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STM32 Environment Setup

This page will guide you on how to configure your STM32 development environment for use with LibXR, CodeGenerator, and XRobot.

Basic Environment​

Windows installation:

For Linux, install with apt:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y git python3 python3-pip cmake tar xz-utils wget pipx ninja-build

Based on GCC (Legacy STM32 VSCode Extension)​

Windows Environment Setup​

You need to install STM32CubeCLT

Linux Environment Setup​

Required packages:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y git python3 python3-pip cmake tar xz-utils wget pipx ninja-build

Download the appropriate compiler from the ARM official website.
For example, if you are using an x64 Linux system, download AArch32 bare-metal target (arm-none-eabi) under x86_64 Linux hosted cross toolchains, which is named arm-gnu-toolchain-14.2.rel1-x86_64-arm-none-eabi.tar.xz.

After extraction, move it to /opt and create a symbolic link /usr/local/arm-gnu-toolchain-14.2.rel1-x86_64-arm-none-eabi.
Now you can use commands with the arm-none-eabi- prefix, such as arm-none-eabi-gcc.

Then run the linking command:

sudo ln -s /opt/arm-gun-toolchain-xx.x/bin/* /usr/bin

Based on GCC/Clang (New STM32 VSCode Extension)​

In STM32CubeMX (>=15.0), Clang-related toolchain CMake configurations are already integrated.
In the Project Manager, simply select the Default Compiler/Linker as either gcc or starm-clang—no additional setup required.

The Default Compiler/Linker setting is written to the project's root CMakePresets.json under toolchainFile, which will be ${sourceDir}/cmake/starm-clang.cmake or ${sourceDir}/cmake/gcc-arm-none-eabi.cmake.

Then install and use the preview version of the STMicroelectronics.stm32-vscode-extension. The extension will automatically download toolchains as needed.

clangd Usage​

The new ST extension’s clangd support is quite buggy. It’s recommended to disable the stmicroelectronics.stm32cube-ide-clangd extension and use the official llvm-vs-code-extensions.vscode-clangd extension instead. Then, manually add the following config:

"clangd.arguments": [
    "--query-driver=${env:CUBE_BUNDLE_PATH}/st-arm-clang/19.1.6+st.8/bin/starm-clang.exe,${env:CUBE_BUNDLE_PATH}/st-arm-clang/19.1.6+st.8/bin/starm-clang++.exe"
]

For GCC, use:
--query-driver=${env:CUBE_BUNDLE_PATH}/gnu-tools-for-stm32/10.3.1+st.3/bin/arm-none-eabi-gcc.exe,${env:CUBE_BUNDLE_PATH}/gnu-tools-for-stm32/10.3.1+st.3/bin/arm-none-eabi-g++.exe

Windows: clangd installation​

Download and install LLVM.

Linux: clangd installation​

Just install via apt. (On Ubuntu versions earlier than 24.04, the apt-provided clangd may be too old; if you encounter issues, try upgrading.)

stm32cube-clangd extension issues​

  • Does not add the C++ compiler path to --query-driver, and manual additions are overwritten every time the project is opened.
  • Does not recognize the ST-ARM-CLANG --multi-lib-config build option.

CLion / Command-Line Compilation​

On Windows, you need to configure the relevant path first:

# gcc
set PATH=%PATH%;C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\stm32cube\bundles\gnu-tools-for-stm32\${version}\bin

# starm-clang
set PATH=%PATH%;C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\stm32cube\bundles\st-arm-clang\${version}\bin;

You also need to set environment variables:

On Windows:

$env:GCC_TOOLCHAIN_ROOT = "C:\Users\$env:USERNAME\AppData\Local\stm32cube\bundles\gnu-tools-for-stm32\${version}\bin"
$env:CLANG_GCC_CMSIS_COMPILER = "C:\Users\$env:USERNAME\AppData\Local\stm32cube\bundles\st-arm-clang\${version}"

On Linux:

export GCC_TOOLCHAIN_ROOT=/opt/arm-gnu-toolchain-14.2.rel1-x86_64-arm-none-eabi/bin
export CLANG_GCC_CMSIS_COMPILER=/opt/st-arm-clang

During compilation, specify -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE="cmake/gcc-arm-none-eabi.cmake" or -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE="cmake/starm-clang.cmake" to select the toolchain.
For starm-clang.cmake, you can also specify -DSTARM_TOOLCHAIN_CONFIG as one of STARM_HYBRID, STARM_NEWLIB, or STARM_PICOLIBC (default is STARM_HYBRID).

Migrating Legacy CubeMX Projects (<15.0) to New Compilation​

If you encounter an error about linking the library ob, add the following to the project's root CMakeLists.txt:

# Remove wrong libob.a library dependency when using cpp files
list(REMOVE_ITEM CMAKE_C_IMPLICIT_LINK_LIBRARIES ob)