Mastering Embedded Linux with Yocto Project

Welcome to our comprehensive Yocto Linux online course! Whether you’re new to embedded Linux development or an experienced engineer seeking to deepen your expertise in custom Linux distributions, this course is designed to equip you with a thorough understanding of the Yocto Project and its ecosystem.

Course Overview

The Yocto Project is a powerful framework for building custom embedded Linux distributions tailored to specific hardware and use cases. This course provides essential knowledge and hands-on experience, guiding you from fundamental concepts to advanced workflows. You will learn to set up a build environment, create and manage layers and recipes, customize kernel and root filesystem, and deploy images on target hardware. Through practical exercises and real-world scenarios, you will gain the skills to efficiently develop, test, and maintain embedded Linux systems using Yocto.

What You Will Learn

Introduction to Yocto Project: History, architecture, and benefits of using Yocto for embedded Linux.
Build Environment Setup: Host requirements, downloading Poky, initializing environment, and first build walkthrough.
Layers and Recipes: Structure and purpose of layers, writing and customizing recipes, and best practices for layer management.
Custom Image Creation: Modifying core images, adding packages and applications, and generating minimal or feature-rich images.
Board Support Packages (BSP) & Kernel Customization: Integrating BSP layers for various hardware, configuring and patching the Linux kernel, and managing Device Tree.
Advanced Yocto Tools: Using devtool for recipe development, externalsrc for iterative development, and Toaster or Web Interfaces for build monitoring.
Packaging & SDK: Creating Software Development Kits (SDKs), package feeds, and handling package versioning.
Debugging and Deployment: Flashing images to target boards, serial console usage, network configuration, log analysis, and troubleshooting build/runtime issues.
Continuous Integration & Best Practices: Automating Yocto builds, caching strategies, layering conventions, and optimizing build times.
Security & Updates: Integrating security features, applying patches, and implementing OTA/update mechanisms.
Real-World Applications: Case studies of embedded products using Yocto, considerations for production deployment.
Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) & Testing for Embedded Linux: Overview of SDLC in embedded Linux projects, testing stages, validation strategies, and release management.
Ecosystem & Community: Understanding meta-layers, collaborating upstream, and leveraging community resources.

Course Format

This course combines theoretical lectures with hands-on labs and case studies. Through video presentations, step-by-step demos, quizzes, and a capstone project, you will build practical expertise. Exercises include building images for popular ARM boards (e.g., Raspberry Pi, BeagleBone, RB-iMX6UL), writing custom recipes, customizing kernels, and debugging on hardware or virtual environments.

Delivery Mode: Online, self-paced with guided labs.
Materials: Slide decks, example layer repositories, shell scripts, and sample hardware/virtual targets.
Assessment: Quizzes after key modules, lab assignments, and a final capstone project.
Support: Discussion forums or Q&A sessions (as per platform capability).
Tools Required: A Linux host machine (Ubuntu/Fedora recommended), sufficient disk space (at least 50 GB free), Git, Python, required dependencies; target hardware (ARM board) or QEMU for emulation.

Course Syllabus (12 Days / Modules)

Day 1 – Introduction to Yocto Project

History and motivation behind Yocto Project
BitBake and OpenEmbedded architecture
Overview of Poky reference distribution
Understanding the build workflow and directory structure
Setting up the host environment prerequisites (installing required packages)

Day 2 – Setting Up the Build Environment & First Build

Downloading Poky and necessary layers via Git
Initializing the environment (. oe-init-build-env)
Configuring local.conf and bblayers.conf
Running a basic build (e.g., core-image-minimal)
Interpreting build logs, handling common errors

Day 3 – Layers and Recipes Deep Dive

Understanding layer priorities and naming conventions
Anatomy of a recipe (.bb files) and related files (.bbappend, .inc)
Creating a custom layer for your project
Writing simple recipes: fetching sources, configuring, compiling, installing
Best practices for layer organization

Day 4 – Custom Image Creation and Package Management

Modifying existing images (e.g., core-image-sato, core-image-minimal)
Adding/removing packages via IMAGE_INSTALL and packagegroups
Creating your own packagegroups and bootstrapping dependencies
Managing package feeds and runtime package management
Working with local.conf overrides and customization variables

Day 5 – BSP Layers & Kernel Configuration

Introduction to Board Support Packages (BSP) in Yocto
Adding BSP/meta-layer for a specific board (e.g., RB-iMX6UL)
Kernel recipe overview: fetch, patch, configure, compile
Customizing the kernel: applying patches, selecting config options, Device Tree overlays
Building and deploying the kernel to target hardware

