``build/sstate-cache/``
351-----------------------
352
353This directory contains the shared state cache. You can reuse the
354directory for multiple builds or move the directory to another location.
355You can control the location of this directory through the
356:term:`SSTATE_DIR` variable.
357
358.. _structure-build-tmp:
359
360``build/tmp/``
361--------------
362
363The OpenEmbedded build system creates and uses this directory for all
364the build system's output. The :term:`TMPDIR` variable
365points to this directory.
366
367BitBake creates this directory if it does not exist. As a last resort,
368to clean up a build and start it from scratch (other than the
369downloads), you can remove everything in the ``tmp`` directory or get
370rid of the directory completely. If you do, you should also completely
371remove the ``build/sstate-cache`` directory.
372
373.. _structure-build-tmp-buildstats:
374
375``build/tmp/buildstats/``
376~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
377
378This directory stores the build statistics as generated by the
379:ref:`ref-classes-buildstats` class.
380
381.. _structure-build-tmp-cache:
382
383``build/tmp/cache/``
384~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
385
386When BitBake parses the metadata (recipes and configuration files), it
387caches the results in ``build/tmp/cache/`` to speed up future builds.
388The results are stored on a per-machine basis.
389
390During subsequent builds, BitBake checks each recipe (together with, for
391example, any files included or appended to it) to see if they have been
392modified. Changes can be detected, for example, through file
393modification time (mtime) changes and hashing of file contents. If no
394changes to the file are detected, then the parsed result stored in the
395cache is reused. If the file has changed, it is reparsed.
396
397.. _structure-build-tmp-deploy:
398
399``build/tmp/deploy/``
400~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
401
402This directory contains any "end result" output from the OpenEmbedded
403build process. The :term:`DEPLOY_DIR` variable points
404to this directory. For more detail on the contents of the ``deploy``
405directory, see the
406":ref:`overview-manual/concepts:images`" and
407":ref:`overview-manual/concepts:application development sdk`" sections in the Yocto
408Project Overview and Concepts Manual.
409
410.. _structure-build-tmp-deploy-deb:
411
412``build/tmp/deploy/deb/``
413^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
414
415This directory receives any ``.deb`` packages produced by the build
416process. The packages are sorted into feeds for different architecture
417types.
418
419.. _structure-build-tmp-deploy-rpm:
420
421``build/tmp/deploy/rpm/``
422^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
423
424This directory receives any ``.rpm`` packages produced by the build
425process. The packages are sorted into feeds for different architecture
426types.
427
428.. _structure-build-tmp-deploy-ipk:
429
430``build/tmp/deploy/ipk/``
431^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
432
433This directory receives ``.ipk`` packages produced by the build process.
434
435.. _structure-build-tmp-deploy-licenses:
436
437``build/tmp/deploy/licenses/``
438^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
439
440This directory receives package licensing information. For example, the
441directory contains sub-directories for ``bash``, ``busybox``, and
442``glibc`` (among others) that in turn contain appropriate ``COPYING``
443license files with other licensing information. For information on
444licensing, see the
445":ref:`dev-manual/licenses:maintaining open source license compliance during your product's lifecycle`"
446section in the Yocto Project Development Tasks Manual.
447
448.. _structure-build-tmp-deploy-images:
449
450``build/tmp/deploy/images/``
451^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
452
453This directory is populated with the basic output objects of the build
454(think of them as the "generated artifacts" of the build process),
455including things like the boot loader image, kernel, root filesystem and
456more. If you want to flash the resulting image from a build onto a
457device, look here for the necessary components.
458
459Be careful when deleting files in this directory. You can safely delete
460old images from this directory (e.g. ``core-image-*``). However, the
461kernel (``*zImage*``, ``*uImage*``, etc.), bootloader and other
462supplementary files might be deployed here prior to building an image.
463Because these files are not directly produced from the image, if you
464delete them they will not be automatically re-created when you build the
465image again.
466
467If you do accidentally delete files here, you will need to force them to
468be re-created. In order to do that, you will need to know the target
469that produced them. For example, these commands rebuild and re-create
470the kernel files::
471
472   $ bitbake -c clean virtual/kernel
473   $ bitbake virtual/kernel
474
475.. _structure-build-tmp-deploy-sdk:
476
477``build/tmp/deploy/sdk/``
478^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
479
480The OpenEmbedded build system creates this directory to hold toolchain
481installer scripts which, when executed, install the sysroot that matches
482your target hardware. You can find out more about these installers in
483the ":ref:`sdk-manual/appendix-obtain:building an sdk installer`"
484section in the Yocto Project Application Development and the Extensible
485Software Development Kit (eSDK) manual.
