Getting SymbiFlow¶

This section describes how to install SymbiFlow and set up a fully working environment to later build example designs.

Prerequisites¶

To be able to follow through this tutorial, install the following software:

apt update -y
apt install -y git wget xz-utils

apt update -y
apt install -y git wget xz-utils

yum update -y
yum install -y git wget which xz

dnf install -y findutils git wget which xz

Next, clone the SymbiFlow examples repository and enter it:

git clone https://github.com/SymbiFlow/symbiflow-examples
cd symbiflow-examples

Toolchain installation¶

Now we are able to install the SymbiFlow toolchain. This procedure is divided into three steps:

installing the Conda package manager,
choosing an installation directory,
downloading the architecture definitions and installing the toolchain.

Conda¶

Download Conda installer script into the symbiflow-examples directory:

wget https://repo.continuum.io/miniconda/Miniconda3-latest-Linux-x86_64.sh -O conda_installer.sh

Choose the install directory¶

The install directory can either be in your home directory such as ~/opt/symbiflow or in a system directory such as /opt/symbiflow. If you choose a system directory, you will need root permission to perform the installation, and so you will need to add some sudo commands to the instructions below.

export INSTALL_DIR=~/opt/symbiflow

Toolchain¶

Select your target FPGA family:

export FPGA_FAM=xc7

export FPGA_FAM=eos-s3

Next, setup Conda and your system’s environment:

bash conda_installer.sh -u -b -p $INSTALL_DIR/$FPGA_FAM/conda;
source "$INSTALL_DIR/$FPGA_FAM/conda/etc/profile.d/conda.sh";
conda env create -f $FPGA_FAM/environment.yml

Download architecture definitions:

mkdir -p $INSTALL_DIR/xc7/install
wget -qO- https://storage.googleapis.com/symbiflow-arch-defs/artifacts/prod/foss-fpga-tools/symbiflow-arch-defs/continuous/install/459/20211116-000105/symbiflow-arch-defs-install-ef6fff3c.tar.xz | tar -xJC $INSTALL_DIR/xc7/install
wget -qO- https://storage.googleapis.com/symbiflow-arch-defs/artifacts/prod/foss-fpga-tools/symbiflow-arch-defs/continuous/install/459/20211116-000105/symbiflow-arch-defs-xc7a50t_test-ef6fff3c.tar.xz | tar -xJC $INSTALL_DIR/xc7/install
wget -qO- https://storage.googleapis.com/symbiflow-arch-defs/artifacts/prod/foss-fpga-tools/symbiflow-arch-defs/continuous/install/459/20211116-000105/symbiflow-arch-defs-xc7a100t_test-ef6fff3c.tar.xz | tar -xJC $INSTALL_DIR/xc7/install
wget -qO- https://storage.googleapis.com/symbiflow-arch-defs/artifacts/prod/foss-fpga-tools/symbiflow-arch-defs/continuous/install/459/20211116-000105/symbiflow-arch-defs-xc7a200t_test-ef6fff3c.tar.xz | tar -xJC $INSTALL_DIR/xc7/install
wget -qO- https://storage.googleapis.com/symbiflow-arch-defs/artifacts/prod/foss-fpga-tools/symbiflow-arch-defs/continuous/install/459/20211116-000105/symbiflow-arch-defs-xc7z010_test-ef6fff3c.tar.xz | tar -xJC $INSTALL_DIR/xc7/install

wget -qO- https://storage.googleapis.com/symbiflow-arch-defs-install/quicklogic-arch-defs-63c3d8f9.tar.gz | tar -xz -C $INSTALL_DIR/eos-s3/

If the above commands exited without errors, you have successfully installed and configured your working environment.

Build Example Designs¶

With the toolchain installed, you can build the example designs. The example designs are provided in separate directories:

xc7 directory for the Artix-7 devices
eos-s3 directory for the EOS S3 devices