Build Instructions

This guide is intended for anyone interested in building the AtomVM virtual machine from source code. You may be interested in building the AtomVM source code if you want to provide bug fixes or enhancements to the VM, or if you want to simply learn more about the platform. In addition, some “downstream” drivers for specific devices may need to be built specifically for the target platform (e.g., ESP32), in which case building the VM from source code is required.

Note. Many applications do not require building the AtomVM runtime from source code. Instead, you can download pre-built VM images for platforms such as ESP32, and use Erlang and Elixir tooling to build and deploy your applications.

The AtomVM virtual machine itself, including the runtime code execution engine, as well as built-in functions and Nifs is implemented in C. The core standard and AtomVM libraries are implemented in Erlang and Elixir.

The native C parts of AtomVM compile to machine code on MacOS, Linux, and FreeBSD platforms. The C code also compiles to run on the ESP32 and STM32 platforms. Typically, binaries for these platforms are created on a UNIX-like environment (MacOS or Linux, currently) using tool-chains provided by device vendors to cross-compile and target specific device architectures.

The Erlang and Elixir parts are compiled to BEAM byte-code using the Erlang (erlc) and Elixir compilers. For information about specific versions of required software, see the Release Notes.

This guide provides information about how to build AtomVM for the various supported platforms (Generic UNIX, ESP32, and STM32).

Note. In order to build AtomVM AVM files for ESP32 and STM32 platforms, you will also need to build AtomVM for the Generic UNIX platform of your choice.

Downloading AtomVM

The AtomVM source code is available by cloning the AtomVM github repository:

shell$ git clone https://github.com/atomvm/AtomVM

Note. Downloading the AtomVM github repository requires the installation of the git program. Consult your local OS documentation for installation of the git package.

Source code organization

Source code is organized as follows:

src Contains the core AtomVM virtual machine source code;
lib Contains the Erlang and Elixir core library source code;
tools Contains AtomVM tooling, including the PackBEAM executable, as well as build support tooling;
examples Contains sample programs for demonstration purposes;
tests Contains test code run as part of test qualification;
doc Contains documentation source code and content.

The src directory is broken up into the core platform-independent AtomVM library (libAtomVM), and platform-dependent code for each of the supported platforms (Generic UNIX, ESP32, and STM32).

For information about porting to new platforms, see Porting to new platforms, below.

Building for Generic UNIX

The following instructions apply to unix-like environments, including Linux, FreeBSD, and MacOS.

Note. The Generic UNIX is useful for running and testing simple AtomVM programs. Not all of the AtomVM APIs, specifically, APIs that are dependent on various device integration, are supported on this platform.

Build Requirements

The following software is required in order to build AtomVM in generic UNIX systems:

gcc or llvm tool chains
cmake
make
gperf
zlib
Mbed TLS
Erlang/OTP compiler (erlc)
Elixir compiler

Consult Release Notes for currently supported versions of required software.

Consult your local OS documentation for instructions about how to install these components.

Build Instructions

The AtomVM build for generic UNIX systems makes use of the cmake tool for generating make files from the top level AtomVM directory. With CMake, you generally create a separate directory for all output files (make files, generated object files, linked binaries, etc). A common pattern is to create a local build directory, and then point cmake to the parent directory for the root of the source tree:

shell$ mkdir build
shell$ cd build
shell$ cmake ..
...

This command will create all of the required make files for creating the AtomVM binary, tooling, and core libraries. You can create all of these object using the make command:

shell$ make -j 8
...

Note. You may specify -j <n>, where <n> is the number of CPUs you would like to assign to run the build in parallel.

Upon completion, the AtomVM executable can be found in the build/src directory.

The AtomVM core Erlang library can be found in the generated libs/atomvmlib.avm AVM file.

Use the install target to install the atomvm command and associated binary files. On most UNIX systems, these artifacts will be installed in the /usr/local directory tree.

