5.0 KiB
There are essentially three ways to build your NodeMCU firmware: cloud build service, Docker image, dedicated Linux environment (possibly VM).
Tools
Cloud Build Service
NodeMCU "application developers" just need a ready-made firmware. There's a cloud build service with a nice UI and configuration options for them.
Docker Image
Occasional NodeMCU firmware hackers don't need full control over the complete tool chain. They might not want to setup a Linux VM with the build environment. Docker to the rescue. Give Docker NodeMCU build a try.
Linux Build Environment
NodeMCU firmware developers commit or contribute to the project on GitHub and might want to build their own full fledged build environment with the complete tool chain. The NodeMCU project embeds a ready-made tool chain for Linux/x86-64 by default. After working through the Build Options below, simply start the build process with
make
The default build setup reduces output verbosity to a minimum. The verbosity level can be increased by setting the V environment variable to 1, as below. See the root Makefile for other available options.
V=1 make
!!! note
Building the tool chain from scratch is out of NodeMCU's scope. Refer to [ESP toolchains](https://github.com/jmattsson/esp-toolchains) for related information.
Git
If you decide to build with either the Docker image or the native environment then use Git to clone the firmware sources instead of downloading the ZIP file from GitHub. Only cloning with Git will retrieve the referenced submodules:
git clone --recurse-submodules -b <branch> https://github.com/nodemcu/nodemcu-firmware.git
Omitting the optional -b <branch> will clone master.
Build Options
The following sections explain some of the options you have if you want to build your own NodeMCU firmware.
Select Modules
Disable modules you won't be using to reduce firmware size and free up some RAM. The ESP8266 is quite limited in available RAM and running out of memory can cause a system panic. The default configuration is designed to run on all ESP modules including the 512 KB modules like ESP-01 and only includes general purpose interface modules which require at most two GPIO pins.
Edit app/include/user_modules.h and comment-out the #define statement for modules you don't need. Example:
...
#define LUA_USE_MODULES_MQTT
// #define LUA_USE_MODULES_COAP
...
TLS/SSL Support
To enable TLS support edit app/include/user_config.h and uncomment the following flag:
//#define CLIENT_SSL_ENABLE
The complete configuration is stored in app/include/user_mbedtls.h. This is the file to edit if you build your own firmware and want to change mbed TLS behavior. See the tls documentation for details.
Debugging
To enable runtime debug messages to serial console edit app/include/user_config.h
#define DEVELOP_VERSION
LFS
LFS is turned off by default. See the LFS documentation for supported config options (e.g. how to enable it).
Set UART Bit Rate
The initial baud rate at boot time is 115200bps. You can change this by
editing BIT_RATE_DEFAULT in app/include/user_config.h:
#define BIT_RATE_DEFAULT BIT_RATE_115200
Note that, by default, the firmware runs an auto-baudrate detection algorithm so that typing a few characters at boot time will cause the firmware to lock onto that baud rate (between 1200 and 230400).
Integer build
By default a build will be generated supporting floating-point variables.
To reduce memory size an integer build can be created. You can change this
either by uncommenting LUA_NUMBER_INTEGRAL in app/include/user_config.h:
#define LUA_NUMBER_INTEGRAL
OR by overriding this with the make command as it's done during the CI
build:
make EXTRA_CCFLAGS="-DLUA_NUMBER_INTEGRAL ....
Tag Your Build
Identify your firmware builds by setting the environment variable USER_PROLOG.
You may also edit app/include/user_version.h. The variable USER_PROLOG will be included in NODE_VERSION_LONG.
#define NODE_VERSION "NodeMCU " ESP_SDK_VERSION_STRING "." NODE_VERSION_XSTR(NODE_VERSION_INTERNAL) " " NODE_VERSION_LONG
#ifndef BUILD_DATE
#define BUILD_DATE "unspecified"
#endif
u8g2 Module Configuration
Display drivers and embedded fonts are compiled into the firmware image based on the settings in app/include/u8g2_displays.h and app/include/u8g2_fonts.h. See the u8g2 documentation for details.
ucg Module Configuration
Display drivers and embedded fonts are compiled into the firmware image based on the settings in app/include/ucg_config.h. See the ucg documentation for details.