486
487.. _structure-build-tmp-sstate-control:
488
489``build/tmp/sstate-control/``
490~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
491
492The OpenEmbedded build system uses this directory for the shared state
493manifest files. The shared state code uses these files to record the
494files installed by each sstate task so that the files can be removed
495when cleaning the recipe or when a newer version is about to be
496installed. The build system also uses the manifests to detect and
497produce a warning when files from one task are overwriting those from
498another.
499
500.. _structure-build-tmp-sysroots-components:
501
502``build/tmp/sysroots-components/``
503~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
504
505This directory is the location of the sysroot contents that the task
506:ref:`ref-tasks-prepare_recipe_sysroot`
507links or copies into the recipe-specific sysroot for each recipe listed
508in :term:`DEPENDS`. Population of this directory is
509handled through shared state, while the path is specified by the
510:term:`COMPONENTS_DIR` variable. Apart from a few
511unusual circumstances, handling of the ``sysroots-components`` directory
512should be automatic, and recipes should not directly reference
513``build/tmp/sysroots-components``.
514
515.. _structure-build-tmp-sysroots:
516
517``build/tmp/sysroots/``
518~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
519
520Previous versions of the OpenEmbedded build system used to create a
521global shared sysroot per machine along with a native sysroot. Since
522the 2.3 version of the Yocto Project, there are sysroots in
523recipe-specific :term:`WORKDIR` directories. Thus, the
524``build/tmp/sysroots/`` directory is unused.
525
526.. note::
527
528   The ``build/tmp/sysroots/`` directory can still be populated using the
529   ``bitbake build-sysroots`` command and can be used for compatibility in some
530   cases. However, in general it is not recommended to populate this directory.
531   Individual recipe-specific sysroots should be used.
532
533.. _structure-build-tmp-stamps:
534
535``build/tmp/stamps/``
536~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
537
538This directory holds information that BitBake uses for accounting
539purposes to track what tasks have run and when they have run. The
540directory is sub-divided by architecture, package name, and version.
541Here is an example::
542
543      stamps/all-poky-linux/distcc-config/1.0-r0.do_build-2fdd....2do
544
545Although the files in the directory are empty of data, BitBake uses the filenames
546and timestamps for tracking purposes.
547
548For information on how BitBake uses stamp files to determine if a task
549should be rerun, see the
550":ref:`overview-manual/concepts:stamp files and the rerunning of tasks`"
551section in the Yocto Project Overview and Concepts Manual.
552
553.. _structure-build-tmp-log:
554
555``build/tmp/log/``
556~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
557
558This directory contains general logs that are not otherwise placed using
559the package's :term:`WORKDIR`. Examples of logs are the output from the
560``do_check_pkg`` or ``do_distro_check`` tasks. Running a build does not
561necessarily mean this directory is created.
562
563.. _structure-build-tmp-work:
564
565``build/tmp/work/``
566~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
567
568This directory contains architecture-specific work sub-directories for
569packages built by BitBake. All tasks execute from the appropriate work
570directory. For example, the source for a particular package is unpacked,
571patched, configured and compiled all within its own work directory.
572Within the work directory, organization is based on the package group
573and version for which the source is being compiled as defined by the
574:term:`WORKDIR`.
575
576It is worth considering the structure of a typical work directory. As an
577example, consider ``linux-yocto-kernel-3.0`` on the machine ``qemux86``
578built within the Yocto Project. For this package, a work directory of
579``tmp/work/qemux86-poky-linux/linux-yocto/3.0+git1+<.....>``, referred
580to as the :term:`WORKDIR`, is created. Within this directory, the source is
581unpacked to ``linux-qemux86-standard-build`` and then patched by Quilt.
582(See the ":ref:`dev-manual/quilt:using quilt in your workflow`" section in
583the Yocto Project Development Tasks Manual for more information.) Within
584the ``linux-qemux86-standard-build`` directory, standard Quilt
585directories ``linux-3.0/patches`` and ``linux-3.0/.pc`` are created, and
586standard Quilt commands can be used.
587
588There are other directories generated within :term:`WORKDIR`. The most
589important directory is ``WORKDIR/temp/``, which has log files for each
590task (``log.do_*.pid``) and contains the scripts BitBake runs for each
591task (``run.do_*.pid``). The ``WORKDIR/image/`` directory is where "make
592install" places its output that is then split into sub-packages within
593``WORKDIR/packages-split/``.
