Qt for VxWorks

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Qt for VxWorks Licensing

Qt for VxWorks is available under the Qt for Device Creation Professional (DCP) license. For more information, see Qt Pricing.

Supported Architectures and VxWorks Releases

  • Qt 6.7 is verified on VxWorks 24.03 Supported architecture is ARM-v7.

If you are interested in later Qt releases, please contact Qt professional services.

Requirements for VxWorks

Qt Widgets Applications

  • POSIX support
  • C++17 support

Qt Quick 2 Applications

All features which are required for Qt Widgets applications, and in addition the following:

  • GPU device (GPUDEV) for OpenGL ES 2.0

Supported Modules

Most essential Qt modules and some add-on modules are supported.

Supported Essential modules

Supported Add-Ons

Note: You can explicitly exclude unsupported or unused modules from the build via the -skip <module> option when running the configure tool.

Platform Notes

With the release of Qt 5.0, Qt no longer contains its own window system implementation: QWS is no longer a supported platform. For single-process use cases, the Qt Platform Abstraction is a superior solution.

There is one plugin that is usable on VxWorks: EGLFS. The availability of this plugins depends on the configuration of Qt.

Configuring for a Specific Device

Prepare your environment by installing VxWorks SDK and obtaining WindRiver license which is needed by installer and for building VxWorks images. Search for appropriate installer in {https://gallery.windriver.com/portal/products}.

Building Qt for a given device requires a Qt6 installation for compilation host, a toolchain and a sysroot. Additionally, some devices require vendor specific adaptation code for EGL and OpenGL 2.0 support.

VxWorks image requirements

Qt for VxWorks requires certain VxWorks image bundles and components to be embedded in base software to make Qt compile and work properly. The list is by no means complete as it depends on hardware, software and system requirements of your project. However, the following table contains those that are mandatory for certain functionalities to work. Note also that these might change with VxWorks versions.

Example VSB configuration for i.MX 6 BSP

You need to add the following features to VSB for Qt to work properly. For more details please check WindRiver VxWorks Documentation.

FeatureNotes
DSI_DSI_KERNEL
IPNET_COREIP
IPNET_DHCPC
SDMMC_DEVICE
SDMMC_HOST
SDMMC_SDHC
SDMMC_STORAGE
SERVICE_UN
SOCKET
USB_EHCI
USB_KEYBOARD
USB_MOUSE
USB_STORAGE
EVDEV
EVDEV_LIB
EVDEV_TI_TSC2004_TS
EVDEV_EETI_EXC7200_TS
AUDIO
GPUDEV_FSLVIVGPU
HASH
OPENSSL
RANDOM_ENTROPY_INJECT
IPNET_SSH
USER_MANAGEMENT
ICU

The following config variables are added implicitly and you need to remove them:

VariableNotes
_WRS_CONFIG_EVDEV_OPTIMIZED_MODE
_WRS_CONFIG_EVDEV_DISPLAY_POINT_TRANSLATE

You need to add the following variables to the config:

VariableValueNotes
_WRS_CONFIG_RTP_SSPy
_WRS_CONFIG_RTP_STACK_PROTECTORy

Example VIP configuration for i.MX 6 BSP

For more details please check WindRiver VxWorks Documentation.

