Building and Installing UHD and GNU Radio in an Offline Environment
Contents
Application Note Number
AN-524
Revision History
| Date | Author | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-12-12 | Nate Temple | Initial creation |
Abstract
This application note will provide step-by-step instructions on building and installing UHD and GNU Radio in an offline environment.
Required Tools
- Computer with Internet connection for downloading the sources and dependencies
- Git
Note: This application note uses Ubuntu 18.x. in a Virtual Box virtual machine for downloading the sources. For newer versions of Ubuntu, the process will be the same, but the dependencies list may change.
Notes on setting up a Virtual Machine for downloading of sources
- It is recommended to setup the VM without an internet connection during the install process. This will prevent it from automatically updating.
- During the installation process of the Virtual Machine, do not select "Update packages during install".
- Disable Automatic Updates under the "Software & Updates" section of the System Settings before providing an Internet connection to the VM
Downloading the sources and dependencies
Preparing the Cache folder
On a fresh Virtual Machine run the command:
$ sudo apt clean
Verify there is no packages in /var/cache/apt/archives
$ ls -al /var/cache/apt/archives
Downloading the dependencies
Provide internet access to the Virtual Machine and run the following command to download the require packages:
sudo apt-get --download-only install git swig cmake doxygen build-essential libboost-all-dev libtool libusb-1.0-0 libusb-1.0-0-dev libudev-dev libncurses5-dev libfftw3-bin libfftw3-dev libfftw3-doc libcppunit-1.14-0 libcppunit-dev libcppunit-doc ncurses-bin cpufrequtils python-numpy python-numpy-doc python-numpy-dbg python-scipy python-docutils qt4-bin-dbg qt4-default qt4-doc libqt4-dev libqt4-dev-bin python-qt4 python-qt4-dbg python-qt4-dev python-qt4-doc python-qt4-doc libqwt6abi1 libfftw3-bin libfftw3-dev libfftw3-doc ncurses-bin libncurses5 libncurses5-dev libncurses5-dbg libfontconfig1-dev libxrender-dev libpulse-dev swig g++ automake autoconf libtool python-dev libfftw3-dev libcppunit-dev libboost-all-dev libusb-dev libusb-1.0-0-dev fort77 libsdl1.2-dev python-wxgtk3.0 git libqt4-dev python-numpy ccache python-opengl libgsl-dev python-cheetah python-mako python-lxml doxygen qt4-default qt4-dev-tools libusb-1.0-0-dev libqwtplot3d-qt5-dev pyqt4-dev-tools python-qwt5-qt4 cmake git wget libxi-dev gtk2-engines-pixbuf r-base-dev python-tk liborc-0.4-0 liborc-0.4-dev libasound2-dev python-gtk2 libzmq3-dev libzmq5 python-requests python-sphinx libcomedi-dev python-zmq libqwt-dev libqwt6abi1 python-six libgps-dev libgps23 gpsd gpsd-clients python-gps python-setuptools screen sshfs
Staging Directory
Create a directory to hold the dependency deb packages and UHD / GNU Radio source code:
$ mkdir -p ~/offline $ mkdir -p ~/offline/debs $ mkdir -p ~/offline/src
Move the downloaded .deb packages to the ~/offline/debs folder:
$ cd ~/offline/debs $ cp -v /var/cache/apt/archives/*.deb .
Clone UHD and GNU Radio Sources
For this step, you will need to have git installed on your [internet connected] host:
$ sudo apt install git
Then you can clone the UHD and GNU Radio repositories:
$ cd ~/offline/src $ git clone --recursive https://github.com/EttusResearch/uhd $ git clone --recursive https://github.com/gnuradio/gnuradio
Optionally, if you're using RFNoC, fetch gr-ettus:
$ git clone https://github.com/EttusResearch/gr-ettus.git
Compress and Move sources to Offline Environment
Next, compress the folder ~/offline with tar:
$ cd ~/ $ tar zcvf offline.tgz offline/
Copy this file, offline.tgz to the offline environment.
Installing in the Offline Environment
The steps in this section will all be performed in the offline environment.
Reconfigure Default Shell
Switch your default shell on the host computer from Dash to Bash. In some Linux distributions (e.g. Ubuntu) Dash is set as default shell, which may cause some issues. It is recommended to set the shell to Bash by running the following commands in the terminal. Choose No when prompted by the first command and the second command will validate the that Bash will be used.
$ sudo dpkg-reconfigure dash
Verify Bash is the default shell.