594
595.. _structure-build-tmp-work-tunearch-recipename-version:
596
597``build/tmp/work/tunearch/recipename/version/``
598^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
599
600The recipe work directory --- ``${WORKDIR}``.
601
602As described earlier in the
603":ref:`structure-build-tmp-sysroots`" section,
604beginning with the 2.3 release of the Yocto Project, the OpenEmbedded
605build system builds each recipe in its own work directory (i.e.
606:term:`WORKDIR`). The path to the work directory is
607constructed using the architecture of the given build (e.g.
608:term:`TUNE_PKGARCH`, :term:`MACHINE_ARCH`, or "allarch"), the recipe
609name, and the version of the recipe (i.e.
610:term:`PE`\ ``:``\ :term:`PV`\ ``-``\ :term:`PR`).
611
612Here are key subdirectories within each recipe work directory:
613
614-  ``${WORKDIR}/temp``: Contains the log files of each task executed for
615   this recipe, the "run" files for each executed task, which contain
616   the code run, and a ``log.task_order`` file, which lists the order in
617   which tasks were executed.
618
619-  ``${WORKDIR}/image``: Contains the output of the
620   :ref:`ref-tasks-install` task, which corresponds to
621   the ``${``\ :term:`D`\ ``}`` variable in that task.
622
623-  ``${WORKDIR}/pseudo``: Contains the pseudo database and log for any
624   tasks executed under pseudo for the recipe.
625
626-  ``${WORKDIR}/sysroot-destdir``: Contains the output of the
627   :ref:`ref-tasks-populate_sysroot` task.
628
629-  ``${WORKDIR}/package``: Contains the output of the
630   :ref:`ref-tasks-package` task before the output is
631   split into individual packages.
632
633-  ``${WORKDIR}/packages-split``: Contains the output of the
634   :ref:`ref-tasks-package` task after the output has been split into individual
635   packages. There are subdirectories for each individual package created by
636   the recipe.
637
638-  ``${WORKDIR}/recipe-sysroot``: A directory populated with the target
639   dependencies of the recipe. This directory looks like the target
640   filesystem and contains libraries that the recipe might need to link
641   against (e.g. the C library).
642
643-  ``${WORKDIR}/recipe-sysroot-native``: A directory populated with the
644   native dependencies of the recipe. This directory contains the tools
645   the recipe needs to build (e.g. the compiler, Autoconf, libtool, and
646   so forth).
647
648-  ``${WORKDIR}/build``: This subdirectory applies only to recipes that
649   support builds where the source is separate from the build artifacts.
650   The OpenEmbedded build system uses this directory as a separate build
651   directory (i.e. ``${``\ :term:`B`\ ``}``).
652
653.. _structure-build-work-shared:
654
655``build/tmp/work-shared/``
656~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
657
658For efficiency, the OpenEmbedded build system creates and uses this
659directory to hold recipes that share a work directory with other
660recipes. In practice, this is only used for ``gcc`` and its variants
661(e.g. ``gcc-cross``, ``libgcc``, ``gcc-runtime``, and so forth).
662
663.. _structure-meta:
664
665The Metadata --- ``meta/``
666==========================
667
668As mentioned previously, :term:`Metadata` is the core of the
669Yocto Project. Metadata has several important subdivisions:
670
671.. _structure-meta-classes:
672
673``meta/classes*/``
674------------------
675
676These directories contain the ``*.bbclass`` files. Class files are used to
677abstract common code so it can be reused by multiple packages. Every
678package inherits the :ref:`ref-classes-base` file. Examples of other important
679classes are :ref:`ref-classes-autotools`, which in theory allows any
680Autotool-enabled package to work with the Yocto Project with minimal
681effort. Another example is :ref:`ref-classes-kernel` that contains common code
682and functions for working with the Linux kernel. Functions like image
683generation or packaging also have their specific class files such as
684:ref:`ref-classes-image`, :ref:`ref-classes-rootfs*` and
685:ref:`package*.bbclass <ref-classes-package>`.
686
687For reference information on classes, see the
688":doc:`/ref-manual/classes`" chapter.
689
690.. _structure-meta-conf:
691
692``meta/conf/``
693--------------
694
695This directory contains the core set of configuration files that start
696from ``bitbake.conf`` and from which all other configuration files are
697included. See the include statements at the end of the ``bitbake.conf``
698file and you will note that even ``local.conf`` is loaded from there.
699While ``bitbake.conf`` sets up the defaults, you can often override
700these by using the (``local.conf``) file, machine file or the
701distribution configuration file.
