By Ken Wante

IoT Developer Security,

May 23, 2019

If you use Yocto as your tooling and build environment then you know the power and flexibility it brings to defining and creating runnable embedded Linux images.

As an open source initiative of the Linux Foundation, Yocto enables developers of embedded and IoT devices, to quickly define, configure and create runnable embedded Linux images. One of the benefits of using Yocto is that the image created is abstracted from and independent of the underlying hardware layer. Yocto is not an embedded Linux implementation, but rather builds upon its predecessor, OpenEmbedded (now known as OE-core) to bring the core embedded Linux OS and tool chain into a common and consistent environment. This makes it far simpler for developers to choose only the necessary components, and create and package an embedded Linux distribution that precisely meets their needs and is consistently reproducible.

Invaluable On-line Resources For Yocto Development

Everyone has to start somewhere. You might be interested in these informational links to get started using the Yocto tooling infrastructure or to expand your working knowledge. Here’s our round-up of the Top 10 Links for Understanding and Developing on Yocto:

• For a quick high level overview, Getting Started: The Yocto Project® Overview is a great introduction to Yocto that covers a general overview of what Yocto is, what components make it up, how to set it up and other key tips.
• While you’re developing, you may need access to the full reference set of documentation. The official source for this documentation is Yocto Documentation , where you can access manuals and additional learning materials for getting to the nitty gritty of Yocto.
• Want to save some time and hack your way to expert, advanced knowledge? This is the link for you. What I Wish I’d Known offers advice from experienced Yocto developers on  bumps they encountered in the road to becoming advanced Yocto developers, and how to short circuit the learning curve.
• And then there’s our very own introductory link from our resident Yocto expert Ken Wante, VP of Engineering at Dellfer. You can find his comprehensive overview of Yocto’s structural components and break down here: Understanding Yocto and Linux Embedded

Resources for Top Yocto Development Boards 

If you’re working with Embedded Linux, most probably you’ve chosen a hardware development board on which to develop your project.  Even if you haven’t, this list will either get your started or ensure your getting the most out of your selection.

• Our first link addresses the BeagleBone board, a popular board for development of IoT devices ranging from wireless irrigation controls to robots. This link provides detailed instructions on creating images for BeagleBone Black and BeagleBone Green boards with Yocto.
• Next, we have NXP iMX Yocto Project User’s Guide, which lays out the Yocto build process for NXP iMX development boards, and also links to the Quick Start Guides for other NXP development boards
• Rasperry Pi has been around for 7 years since it was first released in 2012. It’s become one of the most popular boards for small footprint IoT devices.  Our Raspberry Pi link describes the process for building a runnable image on this popular development board, and optimizing it for this small but highly capable platform
• And finally, our last link points us to Renesas, which details the steps required to build an image for Renesas R-Car development boards

And there you have it. Our curated list of the top blog entries, articles and sites you need to get started on and advance quickly in developing projects (particularly IoT projects) in Yocto development environments. This environment is near and dear to our hearts since it was the first OS environment we supported with Dellfer’s ZeroDayGuard. We launched ZDG in late 2018 so that IoT developers could have a way to easily and quickly secure their projects from even the most insidious, low-level attacks and the response has been tremendous. If you haven’t had a chance to learn or read about our security, we invite you to browse the product area of our website and read some of our other authoritative blogs on securing IoT devices.