title: Install Build Requirements

System requirements

This guide makes assumes the following system setup.

  • A reasonably powerful PC. Using a virtual machine can work, but will slow down builds considerably. 8 GB of RAM or more are highly recommended.
  • Physical access to that machine, root permissions and a graphical environment are assumed in this guide. However, with an appropriate setup, none of these things are strictly needed.
  • 60 GB or more of disk space, depending on the EDA tools used. (EDA tools like Xilinx Vivado can easily take up 40 GB each.)
  • Linux
    • Ubuntu 18.04 LTS is the recommended reference platform. Our continuous integration setup runs on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, which gives us the most confidence that this distribution works out of the box.
    • We do our best to support other Linux distributions. However, we cannot guarantee they can be used “out of the box” and might require updates of packages. Please file a GitHub issue if you need help or would like to propose a change to increase compatibility with other distributions.

      • RedHat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)/CentOS.

        On RHEL/CentOS not all required packages are part of the base distribution; however, they can be installed easily. All required packages except for a C/C++ compiler can be obtained by enabling the EPEL repository. A sufficiently recent version of GCC or LLVM (clang) can be obtained through Red Hat Software Collections. SCLs can also be used to obtain newer version of Python if needed.

      • Many of our contributors use rolling release distributions, which generally include the latest stable releases of all software packages, such as Debian unstable, openSUSE Tumbleweed, or Arch Linux.

The following software packages are required to build and use the software, hardware, and tools in the OpenTitan repository. Not every interaction with the repository requires all tools -- however, we recommend users installing all dependencies listed below for a seamless development experience.

Note: Version numbers given below indicate a minimum version, newer versions are generally expected to work, unless explicitly stated. For packages listed below without a version number we have not determined a minimum version.

  • git
  • Python 3.6 with pip. Additional Python dependencies are installed through pip.
  • A C++14 capable compiler. GCC 8 or Clang 3.5 should meet this requirement.
  • clang-format. The use of clang-format 6.0 is recommended to match the formatting enforced when submitting a pull request.
  • ninja {{< tool_version “ninja” >}}
  • Bash
  • Bazel 4.2.0
  • curl
  • xz tools
  • LSB core packages (only the lsb_release tool must be available)
  • srecord
  • GNU make
  • pkg-config or pkgconf
  • libelf with development headers
  • libftdi with development headers
  • OpenSSL 1.0 or 1.1 with development headers
  • libusb 1.0 (called libusbx in older distributions)
  • OpenOCD 0.11.0
  • Verible {{< tool_version “verible” >}}
  • Cmake 3.3
  • Perl 5.6.1
  • Go 1.11
  • Rust {{< tool_version “rust” >}} (x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu)

To synthesize and simulate the hardware components of OpenTitan multiple EDA tools are supported. Depending on how you interact with the OpenTitan hardware code, one of more of the following tools need to be available.

  • Verilator {{< tool_version “verilator” >}}
  • Xilinx Vivado {{< tool_version “vivado” >}} (Do not use versions earlier than 2020.2 due to a critical synthesis bug.)
  • Synopsys VCS
  • Cadence Xcelium
  • Cadence JasperGold
  • RealIntent Ascent Lint
  • Synopsys Design Compiler (DC)

To build our documentation the following additional sofware packages are required.

  • Hugo extended {{< tool_version “hugo_extended” >}}. A supported binary build of Hugo is installed when building the documentation. However, the binaries do not run on very old distributions, such as RHEL 6. In this case, Hugo must be installed separately (e.g. by building it from source).
  • doxygen 1.8
  • xsltproc

System preparation

This documentation and the following steps in general assume our reference distribution, Ubuntu 18.04. Users inexperienced with Linux and OpenTitan are strongly encouraged to use this distribution for a seamless development experience.

Users of other Linux distributions should use these steps as guidance, but will need to adjust them as necessary. Please file GitHub issues if you have questions.

