[Buildroot] Linux and busybox-configfiles

[Buildroot] Linux and busybox-configfiles

[Stephan Hoffmann]

Hello all,

buildroot provides direct calls to the configuration menus for busybox
and linux:

make linux-menuconfig
make busybox-menuconfig

Additionally, there is a linux-savedefconfig make target.

All these save their output in the build directory, so that all changes
get lost when "make clean" is called. Thus I don't think that I am the
only one who has been surprised to notice that "make busybox-menuconfig
&& make clean && make" does not have any effect on busybox's configuration.

I have prepared two patches that save these config files in $(TOPDIR),
where buildroot's own config file lives. After "make clean", these files
are used instead of those named in the buildroot config.

Calling "make xxx-defconfig" removes the saved config files, so that
again the configuration from buildroot's config file is used.

The same issue appears with uClibc, ct-ng and probably others, but I do
not think that many users modify these settings.

If these patches get accepted I will update the documentation, too.

Kind regards

Stephan

-- 
reLinux     -    Stephan Hoffmann
Am Schmidtgrund 124    50765 K?ln
Tel. +49.221.95595-19    Fax: -64
www.reLinux.de     sho at reLinux.de

[Buildroot] [PATCH 1/2] Busybox: save a copy of the config file

[Stephan Hoffmann]

"make busybox-xconfig" stores the changes made in the build
directory. Calling "make clean && make" later discards and
replaces them with the default values. This is not what a
user expects.

This patch saves a copy of the modified config file as
$(TOPDIR)/busybox-config and retrieves it from there after
"make clean". $(TOPDIR)/busybox-config is removed when a new
defconfig is made.

Signed-off-by: Stephan Hoffmann <sho@relinux.de>
---
 Makefile                   |    2 ++
 package/busybox/busybox.mk |   20 ++++++++++++++++++--
 2 files changed, 20 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 6f8ed0e..95ed683 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -673,10 +673,12 @@ silentoldconfig: $(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config/conf outputmakefile
 
 defconfig: $(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config/conf outputmakefile
 	@mkdir -p $(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config
+	rm -f $(TOPDIR)/busybox-config
 	@$(COMMON_CONFIG_ENV) $< --defconfig$(if $(BR2_DEFCONFIG),=$(BR2_DEFCONFIG)) $(CONFIG_CONFIG_IN)
 
 %_defconfig: $(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config/conf $(TOPDIR)/configs/%_defconfig outputmakefile
 	@mkdir -p $(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config
+	rm -f $(TOPDIR)/busybox-config
 	@$(COMMON_CONFIG_ENV) $< --defconfig=$(TOPDIR)/configs/$@ $(CONFIG_CONFIG_IN)
 
 savedefconfig: $(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config/conf outputmakefile
diff --git a/package/busybox/busybox.mk b/package/busybox/busybox.mk
index 9154c08..b81a4f5 100644
--- a/package/busybox/busybox.mk
+++ b/package/busybox/busybox.mk
@@ -33,6 +33,9 @@ BUSYBOX_CFLAGS_busybox += -ltirpc
 endif
 
 BUSYBOX_BUILD_CONFIG = $(BUSYBOX_DIR)/.config
+# Place to save configuration when "make clean" is issued
+BUSYBOX_CONFIG_SAVE = $(TOPDIR)/busybox-config
+
 # Allows the build system to tweak CFLAGS
 BUSYBOX_MAKE_ENV = \
 	$(TARGET_MAKE_ENV) \
@@ -47,8 +50,9 @@ BUSYBOX_MAKE_OPTS = \
 	CONFIG_PREFIX="$(TARGET_DIR)" \
 	SKIP_STRIP=y
 
+# Name the local variable different from environment to be able to distinguish later
 ifndef BUSYBOX_CONFIG_FILE
-	BUSYBOX_CONFIG_FILE = $(call qstrip,$(BR2_PACKAGE_BUSYBOX_CONFIG))
+	LOCAL_BUSYBOX_CONFIG_FILE = $(call qstrip,$(BR2_PACKAGE_BUSYBOX_CONFIG))
 endif
 
 define BUSYBOX_PERMISSIONS
@@ -126,9 +130,19 @@ define BUSYBOX_NETKITTELNET
 endef
 endif
 
+ifndef BUSYBOX_CONFIG_FILE
+# Keep a local copy of the config file to preserve changes over "make clean"
+define BUSYBOX_COPY_CONFIG
+	test ! -f $(BUSYBOX_CONFIG_SAVE) && \
+		cp -f $(LOCAL_BUSYBOX_CONFIG_FILE) $(BUSYBOX_CONFIG_SAVE); \
+	cp -f $(BUSYBOX_CONFIG_SAVE) $(BUSYBOX_BUILD_CONFIG)
+endef
+else
+# When the environmant variable is present we always want to use this config file
 define BUSYBOX_COPY_CONFIG
 	cp -f $(BUSYBOX_CONFIG_FILE) $(BUSYBOX_BUILD_CONFIG)
 endef
+endif
 
 # Disable shadow passwords support if unsupported by the C library
 ifeq ($(BR2_TOOLCHAIN_HAS_SHADOW_PASSWORDS),)
@@ -220,8 +234,10 @@ $(eval $(generic-package))
 busybox-menuconfig busybox-xconfig busybox-gconfig: busybox-patch
 	$(BUSYBOX_MAKE_ENV) $(MAKE) $(BUSYBOX_MAKE_OPTS) -C $(BUSYBOX_DIR) \
 		$(subst busybox-,,$@)
+	cp -f $(BUSYBOX_BUILD_CONFIG) $(BUSYBOX_CONFIG_SAVE)
 	rm -f $(BUSYBOX_DIR)/.stamp_built
 	rm -f $(BUSYBOX_DIR)/.stamp_target_installed
 
 busybox-update-config:
-	cp -f $(BUSYBOX_BUILD_CONFIG) $(BUSYBOX_CONFIG_FILE)
+	cp -f $(BUSYBOX_BUILD_CONFIG) $(LOCAL_BUSYBOX_CONFIG_FILE)
+
-- 
1.7.0.4

[Buildroot] [PATCH 2/2] Linux: save a copy of the config file

[Stephan Hoffmann]

"make linux-xconfig" stores the changes made in the build
directory. Calling "make clean && make" later discards and
replaces them with the default values. This is not what a
user expects.

