1.. SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-SA-2.0-UK
2
3*****
4Tasks
5*****
6
7Tasks are units of execution for BitBake. Recipes (``.bb`` files) use
8tasks to complete configuring, compiling, and packaging software. This
9chapter provides a reference of the tasks defined in the OpenEmbedded
10build system.
11
12Normal Recipe Build Tasks
13=========================
14
15The following sections describe normal tasks associated with building a
16recipe. For more information on tasks and dependencies, see the
17":ref:`bitbake-user-manual/bitbake-user-manual-metadata:tasks`" and
18":ref:`bitbake-user-manual/bitbake-user-manual-execution:dependencies`" sections in the
19BitBake User Manual.
20
21.. _ref-tasks-build:
22
23``do_build``
24------------
25
26The default task for all recipes. This task depends on all other normal
27tasks required to build a recipe.
28
29.. _ref-tasks-compile:
30
31``do_compile``
32--------------
33
34Compiles the source code. This task runs with the current working
35directory set to ``${``\ :term:`B`\ ``}``.
36
37The default behavior of this task is to run the ``oe_runmake`` function
38if a makefile (``Makefile``, ``makefile``, or ``GNUmakefile``) is found.
39If no such file is found, the :ref:`ref-tasks-compile` task does nothing.
40
41.. _ref-tasks-compile_ptest_base:
42
43``do_compile_ptest_base``
44-------------------------
45
46Compiles the runtime test suite included in the software being built.
47
48.. _ref-tasks-configure:
49
50``do_configure``
51----------------
52
53Configures the source by enabling and disabling any build-time and
54configuration options for the software being built. The task runs with
55the current working directory set to ``${``\ :term:`B`\ ``}``.
56
57The default behavior of this task is to run ``oe_runmake clean`` if a
58makefile (``Makefile``, ``makefile``, or ``GNUmakefile``) is found and
59:term:`CLEANBROKEN` is not set to "1". If no such
60file is found or the :term:`CLEANBROKEN` variable is set to "1", the
61:ref:`ref-tasks-configure` task does nothing.
62
63.. _ref-tasks-configure_ptest_base:
64
65``do_configure_ptest_base``
66---------------------------
67
68Configures the runtime test suite included in the software being built.
69
70.. _ref-tasks-deploy:
71
72``do_deploy``
73-------------
74
75Writes output files that are to be deployed to
76``${``\ :term:`DEPLOY_DIR_IMAGE`\ ``}``. The
77task runs with the current working directory set to
78``${``\ :term:`B`\ ``}``.
79
80Recipes implementing this task should inherit the
81:ref:`ref-classes-deploy` class and should write the output
82to ``${``\ :term:`DEPLOYDIR`\ ``}``, which is not to be
83confused with ``${DEPLOY_DIR}``. The :ref:`ref-classes-deploy` class sets up
84:ref:`ref-tasks-deploy` as a shared state (sstate) task that can be accelerated
85through sstate use. The sstate mechanism takes care of copying the
86output from ``${DEPLOYDIR}`` to ``${DEPLOY_DIR_IMAGE}``.
87
88.. note::
89
90   Do not write the output directly to ``${DEPLOY_DIR_IMAGE}``, as this causes
91   the sstate mechanism to malfunction.
92
93The :ref:`ref-tasks-deploy` task is not added as a task by default and
94consequently needs to be added manually. If you want the task to run
95after :ref:`ref-tasks-compile`, you can add it by doing
96the following::
97
98      addtask deploy after do_compile
99
100Adding :ref:`ref-tasks-deploy` after other tasks works the same way.
101
102.. note::
103
104   You do not need to add ``before do_build`` to the ``addtask`` command
105   (though it is harmless), because the :ref:`ref-classes-base` class contains the following::
106
107           do_build[recrdeptask] += "do_deploy"
108
109
110   See the ":ref:`bitbake-user-manual/bitbake-user-manual-execution:dependencies`"
111   section in the BitBake User Manual for more information.
112
113If the :ref:`ref-tasks-deploy` task re-executes, any previous output is removed
114(i.e. "cleaned").