By convention tools which are not provided through a package manager will be installed into /tools. This directory can be replaced by any sufficiently large directory without spaces in the directory name. It is assumed that the user executing the build instructions has full write permissions to this directory; the following commands ensure that.

$ sudo mkdir /tools
$ sudo chown $(id -un) /tools

Clone repository

If you intend to contribute back to OpenTitan you will want your own fork of the repository on GitHub and to work using that, see the [notes for using GitHub]({{< relref “doc/ug/github_notes.md” >}}). Otherwise make a simple clone of the main OpenTitan repository.

$ cd <working-area>
$ git clone https://github.com/lowRISC/opentitan.git

The repository will be checked out into <working-area>/opentitan (this is the $REPO_TOP path).

Install required software

A number of software packages from the distribution's package manager are required. On Ubuntu 18.04, the required packages can be installed with the following command.

{{< pkgmgr_cmd “apt” >}}

Our recommended reference platform is Ubuntu 18.04, but the command can be adjusted as necessary for other Linux distributions.

For example, for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 7 and derivatives (such as CentOS 7) the following packages are required. Note that we don‘t have the possibilities to actively verify that our instructions continue work on RHEL/CentOS and hence also can’t test anything on these distributions. The following instructions are effectively community contributed and we encourage users to raise pull requests if they find the package requirements to be outdated. First of all, the EPEL repository has to be enabled. A sufficiently recent version of GCC or LLVM (clang) can be obtained through Red Hat Software Collections. Then run the following command to install the required package dependencies on RHEL/CentOS 7.

{{< pkgmgr_cmd “yum” >}}

Some tools in this repository are written in Python 3 and require Python dependencies to be installed through pip. We recommend installing the latest version of pip and setuptools (especially if on older systems such as Ubuntu 18.04) using:

python3 -m pip install --user -U pip setuptools

The pip installation instructions use the --user flag to install without root permissions. Binaries are installed to ~/.local/bin; check that this directory is listed in your PATH by running which pip3, which should show ~/.local/bin/pip3. If it doesn't, add ~/.local/bin to your PATH, e.g. by modifying your ~/.bashrc file.

Now install additional Python dependencies:

$ cd $REPO_TOP
$ pip3 install --user -r python-requirements.txt

Software development

Device compiler toolchain

To build device software you need a baremetal RISC-V toolchain. We recommend using a prebuilt toolchain provided by lowRISC. The prebuilt toolchains contain both GCC and Clang, targeting RISC-V. By default the OpenTitan device software is built with Clang.

We recommend using the util/get-toolchain.py tool to download and install the latest version of this toolchain, and that you install the toolchain to the default path, /tools/riscv.

$ cd $REPO_TOP
$ ./util/get-toolchain.py

This tool will automatically adjust the toolchain configuration if you override the installation directory (by using the --install-dir option). It also provides the ability to perform a staged installation (by supplying a --dest-dir option), if the toolchain needs to be unpacked first at a temporary staging directory, before it can be moved to the final installation directory. Alternatively, manually download the file starting with lowrisc-toolchain-rv32imcb- from GitHub releases and unpack it to the desired installation directory.

OpenOCD

OpenOCD is a tool to connect with the target chip over JTAG and similar transports. It also provides a GDB server which is an “intermediate” when debugging software on the chip with GDB.

At least OpenOCD 0.11.0 is required.

It is recommended to use the regular upstream version of OpenOCD instead of the RISC-V downstream fork.

As most distributions do not yet include OpenOCD 0.11 in its package repositories building from source is likely to be required. The following steps build OpenOCD (this should be done outside the $REPO_TOP directory):

$ wget https://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/openocd/openocd/0.11.0/openocd-0.11.0.tar.bz2
$ tar -xf openocd-0.11.0.tar.bz2
$ cd openocd-0.11.0/
$ mkdir build
$ cd build
$ ../configure --enable-ftdi --enable-verbose-jtag-io --disable-vsllink --enable-remote-bitbang --prefix=/tools/openocd
$ make -j4
$ sudo make install

Verilator

Even though Verilator is packaged for most Linux distributions these versions tend to be too old to be usable. We recommend compiling Verilator from source, as outlined here.