LayerNotes
BUNDLE_POSIXThis bundle is necessary for compatibility with POSIX-related functionalities which Qt requires.
INCLUDE_TMP_DIR INCLUDE_RAM_DISK_FORMAT_HRFSIncluding these two components is necessary if you want to use QTemporaryFile. Note that you should also consider setting TMP_DIR_SIZE to appropriate value
BUNDLE_RTP_DEVELOP
BUNDLE_RTP_DEPLOY
BUNDLE_STANDALONE_SHELL
DRV_AUDIO_FSL_SSI
DRV_AUDIO_FSL_SGTL5000
DRV_FSL_SDHC_CTRL
DRV_IMX_SDHC_CTRL
INCLUDE_EHCI_INIT
INCLUDE_FSL_IMX6Q_SABRELITE
DRV_MMCSTORAGE_CARD
DRV_SDSTORAGE_CARD
INCLUDE_AUDIO_LIB_CORE
INCLUDE_AUDIO_LIB_WAV
INCLUDE_CUSTOM_ENTROPY_ADD
INCLUDE_DEBUG_AGENT_START
INCLUDE_DEFAULT_TIMEZONE
INCLUDE_DISK_UTIL
INCLUDE_DOSFS
INCLUDE_DSAPARAM_CMD
INCLUDE_END
INCLUDE_EVDEV_LIB_CORE
INCLUDE_EVDEV_LIB_KBD
INCLUDE_EVDEV_LIB_KBD_MAP_US
INCLUDE_EVDEV_LIB_PTR
INCLUDE_GENDSA_CMD
INCLUDE_GENRSA_CMD
INCLUDE_GETADDRINFO
INCLUDE_GETNAMEINFO
INCLUDE_HRFS
INCLUDE_HRFS_ACCESS_TIMESTAMP
INCLUDE_HRFS_FORMAT
INCLUDE_HRFS_HISPEED_WRITE_MODE
INCLUDE_IFCONFIG
INCLUDE_IO_REALPATHThis component is needed to enable the use of the realpath function needed for QFileInfo
INCLUDE_IPATTACH
INCLUDE_IPCOM_SYSLOGD_CMD
INCLUDE_IPCOM_SYSVAR_CMD
INCLUDE_IPCOM_USE_RAM_DISK
INCLUDE_IPCOM_USE_TIME_CMD
INCLUDE_IPDHCPC
INCLUDE_IPDNSC
INCLUDE_IPD_CMD
INCLUDE_IPFTPC
INCLUDE_IPFTP_CMD
INCLUDE_IPIFCONFIG_CMD
INCLUDE_IPNETSTAT_CMD
INCLUDE_IPNSLOOKUP_CMD
INCLUDE_IPPING_CMD
INCLUDE_IPROUTE_CMD
INCLUDE_IPTRACE_ROUTE_CMD
INCLUDE_IPWRAP_GETHOSTBYADDR
INCLUDE_IPWRAP_GETHOSTBYNAME
INCLUDE_IPWRAP_GETNAMEINFO
INCLUDE_IPWRAP_IFNAME
INCLUDE_IPWRAP_ROUTECMD
INCLUDE_MMAP
INCLUDE_PING
INCLUDE_PIPES
INCLUDE_POSIX_MAPPED_FILES
INCLUDE_POSIX_PIPES
INCLUDE_POSIX_PTHREAD_SCHEDULER
INCLUDE_POSIX_SHM
INCLUDE_RAM_DISK
INCLUDE_RAM_DISK_FORMAT_HRFS
INCLUDE_RANDOM_NUM_GEN
INCLUDE_ROMFS
INCLUDE_ROUTECMD
INCLUDE_SC_PIPE
INCLUDE_SC_POSIX_PIPE
INCLUDE_SD_BUS
INCLUDE_SECURITY
INCLUDE_SEC_KEY_STORE_CMD
INCLUDE_SHELL
INCLUDE_SSH
INCLUDE_STANDALONE_SYM_TBL
INCLUDE_STARTUP_SCRIPT
INCLUDE_TMP_DIR
INCLUDE_UN_COMP
INCLUDE_USB_GEN2_KEYBOARD
INCLUDE_USB_GEN2_MOUSE
INCLUDE_USB_GEN2_STORAGE_INIT
INCLUDE_USER_DATABASE
INCLUDE_USER_IDENTIFICATION
INCLUDE_VRFS
INCLUDE_VXBUS_SHOW
DRV_TOUCH_SCREEN_TI_TSC2004
DRV_TOUCH_SCREEN_EETI_EXC7200
INCLUDE_FBDEV_FSLIPU_0
INCLUDE_FBDEV_SPLASH
INCLUDE_GPUDEV_FSLVIV_API
INCLUDE_GPUDEV_FSLVIV_API_INIT

The following components are added implicitly and you need to remove them:

LayerNotes
INCLUDE_FTP
INCLUDE_SHELL_SECURITY
VIP Parameters

You need to add the following parameters for Qt to run properly on VxWorks:

