CMake Build Cheatsheet

A compact reference for the no-OS CMake build flow: discover targets, configure, build, flash, and debug. Commands are run from the repository root (cd path/to/no-OS).

1. Discover projects & targets

List every project / variant / board combination:

tools/scripts/no_os_build.py list

<p>           <v>          <b>
PROJECT       VARIANT      BOARD             PLATFORM
iio_demo      iio          zed               xilinx
ad463x_fmcz   basic        sdp-ck1z          stm32
ad463x_fmcz   iio          sdp-ck1z          stm32
ad4692_ardz   iio          ad-apard32690-sl  maxim
ad7124-8pmdz  iio_example  eval-adicup3029   aducm3029
adxrs290-pmdz iio          rpi-pico          pico

Filter the list by any combination of project, board, and variant:

tools/scripts/no_os_build.py list --project ad74413r
tools/scripts/no_os_build.py list --board sdp-ck1z
tools/scripts/no_os_build.py list --variant iio
tools/scripts/no_os_build.py list --project ad74413r --board sdp-ck1z
tools/scripts/no_os_build.py list --project ad74413r --variant iio
tools/scripts/no_os_build.py list --board sdp-ck1z --variant iio
tools/scripts/no_os_build.py list --project ad74413r --variant iio --board sdp-ck1z

2. Configure & build

CMake directly (preset-based). -B <dir> is the build directory CMake creates and configures.

# configure
cmake -B path/to/build-<p> --preset <b> -DPROJECT_DEFCONFIG=<p>/<v>.conf
# build
cmake --build path/to/build-<p> --target <p> -j$(nproc)

# example
cmake -B build-ad74413r --preset nucleo-f756zg -DPROJECT_DEFCONFIG=ad74413r/iio.conf
cmake --build build-ad74413r --target ad74413r -j$(nproc)

no_os_build.py (one-liner). Configures and builds in one step:

tools/scripts/no_os_build.py build --project <p> --variant <v> --board <b>

Build output paths. Everything lands under the build-<p>/ directory you passed to -B. The firmware images are in the build/ subdirectory; the compiled objects are under CMakeFiles/no-os.dir/:

Path (under build-<p>/)

Contents

build/<p>.elf

linked ELF (used by GDB / debug)

build/<p>.hex

Intel HEX image (flashing)

build/<p>.bin

raw binary image (flashing)

build/lib/*.a

static libraries (e.g. mbedtls)

build/no_os_config.h

generated C #define macros

build/config

Kconfig .config state

build/config.cmake

Kconfig values as CMake set() calls

CMakeFiles/no-os.dir/**/*.c.o

compiled object files (mirror the source tree)

compile_commands.json

compile database (clangd / IntelliSense)

CMakeCache.txt

cached CMake / Kconfig variables

build.log

build log

3. Flash

Via CMake targets (reuse the configured build directory):

cmake --build path/to/build-<p> --target flash
cmake --build path/to/build-<p> --target debug          # GDB server + session
cmake --build path/to/build-<p> --target erase
cmake --build path/to/build-<p> --target debug_server   # OpenOCD GDB server on :50000

Via no_os_build.py:

tools/scripts/no_os_build.py build --project <p> --variant <v> --board <b> --probe openocd --flash
# J-Link instead:  --probe jlink

Probe selection with CMake (default is openocd):

cmake -B path/to/build-<p> --preset <b> -DPROBE=openocd
cmake -B path/to/build-<p> --preset <b> -DPROBE=jlink

4. IDE & debug

Configure generates the IDE files at the repository root (not in the build directory), targeting whichever build you configured last. Re-configuring a different project/board regenerates them to point at that build.

VS Code — open the generated multi-root workspace from the repo root:

code no-os.code-workspace

It generates no-os.code-workspace plus .vscode/{launch,settings, c_cpp_properties}.json at the repo root. The launch configs use the cortex-debug extension with OpenOCD on port 50000 (press F5 to run).

Manual GDB + OpenOCD:

# terminal 1 — GDB server
cmake --build path/to/build-<p> --target debug_server
# terminal 2 — GDB client
arm-none-eabi-gdb build-<p>/build/<p>.elf
(gdb) target remote localhost:50000
(gdb) load
(gdb) monitor reset halt
(gdb) tb main
(gdb) c

Open straight from the build script:

tools/scripts/no_os_build.py build --project <p> --variant <v> --board <b> --open

5. Configuration (Kconfig)

Interactive text menu:

cmake --build path/to/build-<p> --target menuconfig

Config files are loaded in this order (later overrides earlier):

1. board_configs/<platform>/<b>_defconfig
2. projects/<p>/<v>.conf
3. projects/<p>/boards/<v>/<b>.conf

Any config change regenerates build/config (.config state), build/config.cmake (CMake set() calls), and build/no_os_config.h (C #define macros).

6. Cleanup

CMake gives you standalone cleanup commands. no_os_build.py has no delete-only mode — its --clean and --fresh are build modifiers that wipe first and then re-configure and build in the same run.

Standalone cleanup (CMake):

# clean: remove build artifacts (.o objects, .elf/.hex/.bin, .a libraries);
#        keeps the CMake cache + Kconfig state, so no re-configure next build
cmake --build path/to/build-<p> --target clean

# re-configure: drop only CMakeCache.txt + CMakeFiles/, keep built artifacts,
#               force a fresh configure without a full wipe
cmake -B path/to/build-<p> --preset <b> --fresh -DPROJECT_DEFCONFIG=<p>/<v>.conf

# reset: remove the whole build dir (artifacts, cache, generated config,
#        IDE projects, compile database, logs)
rm -rf path/to/build-<p>

Clean rebuild in one step (no_os_build.py) — each of these deletes, then re-configures and builds:

# --clean deletes the build dir first, then builds (equivalent to rm -rf + build)
tools/scripts/no_os_build.py build --project <p> --variant <v> --board <b> --clean

# --fresh drops CMakeCache.txt + CMakeFiles/ first, then builds
tools/scripts/no_os_build.py build --project <p> --variant <v> --board <b> --fresh