Install Verilator

Then you can fetch, build and install Verilator itself (this should be done outside the $REPO_TOP directory).

$ export VERILATOR_VERSION={{< tool_version "verilator" >}}

$ git clone https://github.com/verilator/verilator.git
$ cd verilator
$ git checkout v$VERILATOR_VERSION

$ autoconf
$ ./configure --prefix=/tools/verilator/$VERILATOR_VERSION
$ make
$ make install

After installation you need to add /tools/verilator/$VERILATOR_VERSION/bin to your PATH environment variable.

Verible

Verible is an open source SystemVerilog style linter and formatting tool. The style linter is relatively mature and we use it as part of our [RTL design flow]({{< relref “doc/ug/design” >}}). The formatter is still under active development, and hence its usage is more experimental in OpenTitan.

You can download and build Verible from scratch as explained on the Verible GitHub page. But since this requires the Bazel build system the recommendation is to download and install a pre-built binary as described below.

Install Verible

Go to this page and download the correct binary archive for your machine. The example below is for Ubuntu 18.04:

$ export VERIBLE_VERSION={{< tool_version "verible" >}}

$ wget https://github.com/google/verible/releases/download/${VERIBLE_VERSION}/verible-${VERIBLE_VERSION}-Ubuntu-18.04-bionic-x86_64.tar.gz
$ tar -xf verible-${VERIBLE_VERSION}-Ubuntu-18.04-bionic-x86_64.tar.gz

$ sudo mkdir -p /tools/verible/${VERIBLE_VERSION}/
$ sudo mv verible-${VERIBLE_VERSION}/* /tools/verible/${VERIBLE_VERSION}/

After installation you need to add /tools/verible/$VERIBLE_VERSION/bin to your PATH environment variable.

Note that we currently use version {{< tool_version “verible” >}}, but it is expected that this version is going to be updated frequently, since the tool is under active develpment.

Xilinx Vivado

About Xilinx Vivado

To generate a bitstream for Xilinx devices a software called Vivado is required. Vivado is provided by Xilinx, it is freeware for certain (smaller) FPGA devices but requires a commercial license for larger FPGAs. The free version is called “WebPACK”, the commercial version “Design Edition”. The installation instructions below are valid for both installation methods.

Most lowRISC designs support at least one FPGA board which works with a free WebPACK license.

Install Xilinx Vivado

Vivado Version: The recommendation is to use Vivado {{< tool_version “vivado” >}}. The following instructions have been tested with Vivado 2020.2. Some screenshots are generated from Vivado 2020.1, but the installation process has not changed. Vivado 2019.1 and all its minor updates are not compatible with this project.

Vivado can be installed in two ways: either through an “All OS installer Single-File Download”, or via the “Linux Self Extracting Web Installer”. Neither option is great: the “All OS installer” is a huge download of around 20 GB (and the Xilinx download servers seem to be overloaded regularly), but it supports an unattended installation. The web installer downloads only necessary subsets of the software, which significantly reduces the download size. But unfortunately it doesn't support the batch mode for unattended installations, requiring users to click through the GUI and select the right options.

To get started faster we use the web installer in the following.

  1. Go to the Xilinx download page. Select Vivado {{< tool_version “vivado” >}} from the left-hand side and download two files:

    1. The file “Xilinx Unified Installer {{< tool_version “vivado” >}}: Linux Self Extracting Web Installer”.
    2. The “Digests” file below the download.

    Vivado download site

    You need to register for a free Xilinx account to download the software, and you‘ll need it again later to install the software. Create a new account if you don’t have one yet.