115
116.. _ref-tasks-fetch:
117
118``do_fetch``
119------------
120
121Fetches the source code. This task uses the :term:`SRC_URI` variable and the
122argument's prefix to determine the correct
123:ref:`fetcher <bitbake-user-manual/bitbake-user-manual-fetching:fetchers>`
124module.
125
126.. _ref-tasks-image:
127
128``do_image``
129------------
130
131Starts the image generation process. The :ref:`ref-tasks-image` task runs after
132the OpenEmbedded build system has run the
133:ref:`ref-tasks-rootfs` task during which packages are
134identified for installation into the image and the root filesystem is
135created, complete with post-processing.
136
137The :ref:`ref-tasks-image` task performs pre-processing on the image through the
138:term:`IMAGE_PREPROCESS_COMMAND` and
139dynamically generates supporting :ref:`do_image_* <ref-tasks-image>` tasks as needed.
140
141For more information on image creation, see the ":ref:`overview-manual/concepts:image generation`"
142section in the Yocto Project Overview and Concepts Manual.
143
144.. _ref-tasks-image-complete:
145
146``do_image_complete``
147---------------------
148
149Completes the image generation process. The :ref:`do_image_complete <ref-tasks-image-complete>` task
150runs after the OpenEmbedded build system has run the
151:ref:`ref-tasks-image` task during which image
152pre-processing occurs and through dynamically generated :ref:`do_image_* <ref-tasks-image>`
153tasks the image is constructed.
154
155The :ref:`do_image_complete <ref-tasks-image-complete>` task performs post-processing on the image
156through the
157:term:`IMAGE_POSTPROCESS_COMMAND`.
158
159For more information on image creation, see the
160":ref:`overview-manual/concepts:image generation`"
161section in the Yocto Project Overview and Concepts Manual.
162
163.. _ref-tasks-install:
164
165``do_install``
166--------------
167
168Copies files that are to be packaged into the holding area
169``${``\ :term:`D`\ ``}``. This task runs with the current
170working directory set to ``${``\ :term:`B`\ ``}``, which is the
171compilation directory. The :ref:`ref-tasks-install` task, as well as other tasks
172that either directly or indirectly depend on the installed files (e.g.
173:ref:`ref-tasks-package`, :ref:`do_package_write_* <ref-tasks-package_write_deb>`, and
174:ref:`ref-tasks-rootfs`), run under
175:ref:`fakeroot <overview-manual/concepts:fakeroot and pseudo>`.
176
177.. note::
178
179   When installing files, be careful not to set the owner and group IDs
180   of the installed files to unintended values. Some methods of copying
181   files, notably when using the recursive ``cp`` command, can preserve
182   the UID and/or GID of the original file, which is usually not what
183   you want. The ``host-user-contaminated`` QA check checks for files
184   that probably have the wrong ownership.
185
186   Safe methods for installing files include the following:
187
188   -  The ``install`` utility. This utility is the preferred method.
189
190   -  The ``cp`` command with the ``--no-preserve=ownership`` option.
191
192   -  The ``tar`` command with the ``--no-same-owner`` option. See the
193      ``bin_package.bbclass`` file in the ``meta/classes-recipe``
194      subdirectory of the :term:`Source Directory` for an example.
195
196.. _ref-tasks-install_ptest_base:
197
198``do_install_ptest_base``
199-------------------------
200
201Copies the runtime test suite files from the compilation directory to a
202holding area.
203
204.. _ref-tasks-package:
205
206``do_package``
207--------------
208
209Analyzes the content of the holding area
210``${``\ :term:`D`\ ``}`` and splits the content into subsets
211based on available packages and files. This task makes use of the
212:term:`PACKAGES` and :term:`FILES`
213variables.
214
215The :ref:`ref-tasks-package` task, in conjunction with the
216:ref:`ref-tasks-packagedata` task, also saves some
217important package metadata. For additional information, see the
218:term:`PKGDESTWORK` variable and the
219":ref:`overview-manual/concepts:automatically added runtime dependencies`"
220section in the Yocto Project Overview and Concepts Manual.
