Port Zephyr RTOS and run applications on the Arm Corstone-320 MPS4 platform
Introduction
Set up the Zephyr build environment
Add Zephyr board support for the Arm Corstone-320 MPS4 platform
Build and run the hello_world sample on Arm Corstone-320 MPS4
Next Steps

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Prepare the development environment

Before you can build Zephyr for the Arm Corstone-320 MPS4 platform, you’ll need to install the required host packages, initialize a Zephyr workspace, and configure the Arm GNU Toolchain.

Install host dependencies

Update your package list and install the packages that Zephyr requires. Select the tab for your host architecture:

    

        
        
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y --no-install-recommends git cmake ninja-build gperf \
  ccache dfu-util device-tree-compiler wget python3-dev python3-venv python3-tk \
  xz-utils file make gcc libsdl2-dev libmagic1

    

    

        
        
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y --no-install-recommends git cmake ninja-build gperf \
  ccache dfu-util device-tree-compiler wget python3-dev python3-venv python3-tk \
  xz-utils file make gcc gcc-multilib g++-multilib libsdl2-dev libmagic1

Verify that the installed versions meet Zephyr’s minimum requirements (CMake 3.20.5, Python 3.12, dtc 1.4.6):

    

        
        
cmake --version
python3 --version
dtc --version

Set up the Zephyr workspace

Create a Python virtual environment and use west to initialize the Zephyr workspace. The following commands place the workspace in ~/zephyrproject, but you can choose a different location.

Create and activate the virtual environment:

    

        
        
python3 -m venv ~/zephyrproject/.venv
source ~/zephyrproject/.venv/bin/activate

After activation, your shell prompt is prefixed with (.venv). Run source ~/zephyrproject/.venv/bin/activate each time you open a new terminal before working with Zephyr.

Install west and download the Zephyr source code:

    

        
        
pip install west
west init ~/zephyrproject
cd ~/zephyrproject
west update

Export the Zephyr CMake package so that CMake can automatically load the boilerplate required for Zephyr builds:

    

        
        
west zephyr-export

Install the Python packages that Zephyr requires:

    

        
        
west packages pip --install

Install the Arm GNU Toolchain

The Corstone-320 target uses the Cortex-M85 processor, so you need the arm-none-eabi bare-metal toolchain from the Arm GNU Toolchain. For a detailed installation guide covering all platforms, see the Arm GNU Toolchain install guide.

Note

The following commands use Arm GNU Toolchain version 15.2.Rel1. The same commands work with other versions. Replace the file used in these steps with the file for your version of choice. To find the latest version, see Arm GNU Toolchain downloads .

Download, unpack, and add the Arm GNU Toolchain to your PATH for your host architecture:

    

        
        
wget https://developer.arm.com/-/media/Files/downloads/gnu/15.2.rel1/binrel/arm-gnu-toolchain-15.2.rel1-aarch64-arm-none-eabi.tar.xz
tar xJf arm-gnu-toolchain-15.2.rel1-aarch64-arm-none-eabi.tar.xz -C $HOME
echo 'export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/arm-gnu-toolchain-15.2.rel1-aarch64-arm-none-eabi/bin"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

    

    

        
        
wget https://developer.arm.com/-/media/Files/downloads/gnu/15.2.rel1/binrel/arm-gnu-toolchain-15.2.rel1-x86_64-arm-none-eabi.tar.xz
tar xJf arm-gnu-toolchain-15.2.rel1-x86_64-arm-none-eabi.tar.xz -C $HOME
echo 'export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/arm-gnu-toolchain-15.2.rel1-x86_64-arm-none-eabi/bin"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Verify the installation:

    

        
        
arm-none-eabi-gcc --version

The output is similar to:

    

        
        arm-none-eabi-gcc (Arm GNU Toolchain 15.2.Rel1 (Build arm-15.86)) 15.2.1 20251203
Copyright (C) 2025 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.  There is NO
warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Configure the Arm GNU Toolchain for Zephyr

Zephyr uses two environment variables to locate the Arm GNU Toolchain. Set these each time you open a new terminal, or add them to your shell configuration file:

    

        
        
export ZEPHYR_TOOLCHAIN_VARIANT=gnuarmemb
export GNUARMEMB_TOOLCHAIN_PATH=$HOME/arm-gnu-toolchain-15.2.rel1-aarch64-arm-none-eabi

    

    

        
        
export ZEPHYR_TOOLCHAIN_VARIANT=gnuarmemb
export GNUARMEMB_TOOLCHAIN_PATH=$HOME/arm-gnu-toolchain-15.2.rel1-x86_64-arm-none-eabi

What you’ve accomplished and what’s next

You’ve now set up a development environment to build Zephyr.

Next, you’ll add board support files to port Zephyr to the Corstone-320 MPS4 platform.

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