$ ll /bin/sh
Expected Output:
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4 Apr 2 22:00 /bin/sh -> bash*
Decompress the Installation Sources
$ tar zxvf offline.tgz
Note: The rest of the application note will assume the path offline.tgz is extracted to is ~/offline/. If you use a different location, the paths will need to be updated.
Install DEB Packages
$ cd ~/offline/debs $ sudo dpkg -i *.deb
The command sudo dpkg -i *.deb will fail part way through, run it again and it will complete.
$ sudo dpkg -i *.deb
Build UHD
$ cd ~/offline/src/uhd
Checkout your desired version of UHD:
To identify git tags, either look at github.com/ettusresearch/uhd or run
$ git tag -l
Then checkout a tagged release:
Example for UHD 3.9.5:
$ git checkout release_003_009_005
or example for UHD 3.13.0.2:
$ git checkout v3.13.0.2
Update the git submodules after checking out the tagged branch:
$ git submodule update
Finally build UHD:
$ cd host $ mkdir build $ cd build $ cmake ../ $ make -j4 $ sudo make install $ sudo ldconfig
Configuring USB
On Linux, udev handles USB plug and unplug events. The following commands install a udev rule so that non-root users may access the device. This step is only necessary for devices that use USB to connect to the host computer, such as the B200, B210, and B200mini. This setting should take effect immediately and does not require a reboot or logout/login. Be sure that no USRP device is connected via USB when running these commands.
cd ~/offline/src/uhd/host/utils sudo cp uhd-usrp.rules /etc/udev/rules.d/ sudo udevadm control --reload-rules sudo udevadm trigger
Configuring Thread Priority
When UHD spawns a new thread, it may try to boost the thread's scheduling priority. If setting the new priority fails, the UHD software prints a warning to the console, as shown below. This warning is harmless; it simply means that the thread will retain a normal or default scheduling priority.
UHD Warning:
Unable to set the thread priority. Performance may be negatively affected.
Please see the general application notes in the manual for instructions.
EnvironmentError: OSError: error in pthread_setschedparam
To address this issue, non-privileged (non-root) users need to be given special permission to change the scheduling priority.
To enable this, first create a Linux group usrp
sudo groupadd usrp
Add your user to this group:
sudo usermod -aG usrp $USER
Append the following line to end of /etc/security/limits.conf file.
@usrp - rtprio 99
Build GNU Radio
$ cd ~/offline/src/gnuradio
Checkout your desired version of GNU Radio:
To identify git tags, either look at github.com/gnuradio/gnuradio or run
$ git tag -l
Then checkout a tagged release:
$ git checkout v3.7.10.2
or
$ git checkout v3.7.13.4
Update the submodules:
$ git submodule update
Finally build GNU Radio:
$ mkdir build $ cd build $ cmake .. $ make -j4 $ sudo make install $ sudo ldconfig
Fetching UHD FPGA Images
You will now need to download the corresponding FPGA images for your UHD installation.
Identifying FPGA Image Package to Download
Run the command (on your offline machine):
For UHD versions < 3.11.x.x it will print out the exact URL of the FPGA images to be downloaded in the output.
$ uhd_images_downloader
$ sudo uhd_images_downloader
Images destination: /usr/local/share/uhd/images
Downloading images from: http://files.ettus.com/binaries/images/uhd-images_003.009.005-release.zip
Downloading images to: /tmp/tmpySQA9q/uhd-images_003.009.005-release.zip