ParameterExample valueNotes
SEC_VAULT_KEY_ENCRYPTING_PW'"vxTarget"'Example value
UDB_STORAGE_PATH'"/ram/vxUserDB.txt"'Example value
UDB_HASH_KEY'"123456789"'Example value
UDB_HASH_KEY_LEN9Example value, see previous
FSLVIV_RTP_COMMAND_BUFFER_QUEUE32For 'arm' architecture
SYS_CLK_RATE100
RTP_PTHREAD_STACK_SIZE_DEFAULT131072
TMP_DIR_SIZE614400Minimum value for passing Qt internal tests
NUM_FILES300
RTP_FD_NUM_MAX300
HRFS_DEFAULT_MAX_FILES300

Building Qt6 for VxWorks

Building Qt6 for host

When cross-building Qt6 for VxWorks, it's best practice to use host tools that use the same source code as cross-build does. This requires building Qt6 for host first, but only with limited subset of submodules:

  • qtbase
  • qtdeclarative
  • qtquick3d
  • qtshadertools

Make sure to have all necessary prerequisites for building Qt6 for host. Check details in Building Qt Sources.

The commands to configure, build, and install Qt6 for host are the following:

./configure \
    -cmake-generator "Ninja" \
    -extprefix <path_to_qt6_host_installation_dir> \
    -submodules qtbase,qtdeclarative,qtquick3d,qtshadertools \
    -nomake tests \
    -nomake examples \
    -- \
    -B <host_build_directory>
cd <host_build_directory>
ninja
ninja install

After these commands, Qt6 for host is installed in <path_to_qt6_host_installation_dir>.

Building Qt6 for target

Before running configure and building Qt 6 it is required to open VxWorks Development Shell in command prompt.

  • Linux:
    cd <VxWorks installation directory>
    ./wrenv.sh -p vxworks
  • Windows:
    cd <VxWorks installation directory>
    wrenv -p vxworks

Below is an example build configuration for the BD-SL-i.MX6. For most VxWorks boards the configure command looks very similar. By default, Qt 6 is configured to use shared libraries. To build Qt 6 statically, add -static option for configure.

Make sure that {WIND_CC_SYSROOT} environment variable is set to VxWorks VSB root directory.

./configure \
    -cmake-generator "Ninja" \
    -icu \
    -no-feature-vulkan \
    -platform vxworks-clang \
    -qt-host-path <path_to_qt6_host_installation_dir> \
    -submodules "qtbase,qtdeclarative,qtmultimedia,qtquick3d,qtgraphs,qtimageformats,qtsvg,qtshadertools,qtvirtualkeyboard" \
    -sysroot <path_to_vxworks_vsb_dir>/fsl_imx6_<vsb_version>_VSB \
    -qpa "eglfs" \
    -DQT_QPA_EGLFS_INTEGRATION=eglfs_viv \
    -prefix /sd0:1/qt6rtp \
    -extprefix <path_to_host_dir>/qt6rtp \
    -nomake tools \
    -nomake examples \
    -- \
    -B <target_build_dir> \
    -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE="$WIND_CC_SYSROOT/mk/rtp.toolchain.cmake"

In case of building for DKM rather than RTP, use -static option and change the CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE value to "$WIND_CC_SYSROOT/mk/dkm.toolchain.cmake"

It is recommended to build Qt 6 using a shadow build. See Qt Configure Options for more information.

When configuration is successful, building and installing Qt6 for VxWorks takes place as follows:

cd <target_build_dir>
ninja
ninja install

Platform Plugins for VxWorks Devices

Qt for VxWorks supports EGLFS platform plugin for a native window substitution. Read more about its configuration in EGLFS.

Running Qt Applications

The following example shows how to start an application when Qt 6 is built using shared libraries. With a statically built Qt 6, you don't need to use the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable for the Qt libraries, but it needs to point to the location of VxWorks shared libraries (for example libc and OpenGL ES 2.0). It is not needed for Qt 6 static libraries.

putenv "LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/sd0:1/lib"
cd "/sd0:1"
rtpSp("<Qt6_app>", 200, 0x100000, 0, 0x01000000)

Limitations

Video Memory

Systems with a fixed amount of dedicated video memory may need extra care before running Qt application based on Qt Quick or classes like QOpenGLWidget. The default setting might be insufficient for such applications, especially when they are displayed on a high resolution (for example, full HD) screen. In this case they might start failing in unexpected ways. It is therefore recommended to ensure that there is at least 128 MB of GPU memory available. For systems that do not have a fixed amount of memory reserved for the GPU this is not an issue.

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