Note. On some systems, you may need to run this target with root or sudo permissions.

shell$ sudo make install

Once installed, you can use the atomvm command to execute an AtomVM application. E.g.,

shell$ atomvm /path/to/myapp.avm

For users doing incremental development on the AtomVM virtual machine, you may want to run the AtomVM binary directly instead of installing the VM on your machine. If you do, you will typically need to also specify the path to the AtomVM core Erlang library. For example,

shell$ cd build
shell$ ./src/AtomVM /path/to/myapp.avm ./libs/atomvmlib.avm

Special Note for MacOS users

You may build an Apple Xcode project, for developing, testing, and debugging in the Xcode IDE, by specifying the Xcode generator. For example, from the top level AtomVM directory:

shell$ mkdir xcode
shell$ cmake -G Xcode ..
...
shell$ open AtomVM.xcodeproj

The above commands will build and open an AtomVM project in the Xcode IDE.

Running tests

There are currently two sets of suites of tests for AtomVM:

Erlang tests (erlang_tests) A set of unit tests for basic Erlang functionality, exercising support BEAM opcodes, built-in functions (Bifs) and native functions (Nifs).
Library tests, exercising functionality in the core Erlang and Elixir libraries.

To run the Erlang tests, run the test-erlang executable in the tests directory:

shell$ ./tests/test-erlang

This will run a suite of several score unit tests. Check the status of the executable after running the tests. A non-zero return value indicates a test failure.

To run the Library tests, run the corresponding AVM module in the tests/libs directory using the AtomVM executable. For example:

shell$ ./src/AtomVM ./tests/libs/estdlib/test_estdlib.avm

This will run a suite of several unit tests for the specified library. Check the status of the executable after running the tests. A non-zero return value indicates a test failure.

Tests for the following libraries are supported:

estdlib
eavmlib
alisp

Building for ESP32

Building AtomVM for ESP32 must be done on either a Linux or MacOS build machine.

In order to build a complete AtomVM image for ESP32, you will also need to build AtomVM for the Generic UNIX platform (typically, the same build machine you are suing to build AtomVM for ESP32).

Build Requirements

The following software is required in order to build AtomVM for the ESP32 platform:

Espressif Xtensa tool chains
Espressif IDF SDK (consult Release Notes for currently supported versions)
cmake

Instructions for downloading and installing the Espressif IDF SDK and tool chains are outside of the scope of this document. Please consult the IDF SDKGetting Started guide for more information.

Build Instructions

To activate the ESP-IDF build environment change directories to the tree root of your local ESP-IDF:

shell$ cd <ESP-IDF-ROOT-DIR>
shell$ . ./export.sh

Note: If you followed Espressif’s installation guide the ESP-IDF directory is ${HOME}/esp/esp-idf

Change directories to the src/platforms/esp32 directory under the AtomVM source tree root:

shell$ cd <atomvm-source-tree-root>
shell$ cd src/platforms/esp32

Start by updating the default build configuration of local sdkconfig file via the idf.py reconfigure command:

shell$ idf.py set-target esp32
shell$ idf.py reconfigure

Note. For those familiar with esp-idf the build can be customized using menuconfig instead of reconfigure

shell$ idf.py menuconfig

This command will bring up a curses dialog box where you can make adjustments such as not including AtomVM components that are not desired in a particular build. You can also change the behavior of a crash in the VM to print the error and reboot, or halt after the error is printed. Extreme caution should be used when changing any non AtomVM settings. You can quit the program by typing Q. Save the changes, and the program will exit.

You can now build AtomVM using the build command:

shell$ idf.py build
...

This command, once completed, will create the Espressif bootloader, partition table, and AtomVM binary. The last line of the output should read something like the following:

To flash all build output, run 'idf.py flash' or:
python /path/to/esp-idf-sdk/components/esptool_py/esptool/esptool.py --chip esp32
--port /dev/ttyUSB0 --baud 115200 --before default_reset --after hard_reset write_flash
-z --flash_mode dio --flash_freq 40m --flash_size detect
0x1000 /path-to-atomvm-source-tree/Atomvm/src/platforms/esp32/build/bootloader/bootloader.bin
0x10000 /path-to-atomvm-source-tree/Atomvm/src/platforms/esp32/build/atomvm-esp32.bin
0x8000 /path-to-atomvm-source-tree/Atomvm/src/platforms/esp32/build/partition_table/partition-table.bin

At this point, you can run idf.py flash to upload the 3 binaries up to your ESP32 device, and in some development scenarios, this is a preferable shortcut.