This patch saves a copy of the modified config file as
$(TOPDIR)/linux-config and retrieves it from there after
"make clean". $(TOPDIR)/linux-config is removed when a new
defconfig is made.

For convenience we also copy the defconfig file to
$(TOPDIR)/linux-defconfig after a "make linux-savedefconfig"

Signed-off-by: Stephan Hoffmann <sho@relinux.de>
---
 Makefile       |    2 ++
 linux/linux.mk |   15 ++++++++++++++-
 2 files changed, 16 insertions(+), 1 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 95ed683..af820ce 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -674,11 +674,13 @@ silentoldconfig: $(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config/conf outputmakefile
 defconfig: $(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config/conf outputmakefile
 	@mkdir -p $(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config
 	rm -f $(TOPDIR)/busybox-config
+	rm -f $(TOPDIR)/linux-config
 	@$(COMMON_CONFIG_ENV) $< --defconfig$(if $(BR2_DEFCONFIG),=$(BR2_DEFCONFIG)) $(CONFIG_CONFIG_IN)
 
 %_defconfig: $(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config/conf $(TOPDIR)/configs/%_defconfig outputmakefile
 	@mkdir -p $(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config
 	rm -f $(TOPDIR)/busybox-config
+	rm -f $(TOPDIR)/linux-config
 	@$(COMMON_CONFIG_ENV) $< --defconfig=$(TOPDIR)/configs/$@ $(CONFIG_CONFIG_IN)
 
 savedefconfig: $(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config/conf outputmakefile
diff --git a/linux/linux.mk b/linux/linux.mk
index 91a9f50..18609b5 100644
--- a/linux/linux.mk
+++ b/linux/linux.mk
@@ -155,8 +155,17 @@ else ifeq ($(BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_USE_CUSTOM_CONFIG),y)
 KERNEL_SOURCE_CONFIG = $(BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_CUSTOM_CONFIG_FILE)
 endif
 
+# If we have a seved config file from a prevuios run we use this instead of the default one
+define LINUX_GET_SAVED_CONFIG
+	if [ -f $(TOPDIR)/linux-config ] ; then \
+		cp $(TOPDIR)/linux-config $(KERNEL_ARCH_PATH)/configs/buildroot_defconfig; \
+	else \
+		cp $(KERNEL_SOURCE_CONFIG) $(KERNEL_ARCH_PATH)/configs/buildroot_defconfig; \
+	fi
+endef
+
 define LINUX_CONFIGURE_CMDS
-	cp $(KERNEL_SOURCE_CONFIG) $(KERNEL_ARCH_PATH)/configs/buildroot_defconfig
+	$(call LINUX_GET_SAVED_CONFIG)
 	$(TARGET_MAKE_ENV) $(MAKE1) $(LINUX_MAKE_FLAGS) -C $(@D) buildroot_defconfig
 	rm $(KERNEL_ARCH_PATH)/configs/buildroot_defconfig
 	$(if $(BR2_ARM_EABI),
@@ -184,6 +193,7 @@ define LINUX_CONFIGURE_CMDS
 	$(if $(BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_APPENDED_DTB),
 		$(call KCONFIG_ENABLE_OPT,CONFIG_ARM_APPENDED_DTB,$(@D)/.config))
 	yes '' | $(TARGET_MAKE_ENV) $(MAKE1) $(LINUX_MAKE_FLAGS) -C $(@D) oldconfig
+	cp $(@D)/.config $(TOPDIR)/linux-config
 endef
 
 ifeq ($(BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_DTS_SUPPORT),y)
@@ -272,11 +282,14 @@ ifeq ($(BR2_LINUX_KERNEL),y)
 linux-menuconfig linux-xconfig linux-gconfig linux-nconfig linux26-menuconfig linux26-xconfig linux26-gconfig linux26-nconfig: dirs linux-configure
 	$(MAKE) $(LINUX_MAKE_FLAGS) -C $(LINUX_DIR) \
 		$(subst linux-,,$(subst linux26-,,$@))
+	# copy the config file for later reference
+	cp $(LINUX_DIR)/.config $(TOPDIR)/linux-config
 	rm -f $(LINUX_DIR)/.stamp_{built,target_installed,images_installed}
 
 linux-savedefconfig linux26-savedefconfig: dirs linux-configure
 	$(MAKE) $(LINUX_MAKE_FLAGS) -C $(LINUX_DIR) \
 		$(subst linux-,,$(subst linux26-,,$@))
+	cp $(LINUX_DIR)/defconfig $(TOPDIR)/linux-defconfig
 
 ifeq ($(BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_USE_CUSTOM_CONFIG),y)
 linux-update-config linux26-update-config: linux-configure $(LINUX_DIR)/.config
-- 
1.7.0.4

[Buildroot] Linux and busybox-configfiles

[Arnout Vandecappelle]

On 27/01/13 17:08, Stephan Hoffmann wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> buildroot provides direct calls to the configuration menus for busybox
> and linux:
>
> make linux-menuconfig
> make busybox-menuconfig
>
> Additionally, there is a linux-savedefconfig make target.
>
> All these save their output in the build directory, so that all changes
> get lost when "make clean" is called. Thus I don't think that I am the
> only one who has been surprised to notice that "make busybox-menuconfig
> && make clean && make" does not have any effect on busybox's configuration.