221
222.. _ref-tasks-package_qa:
223
224``do_package_qa``
225-----------------
226
227Runs QA checks on packaged files. For more information on these checks,
228see the :ref:`ref-classes-insane` class.
229
230.. _ref-tasks-package_write_deb:
231
232``do_package_write_deb``
233------------------------
234
235Creates Debian packages (i.e. ``*.deb`` files) and places them in the
236``${``\ :term:`DEPLOY_DIR_DEB`\ ``}`` directory in
237the package feeds area. For more information, see the
238":ref:`overview-manual/concepts:package feeds`" section in
239the Yocto Project Overview and Concepts Manual.
240
241.. _ref-tasks-package_write_ipk:
242
243``do_package_write_ipk``
244------------------------
245
246Creates IPK packages (i.e. ``*.ipk`` files) and places them in the
247``${``\ :term:`DEPLOY_DIR_IPK`\ ``}`` directory in
248the package feeds area. For more information, see the
249":ref:`overview-manual/concepts:package feeds`" section in
250the Yocto Project Overview and Concepts Manual.
251
252.. _ref-tasks-package_write_rpm:
253
254``do_package_write_rpm``
255------------------------
256
257Creates RPM packages (i.e. ``*.rpm`` files) and places them in the
258``${``\ :term:`DEPLOY_DIR_RPM`\ ``}`` directory in
259the package feeds area. For more information, see the
260":ref:`overview-manual/concepts:package feeds`" section in
261the Yocto Project Overview and Concepts Manual.
262
263.. _ref-tasks-packagedata:
264
265``do_packagedata``
266------------------
267
268Saves package metadata generated by the
269:ref:`ref-tasks-package` task in
270:term:`PKGDATA_DIR` to make it available globally.
271
272.. _ref-tasks-patch:
273
274``do_patch``
275------------
276
277Locates patch files and applies them to the source code.
278
279After fetching and unpacking source files, the build system uses the
280recipe's :term:`SRC_URI` statements
281to locate and apply patch files to the source code.
282
283.. note::
284
285   The build system uses the :term:`FILESPATH` variable to determine the
286   default set of directories when searching for patches.
287
288Patch files, by default, are ``*.patch`` and ``*.diff`` files created
289and kept in a subdirectory of the directory holding the recipe file. For
290example, consider the
291:yocto_git:`bluez5 </poky/tree/meta/recipes-connectivity/bluez5>`
292recipe from the OE-Core layer (i.e. ``poky/meta``)::
293
294   poky/meta/recipes-connectivity/bluez5
295
296This recipe has two patch files located here::
297
298   poky/meta/recipes-connectivity/bluez5/bluez5
299
300In the ``bluez5`` recipe, the :term:`SRC_URI` statements point to the source
301and patch files needed to build the package.
302
303.. note::
304
305   In the case for the ``bluez5_5.48.bb`` recipe, the :term:`SRC_URI` statements
306   are from an include file ``bluez5.inc``.
307
308As mentioned earlier, the build system treats files whose file types are
309``.patch`` and ``.diff`` as patch files. However, you can use the
310"apply=yes" parameter with the :term:`SRC_URI` statement to indicate any
311file as a patch file::
312
313   SRC_URI = " \
314       git://path_to_repo/some_package \
315       file://file;apply=yes \
316       "
317
318Conversely, if you have a file whose file type is ``.patch`` or ``.diff``
319and you want to exclude it so that the :ref:`ref-tasks-patch` task does not apply
320it during the patch phase, you can use the "apply=no" parameter with the
321:term:`SRC_URI` statement::
322
323   SRC_URI = " \
324       git://path_to_repo/some_package \
325       file://file1.patch \
326       file://file2.patch;apply=no \
327       "
328
329In the previous example ``file1.patch`` would be applied as a patch by default
330while ``file2.patch`` would not be applied.
331
332You can find out more about the patching process in the
333":ref:`overview-manual/concepts:patching`" section in
334the Yocto Project Overview and Concepts Manual and the
335":ref:`dev-manual/new-recipe:patching code`" section in the
336Yocto Project Development Tasks Manual.