However, first, we will build a single binary image file containing all of the above 3 binaries, as well as the AtomVM core libraries. See Building a Release Image, below. But first, it is helpful to understand a bit about how the AtomVM partitioning scheme works, on the ESP32.

Running tests

Tests for ESP32 are run on the desktop (or CI) using qemu.

Install or compile Espressif’s fork of qemu. Espressif provides binaries for Linux amd64 and it’s also bundled in espressif/idf:5.1 docker image.

Also install Espressif pytest’s extensions for embedded testing with:

shell$ cd <ESP-IDF-ROOT-DIR>
shell$ . ./export.sh
shell$ pip install pytest==7.0.1 \
        pytest-embedded==1.2.5 \
        pytest-embedded-serial-esp==1.2.5 \
        pytest-embedded-idf==1.2.5 \
        pytest-embedded-qemu==1.2.5
...

Change directory to the src/platforms/esp32/test directory under the AtomVM source tree root:

shell$ cd <atomvm-source-tree-root>
shell$ cd src/platforms/esp32/test

Build tests using the build command:

shell$ idf.py build
...

Note. This eventually compiles host AtomVM to be able to build and pack erlang test modules.

Run tests using the command:

shell$ pytest --embedded-services=idf,qemu -s
...

ESP32 tests are erlang modules located in src/platforms/esp32/test/main/test_erl_sources/ and executed from src/platforms/esp32/test/main/test_main.c.

Flash Layout

The AtomVM Flash memory is partitioned to include areas for the above binary artifacts created from the build, as well areas for runtime information used by the ESP32 and compiled Erlang/Elixir code.

The flash layout is roughly as follows (not to scale):

+-----------------+  ------------- 0x0000
|    secure       |
|     boot        | 4KB
|                 |
+-----------------+  ------------- 0x1000
|                 |             ^
|   boot loader   | 28KB        |
|                 |             |
+-----------------+             |
| partition table | 3KB         |
+-----------------+             |
|                 |             |
|       NVS       | 24KB        |
|                 |             |
+-----------------+             |
|     PHY_INIT    | 4KB         |
+-----------------+             | AtomVM
|                 |             | binary
|                 |             | image
|                 |             |
|     AtomVM      |             |
|     Virtual     | 1.75MB      |
|     Machine     |             |
|                 |             |
|                 |             |
+-----------------+             |
|     lib.avm     | 256KB       v
+-----------------+  ------------- 0x210000
|                 |             ^
|                 |             |
|     main.avm    | 1MB+        | Erlang/Elixir
|                 |             | Application
|                 |             |
|                 |             v
+-----------------+  ------------- end

The following table summarizes the partitions created on the ESP32 when deploying AtomVM:

Partition	Offset	Length	Description
Secure Boot	0x00	4kB	Initialization vectors and other data needed for ESP32 secure boot.
Bootloader	0x1000	28kB	The ESP32 bootloader, as built from the IDF-SDK. AtomVM does not define its own bootloader.
Partition Table	0x8000	3kB	The AtomVM-defined partition table.
NVS	0x9000	24kB	Space for non-volatile storage.
PHY_INIT	0xF000	4kB	Initialization data for physical layer radio signal data.
AtomVM virtual machine	0x10000	1.75mB	The AtomVM virtual machine (compiled from C code).
lib.avm	0x1D0000	256k	The AtomVM BEAM library, compiled from Erlang and Elixir files in the AtomVM source tree.
main.avm	0x210000	1mB	The user application. This is where users flash their compiled Erlang/Elixir code

The `lib.avm` and `main.avm` partitions

The lib.avm and main.avm partitions are intended to store Erlang/Elixir libraries (compiled down to BEAM files, and assembled as AVM files).

