Linux® is being adopted by an increasing number of embedded systems developers, who have been won over by its sophisticated scheduling and networking, its cost-free license, its open development model, and the support offered by rich and powerful programming tools. While there is a great deal of hype surrounding the use of Linux in embedded systems, there is not a lot of practical information. Building Embedded Linux Systems is the first in-depth, hard-core guide to putting together an embedded system based on the Linux kernel. This indispensable book features arcane and previously undocumented procedures for:

• Building your own GNU development toolchain

• Using an efficient embedded development framework

• Selecting, configuring, building, and installing a target-specific kernel

• Creating a complete target root filesystem

• Setting up, manipulating, and using solid-state storage devices

• Installing and configuring a bootloader for the target

• Cross-compiling a slew of utilities and packages

• Debugging your embedded system using a plethora of tools and techniques

Details are provided for various target architectures and hardware configurations, including a thorough review of Linux's support for embedded hardware. All explanations rely on the use of open source and free software packages. By presenting how to build the operating system components from pristine sources and how to find more documentation or help, this book greatly simplifies the task of keeping complete control over one's embedded operating system, whether it be for technical or sound financial reasons. Author Karim Yaghmour, a well-known designer and speaker who is responsible for the Linux Trace Toolkit, starts by discussing the strengths and weaknesses of Linux as an embedded operating system. Licensing issues are included, followed by a discussion of the basics of building embedded Linux systems. The configuration, setup, and use of over forty different open source and free software packages commonly used in embedded Linux systems are also covered. uClibc, BusyBox, U-Boot, OpenSSH, thttpd, tftp, strace, and gdb are among the packages discussed.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 21 Ratings

Book is kind of outdated - 2006-08-19
Reviewer Rating:
Book is based on 2.4 kernel. Since we are currently at 2.6 kernel this book does seem to have outdated information

A must-have for this kind of project! - 2007-07-08
Reviewer Rating:
On the one hand, a typical Linux user is going to install a pre-built package (Red Hat, Suse, Ubuntu, etc) on pre-built PC. This book isn't for them - there are plenty of books for learning and using Linux.

On the other hand, embedded systems developers often have a good, working toolchain from a vendor like WindRiver or DataLight. This book isn't necessarily for them, either.

But if you're building your own system: your own DIO controllers, perhaps with a mix of flash drives and conventional storage, perhaps remote booting ... and if you've decided to use Open Source as your platform ...
then you NEED this book.

There simply isn't any other text out there that covers the breadth of subjects (toolchain, kernel build, kernel tailoring, media types, etc etc etc) with the wealth of details as this book.

It's an excellent book, and an indispensible resource.

a good book to have in your arsenal - 2008-07-25
Reviewer Rating:
This book was a highly recommended reference book at my previous job at an embedded systems company. As the title of the book suggests, this text gives the reader a good foundation on the concepts required to build an embedded Linux system.

Very good introduction to Embedded Linux! - 2009-02-14
Reviewer Rating:
Solid introduction to the topic and fairly easy to read. I was concerned about being overwhelmed but the authors have taken time to make a difficult subject available to the average Linux SysAdmin.

Lots of information for embedded dev's coming from other Operating Systems! If that's you then the authors suggest having Running Linux and Linux Kernel in a Nutshell (In a Nutshell (O'Reilly)) available while you work with this book.

Definately a good read! Minor issues are the slight wordiness in places and the lack of proof-reading here and there. Embedded systems skills are gaining popularity and you can get some hands on working with a minimal system and trying out the stuff in this book.

Building Embedded Linux Systems - 2008-01-03
Reviewer Rating:
I'm a beginner in embedded development on Linux. I find the book very good. It's compact, very well written and has detailed descriptions of the procedures to building embedded Linux systems.

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