This is a short introduction to the beroFix UserAppFS framework (baf).

Prerequisites for using baf

• x86- or x86_64 PC running Linux

• installed build tools (package build-essential on Debian/Ubuntu)

• Python 2.6.0 or newer

If the architecture of the building host is x86_64, make sure to have the ia32 compatibility libraries installed.

Installing baf

After extracting the archive or cloning the repository, switch to the directory and type make install. By default this will install baf to /usr/local, so you need to be root for the installation or use sudo.

If you want to install baf to another directory, append PREFIX=/some/path. So if you'd like to have it installed inside your home-directory, type:

The baf-script will be installed in ~/some/path/bin, so make sure this directory is listed in your $PATH-environment variable!

Creating a first UserApp

To create an UserApp, just type:

This will create a directory structure and some files needed to create an UserApp in the subdirectory an_app/.

Modules

A bero*fix UserApp can contain several modules, which help you to manage the different components of your application.

Creating a module

Switch to the directory mentioned above and type:

This will create the skeleton for a module in the modules/ directory called a_module/.

If you switch to the directory modules/a_module/, you will see a few directories, a Makefile and an empty file called mod_files.lst.

The Makefile is set up to configure, compile and install applications that lie in the subdirectories of src/. It is very basic, so it should be adjusted to the needs of the application you want to use. If your program has a configure script, you will have to add parameters to the CONF_OPTS variable in this file and maybe adjust the MAKE_OPTS and INST_OPTS variables as well. The goal should be, that your application installs itself in an_app/modules/a_module/.

The file mod_files.lst should list the files to be installed in your UserApp. E.g. if the build-process of an application creates the following files:

• a_module

  • bin

    • a_bin

  • libs

    • a_lib.so

    • b_lib.so

you should add the following lines to this modules' mod_files.lst:

All files listed here will be installed, all files not listed ignored. So you should check that you listed all files needed by your application.

If you want to run an application as service, you might want to add an init-script to the init-subdirectory of your module. In the directory template/init/ are already two simple examples: S00example and S00cronexample. The first is an example for starting daemons and the second shows how handling of cron-jobs should be done.

Copy or rename it, but keep the scheme S[0-9]{2}[a-zA-Z]{*}. Edit it to the needs of your UserApp and keep in mind: On beroFix the path to your app will be /apps/an_app/!

If you want the init-script to be installed, please remember to add it to your mod_files.lst!

En-/Disabling a module

Modules are enabled by default, if you want to disable a module (it won't be compiled or installed) or re-enable it, you can do this with the following commands.

To disable a module, type baf module disable a_module while in root of your UserApp.

To enable a module, type baf module enable a_module while in root of your UserApp.

Compiling a module

To compile a module, type baf module compile a_module while in root of your UserApp.

Deleting a module

To delete a module, type baf module delete a_module while in root of your UserApp.

Creating an UserAppFS package

After you've configured your modules, you can create a package that contains all modules.

To create a package switch to the root-directory of your UserApp-Repository and type:

This will compile and install all enabled modules, ask you to modify the file pkginfo/VERSION and create a gzipped tarfile in the directory pkg/.

baf configuration file

The root of an baf application-directory-structure contains a file named .baf.conf.

Currently, this file only contains the path to the toolchain and the editor used, which is set to vim by default. If you want to use another editor, like SciTE or kWrite, just replace to path to vim with the path to your favorite editor.

That's all folks

Well, not at all. If you have questions, want to report problems or have suggestions, mail them to us: