1Prerequisites 2============= 3 4This document describes the software requirements for building |TF-A| for 5AArch32 and AArch64 target platforms. 6 7It may possible to build |TF-A| with combinations of software packages that are 8different from those listed below, however only the software described in this 9document can be officially supported. 10 11Getting the TF-A Source 12----------------------- 13 14Source code for |TF-A| is maintained in a Git repository hosted on 15`TrustedFirmware.org`_. To clone this repository from the server, run the following 16in your shell: 17 18.. code:: shell 19 20 git clone "https://review.trustedfirmware.org/TF-A/trusted-firmware-a" 21 22 23Requirements 24------------ 25 26======================== ===================== 27 Program Min supported version 28======================== ===================== 29Arm Compiler 6.23 30Arm GNU Compiler 14.3 31Clang/LLVM 18.1.8 32Device Tree Compiler 1.6.1 33GNU Make 4.3 34Node.js [#f2]_ 20.11.1 35OpenSSL 1.0.0 36Poetry 1.3.2 37QCBOR\ [#f2]_ 1.2 38Sphinx\ [#f1]_ 5.3.0 39======================== ===================== 40 41.. [#f1] Required only for building TF-A documentation. 42.. [#f2] Required only when enabling DICE Protection Environment support. 43 44Toolchain 45^^^^^^^^^ 46 47|TF-A| can be compiled using any cross-compiler toolchain specified in the 48preceding table that target Armv7-A or Armv8-A. For AArch32 and 49AArch64 builds, the respective targets required are ``arm-none-eabi`` and 50``aarch64-none-elf``. 51 52Testing has been performed with the version of the Arm GNU compiler listed in 53the table above. This can be installed from the `Arm Developer website`_. 54 55In addition, a native compiler is required to build supporting tools. 56 57.. note:: 58 Versions greater than the ones specified are likely but not guaranteed to 59 work. This is predominantly because TF-A carries its own copy of compiler-rt, 60 which may be older than the version expected by the compiler. Fixes and bug 61 reports are always welcome. 62 63.. note:: 64 For instructions on how to select the cross compiler refer to 65 :ref:`Performing an Initial Build`. 66 67OpenSSL 68^^^^^^^ 69 70OpenSSL is required to build the cert_create, encrypt_fw, and fiptool tools. 71 72If using OpenSSL 3, older Linux versions may require it to be built from 73source code, as it may not be available in the default package repositories. 74Please refer to the OpenSSL project documentation for more information. 75 76.. warning:: 77 Versions 1.0.x and from v3.0.0 up to v3.0.6 are strongly advised against due 78 to concerns regarding security vulnerabilities! 79 80Device Tree Compiler (DTC) 81^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 82 83Needed if you want to rebuild the provided Flattened Device Tree (FDT) 84source files (``.dts`` files). DTC is available for Linux through the package 85repositories of most distributions. 86 87Arm Development Studio (`Arm-DS`_) 88^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 89 90The standard software package used for debugging software on Arm development 91platforms and |FVP| models. 92 93Node.js 94^^^^^^^ 95 96Highly recommended, and necessary in order to install and use the packaged 97Git hooks and helper tools. Without these tools you will need to rely on the 98CI for feedback on commit message conformance. 99 100Poetry 101^^^^^^ 102 103Required for managing Python dependencies, this will allow you to reliably 104reproduce a Python environment to build documentation and run some of the 105integrated Python tools. Most importantly, it ensures your system environment 106will not be affected by dependencies in the Python scripts. 107 108For installation instructions, see the `official Poetry documentation`_. 109 110.. _prerequisites_software_and_libraries: 111 112Package Installation (Linux) 113---------------------------- 114 115|TF-A| can be compiled on both Linux and Windows-based machines. 116However, we strongly recommend using a UNIX-compatible build environment. 117 118Testing is performed using Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (64-bit), but other distributions 119should also work, provided the necessary tools and libraries are installed. 120 121The following are steps to install the required packages: 122 123.. code:: shell 124 125 sudo apt install build-essential 126 127The optional packages can be installed using: 128 129.. code:: shell 130 131 sudo apt install device-tree-compiler 132 133Additionally, to install a version of Node.js compatible with TF-A's repository 134scripts, you can use the `Node Version Manager`_. To install both NVM and an 135appropriate version of Node.js, run the following **from the root directory of 136the repository**: 137 138.. code:: shell 139 140 curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.1/install.sh | bash 141 exec "$SHELL" -ic "nvm install; exec $SHELL" 142 143.. _Node Version Manager: https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm#install--update-script 144 145Supporting Files 146---------------- 147 148TF-A has been tested with pre-built binaries and file systems from `Linaro 149Release 20.01`_. Alternatively, you can build the binaries from source using 150instructions in :ref:`Performing an Initial Build`. 151 152.. _prerequisites_get_source: 153 154Additional Steps for Contributors 155^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 156 157If you are planning on contributing back to TF-A, there are some things you'll 158want to know. 159 160TF-A is hosted by a `Gerrit Code Review`_ server. Gerrit requires that all 161commits include a ``Change-Id`` footer, and this footer is typically 162automatically generated by a Git hook installed by you, the developer. 163 164If you have Node.js installed already, you can automatically install this hook, 165along with any additional hooks and Javascript-based tooling that we use, by 166running from within your newly-cloned repository: 167 168.. code:: shell 169 170 npm install --no-save 171 172If you have opted **not** to install Node.js, you can install the Gerrit hook 173manually by running: 174 175.. code:: shell 176 177 curl -Lo $(git rev-parse --git-dir)/hooks/commit-msg https://review.trustedfirmware.org/tools/hooks/commit-msg 178 chmod +x $(git rev-parse --git-dir)/hooks/commit-msg 179 180You can read more about Git hooks in the *githooks* page of the Git 181documentation, available `here <https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Customizing-Git-Git-Hooks>`_. 182 183.. _git_submodules: 184 185Cloning Additional Git Submodules 186^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 187 188Some dependencies in TF-A, such as Transfer List Library ``libtl``, are managed 189using Git submodules. Submodules allow external repositories to be included 190within the main project while maintaining their own commit history. 191 192Initial Clone with Submodules 193^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 194 195If you're cloning the repository for the first time, run the following commands 196to initialize and fetch all submodules: 197 198.. code-block:: bash 199 200 git clone --recurse-submodules "https://git.trustedfirmware.org/TF-A/trusted-firmware-a" 201 202This ensures all submodules (including ``libtl``) are correctly checked out. 203 204Updating Submodules 205^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 206 207If the project updates the reference to a submodule (e.g., points to a new 208commit of ``libtl``), you can update your local copy by running: 209 210.. code-block:: bash 211 212 git pull 213 git submodule update --init --recursive 214 215To fetch the latest commits from all submodules, you can use: 216 217.. code-block:: bash 218 219 git submodule update --remote 220 221-------------- 222 223*Copyright (c) 2021-2025, Arm Limited. All rights reserved.* 224 225.. _Arm Developer website: https://developer.arm.com/tools-and-software/open-source-software/developer-tools/gnu-toolchain/downloads 226.. _Gerrit Code Review: https://www.gerritcodereview.com/ 227.. _Arm-DS: https://developer.arm.com/Tools%20and%20Software/Arm%20Development%20Studio 228.. _Linaro Release 20.01: http://releases.linaro.org/members/arm/platforms/20.01 229.. _TrustedFirmware.org: https://www.trustedfirmware.org/ 230.. _official Poetry documentation: https://python-poetry.org/docs/#installation 231