702
703.. _structure-meta-conf-machine:
704
705``meta/conf/machine/``
706~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
707
708This directory contains all the machine configuration files. If you set
709``MACHINE = "qemux86"``, the OpenEmbedded build system looks for a
710``qemux86.conf`` file in this directory. The ``include`` directory
711contains various data common to multiple machines. If you want to add
712support for a new machine to the Yocto Project, look in this directory.
713
714.. _structure-meta-conf-distro:
715
716``meta/conf/distro/``
717~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
718
719The contents of this directory controls any distribution-specific
720configurations. For the Yocto Project, the ``defaultsetup.conf`` is the
721main file here. This directory includes the versions and the :term:`SRCDATE`
722definitions for applications that are configured here. An example of an
723alternative configuration might be ``poky-bleeding.conf``. Although this
724file mainly inherits its configuration from Poky.
725
726.. _structure-meta-conf-machine-sdk:
727
728``meta/conf/machine-sdk/``
729~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
730
731The OpenEmbedded build system searches this directory for configuration
732files that correspond to the value of
733:term:`SDKMACHINE`. By default, 32-bit and 64-bit x86
734files ship with the Yocto Project that support some SDK hosts. However,
735it is possible to extend that support to other SDK hosts by adding
736additional configuration files in this subdirectory within another
737layer.
738
739.. _structure-meta-files:
740
741``meta/files/``
742---------------
743
744This directory contains common license files and several text files used
745by the build system. The text files contain minimal device information
746and lists of files and directories with known permissions.
747
748.. _structure-meta-lib:
749
750``meta/lib/``
751-------------
752
753This directory contains OpenEmbedded Python library code used during the
754build process. It is enabled via the ``addpylib`` directive in
755``meta/conf/local.conf``. For more information, see
756:ref:`bitbake-user-manual/bitbake-user-manual-metadata:extending python library code`.
757
758.. _structure-meta-recipes-bsp:
759
760``meta/recipes-bsp/``
761---------------------
762
763This directory contains anything linking to specific hardware or
764hardware configuration information such as "u-boot" and "grub".
765
766.. _structure-meta-recipes-connectivity:
767
768``meta/recipes-connectivity/``
769------------------------------
770
771This directory contains libraries and applications related to
772communication with other devices.
773
774.. _structure-meta-recipes-core:
775
776``meta/recipes-core/``
777----------------------
778
779This directory contains what is needed to build a basic working Linux
780image including commonly used dependencies.
781
782.. _structure-meta-recipes-devtools:
783
784``meta/recipes-devtools/``
785--------------------------
786
787This directory contains tools that are primarily used by the build
788system. The tools, however, can also be used on targets.
789
790.. _structure-meta-recipes-extended:
791
792``meta/recipes-extended/``
793--------------------------
794
795This directory contains non-essential applications that add features
796compared to the alternatives in core. You might need this directory for
797full tool functionality.
798
799.. _structure-meta-recipes-gnome:
800
801``meta/recipes-gnome/``
802-----------------------
803
804This directory contains all things related to the GTK+ application
805framework.
806
807.. _structure-meta-recipes-graphics:
808
809``meta/recipes-graphics/``
810--------------------------
811
812This directory contains X and other graphically related system
813libraries.
814
815.. _structure-meta-recipes-kernel:
816
817``meta/recipes-kernel/``
818------------------------
819
820This directory contains the kernel and generic applications and
821libraries that have strong kernel dependencies.
822
823.. _structure-meta-recipes-multimedia:
824
825``meta/recipes-multimedia/``
826----------------------------
827
828This directory contains codecs and support utilities for audio, images
829and video.
830
831.. _structure-meta-recipes-rt:
832
833``meta/recipes-rt/``
834--------------------
835
836This directory contains package and image recipes for using and testing
837the ``PREEMPT_RT`` kernel.
838
839.. _structure-meta-recipes-sato:
840
841``meta/recipes-sato/``
842----------------------
843
844This directory contains the Sato demo/reference UI/UX and its associated
845applications and configuration data.
846
847.. _structure-meta-recipes-support:
848
849``meta/recipes-support/``
850-------------------------
851
852This directory contains recipes used by other recipes, but that are not
853directly included in images (i.e. dependencies of other recipes).
854
855.. _structure-meta-site:
856
857``meta/site/``
858--------------
859
860This directory contains a list of cached results for various
861architectures. Because certain "autoconf" test results cannot be
862determined when cross-compiling due to the tests not able to run on a
863live system, the information in this directory is passed to "autoconf"
864for the various architectures.
865
866.. _structure-meta-recipes-txt:
867
868``meta/recipes.txt``
869--------------------
870
871This file is a description of the contents of ``recipes-*``.
872