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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

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

Since STM32CubeMX (>=15.0), CMake configurations for Clang toolchains are already integrated.
In the Project Manager, select Default Compiler/Linker as gcc or starm-clang. No extra setup is required.
LibXR_CppCodeGenerator provides the helper script xr_stm32_toolchain_switch for switching compilers and standard libraries.

In VSCode, install the preview version of the extension STMicroelectronics.stm32-vscode-extension. The extension will automatically download toolchains and required resources.

When setting up a new STM32Cube project, it is recommended to use the hybrid mode (gcc + starm-clang) for maximum compatibility.

stm32cube-clangd Extension Issues​

  • Did not automatically add the C++ compiler path for --query-driver, and manual additions were overwritten each time the project was opened → Fixed in the latest version.
  • Still does not recognize ST-ARM-CLANG’s --multi-lib-config option.
    → Avoid using Hybrid (STARM_HYBRID) mode with starm-clang.
    → gcc, starm-clang+newlib and starm-clang+picolibc modes work correctly. Recommended: starm-clang + picolibc.

CLion / Command-Line Compilation​

On Windows, you need to add toolchains to your PATH. Installing STM32CubeCLT can simplify some of these settings.

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

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

You also need to set environment variables:

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}"

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"

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

If you encounter a link error with the ob library, add this to your root CMakeLists.txt:

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

Based on GCC (Legacy STM32 VSCode Extension) — Not Recommended​

Windows Environment Setup​

Install STM32CubeCLT

Linux Environment Setup​

Install 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, on x64 Linux, download the AArch32 bare-metal target (arm-none-eabi) under x86_64 Linux hosted cross toolchains:
arm-gnu-toolchain-14.2.rel1-x86_64-arm-none-eabi.tar.xz

Extract and move it to /opt, then create a symlink:

sudo ln -s /opt/arm-gnu-toolchain-14.2.rel1-x86_64-arm-none-eabi /usr/local/arm-gnu-toolchain-14.2.rel1-x86_64-arm-none-eabi

You can now use commands like arm-none-eabi-gcc.

For convenience, link binaries:

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