  This is a bit a philosophical discussion: should the configuration 
files of linux, busybox, etc. be considered part of the buildroot 
configuration or not? In the former case, they should survive a 'make 
clean', in the latter case they should be removed by 'make clean'.

  I tend to agree that the package configs should be considered part of 
the buildroot config. However, if your buildroot config specifies some 
BR2_PACKAGE_BUSYBOX_CONFIG, then I would expect that after 'make clean', 
that is the config that will be used. More generically, I expect I can do:

  make foo_defconfig
  Do all kinds of weird stuff that completely messes things up
  make clean
  make

and to be back in the same state as 'make foo_defconfig; make'.


  Bottom line: I tend to say no to this patch.


> I have prepared two patches that save these config files in $(TOPDIR),
> where buildroot's own config file lives. After "make clean", these files
> are used instead of those named in the buildroot config.

  buildroot's own config lives in $(CONFIG_DIR).


  Regards,
  Arnout

> Calling "make xxx-defconfig" removes the saved config files, so that
> again the configuration from buildroot's config file is used.
>
> The same issue appears with uClibc, ct-ng and probably others, but I do
> not think that many users modify these settings.
>
> If these patches get accepted I will update the documentation, too.
>
> Kind regards
>
> Stephan
>


-- 
Arnout Vandecappelle                          arnout at mind be
Senior Embedded Software Architect            +32-16-286500
Essensium/Mind                                http://www.mind.be
G.Geenslaan 9, 3001 Leuven, Belgium           BE 872 984 063 RPR Leuven
LinkedIn profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/arnoutvandecappelle
GPG fingerprint:  7CB5 E4CC 6C2E EFD4 6E3D A754 F963 ECAB 2450 2F1F

[Buildroot] Linux and busybox-configfiles

[Jeremy Rosen]

> More generically, I expect I
> can do:
> 
>   make foo_defconfig
>   Do all kinds of weird stuff that completely messes things up
>   make clean
>   make
> 

I'd tend to disagree on that one... 

when using the kernel (or buildroot for that matter) that sequence would use your .config configuration, not the foo_defconfig

to get the foo_defconfig back in place the sequence would be

make foo_defconfig
<weird stuff>
make clean
make foo_defconfig
make

you need that call to override your .config and I think that's the behaviour people would expect i.e the philosophy would be

"make clean doesn't touch your configuration, only explicit make targets are allowed to touch your configuration"

would it make sense to have a "kconfig-target" generic infrastructure in buildroot for all packages that use kconfig like configuration ?



Regards
J?r?my

[Buildroot] Linux and busybox-configfiles

[Stephan Hoffmann]

Am 27.01.2013 23:36, schrieb Arnout Vandecappelle:
> On 27/01/13 17:08, Stephan Hoffmann wrote:
>> Hello all,
>>
>> buildroot provides direct calls to the configuration menus for busybox
>> and linux:
>>
>> make linux-menuconfig
>> make busybox-menuconfig
>>
>> Additionally, there is a linux-savedefconfig make target.
>>
>> All these save their output in the build directory, so that all changes
>> get lost when "make clean" is called. Thus I don't think that I am the
>> only one who has been surprised to notice that "make busybox-menuconfig
>> && make clean && make" does not have any effect on busybox's
>> configuration.
>
>  This is a bit a philosophical discussion: should the configuration
> files of linux, busybox, etc. be considered part of the buildroot
> configuration or not? In the former case, they should survive a 'make
> clean', in the latter case they should be removed by 'make clean'.
Hello Arnout,

this is the inconsistency I am pointing to. On the one hand, some
"initial" config for Linux, Busybox and so on are needed. On the other
hand, buildroot provides means to tweak these config files so the
tweaked ones should at least be usable.

"make xconfig && make clean && make" is the general workflow for
tweaking buildroot with the option to leave out "make clean" if one
knows that it isn't needed.

"make busybox-xconfig && make clean & make" just does nothing.

There are undocumented xxx-update-config make targets around, but these
replace the config files stored in the packet directories and thus have
a "make savedefconfig && cp defconfig configs/xxx-defconfig" semantic
neaning that in case messing up the config only git helps to get out
since the original config files are gone.
>
>  I tend to agree that the package configs should be considered part of
> the buildroot config. However, if your buildroot config specifies some
> BR2_PACKAGE_BUSYBOX_CONFIG, then I would expect that after 'make
> clean', that is the config that will be used. 
What is your workflow when tweaking Linux or busybox configuration for a
given project?

My treferred workflow would be:

make xxx-defconfig
do one of
    make xconfig
    make linux-xconfig
    make busybox-xconfig
    make clean
    make
    tweak script to finalize filesysten
until the system works as expected
make savedefconfig
save buildroot, busybox and linux config files to a project-specific place

> More generically, I expect I can do:
>
>  make foo_defconfig
>  Do all kinds of weird stuff that completely messes things up
>  make clean
>  make
In this case you end up with changes in buildroot's config preserved and
all others discarded. Last but not least "make clean" is not only needed
after messing things up, but also, for example, when switching some
system application from busybox to the generic version or vice versa.
>
> and to be back in the same state as 'make foo_defconfig; make'.
That would be the case with my patches.