337
338.. _ref-tasks-populate_lic:
339
340``do_populate_lic``
341-------------------
342
343Writes license information for the recipe that is collected later when
344the image is constructed.
345
346.. _ref-tasks-populate_sdk:
347
348``do_populate_sdk``
349-------------------
350
351Creates the file and directory structure for an installable SDK. See the
352":ref:`overview-manual/concepts:sdk generation`"
353section in the Yocto Project Overview and Concepts Manual for more
354information.
355
356.. _ref-tasks-populate_sdk_ext:
357
358``do_populate_sdk_ext``
359-----------------------
360
361Creates the file and directory structure for an installable extensible
362SDK (eSDK). See the ":ref:`overview-manual/concepts:sdk generation`"
363section in the Yocto Project Overview and Concepts Manual for more
364information.
365
366
367.. _ref-tasks-populate_sysroot:
368
369``do_populate_sysroot``
370-----------------------
371
372Stages (copies) a subset of the files installed by the
373:ref:`ref-tasks-install` task into the appropriate
374sysroot. For information on how to access these files from other
375recipes, see the :term:`STAGING_DIR* <STAGING_DIR_HOST>` variables.
376Directories that would typically not be needed by other recipes at build
377time (e.g. ``/etc``) are not copied by default.
378
379For information on what directories are copied by default, see the
380:term:`SYSROOT_DIRS* <SYSROOT_DIRS>` variables. You can change
381these variables inside your recipe if you need to make additional (or
382fewer) directories available to other recipes at build time.
383
384The :ref:`ref-tasks-populate_sysroot` task is a shared state (sstate) task, which
385means that the task can be accelerated through sstate use. Realize also
386that if the task is re-executed, any previous output is removed (i.e.
387"cleaned").
388
389.. _ref-tasks-prepare_recipe_sysroot:
390
391``do_prepare_recipe_sysroot``
392-----------------------------
393
394Installs the files into the individual recipe specific sysroots (i.e.
395``recipe-sysroot`` and ``recipe-sysroot-native`` under
396``${``\ :term:`WORKDIR`\ ``}`` based upon the
397dependencies specified by :term:`DEPENDS`). See the
398":ref:`ref-classes-staging`" class for more information.
399
400.. _ref-tasks-rm_work:
401
402``do_rm_work``
403--------------
404
405Removes work files after the OpenEmbedded build system has finished with
406them. You can learn more by looking at the
407":ref:`ref-classes-rm-work`" section.
408
409.. _ref-tasks-unpack:
410
411``do_unpack``
412-------------
413
414Unpacks the source code into a working directory pointed to by
415``${``\ :term:`WORKDIR`\ ``}``. The :term:`S`
416variable also plays a role in where unpacked source files ultimately
417reside. For more information on how source files are unpacked, see the
418":ref:`overview-manual/concepts:source fetching`"
419section in the Yocto Project Overview and Concepts Manual and also see
420the :term:`WORKDIR` and :term:`S` variable descriptions.
421
422Manually Called Tasks
423=====================
424
425These tasks are typically manually triggered (e.g. by using the
426``bitbake -c`` command-line option):
427
428``do_checkuri``
429---------------
430
431Validates the :term:`SRC_URI` value.
432
433.. _ref-tasks-clean:
434
435``do_clean``
436------------
437
438Removes all output files for a target from the
439:ref:`ref-tasks-unpack` task forward (i.e. :ref:`ref-tasks-unpack`,
440:ref:`ref-tasks-configure`,
441:ref:`ref-tasks-compile`,
442:ref:`ref-tasks-install`, and
443:ref:`ref-tasks-package`).
444
445You can run this task using BitBake as follows::
446
447   $ bitbake -c clean recipe
448
449Running this task does not remove the
450:ref:`sstate <overview-manual/concepts:shared state cache>` cache files.
451Consequently, if no changes have been made and the recipe is rebuilt
452after cleaning, output files are simply restored from the sstate cache.
453If you want to remove the sstate cache files for the recipe, you need to
454use the :ref:`ref-tasks-cleansstate` task instead
455(i.e. ``bitbake -c cleansstate`` recipe).