The lib.avm partition is intended for core Erlang/Elixir libraries that are built as part of the AtomVM build. The release image of AtomVM (see below) includes both the AtomVM virtual machine and the lib.avm partition, which includes the BEAM files from the estdlib and eavmlib libraries.

In contrast, the main.avm partition is intended for user applications. Currently, the main.avm partition starts at address 0x210000, and it is to that location to which application developers should flash their application AVM files.

The AtomVM search path for BEAM modules starts in the main.avm partition and falls back to lib.avm. Users should not have a need to override any functionality in the lib.avm partition, but if necessary, a BEAM module of the same name in the main.avm partition will be loaded instead of the version in the lib.avm partition.

Note. The location of the main.avm partition may change over time, depending on the relative sizes of the AtomVM binary and lib.avm partitions.

Building a Release Image

The <atomvm-source-tree-root>/tools/release/esp32 directory contains the mkimage.sh script that can be used to create a single AtomVM image file, which can be distributed as a release, allowing application developers to develop AtomVM applications without having to build AtomVM from scratch.

Note. Before running the mkimage.sh script, you must have a complete build of both the esp32 project, as well as a full build of the core Erlang libraries in the libs directory. The script configuration defaults to assuming that the core Erlang libraries will be written to the build/libs directory in the AtomVM source tree. You should pass the --build_dir <path> option to the mkimage.sh script, with <path> pointing to your AtomVM build directory, if you target a different build directory when running CMake.

Running this script will generate a single atomvm-<sha>.img file in the build directory of the esp32 source tree, where <sha> is the git hash of the current checkout. This image contains the ESP32 bootloader, AtomVM executable, and the eavmlib and estdlib Erlang libraries in one file, which can then be flashed to address 0x1000.

The mkimage.sh script is run from the src/platform/esp32 directory as follows:

shell$ ./build/mkimage.sh
Writing output to /home/frege/AtomVM/src/platforms/esp32/build/atomvm-esp32-0.6.0-dev+git.602e6bc.img
=============================================
Wrote bootloader at offset 0x1000 (4096)
Wrote partition-table at offset 0x8000 (32768)
Wrote AtomVM Virtual Machine at offset 0x10000 (65536)
Wrote AtomVM Core BEAM Library at offset 0x110000 (1114112)

Users can then use the esptool.py directly to flash the entire image to the ESP32 device, and then flash their applications to the main.app partition at address 0x210000,

But first, it is a good idea to erase the flash, e.g.,

shell$ esptool.py --chip esp32 --port /dev/ttyUSB0 erase_flash
esptool.py v2.1
Connecting........_
Chip is ESP32D0WDQ6 (revision 1)
Uploading stub...
Running stub...
Stub running...
Erasing flash (this may take a while)...
Chip erase completed successfully in 5.4s
Hard resetting...

Flashing Release Images

After preparing a release image you can use the flashimage.sh, which is generated with each build that will flash the full image using the correct flash offset for the chip the build was configured for.

shell$ ./build/flashimage.sh

To perform this action manually you can use the ./build/flash.sh tool (or esptool.py directly, if you prefer):

shell$ FLASH_OFFSET=0x1000 ./build/flash.sh ./build/atomvm-esp32-0.6.0-dev+git.602e6bc.img
esptool.py v2.8-dev
Serial port /dev/tty.SLAB_USBtoUART
Connecting........_
Chip is ESP32D0WDQ6 (revision 1)
Features: WiFi, BT, Dual Core, Coding Scheme None
Crystal is 40MHz
MAC: 30:ae:a4:1a:37:d8
Uploading stub...
Running stub...
Stub running...
Changing baud rate to 921600
Changed.
Configuring flash size...
Auto-detected Flash size: 4MB
Wrote 1163264 bytes at 0x00001000 in 15.4 seconds (603.1 kbit/s)...
Hash of data verified.
Leaving...
Hard resetting via RTS pin...

Note. Flashing the full AtomVM image will delete all entries in non-volatile storage. Only flash the full image if you have a way to recover and re-write any such data, if you need to retain it.