Downloader raised an unhandled exception: HTTPConnectionPool(host='files.ettus.com', port=80): Max retries exceeded with url: /binaries/images/uhd-images_003.009.005-release.zip (Caused by NewConnectionError('<requests.packages.urllib3.connection.HTTPConnection object at 0x7f207225fe90>: Failed to establish a new connection: [Errno -3] Temporary failure in name resolution',))
You can run this again with the '--verbose' flag to see more information
If the problem persists, please email the output to: support@ettus.com
For UHD versions > 3.11.x.x, you will need to append the command line argument -l to list the targets:
$ sudo uhd_images_downloader -l [INFO] Images destination: /usr/local/share/uhd/images [INFO] Potential targets in manifest file: # TARGET : RELATIVE_URL b2xx_b200_fpga_default : b2xx/fpga-494ae8bb/b2xx_b200_fpga_default-g494ae8bb.zip b2xx_b200mini_fpga_default : b2xx/fpga-494ae8bb/b2xx_b200mini_fpga_default-g494ae8bb.zip b2xx_b205mini_fpga_default : b2xx/fpga-494ae8bb/b2xx_b205mini_fpga_default-g494ae8bb.zip b2xx_b210_fpga_default : b2xx/fpga-494ae8bb/b2xx_b210_fpga_default-g494ae8bb.zip b2xx_common_fw_default : b2xx/uhd-3ff4186b/b2xx_common_fw_default-g3ff4186b.zip e3xx_e310_fpga_default : e3xx/fpga-494ae8bb/e3xx_e310_fpga_default-g494ae8bb.zip e3xx_e310_fpga_rfnoc : e3xx/fpga-d6a878b/e3xx_e310_fpga_rfnoc-gd6a878b.zip e3xx_e320_fpga_aurora : e3xx/fpga-494ae8bb/e3xx_e320_fpga_aurora-g494ae8bb.zip e3xx_e320_fpga_default : e3xx/fpga-494ae8bb/e3xx_e320_fpga_default-g494ae8bb.zip e3xx_e320_mender_default : e3xx/meta-ettus-v3.13.1.0/e3xx_e320_mender_default-v3.13.1.0.zip e3xx_e320_sdimg_default : e3xx/meta-ettus-v3.13.1.0/e3xx_e320_sdimg_default-v3.13.1.0.zip e3xx_e320_sdk_default : e3xx/meta-ettus-v3.13.1.0/e3xx_e320_sdk_default-v3.13.1.0.zip n230_n230_fpga_default : n230/fpga-494ae8bb/n230_n230_fpga_default-g494ae8bb.zip n3xx_common_mender_default : n3xx/meta-ettus-v3.13.1.0/n3xx_common_mender_default-v3.13.1.0.zip n3xx_common_sdimg_default : n3xx/meta-ettus-v3.13.1.0/n3xx_common_sdimg_default-v3.13.1.0.zip n3xx_common_sdk_default : n3xx/meta-ettus-v3.13.1.0/n3xx_common_sdk_default-v3.13.1.0.zip n3xx_n300_fpga_default : n3xx/fpga-494ae8bb/n3xx_n300_fpga_default-g494ae8bb.zip n3xx_n310_fpga_default : n3xx/fpga-494ae8bb/n3xx_n310_fpga_default-g494ae8bb.zip octoclock_octoclock_fw_default : octoclock/uhd-14000041/octoclock_octoclock_fw_default-g14000041.zip usb_common_windrv_default : usb/uhd-14000041/usb_common_windrv_default-g14000041.zip usrp1_b100_fpga_default : usrp1/fpga-6bea23d/usrp1_b100_fpga_default-g6bea23d.zip usrp1_b100_fw_default : usrp1/fpga-6bea23d/usrp1_b100_fw_default-g6bea23d.zip usrp1_usrp1_fpga_default : usrp1/fpga-6bea23d/usrp1_usrp1_fpga_default-g6bea23d.zip usrp2_n200_fpga_default : usrp2/fpga-6bea23d/usrp2_n200_fpga_default-g6bea23d.zip usrp2_n200_fw_default : usrp2/fpga-6bea23d/usrp2_n200_fw_default-g6bea23d.zip usrp2_n210_fpga_default : usrp2/fpga-6bea23d/usrp2_n210_fpga_default-g6bea23d.zip usrp2_n210_fw_default : usrp2/fpga-6bea23d/usrp2_n210_fw_default-g6bea23d.zip usrp2_usrp2_fpga_default : usrp2/fpga-6bea23d/usrp2_usrp2_fpga_default-g6bea23d.zip usrp2_usrp2_fw_default : usrp2/fpga-6bea23d/usrp2_usrp2_fw_default-g6bea23d.zip x3xx_x300_fpga_default : x3xx/fpga-494ae8bb/x3xx_x300_fpga_default-g494ae8bb.zip x3xx_x310_fpga_default : x3xx/fpga-494ae8bb/x3xx_x310_fpga_default-g494ae8bb.zip
Note: The example above is using UHD 3.13.0.2, the RELATIVE_URL value will change for different UHD versions.