Day 6 – Yocto Development Tools (devtool & externalsrc)

Using devtool to start, modify, and test recipes interactively
externalsrc workflow for rapid development against local source trees
Integrating third-party applications: packaging existing software into Yocto recipes
Handling license and provenance metadata in recipes

Day 7 – Build Monitoring & Optimization

Using Toaster or Web interfaces to monitor builds (if available)
Analyzing build times and optimizing by tweaking SSTATE, DL_DIR, TMPDIR configurations
Shared state (sstate) management for faster incremental builds
Disk usage strategies: cleaning tmp directories, pruning unnecessary files

Day 8 – Debugging and Deployment

Flashing images: using dd, U-Boot, or vendor-specific tools
Booting target hardware and accessing serial console
Root filesystem debugging: using BusyBox, SSH, networking setup
Log analysis on target: dmesg, journal (if systemd), and application logs
QEMU-based testing and simulation for faster iteration

Day 9 – SDK and Extensible SDKs

Generating SDKs (bitbake <image> -c populate_sdk) for application development
Using ext-sdk for cross-compilation: setting up environment scripts
Managing SDK versions and dependencies
Distributing SDK to application teams

Day 10 – SDLC & Testing for Embedded Linux Projects

Overview of Software Development Life Cycle in embedded Linux context
Integrating Yocto builds into CI pipelines (Jenkins/GitLab CI/GitHub Actions)
Automated testing: runtime tests, integration tests on hardware or QEMU
Validation strategies: regression testing of images, package tests
Release management and version tracking of images

Day 11 – Security, Updates, and Maintenance

Integrating security features: SELinux/AppArmor basics in Yocto
Applying security patches and vulnerability management in recipes
Implementing OTA/update mechanisms: OSTree or custom update strategies
Managing long-term maintenance of a Yocto-based product
Best practices for signing images and secure boot considerations

Day 12 – Advanced Topics & Capstone Project

Working with advanced meta-layers (e.g., meta-oe, meta-python, meta-security)
Collaboration with upstream: contributing patches back to OpenEmbedded layers
Container integration: building Docker/OCI images via Yocto (meta-virtualization)
Performance tuning: optimizing boot time and footprint
Capstone Project: Design and build a custom Yocto image for a selected ARM board (e.g., RB-iMX6UL or Raspberry Pi), integrating a web interface or specific application (e.g., data collector, IoT agent), deploy to hardware, demonstrate build automation in CI, and present a brief report on architecture, customization steps, and lessons learned.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

Understand and navigate the Yocto Project architecture and build system.
Set up and configure a Yocto build environment on Linux hosts.
Create and manage custom layers and recipes for your embedded Linux projects.
Customize kernel configurations and integrate BSP support for specific hardware.
Build, flash, and debug Yocto-generated images on target boards or QEMU.
Use Yocto development tools (devtool, externalsrc) for rapid recipe iteration.
Optimize build performance using sstate, layer structuring, and caching strategies.
Generate and use SDKs for cross-development of applications.
Automate Yocto builds and tests within a CI/CD pipeline.
Implement security practices, updates, and long-term maintenance workflows.
Deliver a real-world embedded Linux solution through the capstone project.

Who Should Take This Course

Embedded Linux engineers and developers
Firmware or software engineers working on custom Linux-based products
Electronics and IoT professionals interested in building tailored Linux distributions
Students in computer engineering or related fields seeking practical embedded Linux skills
Anyone aiming to deepen their understanding of build systems and cross-compilation

Prerequisites

Basic familiarity with Linux command line and shell scripting
Understanding of embedded systems concepts and cross-compilation
Git knowledge for version control
No prior Yocto experience required, but helpful to have basic C development understanding

Course Duration

Flexible, self-paced format divided into 12 modules. Estimated total effort: 4–6 weeks (depending on pace and hands-on lab complexity). You may progress module by module, spending 1–2 days on each, with additional time for the capstone project.

Certification

Upon successful completion of all quizzes, lab assignments, and the capstone project submission, you will receive a Certificate of Achievement validating your proficiency in Yocto Project and embedded Linux development.

Enrollment & Contact

To enroll or for further inquiries, please contact:

Name: VAct Technologies
Contact Number: 7871909590

Take the first step toward mastering embedded Linux with Yocto Project—enroll today and unlock the ability to build custom Linux distributions tailored to your hardware and project requirements!