Differences between revisions 14 and 19 (spanning 5 versions)
Revision 14 as of 2021-06-04 04:41:52
Size: 7768
Editor: PaulWise
Comment: adjust project list for libc agnosticism, mention the project order is important
Revision 19 as of 2021-06-04 05:36:51
Size: 8104
Editor: PaulWise
Comment: split qemu out of the list, it doesn't need to be done for all ports
Deletions are marked like this. Additions are marked like this.
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  * Register accounts for each team member on the bug trackers and subscribe to the mailing lists for upstream [[https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/config|GNU config]], [[https://www.gnu.org/software/binutils/|binutils]], [[https://gcc.gnu.org/|gcc]], [[https://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/|gdb]], [[https://www.qemu.org/|qemu]], kernel (such as [[https://www.kernel.org/|Linux]]), and libc (such as [[https://sourceware.org/glibc/|glibc]]) projects.
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  * Prepare kernel and toolchain patches supporting the port and get the necessary changes included upstream [[https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/config|GNU config]] ([[https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/config.git/tree/config.guess|instructions]]), [[https://www.gnu.org/software/binutils/|binutils]], gcc ([[https://gcc.gnu.org/contribute.html|instructions]]), gdb ([[https://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/contribute/|instructions]]), qemu ([[https://www.qemu.org/contribute/|instructions]]), the kernel (such as Linux ([[https://kernelnewbies.org/|info]])) and the libc (such as glibc ([[https://sourceware.org/glibc/wiki/Contribution%20checklist|instructions]]) projects (in that order).   * Register accounts for each team member on the bug trackers and subscribe to the mailing lists for upstream projects: [[https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/config|GNU config]], [[https://www.gnu.org/software/binutils/|binutils]], [[https://gcc.gnu.org/|gcc]], [[https://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/|gdb]], [[https://www.qemu.org/|qemu]], kernel (such as [[https://www.kernel.org/|Linux]]), and libc (such as [[https://sourceware.org/glibc/|glibc]])

  * Prepare kernel and toolchain patches supporting the port and get the necessary changes included into these upstream projects: [[https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/config|GNU config]] ([[https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/config.git/tree/config.guess|instructions]]), [[https://www.gnu.org/software/binutils/|binutils]], gcc ([[https://gcc.gnu.org/contribute.html|instructions]]), gdb ([[https://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/contribute/|instructions]]), the kernel (such as Linux ([[https://kernelnewbies.org/|info]])) and the libc (such as glibc ([[https://sourceware.org/glibc/wiki/Contribution%20checklist|instructions]])) (in that order)

  * If hardware supporting your port is not yet available or your hardware or FPGA softcore or software model is quite slow, prepare patches for the appropriate simulator/emulator upstream project (such as qemu ([[https://www.qemu.org/contribute/|instructions]])). If you do not need this, it will still be very useful to complete at some point, so consider completing it later on.
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  * Get any necessary changes included into dpkg ([[Teams/Dpkg/FAQ#new-arch|instructions]]), to get the new Debian architecture name supported (which is the name that end-users will use for the architecture), this requires having the
 
[[ArchitectureSpecificsMemo|architecture ABI details]] clear, the [[Multiarch/Tuples|Debian multiarch tuple]] is derived from the Debian architecture tuple.
  * Get any necessary changes included into dpkg ([[Teams/Dpkg/FAQ#new-arch|instructions]]), to get the new Debian architecture name supported (which is the name that end-users will use for the architecture), this requires having the [[ArchitectureSpecificsMemo|architecture ABI details]] clear, the [[Multiarch/Tuples|Debian multiarch tuple]] is derived from the Debian architecture tuple.

This page documents the approximate procedure for creating a new port and getting it included into Debian. It is a work in progress and is based on the port template wiki page.

/!\ Do not skip any of the steps.

/!\ Complete each step before moving to later steps.

Preparation

  • Assemble a team of people working on the port and find a financial sponsor to support the team's work.

Upstreaming

  • Decide on the architecture ABI details and the GNU triplet. A different GNU triplet is required for each ABI, which includes bitness, endianness, soft/hard-float, calling convention, or whether object files can be inter-linked.

  • Register accounts for each team member on the bug trackers and subscribe to the mailing lists for upstream projects: GNU config, binutils, gcc, gdb, qemu, kernel (such as Linux), and libc (such as glibc)

  • Prepare kernel and toolchain patches supporting the port and get the necessary changes included into these upstream projects: GNU config (instructions), binutils, gcc (instructions), gdb (instructions), the kernel (such as Linux (info)) and the libc (such as glibc (instructions)) (in that order)

  • If hardware supporting your port is not yet available or your hardware or FPGA softcore or software model is quite slow, prepare patches for the appropriate simulator/emulator upstream project (such as qemu (instructions)). If you do not need this, it will still be very useful to complete at some point, so consider completing it later on.

Downstreaming

  • Identify related ports and ISAs, decide that the port is worth creating and detail the reasons why.
  • Register accounts for each team member on the Debian wiki (registration) and Salsa (register).

  • Register and verify accounts for each team member on the OFTC IRC chat network and join the #debian-bootstrap, #debian-ports and other Debian IRC channels.

  • Discuss the port with the community. Please send an email to the FIXME mailing list. If the port is related to some other architectures, ensure you CC the mailing list for the architecture family. Also join the #debian-bootstrap and #debian-ports IRC channels.

  • Finalise the architecture details, especially including the ABI and CPU baseline requirements.
  • Get any necessary changes included into dpkg (instructions), to get the new Debian architecture name supported (which is the name that end-users will use for the architecture), this requires having the architecture ABI details clear, the Debian multiarch tuple is derived from the Debian architecture tuple.

Bootstrap

  • Prepare patches supporting the port in rebootstrap and other Debian-specific packages.

  • Use your modified rebootstrap, the other patches and manual bootstrapping to build all of build-essential.

  • Keep working on the bootstrap process until all of build-essential is installable with debootstrap.
  • Continue building as many packages as you can using the new build-essential packages.
  • Get any remaining changes included into the upstream projects that you have modified.
  • Get any necessary changes included into rebootstrap and other projects involved in the bootstrap process.

Unofficial port

  • Register the port on the Debian wiki, replace "example" throughout the page with the chosen architecture details and fill out as many details as you have.

  • Summarise the details of the architecture and ABI on the arch summary wiki page.

  • Setup communication channels for the architecture. Use the architecture family as the name of any communication channels you create, just in case additional related architectures are created later. A mailing list and IRC channel are recommended.

  • Add your architecture to the bugs arch usertags page.

  • Get the port included amongst the unofficial ports.

  • Setup unofficial buildd servers for the port, either in qemu or hardware.

  • Include the port on the ports list on the Debian website and add the end-user name for the port to the website arches data. If you create a page on the website, create one named after the architecture family, just in case additional related architectures are created later.

  • Monitor build failures (1 2) and continually fix issues.

  • Donate hardware for the GCC compile farm.

  • Setup porterboxen for package maintainers to login to and port packages.
  • Optionally, donate hardware for debomatic.

  • Port the Debian installer so that it works on the hardware you have available.

  • Use the Debian installer to install Debian on the hardware you have available.
  • Write some documentation about installing the arch on the hardware you have installed.

  • Submit installation reports for the hardware you have installed.

  • Submit some hardware probes for the hardware you have installed.

Official port

Released port

Other work

  • Improve the port based on reports from users and QA services.
  • Make the port more performant by porting or optimising various libraries (ToDo: add examples).

  • Make the bootstrap process more trustworthy through Bootstrappable Builds.