>
>  Bottom line: I tend to say no to this patch.
>
>
>> I have prepared two patches that save these config files in $(TOPDIR),
>> where buildroot's own config file lives. After "make clean", these files
>> are used instead of those named in the buildroot config.
>
>  buildroot's own config lives in $(CONFIG_DIR).
That's right, thank you. I missed this and will correct my parches.

Regards

Stephan
>
>
>  Regards,
>  Arnout
>
>> Calling "make xxx-defconfig" removes the saved config files, so that
>> again the configuration from buildroot's config file is used.
>>
>> The same issue appears with uClibc, ct-ng and probably others, but I do
>> not think that many users modify these settings.
>>
>> If these patches get accepted I will update the documentation, too.
>>
>> Kind regards
>>
>> Stephan
>>
>
>

[Buildroot] Linux and busybox-configfiles

[Willy Lambert]

2013/1/27 Stephan Hoffmann <sho@relinux.de>:
> Hello all,
>
> buildroot provides direct calls to the configuration menus for busybox
> and linux:
>
> make linux-menuconfig
> make busybox-menuconfig
>
> Additionally, there is a linux-savedefconfig make target.
>
> All these save their output in the build directory, so that all changes
> get lost when "make clean" is called. Thus I don't think that I am the
> only one who has been surprised to notice that "make busybox-menuconfig
> && make clean && make" does not have any effect on busybox's configuration.
>

I have been bitten by this recently and it is a real bad surprise when :
_ you lost days figuring out how the hell the option that should save
you has no effect on your porblem
_ you lost what you did in your configs ...

It may simply be a matter of documentation, but it's really a pain to
learn that this way.

> I have prepared two patches that save these config files in $(TOPDIR),
> where buildroot's own config file lives. After "make clean", these files
> are used instead of those named in the buildroot config.
>
> Calling "make xxx-defconfig" removes the saved config files, so that
> again the configuration from buildroot's config file is used.
>
> The same issue appears with uClibc, ct-ng and probably others, but I do
> not think that many users modify these settings.
>
> If these patches get accepted I will update the documentation, too.
>
> Kind regards
>
> Stephan
>
> --
> reLinux     -    Stephan Hoffmann
> Am Schmidtgrund 124    50765 K?ln
> Tel. +49.221.95595-19    Fax: -64
> www.reLinux.de     sho at reLinux.de
>
> _______________________________________________
> buildroot mailing list
> buildroot at busybox.net
> http://lists.busybox.net/mailman/listinfo/buildroot

[Buildroot] Linux and busybox-configfiles

[Shawn J. Goff]

On 01/27/2013 05:36 PM, Arnout Vandecappelle wrote:
> On 27/01/13 17:08, Stephan Hoffmann wrote:
>> Hello all,
>>
>> buildroot provides direct calls to the configuration menus for busybox
>> and linux:
>>
>> make linux-menuconfig
>> make busybox-menuconfig
>>
>> Additionally, there is a linux-savedefconfig make target.
>>
>> All these save their output in the build directory, so that all changes
>> get lost when "make clean" is called. Thus I don't think that I am the
>> only one who has been surprised to notice that "make busybox-menuconfig
>> && make clean && make" does not have any effect on busybox's
>> configuration.
>
>   This is a bit a philosophical discussion: should the configuration
> files of linux, busybox, etc. be considered part of the buildroot
> configuration or not? In the former case, they should survive a 'make
> clean', in the latter case they should be removed by 'make clean'.
>
>   I tend to agree that the package configs should be considered part of
> the buildroot config. However, if your buildroot config specifies some
> BR2_PACKAGE_BUSYBOX_CONFIG, then I would expect that after 'make clean',
> that is the config that will be used. More generically, I expect I can do:
>
>   make foo_defconfig
>   Do all kinds of weird stuff that completely messes things up
>   make clean
>   make
>
> and to be back in the same state as 'make foo_defconfig; make'.
>
>

I'd like the busybox-*config and linux-*config targets should save the 
resulting config in BR2_PACKAGE_BUSYBOX_CONFIG and 
BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_CUSTOM_CONFIG_FILE. I keep these two locations under 
source control in board/my_company/board_name/, so when I completely 
mess up the config, it's just a git checkout path/to/config, and if I 
want to keep the changes, I just add and commit the file. It also lets 
me clearly see something has changed when I run git status.

[Buildroot] Linux and busybox-configfiles

[Stephan Hoffmann]

Am 29.01.2013 01:16, schrieb Shawn J. Goff:
>
>
> On 01/27/2013 05:36 PM, Arnout Vandecappelle wrote:
>> On 27/01/13 17:08, Stephan Hoffmann wrote:
>>> Hello all,
>>>
>>> buildroot provides direct calls to the configuration menus for busybox
>>> and linux:
>>>
>>> make linux-menuconfig
>>> make busybox-menuconfig
>>>
>>> Additionally, there is a linux-savedefconfig make target.
>>>
>>> All these save their output in the build directory, so that all changes
>>> get lost when "make clean" is called. Thus I don't think that I am the
>>> only one who has been surprised to notice that "make busybox-menuconfig
>>> && make clean && make" does not have any effect on busybox's
>>> configuration.
>>
>>   This is a bit a philosophical discussion: should the configuration
>> files of linux, busybox, etc. be considered part of the buildroot
>> configuration or not? In the former case, they should survive a 'make
>> clean', in the latter case they should be removed by 'make clean'.
>>
>>   I tend to agree that the package configs should be considered part of
>> the buildroot config. However, if your buildroot config specifies some
>> BR2_PACKAGE_BUSYBOX_CONFIG, then I would expect that after 'make clean',
>> that is the config that will be used. More generically, I expect I
>> can do:
>>
>>   make foo_defconfig
>>   Do all kinds of weird stuff that completely messes things up
>>   make clean
>>   make
>>
>> and to be back in the same state as 'make foo_defconfig; make'.
>>
>>
>
> I'd like the busybox-*config and linux-*config targets should save the
> resulting config in BR2_PACKAGE_BUSYBOX_CONFIG and
> BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_CUSTOM_CONFIG_FILE. I keep these two locations under
> source control in board/my_company/board_name/, so when I completely
> mess up the config, it's just a git checkout path/to/config, and if I
> want to keep the changes, I just add and commit the file. It also lets
> me clearly see something has changed when I run git status.
Do you know about busybox-update-config and linux-update-config?
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> buildroot mailing list
> buildroot at busybox.net
> http://lists.busybox.net/mailman/listinfo/buildroot