456
457.. _ref-tasks-cleanall:
458
459``do_cleanall``
460---------------
461
462Removes all output files, shared state
463(:ref:`sstate <overview-manual/concepts:shared state cache>`) cache, and
464downloaded source files for a target (i.e. the contents of
465:term:`DL_DIR`). Essentially, the :ref:`ref-tasks-cleanall` task is
466identical to the :ref:`ref-tasks-cleansstate` task
467with the added removal of downloaded source files.
468
469You can run this task using BitBake as follows::
470
471   $ bitbake -c cleanall recipe
472
473You should never use the :ref:`ref-tasks-cleanall` task in a normal
474scenario. If you want to start fresh with the :ref:`ref-tasks-fetch` task,
475use instead::
476
477  $ bitbake -f -c fetch recipe
478
479.. note::
480
481   The reason to prefer ``bitbake -f -c fetch`` is that the
482   :ref:`ref-tasks-cleanall` task would break in some cases, such as::
483
484      $ bitbake -c fetch    recipe
485      $ bitbake -c cleanall recipe-native
486      $ bitbake -c unpack   recipe
487
488   because after step 1 there is a stamp file for the
489   :ref:`ref-tasks-fetch` task of ``recipe``, and it won't be removed at
490   step 2 because step 2 uses a different work directory. So the unpack task
491   at step 3 will try to extract the downloaded archive and fail as it has
492   been deleted in step 2.
493
494   Note that this also applies to BitBake from concurrent processes when a
495   shared download directory (:term:`DL_DIR`) is setup.
496
497.. _ref-tasks-cleansstate:
498
499``do_cleansstate``
500------------------
501
502Removes all output files and shared state
503(:ref:`sstate <overview-manual/concepts:shared state cache>`) cache for a
504target. Essentially, the :ref:`ref-tasks-cleansstate` task is identical to the
505:ref:`ref-tasks-clean` task with the added removal of
506shared state (:ref:`sstate <overview-manual/concepts:shared state cache>`)
507cache.
508
509You can run this task using BitBake as follows::
510
511   $ bitbake -c cleansstate recipe
512
513When you run the :ref:`ref-tasks-cleansstate` task, the OpenEmbedded build system
514no longer uses any sstate. Consequently, building the recipe from
515scratch is guaranteed.
516
517.. note::
518
519   Using :ref:`ref-tasks-cleansstate` with a shared :term:`SSTATE_DIR` is
520   not recommended because it could trigger an error during the build of a
521   separate BitBake instance. This is because the builds check sstate "up
522   front" but download the files later, so it if is deleted in the
523   meantime, it will cause an error but not a total failure as it will
524   rebuild it.
525
526   The reliable and preferred way to force a new build is to use ``bitbake
527   -f`` instead.
528
529.. note::
530
531   The :ref:`ref-tasks-cleansstate` task cannot remove sstate from a remote sstate
532   mirror. If you need to build a target from scratch using remote mirrors, use
533   the "-f" option as follows::
534
535      $ bitbake -f -c do_cleansstate target
536
537
538.. _ref-tasks-pydevshell:
539
540``do_pydevshell``
541-----------------
542
543Starts a shell in which an interactive Python interpreter allows you to
544interact with the BitBake build environment. From within this shell, you
545can directly examine and set bits from the data store and execute
546functions as if within the BitBake environment. See the ":ref:`dev-manual/python-development-shell:using a Python development shell`" section in
547the Yocto Project Development Tasks Manual for more information about
548using ``pydevshell``.
549
550.. _ref-tasks-devshell:
551
552``do_devshell``
553---------------
554
555Starts a shell whose environment is set up for development, debugging,
556or both. See the ":ref:`dev-manual/development-shell:using a development shell`" section in the
557Yocto Project Development Tasks Manual for more information about using
558``devshell``.
559
560.. _ref-tasks-listtasks:
561
562``do_listtasks``
563----------------
564
565Lists all defined tasks for a target.
566
567.. _ref-tasks-package_index:
568
569``do_package_index``
570--------------------
571
572Creates or updates the index in the :ref:`overview-manual/concepts:package feeds` area.