Append the RELATIVE_URL value for your device to the URL below:
http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/
For example, the FPGA images for the X310 will be located at:
http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/x3xx/fpga-494ae8bb/x3xx_x310_fpga_default-g494ae8bb.zip
For UHD version >= 3.13.1.0, you can use the command line options --list-targets --url-only to print out the URLs of the FPGA packages:
$ uhd_images_downloader --url-only --list-targets [INFO] Images destination: /usr/local/share/uhd/images http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/usrp1/fpga-6bea23d/usrp1_b100_fw_default-g6bea23d.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/x3xx/fpga-d0360f7/x3xx_x310_fpga_default-gd0360f7.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/usrp2/fpga-6bea23d/usrp2_n210_fpga_default-g6bea23d.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/n230/fpga-d0360f7/n230_n230_fpga_default-gd0360f7.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/n3xx/fpga-494ae8bb/n3xx_n300_fpga_aurora-g494ae8bb.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/usrp1/fpga-6bea23d/usrp1_b100_fpga_default-g6bea23d.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/e3xx/fpga-494ae8bb/e3xx_e320_fpga_aurora-g494ae8bb.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/e3xx/meta-ettus-v3.13.1.0/e3xx_e320_sdk_default-v3.13.1.0.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/b2xx/fpga-d0360f7/b2xx_b200_fpga_default-gd0360f7.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/usrp2/fpga-6bea23d/usrp2_n200_fpga_default-g6bea23d.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/e3xx/fpga-d0360f7/e3xx_e320_fpga_default-gd0360f7.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/n3xx/fpga-d0360f7/n3xx_n310_fpga_default-gd0360f7.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/b2xx/fpga-d0360f7/b2xx_b205mini_fpga_default-gd0360f7.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/x3xx/fpga-d0360f7/x3xx_x300_fpga_default-gd0360f7.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/octoclock/uhd-14000041/octoclock_octoclock_fw_default-g14000041.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/e3xx/meta-ettus-v3.13.1.0/e3xx_e320_sdimg_default-v3.13.1.0.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/n3xx/fpga-6bea23d/n3xx_n310_cpld_default-g6bea23d.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/usrp2/fpga-6bea23d/usrp2_usrp2_fw_default-g6bea23d.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/usrp2/fpga-6bea23d/usrp2_n200_fw_default-g6bea23d.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/usrp2/fpga-6bea23d/usrp2_usrp2_fpga_default-g6bea23d.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/b2xx/uhd-3ff4186b/b2xx_common_fw_default-g3ff4186b.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/n3xx/fpga-494ae8bb/n3xx_n310_fpga_aurora-g494ae8bb.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/b2xx/fpga-d0360f7/b2xx_b200mini_fpga_default-gd0360f7.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/usrp1/fpga-6bea23d/usrp1_usrp1_fpga_default-g6bea23d.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/n3xx/meta-ettus-v3.13.1.0/n3xx_common_mender_default-v3.13.1.0.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/e3xx/meta-ettus-v3.13.1.0/e3xx_e320_mender_default-v3.13.1.0.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/usb/uhd-14000041/usb_common_windrv_default-g14000041.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/e3xx/fpga-d6a878b/e3xx_e310_fpga_rfnoc-gd6a878b.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/usrp2/fpga-6bea23d/usrp2_n210_fw_default-g6bea23d.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/n3xx/fpga-d0360f7/n3xx_n300_fpga_default-gd0360f7.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/n3xx/meta-ettus-v3.13.1.0/n3xx_common_sdk_default-v3.13.1.0.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/e3xx/fpga-d0360f7/e3xx_e310_fpga_default-gd0360f7.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/b2xx/fpga-d0360f7/b2xx_b210_fpga_default-gd0360f7.zip http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/n3xx/meta-ettus-v3.13.1.0/n3xx_common_sdimg_default-v3.13.1.0.zip
On your Internet connected host, fetch the FPGA images using wget:
Example for < UHD 3.11.x.x:
$ wget http://files.ettus.com/binaries/images/uhd-images_003.009.005-release.zip
Example for > UHD 3.11.x.x.
$ wget http://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/x3xx/fpga-494ae8bb/x3xx_x310_fpga_default-g494ae8bb.zip
Transfer the downloaded ZIP file(s) to your offline environment.
Installing the FPGA Images to the UHD Images Directory
Create a folder in the directory ~/offline called fpga_images. This directory name is arbitrary, and is only used for reference within the following steps. Place the zip file containing the FPGA images into this directory, and decompress.
$ mkdir -p ~/offline/fpga_images $ cd ~/offline/fpga_images $ cp -v ~/path/to/fpga_images_package.zip . $ unzip fpga_images_package.zip
Next, create the images/ folder in your UHD installation prefix.
$ cd /usr/local/share/uhd/ $ mkdir -p images $ cd images
Next, copy the FPGA images that were decompressed above to this location.
$ sudo cp -v ~/offline/fpga_images/uhd-images-xxxx/share/uhd/images/* .
Conclusion
This page summarized the step-by-step process involved in setting up an offline installation of UHD and GNU Radio. Any questions or feedback should be sent to support@ettus.com.