[Buildroot] Linux and busybox-configfiles

[Shawn J. Goff]

On 01/29/2013 02:57 AM, Stephan Hoffmann wrote:
> Am 29.01.2013 01:16, schrieb Shawn J. Goff:
>>
>>
>> On 01/27/2013 05:36 PM, Arnout Vandecappelle wrote:
>>> On 27/01/13 17:08, Stephan Hoffmann wrote:
>>>> Hello all,
>>>>
>>>> buildroot provides direct calls to the configuration menus for busybox
>>>> and linux:
>>>>
>>>> make linux-menuconfig
>>>> make busybox-menuconfig
>>>>
>>>> Additionally, there is a linux-savedefconfig make target.
>>>>
>>>> All these save their output in the build directory, so that all changes
>>>> get lost when "make clean" is called. Thus I don't think that I am the
>>>> only one who has been surprised to notice that "make busybox-menuconfig
>>>> && make clean && make" does not have any effect on busybox's
>>>> configuration.
>>>
>>>    This is a bit a philosophical discussion: should the configuration
>>> files of linux, busybox, etc. be considered part of the buildroot
>>> configuration or not? In the former case, they should survive a 'make
>>> clean', in the latter case they should be removed by 'make clean'.
>>>
>>>    I tend to agree that the package configs should be considered part of
>>> the buildroot config. However, if your buildroot config specifies some
>>> BR2_PACKAGE_BUSYBOX_CONFIG, then I would expect that after 'make clean',
>>> that is the config that will be used. More generically, I expect I
>>> can do:
>>>
>>>    make foo_defconfig
>>>    Do all kinds of weird stuff that completely messes things up
>>>    make clean
>>>    make
>>>
>>> and to be back in the same state as 'make foo_defconfig; make'.
>>>
>>>
>>
>> I'd like the busybox-*config and linux-*config targets should save the
>> resulting config in BR2_PACKAGE_BUSYBOX_CONFIG and
>> BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_CUSTOM_CONFIG_FILE. I keep these two locations under
>> source control in board/my_company/board_name/, so when I completely
>> mess up the config, it's just a git checkout path/to/config, and if I
>> want to keep the changes, I just add and commit the file. It also lets
>> me clearly see something has changed when I run git status.
> Do you know about busybox-update-config and linux-update-config?

I did not. I also see a barebox-update-config and a 
uClibc-update-config. Why should those not get called by the make 
*-config targets? One of the goals of Buildroot is to ensure consistent, 
repeatable builds. If it's easy for me to do a make linux-menuconfig and 
go on working without it reminding me that I've changed something and 
it's not committed yet, I think that's a bug.

[Buildroot] Linux and busybox-configfiles

[Arnout Vandecappelle]

On 27/01/13 23:36, Arnout Vandecappelle wrote:
> On 27/01/13 17:08, Stephan Hoffmann wrote:
>> Hello all,
>>
>> buildroot provides direct calls to the configuration menus for busybox
>> and linux:
>>
>> make linux-menuconfig
>> make busybox-menuconfig
>>
>> Additionally, there is a linux-savedefconfig make target.
>>
>> All these save their output in the build directory, so that all changes
>> get lost when "make clean" is called. Thus I don't think that I am the
>> only one who has been surprised to notice that "make busybox-menuconfig
>> && make clean && make" does not have any effect on busybox's
>> configuration.
>
>   This is a bit a philosophical discussion: should the configuration
> files of linux, busybox, etc. be considered part of the buildroot
> configuration or not? In the former case, they should survive a 'make
> clean', in the latter case they should be removed by 'make clean'.
>
>   I tend to agree that the package configs should be considered part of
> the buildroot config. However, if your buildroot config specifies some
> BR2_PACKAGE_BUSYBOX_CONFIG, then I would expect that after 'make clean',
> that is the config that will be used. More generically, I expect I can do:
>
>   make foo_defconfig
>   Do all kinds of weird stuff that completely messes things up
>   make clean
>   make
>
> and to be back in the same state as 'make foo_defconfig; make'.
>
>
>   Bottom line: I tend to say no to this patch.


  After the feedback from Real Users (Stephan, Jeremy, Shawn), it looks 
like I have to revise my opinion...

  Or are there any other voices against?

  If this does go through, I would  like to have some way to throw away 
the customized config and revert to the configured config.  Perhaps a 
'realclean' target?


