CMSIS-Toolbox

The CMSIS-Toolbox is a suite of utilities for creating, building, and managing projects based on CMSIS Software Packs.

It is also used for the creation and maintenance of such packs.

CMSIS-Toolbox is part of the Open-CMSIS-Pack project .

Windows, Linux, and macOS host platforms are supported.

What dependencies do I need before installing CMSIS-Toolbox?

You will need to install CMake and Ninja:

    

        
        
sudo apt update
sudo apt install cmake ninja-build -y

    

Check the versions of each tool:

    

        
        
cmake --version
ninja --version

    

Ensure version of CMake is at least 3.25.2, and Ninja is at least 1.10.2.

You can also download installers for all supported hosts from the below:

• CMake
• Ninja

How do I download CMSIS-Toolbox?

Download and unpack the latest version of CMSIS-Toolbox from the Arm Tools Artifactory .

Full details of the contents is given in the Releases area of the GitHub repository.

How do I download for Arm64 hosts?

    

        
        

wget https://artifacts.tools.arm.com/cmsis-toolbox/2.5.0/cmsis-toolbox-windows-arm64.zip
tar -xf cmsis-toolbox-windows-arm64.zip
  

    

    

        
        

wget https://artifacts.tools.arm.com/cmsis-toolbox/2.5.0/cmsis-toolbox-linux-arm64.tar.gz
tar -xf cmsis-toolbox-linux-arm64.tar.gz
  

    

    

        
        

curl -L -o cmsis-toolbox-darwin-arm64.tar.gz https://artifacts.tools.arm.com/cmsis-toolbox/2.5.0/cmsis-toolbox-darwin-arm64.tar.gz
tar -xf cmsis-toolbox-darwin-arm64.tar.gz
  

    

How do I download for x86_64 hosts?

    

        
        

wget https://artifacts.tools.arm.com/cmsis-toolbox/2.5.0/cmsis-toolbox-windows-amd64.zip
tar -xf cmsis-toolbox-windows-amd64.zip
  

    

    

        
        

wget https://artifacts.tools.arm.com/cmsis-toolbox/2.5.0/cmsis-toolbox-linux-amd64.tar.gz
tar -xf cmsis-toolbox-linux-amd64.tar.gz
  

    

    

        
        

curl -L -o cmsis-toolbox-darwin-amd64.tar.gz https://artifacts.tools.arm.com/cmsis-toolbox/2.5.0/cmsis-toolbox-darwin-amd64.tar.gz
tar -xf cmsis-toolbox-darwin-amd64.tar.gz
  

    

Which compiler toolchain should I install?

Projects can be built with Arm Compiler for Embedded 6, Arm GNU Toolchain, LLVM Embedded Toolchain, or IAR tools.

For further setup instructions see these Install Guides:

• Arm Compiler for Embedded
• Arm GNU Toolchain
• LLVM Embedded Toolchain for Arm

Arm Compiler for Embedded is used in the example below.

How do I set up environment variables?

Set environment variables as below. Note the exact name of the TOOLCHAIN variables will be based on the tool and version installed. In this way, multiple build tools can be registered.

For example:

    

        
        

set AC6_TOOLCHAIN_6_22_0=%ProgramFiles%/ArmCompilerforEmbedded6.22/bin
set CMSIS_PACK_ROOT=%LocalAppData%/Arm/Packs
set PATH=%PATH%;%UserProfile%/cmsis-toolbox-windows-amd64/bin
set CMSIS_COMPILER_ROOT=%UserProfile%/cmsis-toolbox-windows-amd64/etc
  

    

    

        
        

export AC6_TOOLCHAIN_6_22_0=$HOME/ArmCompilerforEmbedded6.22/bin
export CMSIS_PACK_ROOT=$HOME/packs
export PATH=$HOME/cmsis-toolbox-linux-arm64/bin:$PATH
export CMSIS_COMPILER_ROOT=$HOME/cmsis-toolbox-linux-arm64/etc
  

    

Exact paths will depend on tools versions installed and their install locations.

How do I initialize the CMSIS-Pack directory?

Run the following command to initialize the directory specified by CMSIS_PACK_ROOT above.

    

        
        
cpackget init https://www.keil.com/pack/index.pidx

    

CMSIS-Toolbox should now be ready for use.

How can I test my CMSIS-Toolbox setup?

Example projects are provided on the GitHub repository .

Clone the following repository to your build machine:

    

        
        
git clone https://github.com/Open-CMSIS-Pack/csolution-examples

    

Navigate to the Hello example:

    

        
        
cd csolution-examples/Hello

    

How do I build the solution?

Use the cbuild utility (a component of CMSIS-Toolbox) to build.

Add --packs to the command line to download and install any necessary software packs not currently installed.

    

        
        
cbuild Hello.csolution.yml --packs

    

The build will proceed and generate an executable image(s). You will see output similar to:

    

        
        ARM::CMSIS@6.0.0
ARM::CMSIS-Compiler@2.0.0
ARM::CMSIS-RTX@5.8.0
ARM::V2M_MPS3_SSE_300_BSP@1.5.0
I: Downloading ARM.CMSIS.pdsc...
I: Adding pack "ARM::CMSIS@6.0.0"
I: Downloading ARM.CMSIS.6.0.0.pack...
...
...
(1/2) Building context: "Hello.Debug+AVH"
Building CMake target 'Hello.Debug+AVH'
[1/31] Building C object CMakeFiles/Group_Main.dir/home/ubuntu/csolution-examples/Hello/main.o
...
[31/31] Linking C executable /home/ubuntu/csolution-examples/Hello/out/Hello/AVH/Debug/Hello.axf
Program Size: Code=29968 RO-data=1584 RW-data=244 ZI-data=37072
+------------------------------------------
(2/2) Building context: "Hello.Release+AVH"
Building CMake target 'Hello.Release+AVH'
[1/31] Building C object CMakeFiles/Group_App.dir/home/ubuntu/csolution-examples/Hello/hello.o
...
[31/31] Linking C executable /home/ubuntu/csolution-examples/Hello/out/Hello/AVH/Release/Hello.axf
Program Size: Code=17664 RO-data=988 RW-data=196 ZI-data=37112
+------------------------------------------------------------
Build summary: 2 succeeded, 0 failed - Time Elapsed: 00:00:03
+============================================================