Ubuntu images for Zynq

Koheron SDK V1 documentation. The V1 branch is recommended for new instrument development and remains under active development ahead of the major release. Boards currently ship with V0; build and install a V1 OS image to follow this workflow. V1 images do not support legacy V0 instruments.

Overview

V1 images default to Ubuntu Base 26.04.1 with Xilinx Linux and U-Boot 2026.1. The reference development host remains Ubuntu 24.04 with Vivado/Vitis 2025.1. Instruments load through Linux FPGA Manager and device-tree overlays. Boards ship with V0.

Runtime services

  • nginx serves the web interface and proxies WebSocket traffic to koheron-server.
  • The HTTP API uploads and starts instruments.
  • The instrument server loads the bitstream and applies the pl.dtbo overlay.

Build an image

make -j CFG=examples/alpha250/fft/config.mk image

Output: tmp/examples/alpha250/fft/alpha250-fft.zip, containing the SD card image, manifest and SHA256 checksum. CFG selects the board and default instrument.

Install the image

  1. Extract the .img file from the image archive, for example tmp/examples/alpha250/fft/alpha250-fft.zip.
  2. Write the .img file to an SD card using an image-writing tool. Writing the image erases the selected card; keep the supplied V0 card if you want to return to V0.
  3. With the board powered off, insert the V1 SD card, then power up the board.
  4. Find the board IP address and open it in a browser. The image boots with the selected instrument installed.

Instrument archive runtime

The instrument archive is tmp/examples/alpha250/fft/fft.zip, also copied to tmp/alpha250/instruments/fft.zip for image builds.

The instrument archive contains:

  • runtime FPGA bitstream binary (fft.bit.bin)
  • device-tree overlay (pl.dtbo)
  • Vivado bitstream (fft.bit)
  • server executable (serverd)
  • generated driver metadata (drivers.json)
  • web assets
  • version file

Compatibility

V1 images do not support 0.x instruments. Keep a V0 image for those instruments; see the migration guide for runtime differences.

Development workflow

make -j CFG=examples/alpha250/fft/config.mk HOST=192.168.1.100 run

run builds and uploads the instrument archive. Rebuild the image for OS, kernel, boot, service, board support or default instrument changes.

See also

hello@koheron.com