  Regards,
  Arnout
-- 
Arnout Vandecappelle                          arnout at mind be
Senior Embedded Software Architect            +32-16-286500
Essensium/Mind                                http://www.mind.be
G.Geenslaan 9, 3001 Leuven, Belgium           BE 872 984 063 RPR Leuven
LinkedIn profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/arnoutvandecappelle
GPG fingerprint:  7CB5 E4CC 6C2E EFD4 6E3D A754 F963 ECAB 2450 2F1F

[Buildroot] Linux and busybox-configfiles

[Jeremy Rosen]

> >
> >   make foo_defconfig
> >   Do all kinds of weird stuff that completely messes things up
> >   make clean
> >   make
> >
> > and to be back in the same state as 'make foo_defconfig; make'.
> >
> >
> >   Bottom line: I tend to say no to this patch.
> 
> 
>   After the feedback from Real Users (Stephan, Jeremy, Shawn), it
>   looks
> like I have to revise my opinion...
> 
>   Or are there any other voices against?
> 
>   If this does go through, I would  like to have some way to throw
>   away
> the customized config and revert to the configured config.  Perhaps a
> 'realclean' target?
> 
> 

I am not sure what you mean by "the configured" vs "the customized"

I guess that the customized is the one from make linux-menuconfig and the configured is the one from make foo_defconfig

hmm, I see your use case.... I would tend to argue that the kernel is no exception to the way buildroot works

* make clean removes all build-generated but doesn't touch user-defined configurations (BR configuration, kernel configuration)
* to revert to BR's suggested configuration, use make xxx_defconfig, and that would override both the kernel and BR's configuration.

I don't really see a use-case for "revert my changes to the kernel, but not the rest of buildroot" though providing targets like make linux-xxx_defconfig for all kernel defined defconfig
and/or a make linux-buildrootconfig to revert to the buildroot-suggested config might make sense...


Best
J?r?my

[Buildroot] Linux and busybox-configfiles

[Arnout Vandecappelle]

On 30/01/13 08:50, Jeremy Rosen wrote:
>>    If this does go through, I would  like to have some way to throw
>>    away
>> the customized config and revert to the configured config.  Perhaps a
>> 'realclean' target?
>>
>>
>
> I am not sure what you mean by "the configured" vs "the customized"
>
> I guess that the customized is the one from make linux-menuconfig and the configured is the one from make foo_defconfig

  Not from 'make foo_defconfig', but from 'make menuconfig'.

  If in the buildroot config I select 'Use omap2plus defconfig' for the 
kernel, then I expect it to use the omap2plus configuration. Similarly, 
if I set the custom linux config to /some/path/linux.config, then I 
expect that that configuration will be used.

  So 'configured' is what you see in 'make menuconfig', 'customized' is 
what you see in 'make linux-menuconfig'.


> hmm, I see your use case.... I would tend to argue that the kernel is no exception to the way buildroot works
>
> * make clean removes all build-generated but doesn't touch user-defined configurations (BR configuration, kernel configuration)

  But the problem is that the buildroot configuration conflicts with the 
kernel configuration.


  Regards,
  Arnout

> * to revert to BR's suggested configuration, use make xxx_defconfig, and that would override both the kernel and BR's configuration.
>
> I don't really see a use-case for "revert my changes to the kernel, but not the rest of buildroot" though providing targets like make linux-xxx_defconfig for all kernel defined defconfig
> and/or a make linux-buildrootconfig to revert to the buildroot-suggested config might make sense...
>
>
> Best
> J?r?my
>


-- 
Arnout Vandecappelle                          arnout at mind be
Senior Embedded Software Architect            +32-16-286500
Essensium/Mind                                http://www.mind.be
G.Geenslaan 9, 3001 Leuven, Belgium           BE 872 984 063 RPR Leuven
LinkedIn profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/arnoutvandecappelle
GPG fingerprint:  7CB5 E4CC 6C2E EFD4 6E3D A754 F963 ECAB 2450 2F1F

[Buildroot] Linux and busybox-configfiles

[Jeremy Rosen]

> 
>   But the problem is that the buildroot configuration conflicts with
>   the
> kernel configuration.
> 
> 
>   Regards,
>   Arnout
> 


aha....

so our problem is that make linux-menuconfig should change the buildroot configuration option from "use defconfig" to "use a custom configuration"

is that it ?

[Buildroot] Linux and busybox-configfiles

[Stephan Hoffmann]

Am 30.01.2013 11:01, schrieb Jeremy Rosen:
>>   But the problem is that the buildroot configuration conflicts with
>>   the
>> kernel configuration.
>>
>>
>>   Regards,
>>   Arnout
>>
>
> aha....
>
> so our problem is that make linux-menuconfig should change the buildroot configuration option from "use defconfig" to "use a custom configuration"
>
> is that it ?
I don't think so. If we regard the buildroot configuration option more
as a starting point for configuring busybox and linux than as the actual
used value, we are right there:

After "make xxx_defconfig" we have the default configuration.
"make xxx-menuconfig" takes us to a temporary "work in progress" point,
where our system no longer matches the default configuration but is
defined by .config, busybox-config and linux-config.
"make xxx_defconfig && make clean" discards all changes and restores the
default configuration.
"make xxx-update-config" updates the config file named in buildroot's
config file constituting a new default.
"make savedefconfig && cp defconfig configs/xxx_defconfig" does the same
for the changes in buildroot's config file.

Maybe it makes sense to change some names?

BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_CUSTOM_CONFIG_FILE -> BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_DEFAULT_CONFIG_FILE
BR2_PACKAGE_BUSYBOX_CONFIG -> BR2_PACKAGE_BUSYBOX_DEFAULT_CONFIG

Regards

Stephan

-- 
reLinux     -    Stephan Hoffmann
Am Schmidtgrund 124    50765 K?ln
Tel. +49.221.95595-19    Fax: -64
www.reLinux.de     sho at reLinux.de

[Buildroot] [PATCH 2/2] Linux: save a copy of the config file

[Stephan Hoffmann]

Hi,

since this patch is obsolete I removed it from patchwork.

