Getting Started

This chapter includes:

• Supported hosts
• Installing and removing QNX SDP
• What do I do if my installation fails?
• What did I just install?
• What's on my desktop?
• Upgrading your software
• Managing source code
• Running QNX Neutrino self-hosted
• Mixing a self-hosted machine with other hosts
• Can different versions of QNX Momentics coexist?
• Running QNX Neutrino on a target machine

Supported hosts

To install and use QNX Momentics, you'll need a desktop machine running one of the following for your host development environment:

• Microsoft Windows Vista, Vista 64-bit, XP SP2 or SP3, or 2000 SP4
• Linux Red Hat Enterprise Workstation 4.0 or 5.0, Red Hat Enterprise Server 5.1 64-bit, Red Hat Fedora 10, Ubuntu 8.04 LTS or 8.10, or SUSE 11
• QNX Neutrino

For particular system requirements (e.g. amount of disk space you'll need to install), see the installation note that came with your software.

Installing and removing QNX SDP

The QNX Software Development Platform uses InstallShield on all hosts except Neutrino (which uses tarballs and shell scripts) to help you install and remove software. For specific instructions, see the installation note that was shipped with your software.

What do I do if my installation fails?

If for some reason (e.g. hardware incompatibility) the QNX SDP doesn't install properly, you should:

1. Review the requirements and instructions given in the installation note that was shipped with your software.
2. If you can access the Internet, check the lists of supported hardware posted on our website (http://www.qnx.com).
3. Check the troubleshooting sections in the Neutrino User's Guide.
4. Contact us for help, or post questions in one of our forums. For more information, see the How to Get Help chapter.

What did I just install?

The QNX Momentics Tool Suite is organized around these two main areas:

Host-related

All your libraries, executables, etc., designed to run on your host system (e.g. Windows).

Target-related

All CPU-specific components, as well as certain common things that you can use on any target system.

The QNX_HOST environment variable identifies the directory that holds the host-related components:

The host-related directory structure.

The QNX_TARGET environment variable identifies the directory that holds the target-related components:

The target-related directory structure.

Neutrino also uses these environment variables to locate files on the host machine:

QNX_CONFIGURATION

The location of the configuration files and licenses for QNX Momentics.

MAKEFLAGS

The location of included *.mk files.

Here's where some of the key components are installed:

If you install any BSPs or DDKs, they're installed under ${QNX_TARGET}, or in a directory of your choosing. The IDE creates a workspace, a directory that holds your development projects. By default, this workspace is in your home directory on Linux, and in C:\QNX640 on Windows.

For information about the directory structure on a Neutrino runtime system, see “Where everything is stored” in the Working with Files chapter of the Neutrino User's Guide.

What's on my desktop?

How you access the components of QNX Momentics depends on your host machine:

Windows

You can start the IDE by clicking its icon on the desktop:

or by choosing Start-->QNX Momentics IDE. The Start-->All Programs-->QNX Software Development Platform 6.4.0 menu lets you add or activate licenses, configure your machine to build for a specific version of QNX Neutrino, run Phindows, and start the IDE.

Linux

The Start-->Programming menu lets you add or activate licenses, and start the IDE.

Neutrino

The Launch-->Configure menu lets you add and activate licenses. The Help item in the Launch menu and on the shelf starts the Helpviewer, where you'll find the documentation.

Upgrading your software

Here's the general procedure for updating a version of the QNX Software Development Platform or other components you've purchased:

1. Go to the QNX Software Systems website (http://www.qnx.com) and log into your myQNX account. If you don't already have a myQNX account, please register now.
2. Follow the instructions for registering your product. You'll need the Product Registration serial number and password, which you'll find on the box that contains the installation disks.

   For more information about setting up your myQNX account, see On-line Technical Support. There's a printed copy in the QNX Software Development Platform box, and a PDF version on the DVD and on our website.

3. Go to the Download area.
4. Select the product (e.g. “QNX Software Development Platform 6.4.0”) or search by keywords.

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   In the next step, you'll download a file. Don't download it into a directory whose path contains spaces. For example, don't download the file into C:\Documents and Settings\my_userid\Desktop.

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5. Download the appropriate file and follow the instructions.

If you installed an evaluation copy of the QNX Software Development Platform, you can upgrade to a permanent copy without reinstalling. For more information, see the Installation Guide.

Managing source code

You'll probably want to use some sort of version-control system to manage and track changes to the software that you develop.

QNX Momentics includes clients for both CVS and Subversion.

Running QNX Neutrino self-hosted

You can develop software on a self-hosted QNX Neutrino system. For more information on working with Neutrino, see the Neutrino User's Guide; for information on developing software on Neutrino, see the Neutrino Programmer's Guide and the IDE User's Guide.

Mixing a self-hosted machine with other hosts

If you have a Neutrino host, you can communicate with other hosts in various ways:

• You can access resources — such as files, directories, and processes — on other Neutrino machines as if the resources were on your own computer; see Using Qnet for Transparent Distributed Processing in the Neutrino User's Guide.
• You can use TCP/IP; see TCP/IP Networking in the Neutrino User's Guide.
• You can mount DOS and Linux filesystems right on your Neutrino box, or use CIFS or NFS to mount filesystems across a network; see Working with Filesystems in the Neutrino User's Guide.

Can different versions of QNX Momentics coexist?

You can install different versions of QNX Momentics on your machine. You can use the IDE or the qconfig utility to set up your environment to build for the correct version. On Windows hosts, use QWinCfg, a graphical front end for qconfig that you can launch from the Start menu.

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Coexistence of 6.3.x and 6.2.1 is supported only on Windows hosts.

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For more information, see the Compiling and Debugging chapter of the Neutrino Programmer's Guide and the IDE Concepts chapter of the IDE User's Guide.

Running QNX Neutrino on a target machine

Neutrino is well suited to embedded systems. For information about creating OS images, downloading them to your target hardware, and running your software, see:

• the BSP documentation for your particular target (in the IDE's help system, or in the Photon Helpviewer on Neutrino)
• Building Embedded Systems
• IDE User's Guide

You don't always need to have the hardware to run your software; for more information, see “Getting started before you have your target” in the What is QNX Momentics? chapter in this guide.