Flashing Applications

Applications can be flashed using the flash.sh script in the esp32 build directory:

shell$ ./build/flash.sh ../../../build/examples/erlang/esp32/blink.avm
%%
%% Flashing examples/erlang/esp32/blink.avm (size=4k)
%%
esptool.py v2.8-dev
Serial port /dev/tty.SLAB_USBtoUART
Connecting........_
Chip is ESP32D0WDQ6 (revision 1)
Features: WiFi, BT, Dual Core, Coding Scheme None
Crystal is 40MHz
MAC: 30:ae:a4:1a:37:d8
Uploading stub...
Running stub...
Stub running...
Changing baud rate to 921600
Changed.
Configuring flash size...
Auto-detected Flash size: 4MB
Wrote 16384 bytes at 0x00210000 in 0.2 seconds (611.7 kbit/s)...
Hash of data verified.
Leaving...
Hard resetting via RTS pin...

Note. Since the Erlang core libraries are flashed to the ESP32 device, it is not necessary to include core libraries in your application AVM files. Users may be interested in using downstream development tools, such as the Elixir ExAtomVM Mix task, or the Erlang AtomVM Rebar3 Plugin for doing day-to-day development of applications for the AtomVM platform.

Flashing the core libraries

If you are doing development work on the core Erlang/Elixir libraries and wish to test changes that do not involve the C code in the core VM you may flash atomvmlib.avm to the avm.lib partition (offset 0x1D0000) by using the flash.sh script in the esp32 build directory as follows:

shell$ build/flash.sh -l ../../../build/libs/atomvmlib.avm
%%
%% Flashing ../../../build/libs/atomvmlib.avm (size=116k)
%%
esptool.py v4.5.1
Serial port /dev/ttyUSB0
Connecting.....
Detecting chip type... Unsupported detection protocol, switching and trying again...
Connecting.....
Detecting chip type... ESP32
Chip is ESP32-D0WD (revision v1.0)
Features: WiFi, BT, Dual Core, 240MHz, VRef calibration in efuse, Coding Scheme None
Crystal is 40MHz
MAC: 1a:57:c5:7f:ac:5b
Uploading stub...
Running stub...
Stub running...
Changing baud rate to 921600
Changed.
Configuring flash size...
Auto-detected Flash size: 8MB
Flash will be erased from 0x001d0000 to 0x001ecfff...
Wrote 131072 bytes at 0x001d0000 in 1.8 seconds (582.1 kbit/s)...
Hash of data verified.

Leaving...
Hard resetting via RTS pin...

Adding custom Nifs, Ports, and third-party components

While AtomVM is a functional implementation of the Erlang virtual machine, it is nonetheless designed to allow developers to extend the VM to support additional integrations with peripherals and protocols that are not otherwise supported in the core virtual machine.

AtomVM supports extensions to the VM via the implementation of custom native functions (Nifs) and processes (AtomVM Ports), allowing users to extend the VM for additional functionality, and you can add your own custom Nifs, ports, and additional third-party components to your ESP32 build by adding them to the components directory, and the ESP32 build will compile them automatically.

For more information about building components for the IDF SDK, consult the IDF SDK Build System documentation.

The instructions for adding custom Nifs and ports differ in slight detail, but are otherwise quite similar. In general, they involve:

Adding the custom Nif or Port to the components directory of the AtomVM source tree;
Adding the component to the corresponding main/component_nifs.txt or main/component_ports.txt files;
Building the AtomVM binary.

Note. The Espressif SDK and tool chains do not, unfortunately, support dynamic loading of shared libraries and dynamic symbol lookup. In fact, dynamic libraries are not supported at all on the ESP32 using the IDF SDK; instead, any code that is needed at runtime must be statically linked into the application.

Custom Nifs and Ports are available through third parties. Follow the instructions provided with these custom components for detailed instruction for how to add the Nif or Port to your build.

More detailed instructions follow, below, for implementing your own Nif or Port.