573
574.. note::
575
576   This task is not triggered with the ``bitbake -c`` command-line option as
577   are the other tasks in this section. Because this task is specifically for
578   the ``package-index`` recipe, you run it using ``bitbake package-index``.
579
580Image-Related Tasks
581===================
582
583The following tasks are applicable to image recipes.
584
585.. _ref-tasks-bootimg:
586
587``do_bootimg``
588--------------
589
590Creates a bootable live image. See the
591:term:`IMAGE_FSTYPES` variable for additional
592information on live image types.
593
594.. _ref-tasks-bundle_initramfs:
595
596``do_bundle_initramfs``
597-----------------------
598
599Combines an :term:`Initramfs` image and kernel together to
600form a single image.
601
602.. _ref-tasks-rootfs:
603
604``do_rootfs``
605-------------
606
607Creates the root filesystem (file and directory structure) for an image.
608See the ":ref:`overview-manual/concepts:image generation`"
609section in the Yocto Project Overview and Concepts Manual for more
610information on how the root filesystem is created.
611
612.. _ref-tasks-testimage:
613
614``do_testimage``
615----------------
616
617Boots an image and performs runtime tests within the image. For
618information on automatically testing images, see the
619":ref:`dev-manual/runtime-testing:performing automated runtime testing`"
620section in the Yocto Project Development Tasks Manual.
621
622.. _ref-tasks-testimage_auto:
623
624``do_testimage_auto``
625---------------------
626
627Boots an image and performs runtime tests within the image immediately
628after it has been built. This task is enabled when you set
629:term:`TESTIMAGE_AUTO` equal to "1".
630
631For information on automatically testing images, see the
632":ref:`dev-manual/runtime-testing:performing automated runtime testing`"
633section in the Yocto Project Development Tasks Manual.
634
635Kernel-Related Tasks
636====================
637
638The following tasks are applicable to kernel recipes. Some of these
639tasks (e.g. the :ref:`ref-tasks-menuconfig` task) are
640also applicable to recipes that use Linux kernel style configuration
641such as the BusyBox recipe.
642
643.. _ref-tasks-compile_kernelmodules:
644
645``do_compile_kernelmodules``
646----------------------------
647
648Runs the step that builds the kernel modules (if needed). Building a
649kernel consists of two steps: 1) the kernel (``vmlinux``) is built, and
6502) the modules are built (i.e. ``make modules``).
651
652.. _ref-tasks-diffconfig:
653
654``do_diffconfig``
655-----------------
656
657When invoked by the user, this task creates a file containing the
658differences between the original config as produced by
659:ref:`ref-tasks-kernel_configme` task and the
660changes made by the user with other methods (i.e. using
661(:ref:`ref-tasks-kernel_menuconfig`). Once the
662file of differences is created, it can be used to create a config
663fragment that only contains the differences. You can invoke this task
664from the command line as follows::
665
666   $ bitbake linux-yocto -c diffconfig
667
668For more information, see the
669":ref:`kernel-dev/common:creating configuration fragments`"
670section in the Yocto Project Linux Kernel Development Manual.
671
672.. _ref-tasks-kernel_checkout:
673
674``do_kernel_checkout``
675----------------------
676
677Converts the newly unpacked kernel source into a form with which the
678OpenEmbedded build system can work. Because the kernel source can be
679fetched in several different ways, the :ref:`ref-tasks-kernel_checkout` task makes
680sure that subsequent tasks are given a clean working tree copy of the
681kernel with the correct branches checked out.
682
683.. _ref-tasks-kernel_configcheck:
684
685``do_kernel_configcheck``
686-------------------------
687
688Validates the configuration produced by the
689:ref:`ref-tasks-kernel_menuconfig` task. The
690:ref:`ref-tasks-kernel_configcheck` task produces warnings when a requested
691configuration does not appear in the final ``.config`` file or when you
692override a policy configuration in a hardware configuration fragment.
