BitBake Command Reference

Quick reference for the most commonly used BitBake commands during Engicam BSP development.

Build Commands

Command	Description
`bitbake <image>`	Build a full image (e.g. `engicam-evaluation-image`)
`bitbake <recipe>`	Build a single recipe
`bitbake <recipe> -c <task>`	Run a specific task (e.g. `compile`, `install`, `package`)
`bitbake <recipe> -c clean`	Clean build artifacts for a recipe
`bitbake <recipe> -c cleanall`	Clean artifacts + downloads + sstate cache
`bitbake <recipe> -f`	Force rebuild even if up to date
`bitbake <recipe> -c menuconfig`	Open kernel/U-Boot menuconfig

Inspection Commands

Command	Description
`bitbake <recipe> -c listtasks`	List all available tasks for a recipe
`bitbake -s`	Show all available recipes and their versions
`bitbake -e <recipe>`	Dump the full environment for a recipe
`bitbake -g <recipe>`	Generate dependency graph files
`bitbake -g -u taskexp <recipe>`	Open graphical dependency viewer

Layer Commands

Command	Description
`bitbake-layers show-layers`	List all configured layers
`bitbake-layers show-recipes`	List all recipes across layers
`bitbake-layers show-overlayed`	Show recipes overriding another layer
`bitbake-layers add-layer <path>`	Add a layer to `bblayers.conf`

Useful Task Combinations

# Rebuild kernel from scratch
bitbake virtual/kernel -c cleanall && bitbake virtual/kernel

# Rebuild U-Boot from scratch
bitbake virtual/bootloader -c cleanall && bitbake virtual/bootloader

# Build and install a recipe into the sysroot
bitbake <recipe> -c populate_sysroot

# Generate the root filesystem only
bitbake <image> -c rootfs

Verbosity Flags

Flag	Effect
`-v`	Verbose output
`-DDD`	Maximum debug output
`--help`	Show all available options

Common Variables

Set in conf/local.conf or a distro/machine config:

Variable	Purpose
`MACHINE`	Target machine (e.g. `imx8mp-icore`)
`DISTRO`	Distribution (e.g. `fsl-imx-wayland`)
`IMAGE_ROOTFS_SIZE`	Root filesystem size in KB
`EXTRA_IMAGE_FEATURES`	Add features like `debug-tweaks`, `ssh-server-openssh`
`BB_NUMBER_THREADS`	Parallel BitBake tasks
`PARALLEL_MAKE`	Parallel `make` jobs (`-j N`)