Regards

Stephan

Am 27.01.2013 17:11, schrieb Stephan Hoffmann:
> "make linux-xconfig" stores the changes made in the build
> directory. Calling "make clean && make" later discards and
> replaces them with the default values. This is not what a
> user expects.
>
> This patch saves a copy of the modified config file as
> $(TOPDIR)/linux-config and retrieves it from there after
> "make clean". $(TOPDIR)/linux-config is removed when a new
> defconfig is made.
>
> For convenience we also copy the defconfig file to
> $(TOPDIR)/linux-defconfig after a "make linux-savedefconfig"
>
> Signed-off-by: Stephan Hoffmann <sho@relinux.de>
> ---
>  Makefile       |    2 ++
>  linux/linux.mk |   15 ++++++++++++++-
>  2 files changed, 16 insertions(+), 1 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
> index 95ed683..af820ce 100644
> --- a/Makefile
> +++ b/Makefile
> @@ -674,11 +674,13 @@ silentoldconfig: $(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config/conf outputmakefile
>  defconfig: $(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config/conf outputmakefile
>  	@mkdir -p $(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config
>  	rm -f $(TOPDIR)/busybox-config
> +	rm -f $(TOPDIR)/linux-config
>  	@$(COMMON_CONFIG_ENV) $< --defconfig$(if $(BR2_DEFCONFIG),=$(BR2_DEFCONFIG)) $(CONFIG_CONFIG_IN)
>  
>  %_defconfig: $(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config/conf $(TOPDIR)/configs/%_defconfig outputmakefile
>  	@mkdir -p $(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config
>  	rm -f $(TOPDIR)/busybox-config
> +	rm -f $(TOPDIR)/linux-config
>  	@$(COMMON_CONFIG_ENV) $< --defconfig=$(TOPDIR)/configs/$@ $(CONFIG_CONFIG_IN)
>  
>  savedefconfig: $(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config/conf outputmakefile
> diff --git a/linux/linux.mk b/linux/linux.mk
> index 91a9f50..18609b5 100644
> --- a/linux/linux.mk
> +++ b/linux/linux.mk
> @@ -155,8 +155,17 @@ else ifeq ($(BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_USE_CUSTOM_CONFIG),y)
>  KERNEL_SOURCE_CONFIG = $(BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_CUSTOM_CONFIG_FILE)
>  endif
>  
> +# If we have a seved config file from a prevuios run we use this instead of the default one
> +define LINUX_GET_SAVED_CONFIG
> +	if [ -f $(TOPDIR)/linux-config ] ; then \
> +		cp $(TOPDIR)/linux-config $(KERNEL_ARCH_PATH)/configs/buildroot_defconfig; \
> +	else \
> +		cp $(KERNEL_SOURCE_CONFIG) $(KERNEL_ARCH_PATH)/configs/buildroot_defconfig; \
> +	fi
> +endef
> +
>  define LINUX_CONFIGURE_CMDS
> -	cp $(KERNEL_SOURCE_CONFIG) $(KERNEL_ARCH_PATH)/configs/buildroot_defconfig
> +	$(call LINUX_GET_SAVED_CONFIG)
>  	$(TARGET_MAKE_ENV) $(MAKE1) $(LINUX_MAKE_FLAGS) -C $(@D) buildroot_defconfig
>  	rm $(KERNEL_ARCH_PATH)/configs/buildroot_defconfig
>  	$(if $(BR2_ARM_EABI),
> @@ -184,6 +193,7 @@ define LINUX_CONFIGURE_CMDS
>  	$(if $(BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_APPENDED_DTB),
>  		$(call KCONFIG_ENABLE_OPT,CONFIG_ARM_APPENDED_DTB,$(@D)/.config))
>  	yes '' | $(TARGET_MAKE_ENV) $(MAKE1) $(LINUX_MAKE_FLAGS) -C $(@D) oldconfig
> +	cp $(@D)/.config $(TOPDIR)/linux-config
>  endef
>  
>  ifeq ($(BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_DTS_SUPPORT),y)
> @@ -272,11 +282,14 @@ ifeq ($(BR2_LINUX_KERNEL),y)
>  linux-menuconfig linux-xconfig linux-gconfig linux-nconfig linux26-menuconfig linux26-xconfig linux26-gconfig linux26-nconfig: dirs linux-configure
>  	$(MAKE) $(LINUX_MAKE_FLAGS) -C $(LINUX_DIR) \
>  		$(subst linux-,,$(subst linux26-,,$@))
> +	# copy the config file for later reference
> +	cp $(LINUX_DIR)/.config $(TOPDIR)/linux-config
>  	rm -f $(LINUX_DIR)/.stamp_{built,target_installed,images_installed}
>  
>  linux-savedefconfig linux26-savedefconfig: dirs linux-configure
>  	$(MAKE) $(LINUX_MAKE_FLAGS) -C $(LINUX_DIR) \
>  		$(subst linux-,,$(subst linux26-,,$@))
> +	cp $(LINUX_DIR)/defconfig $(TOPDIR)/linux-defconfig
>  
>  ifeq ($(BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_USE_CUSTOM_CONFIG),y)
>  linux-update-config linux26-update-config: linux-configure $(LINUX_DIR)/.config


-- 
reLinux     -    Stephan Hoffmann
Am Schmidtgrund 124    50765 K?ln
Tel. +49.221.95595-19    Fax: -64
www.reLinux.de     sho at reLinux.de

[Buildroot] [PATCH 1/2] Busybox: save a copy of the config file

[Stephan Hoffmann]

Hi,

since this patch is obsolete I set it to Rejected on patchwork.

