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Version: 030-rc1

Porting Pantavisor

This section covers how to add support for a new device or hardware platform to meta-pantavisor.

Where this job ends: porting is done once pantavisor-bsp boots Pantavisor successfully on the new board. Apps and other containers are a separate concern, covered in Container Development — you don't need to touch container recipes to bring up a new machine.

Build System Overview​

meta-pantavisor uses Yocto/OpenEmbedded with KAS as the configuration and orchestration layer: builds run through ./kas-container build <config.yaml>, where the config is composed from layered YAML fragments — base settings (kas/bsp-base.yaml), a Yocto release (kas/scarthgap.yaml), a platform (kas/platforms/<family>.yaml), and a machine (kas/machines/<device>.yaml). See the Build system overview for the full hierarchy.

Supported Yocto releases (both LTS): scarthgap (primary, CI-tested) and kirkstone (supported).

Porting Process​

Adding a new device involves three steps, each covered in its own page:

  1. Platform — Create kas/platforms/<family>.yaml to declare the vendor BSP layers for a new hardware family. Skip this step if a suitable platform file already exists (check kas/platforms/).

  2. Machine — Create kas/machines/<device>.yaml to bind the platform to a specific Yocto MACHINE name and set any device-specific BitBake variables.

  3. Building — Run the build, locate the output artifacts, and flash the image to the board.

Registering a Machine for CI​

After creating a machine file:

  1. Add an entry to .github/machines.json.
  2. Regenerate the workflow files with .github/scripts/makeworkflows.
  3. Run .github/scripts/makemachines to generate the pinned release lockfile kas/build-configs/release/<machine>-scarthgap.yaml.
  4. Commit machines.json, the generated workflows, and the lockfile together.

See the CI overview for the machine entry format and optional properties.

Existing Platforms and Machines​

Before starting, check whether your hardware is already supported:

  • Platforms: kas/platforms/ — includes freescale.yaml, toradex.yaml, raspberrypi.yaml, rockchip.yaml, sunxi.yaml, ti.yaml, variscite.yaml, and more
  • Machines: kas/machines/ — includes Raspberry Pi, Variscite, Toradex Verdin/Colibri, NXP MEK, Rockchip, RISC-V VisionFive2, and QEMU targets