  2. Before you proceed ensure that the download didn't get corrupted by verifying the checksum.

    $ sha512sum --check Xilinx_Unified_2020.2_1118_1232_Lin64.bin.digests
Xilinx_Unified_2020.2_1118_1232_Lin64.bin: OK
sha512sum: WARNING: 22 lines are improperly formatted

    If you see an “OK” after the downloaded file proceed to the next step. Otherwise delete the download and start over. (You can ignore the warning produced by sha512sum.)

  3. Run the graphical installer. It may warn you that a newer version is available; you can ignore the warning.

    $ sh Xilinx_Unified_2020.2_1118_1232_Lin64.bin

  4. Now you need to click through the installer. Click “Next” on the first screen.

    Vivado installation step 1

  5. Type in your Xilinx User ID (your email address) and the associated password. Choose the “Download and Install Now” option. Click “Next” to continue.

    Vivado installation step 2

  6. Click all “I Agree” checkboxes, and click on “Next” to continue.

    Vivado installation step 3

  7. Choose “Vivado”, and click on “Next” to continue.

    Vivado installation step 4

  8. Choose “Vivado HL Design Edition”. This is required to enable support for the Xilinx Kintex 7 XC7K410T FPGA device found on the ChipWhisperer CW310 board. You‘ll need a commercial Vivado license for this FPGA device. Without a valid license, you are still able to install the Vivado HL Design Edition but you’ll only be able to work with devices supported by the free WebPACK license. If you don‘t have a valid license and if you’re only planning to work with devices supported by the free WebPACK license, you can also choose “Vivado HL WebPACK” instead.

    Vivado installation step 5

  9. Choose the features to install. You can restrict the features to the ones shown in the screenshot below. Click “Next” to continue.

    Vivado installation step 6

  10. Choose an installation location. Any location which doesn't have a whitespace in its path and enough free space is fine. We use /tools in our example, but a path in /opt or within the home directory works equally well. Click “Next” to continue.

    Vivado installation step 7

  11. Double-check the installation summary and click on “Install” to start the installation process.

    Vivado installation step 8

  12. Now Vivado is downloaded and installed, a process which can easily take multiple hours.

    Vivado installation step 9

  13. As soon as the installation has completed close the installer and you're now ready to use Vivado!

Device permissions: udev rules

To program FPGAs user using Vivado typically needs to have permission to USB devices connected to the PC. Depending on your security policy you can take different steps to enable this access. One way of doing so is given in the udev rule outlined below.

To do so, create a file named /etc/udev/rules.d/90-lowrisc.rules and add the following content to it:

# Grant access to board peripherals connected over USB:
# - The USB devices itself (used e.g. by Vivado to program the FPGA)
# - Virtual UART at /dev/tty/XXX

# NewAE Technology Inc. ChipWhisperer boards e.g. CW310, CW305, CW-Lite, CW-Husky
ACTION=="add|change", SUBSYSTEM=="usb|tty", ATTRS{idVendor}=="2b3e", ATTRS{idProduct}=="ace[0-9]|c[3-6][0-9][0-9]", MODE="0666"

# Future Technology Devices International, Ltd FT2232C/D/H Dual UART/FIFO IC
# used on Digilent boards
ACTION=="add|change", SUBSYSTEM=="usb|tty", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0403", ATTRS{idProduct}=="6010", ATTRS{manufacturer}=="Digilent", MODE="0666"

# Future Technology Devices International, Ltd FT232 Serial (UART) IC
ACTION=="add|change", SUBSYSTEM=="usb|tty", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0403", ATTRS{idProduct}=="6001", MODE="0666"

You then need to reload the udev rules:

$ sudo udevadm control --reload

Siemens Questa

Once a standard installation has been completed, add QUESTA_HOME as an environment variable which points to the Questa installation directory.

As of Questa version 21.4 there are some code incompatibilities with the OpenTitan code-base. See issue #9514 for the list of issues and temporary workarounds.