Regards

Stephan

Am 27.01.2013 17:11, schrieb Stephan Hoffmann:
> "make busybox-xconfig" stores the changes made in the build
> directory. Calling "make clean && make" later discards and
> replaces them with the default values. This is not what a
> user expects.
>
> This patch saves a copy of the modified config file as
> $(TOPDIR)/busybox-config and retrieves it from there after
> "make clean". $(TOPDIR)/busybox-config is removed when a new
> defconfig is made.
>
> Signed-off-by: Stephan Hoffmann <sho@relinux.de>
> ---
>  Makefile                   |    2 ++
>  package/busybox/busybox.mk |   20 ++++++++++++++++++--
>  2 files changed, 20 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
> index 6f8ed0e..95ed683 100644
> --- a/Makefile
> +++ b/Makefile
> @@ -673,10 +673,12 @@ silentoldconfig: $(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config/conf outputmakefile
>  
>  defconfig: $(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config/conf outputmakefile
>  	@mkdir -p $(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config
> +	rm -f $(TOPDIR)/busybox-config
>  	@$(COMMON_CONFIG_ENV) $< --defconfig$(if $(BR2_DEFCONFIG),=$(BR2_DEFCONFIG)) $(CONFIG_CONFIG_IN)
>  
>  %_defconfig: $(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config/conf $(TOPDIR)/configs/%_defconfig outputmakefile
>  	@mkdir -p $(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config
> +	rm -f $(TOPDIR)/busybox-config
>  	@$(COMMON_CONFIG_ENV) $< --defconfig=$(TOPDIR)/configs/$@ $(CONFIG_CONFIG_IN)
>  
>  savedefconfig: $(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config/conf outputmakefile
> diff --git a/package/busybox/busybox.mk b/package/busybox/busybox.mk
> index 9154c08..b81a4f5 100644
> --- a/package/busybox/busybox.mk
> +++ b/package/busybox/busybox.mk
> @@ -33,6 +33,9 @@ BUSYBOX_CFLAGS_busybox += -ltirpc
>  endif
>  
>  BUSYBOX_BUILD_CONFIG = $(BUSYBOX_DIR)/.config
> +# Place to save configuration when "make clean" is issued
> +BUSYBOX_CONFIG_SAVE = $(TOPDIR)/busybox-config
> +
>  # Allows the build system to tweak CFLAGS
>  BUSYBOX_MAKE_ENV = \
>  	$(TARGET_MAKE_ENV) \
> @@ -47,8 +50,9 @@ BUSYBOX_MAKE_OPTS = \
>  	CONFIG_PREFIX="$(TARGET_DIR)" \
>  	SKIP_STRIP=y
>  
> +# Name the local variable different from environment to be able to distinguish later
>  ifndef BUSYBOX_CONFIG_FILE
> -	BUSYBOX_CONFIG_FILE = $(call qstrip,$(BR2_PACKAGE_BUSYBOX_CONFIG))
> +	LOCAL_BUSYBOX_CONFIG_FILE = $(call qstrip,$(BR2_PACKAGE_BUSYBOX_CONFIG))
>  endif
>  
>  define BUSYBOX_PERMISSIONS
> @@ -126,9 +130,19 @@ define BUSYBOX_NETKITTELNET
>  endef
>  endif
>  
> +ifndef BUSYBOX_CONFIG_FILE
> +# Keep a local copy of the config file to preserve changes over "make clean"
> +define BUSYBOX_COPY_CONFIG
> +	test ! -f $(BUSYBOX_CONFIG_SAVE) && \
> +		cp -f $(LOCAL_BUSYBOX_CONFIG_FILE) $(BUSYBOX_CONFIG_SAVE); \
> +	cp -f $(BUSYBOX_CONFIG_SAVE) $(BUSYBOX_BUILD_CONFIG)
> +endef
> +else
> +# When the environmant variable is present we always want to use this config file
>  define BUSYBOX_COPY_CONFIG
>  	cp -f $(BUSYBOX_CONFIG_FILE) $(BUSYBOX_BUILD_CONFIG)
>  endef
> +endif
>  
>  # Disable shadow passwords support if unsupported by the C library
>  ifeq ($(BR2_TOOLCHAIN_HAS_SHADOW_PASSWORDS),)
> @@ -220,8 +234,10 @@ $(eval $(generic-package))
>  busybox-menuconfig busybox-xconfig busybox-gconfig: busybox-patch
>  	$(BUSYBOX_MAKE_ENV) $(MAKE) $(BUSYBOX_MAKE_OPTS) -C $(BUSYBOX_DIR) \
>  		$(subst busybox-,,$@)
> +	cp -f $(BUSYBOX_BUILD_CONFIG) $(BUSYBOX_CONFIG_SAVE)
>  	rm -f $(BUSYBOX_DIR)/.stamp_built
>  	rm -f $(BUSYBOX_DIR)/.stamp_target_installed
>  
>  busybox-update-config:
> -	cp -f $(BUSYBOX_BUILD_CONFIG) $(BUSYBOX_CONFIG_FILE)
> +	cp -f $(BUSYBOX_BUILD_CONFIG) $(LOCAL_BUSYBOX_CONFIG_FILE)
> +


-- 
reLinux     -    Stephan Hoffmann
Am Schmidtgrund 124    50765 K?ln
Tel. +49.221.95595-19    Fax: -64
www.reLinux.de     sho at reLinux.de