693You can run this task explicitly and view the output by using the
694following command::
695
696   $ bitbake linux-yocto -c kernel_configcheck -f
697
698For more information, see the
699":ref:`kernel-dev/common:validating configuration`"
700section in the Yocto Project Linux Kernel Development Manual.
701
702.. _ref-tasks-kernel_configme:
703
704``do_kernel_configme``
705----------------------
706
707After the kernel is patched by the :ref:`ref-tasks-patch`
708task, the :ref:`ref-tasks-kernel_configme` task assembles and merges all the
709kernel config fragments into a merged configuration that can then be
710passed to the kernel configuration phase proper. This is also the time
711during which user-specified defconfigs are applied if present, and where
712configuration modes such as ``--allnoconfig`` are applied.
713
714.. _ref-tasks-kernel_menuconfig:
715
716``do_kernel_menuconfig``
717------------------------
718
719Invoked by the user to manipulate the ``.config`` file used to build a
720linux-yocto recipe. This task starts the Linux kernel configuration
721tool, which you then use to modify the kernel configuration.
722
723.. note::
724
725   You can also invoke this tool from the command line as follows::
726
727           $ bitbake linux-yocto -c menuconfig
728
729
730See the ":ref:`kernel-dev/common:using \`\`menuconfig\`\``"
731section in the Yocto Project Linux Kernel Development Manual for more
732information on this configuration tool.
733
734.. _ref-tasks-kernel_metadata:
735
736``do_kernel_metadata``
737----------------------
738
739Collects all the features required for a given kernel build, whether the
740features come from :term:`SRC_URI` or from Git
741repositories. After collection, the :ref:`ref-tasks-kernel_metadata` task
742processes the features into a series of config fragments and patches,
743which can then be applied by subsequent tasks such as
744:ref:`ref-tasks-patch` and
745:ref:`ref-tasks-kernel_configme`.
746
747.. _ref-tasks-menuconfig:
748
749``do_menuconfig``
750-----------------
751
752Runs ``make menuconfig`` for the kernel. For information on
753``menuconfig``, see the
754":ref:`kernel-dev/common:using \`\`menuconfig\`\``"
755section in the Yocto Project Linux Kernel Development Manual.
756
757.. _ref-tasks-savedefconfig:
758
759``do_savedefconfig``
760--------------------
761
762When invoked by the user, creates a defconfig file that can be used
763instead of the default defconfig. The saved defconfig contains the
764differences between the default defconfig and the changes made by the
765user using other methods (i.e. the
766:ref:`ref-tasks-kernel_menuconfig` task. You
767can invoke the task using the following command::
768
769   $ bitbake linux-yocto -c savedefconfig
770
771.. _ref-tasks-shared_workdir:
772
773``do_shared_workdir``
774---------------------
775
776After the kernel has been compiled but before the kernel modules have
777been compiled, this task copies files required for module builds and
778which are generated from the kernel build into the shared work
779directory. With these copies successfully copied, the
780:ref:`ref-tasks-compile_kernelmodules` task
781can successfully build the kernel modules in the next step of the build.
782
783.. _ref-tasks-sizecheck:
784
785``do_sizecheck``
786----------------
787
788After the kernel has been built, this task checks the size of the
789stripped kernel image against
790:term:`KERNEL_IMAGE_MAXSIZE`. If that
791variable was set and the size of the stripped kernel exceeds that size,
792the kernel build produces a warning to that effect.
793
794.. _ref-tasks-strip:
795
796``do_strip``
797------------
798
799If ``KERNEL_IMAGE_STRIP_EXTRA_SECTIONS`` is defined, this task strips
800the sections named in that variable from ``vmlinux``. This stripping is
801typically used to remove nonessential sections such as ``.comment``
802sections from a size-sensitive configuration.
803
804.. _ref-tasks-validate_branches:
805
806``do_validate_branches``
807------------------------
808
809After the kernel is unpacked but before it is patched, this task makes
810sure that the machine and metadata branches as specified by the
811:term:`SRCREV` variables actually exist on the specified
812branches. Otherwise, if :term:`AUTOREV` is not being used, the
813:ref:`ref-tasks-validate_branches` task fails during the build.
814