Zephyr Environment Setup & QEMU Walkthrough
In this post, we will explore how to set up the Zephyr RTOS development environment on a Mac (Apple Silicon, M1/M2/M3/M4), and how to build and test applications using the QEMU emulator without actual board hardware. 0. Preliminary Work (Changes Made) For a smooth walkthrough, the following environment configuration has been completed prior to writing this guide. System Dependencies: Installed cmake, ninja, qemu, ccache and other required homebrew packages. Python Environment: Created a virtual environment (~/ws/zephyr-venv), upgraded pip, and installed west. Zephyr Workspace: Initialized the west workspace and pulled all external dependencies (west update). Installed required Python scripts. Zephyr SDK: Downloaded and installed the zephyr-sdk-0.16.8 with the x86_64-zephyr-elf toolchain for macOS ARM64. 1. Activating Zephyr Virtual Environment To use Zephyr’s build system, west, and various tools properly, you first need to activate the Python virtual environment. Load the previously created virtual environment (~/ws/zephyr-venv) and navigate to the working directory. ...