Adding a custom AtomVM Nif

To add support for a new peripheral or protocol using custom AtomVM Nif, you need to do the following:

Choose a name for your nif (e.g, “my_nif”). Call this <moniker>.
In your source code, implement the following two functions:
- void <moniker>_nif_init(GlobalContext *global);
  - This function will be called once, when the application is started.
- const struct Nif *<moniker>_nif_get_nif(const char *nifname);
  - This function will be called to locate the Nif during a function call.

Example:

void my_nif_init(GlobalContext *global);
const struct Nif *my_nif_get_nif(const char *nifname);

Note. Instructions for implementing Nifs is outside of the scope of this document.

Add your <moniker> to the main/component_nifs.txt file in the src/platforms/esp32 directory.

Note. The main/component_nifs.txt file will not exist until after the first clean build.

Adding a custom AtomVM Port

To add support for a new peripheral or protocol using an AtomVM port, you need to do the following:

Choose a name for your port (e.g, “my_port”). Call this <moniker>.
In your source code, implement the following two functions:
- void <moniker>_init(GlobalContext *global);
  - This function will be called once, when the application is started.
- Context *<moniker>_create_port(GlobalContext *global, term opts);
  - This function will be called to locate the Nif during a function call.

Example:

void my_port_init(GlobalContext *global);
Context *my_port_create_port(GlobalContext *global, term opts);

Note. Instructions for implementing Ports is outside of the scope of this document.

Add your <moniker> to the main/component_ports.txt file in the src/platforms/esp32 directory.

Note. The main/component_ports.txt file will not exist until after the first clean build.

Building for STM32

Prerequisites

The following software is required to build AtomVM for the STM32 platform:

Package
11.3 ARM toolchain (or compatible with your system)
libopencm3 version 0.8.0

cmake
make
git
python
Erlang/OTP escript

Note. AtomVM tests this build on the latest Ubuntu github runner.

Setup libopencm3

Before building for the first time you need to have a compiled clone of the libopencm3 libraries, from inside the AtomVM/src/platforms/stm32 directory:

$ git clone https://github.com/libopencm3/libopencm3.git
$ cd libopencm3 && make -j4 && cd ..

Note: You can put libopencm3 wherever you want on your PC as long as you update LIBOPENCM3_DIR to point to it. This example assumes it has been cloned into /opt/libopencm3 and built. From inside the AtomVM/src/platforms/stm32 directory:``` cmake -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=../cmake/arm-toolchain.cmake -DLIBOPENCM3_DIR=/opt/libopencm3 ..

Build AtomVM

$ mkdir build
$ cd build
$ cmake -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=../cmake/arm-toolchain.cmake
$ make

Changing device

The default build is based on the STM32F4Discovery board chip (stm32f407vgt6). If you want to target a different chip, pass the -DDEVICE flag when invoking cmake. For example, to use the BlackPill V2.0, pass -DDEVICE=STM32F411CEU6. At this time any STM32F4 or STM32F7 device with 512KB or more of on package flash should work with AtomVM. If an unsupported device is passed with the DEVICE parameter the configuration will fail. For devices with either 512KB or 768KB of flash the available application flash space will be limited to 128KB. Devices with only 512KB of flash may also suffer from slightly reduced performance because the compiler must optimize for size rather than performance.

Important Note: for devices with only 512KB of flash the application address is different and must be adjusted when flashing your application with st-flash, or using the recommended atomvm_rebar3_plugin. The application address for these devices is 0x8060000.

Configuring the Console

The default build for any DEVICE will use USART2 and output will be on PA2. This default will work well for most Discovery and generic boards that do not have an on-board TTL to USB-COM support (including the STM32F411CEU6 A.K.A. BlackPill V2.0). For Nucleo boards that do have on board UART to USB-COM support you may pass the cmake parameter -DBOARD=nucleo to have the correct USART and TX pins configured automatically. The Nucleo-144 series use USART3 and PD8, while the supported Nucleo-64 boards use USART2, but passing the BOARD parameter along with DEVICE will configure the correct USART for your model. If any other boards are discovered to have on board USB UART support pull requests, or opening issues with the details, are more than welcome.

Example to configure a NUCLEO-F429ZI:

$ cmake -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=../cmake/arm-toolchain.cmake -DDEVICE=stm32f429zit6 -DBOARD=nucleo

The AtomVM system console USART may also be configured to a specific uart peripheral. Pass one of the parameters from the chart below with the cmake option -DAVM_CFG_CONSOLE=CONSOLE_#, using the desired console parameter in place of CONSOLE_#. Not all UARTs are available on every supported board, but most will have several options that are not already used by other on board peripherals. Consult your data sheets for your device to select an appropriate console.

Parameter	USART	TX Pin	AtomVM Default	Nucleo-144	Nucleo-64
`CONSOLE_1`	`USART1`	`PA9`
`CONSOLE_2`	`USART2`	`PA2`	✅		✅
`CONSOLE_3`	`USART3`	`PD8`		✅
`CONSOLE_4`	`UART4`	`PC10`
`CONSOLE_5`	`UART5`	`PC12`
`CONSOLE_6`	`USART6`	`PC6`
`CONSOLE_7`	`UART7`	`PF7`
`CONSOLE_8`	`UART8`	`PJ8`

Configure logging with `cmake`

The default maximum log level is LOG_INFO. To change the maximum level displayed pass -DAVM_LOG_LEVEL_MAX="{level}" to cmake, with one of LOG_ERROR, LOG_WARN, LOG_INFO, or LOG_DEBUG (listed from least to most verbose). Log messages can be completely disabled by using -DAVM_LOG_DISABLE=on.

For log entries colorized by log level pass -DAVM_ENABLE_LOG_COLOR=on to cmake. With color enable there is a very small performance penalty (~1ms per message printed), the log entries are colored as follows:

Message Level	Color
ERROR	Red
WARN	Orange
INFO	Green
DEBUG	Blue

By default only ERROR messages contain file and line number information. This can be included with all log entries by passing -DAVM_ENABLE_LOG_LINES=on to cmake, but it does incur a significant performance penalty and is only suggested for debugging during development.

Printing

AtomVM is built with standard newlib to support long long integers (signed and unsigned). If you are building for a device with extremely limited flash space the nano version of newlib can be used instead. This may be done by passing -DAVM_NEWLIB_NANO=on. If the nano newlib is used logs will be automatically disabled, this is because many of the VM low level log messages will include %ull formatting and will cause buffer overflows and crash the VM if logging is not disabled for nano newlib builds. The total flash savings of using nano newlib and disabling logs is just under 40kB.

By default, stdout and stderr are printed on USART2. On the STM32F4Discovery board, you can see them using a TTL-USB with the TX pin connected to board’s pin PA2 (USART2 RX). Baudrate is 115200 and serial transmission is 8N1 with no flow control.

If building for a different target USART may be configure as explained above in Configuring the Console.

Configuring for “deployment”

After your application has been tested (and debugged) and is ready to put into active use you may want to tune the build of AtomVM. For instance disabling logging with -DAVM_LOG_DISABLE=on as a cmake configuration option may result in slightly better performance. This will have no affect on the console output of your application, just disable low level log messages from the AtomVM system. You may also want to enabling automatic reboot in the case that your application ever exits with a return other than ok. This can be enabled with the cmake option -DAVM_CONFIG_REBOOT_ON_NOT_OK=on.

Building for Raspberry Pi Pico

Prerequisites

cmake
ninja
Erlang/OTP
Elixir (optional)

AtomVM build steps (Pico)

cd src/platforms/rp2040/
mkdir build
cd build
cmake .. -G Ninja
ninja

You may want to build with option AVM_REBOOT_ON_NOT_OK so Pico restarts on error.

AtomVM build steps (Pico-W)

cd src/platforms/rp2040/
mkdir build
cd build
cmake .. -G Ninja -DPICO_BOARD=pico_w
ninja

You may want to build with option AVM_REBOOT_ON_NOT_OK so Pico restarts on error.

libAtomVM build steps

Build of standard libraries is part of the generic unix build.

From the root of the project:

mkdir build
cd build
cmake .. -G Ninja
ninja

Running tests

Tests for Pico/RP2040 are run on the desktop (or CI) using rp2040js. Running tests currently require nodejs 20.

Change directory to the src/platforms/rp2040/tests directory under the AtomVM source tree root:

shell$ cd <atomvm-source-tree-root>
shell$ cd src/platforms/rp2040/tests

Install the emulator and required Javascript dependencies:

shell$ npm install

We are assuming tests were built as part of regular build of AtomVM. Run them with the commands:

shell$ npx tsx run-tests.ts ../build/tests/rp2040_tests.uf2 ../build/tests/test_erl_sources/rp2040_test_modules.uf2

Building for NodeJS/Web

Two different builds are possible, depending on link options: for NodeJS and for the web browser.

Prerequisites

emscripten SDK
cmake
Erlang/OTP
Elixir (optional)

Building for NodeJS

This is the default. Execute the following commands:

cd src/platforms/emscripten/
mkdir build
cd build
emcmake cmake ..
emmake make -j

AtomVM can then be invoked as on Generic Unix with node:

node ./src/AtomVM.js

Running tests with NodeJS

NodeJS build currently does not have dedicated tests. However, you can run AtomVM library tests that do not depend on unimplemented APIs.

Build them first by building AtomVM for Generic Unix (see above.) Then execute the tests with:

cd src/platforms/emscripten/build/
node ./src/AtomVM.js ../../../../build/tests/libs/eavmlib/test_eavmlib.avm
node ./src/AtomVM.js ../../../../build/tests/libs/alisp/test_alisp.avm

Building for the web

Execute the following commands:

cd src/platforms/emscripten/
mkdir build
cd build
emcmake cmake .. -DAVM_EMSCRIPTEN_ENV=web
emmake make -j

Running tests with Cypress

AtomVM WebAssembly port on the web uses SharedArrayBuffer feature which is restricted by browsers. Tests require an HTTP server that returns the proper HTTP headers.

Additionally, tests require Cypress. Plus, because of a current bug in Cypress, tests only run with Chrome-based browsers except Electron (Chromium, Chrome or Edge).

Build first AtomVM for Generic Unix (see above). This will include the web server.

Then run the web server with:

cd build
./src/AtomVM examples/emscripten/wasm_webserver.avm

In another terminal, compile specific test modules that are not part of examples.

cd src/platforms/emscripten/build/
make emscripten_erlang_test_modules

Then run tests with Cypress with:

cd src/platforms/emscripten/tests/
npm install cypress
npx cypress run --browser chrome

You can alternatvely specify: chromium or edge depending on what is installed.

Alternatively, on Linux, you can run tests with docker:

cd src/platforms/emscripten/tests/
docker run --network host -v $PWD:/mnt -w /mnt cypress/included:12.17.1 --browser chrome

Or you can open Cypress to interactively run selected test suites.

cd src/platforms/emscripten/tests/
npm install cypress
npx cypress open

Build Instructions

Downloading AtomVM

Source code organization

Building for Generic UNIX

Build Requirements

Build Instructions

Special Note for MacOS users

Running tests

Building for ESP32

Build Requirements

Build Instructions

Running tests

Flash Layout

The lib.avm and main.avm partitions

Building a Release Image

Flashing Release Images

Flashing Applications

Flashing the core libraries

Adding custom Nifs, Ports, and third-party components

Adding a custom AtomVM Nif

Adding a custom AtomVM Port

Building for STM32

Prerequisites

Setup libopencm3

Build AtomVM

Changing device

Configuring the Console

Configure logging with cmake

Printing

Configuring for “deployment”

Building for Raspberry Pi Pico

Prerequisites

AtomVM build steps (Pico)

AtomVM build steps (Pico-W)

libAtomVM build steps

Running tests

Building for NodeJS/Web

Prerequisites

Building for NodeJS

Running tests with NodeJS

Building for the web

Running tests with Cypress

The `lib.avm` and `main.avm` partitions

Configure logging with `cmake`