How to compile, upload and monitor via the Linux command line?

I use the command-line interface to the arduino command.

I run it like this:

arduino --upload sketch/sketch.ino --port /dev/ttyUSB*

There is a page which describes other command-line tools, like inotool. That page also has an example Makefile. These alternatives seem enticing, but apparently, as of this writing, none of them work. I'm assuming this is due to some recent changes in Arduino IDE distribution files which they depend on.

Running arduino as above is a bit slow, because it has to load Java I guess, but at least it works. There is also an arduino-builder command that comes with the Arduino IDE distribution. As of this writing, it was not sufficiently well-documented for me to be able to figure out how to use it. For instance there are no example command lines in the README or in any of the tutorials I came across, and I couldn't figure out how to use it to upload code to the board. However, presumably it is able to give us a faster compile than arduino. The README also mentions being able to reuse object files from a previous compile, so there is some make-like functionality.

To view serial output I use something like

stty -F /dev/ttyUSB* 1000000 raw -clocal -echo
cat /dev/ttyUSB*

The number 1000000 should match the number you pass to Serial.begin() in your board code. You can also use screen if you have a board program which is appropriately interactive, or you can use whatever utility to write directly to the device. By the way, my Due shows up as /dev/ttyACM0 (rather than /dev/ttyUSB0 for the Uno).

I would suggest Googling for Makefile projects. I did one a while back for the Blink program, by basically seeing what got generated by the IDE and replicating that in a more general way.

#
# Simple Arduino Makefile
#
# Author: Nick Gammon
# Date: 18th March 2015

# where you installed the Arduino app
ARDUINO_DIR = C:/Documents and Settings/Nick/Desktop/arduino-1.0.6/

# various programs
CC = "$(ARDUINO_DIR)hardware/tools/avr/bin/avr-gcc"
CPP = "$(ARDUINO_DIR)hardware/tools/avr/bin/avr-g++"
AR = "$(ARDUINO_DIR)hardware/tools/avr/bin/avr-ar"
OBJ_COPY = "$(ARDUINO_DIR)hardware/tools/avr/bin/avr-objcopy"

MAIN_SKETCH = Blink.cpp

# compile flags for g++ and gcc

# may need to change these
F_CPU = 16000000
MCU = atmega328p

# compile flags
GENERAL_FLAGS = -c -g -Os -Wall -ffunction-sections -fdata-sections -mmcu=$(MCU) -DF_CPU=$(F_CPU)L -MMD -DUSB_VID=null -DUSB_PID=null -DARDUINO=106
CPP_FLAGS = $(GENERAL_FLAGS) -fno-exceptions
CC_FLAGS  = $(GENERAL_FLAGS)

# location of include files
INCLUDE_FILES = "-I$(ARDUINO_DIR)hardware/arduino/cores/arduino" "-I$(ARDUINO_DIR)hardware/arduino/variants/standard"

# library sources
LIBRARY_DIR = "$(ARDUINO_DIR)hardware/arduino/cores/arduino/"

build:

    $(CPP) $(CPP_FLAGS) $(INCLUDE_FILES) $(MAIN_SKETCH) -o $(MAIN_SKETCH).o
    $(CC) $(CC_FLAGS) $(INCLUDE_FILES) $(LIBRARY_DIR)avr-libc/malloc.c -o malloc.c.o
    $(CC) $(CC_FLAGS) $(INCLUDE_FILES) $(LIBRARY_DIR)avr-libc/realloc.c -o realloc.c.o
    $(CC) $(CC_FLAGS) $(INCLUDE_FILES) $(LIBRARY_DIR)WInterrupts.c -o WInterrupts.c.o
    $(CC) $(CC_FLAGS) $(INCLUDE_FILES) $(LIBRARY_DIR)wiring.c -o wiring.c.o
    $(CC) $(CC_FLAGS) $(INCLUDE_FILES) $(LIBRARY_DIR)wiring_analog.c -o wiring_analog.c.o
    $(CC) $(CC_FLAGS) $(INCLUDE_FILES) $(LIBRARY_DIR)wiring_digital.c -o wiring_digital.c.o
    $(CC) $(CC_FLAGS) $(INCLUDE_FILES) $(LIBRARY_DIR)wiring_pulse.c -o wiring_pulse.c.o
    $(CC) $(CC_FLAGS) $(INCLUDE_FILES) $(LIBRARY_DIR)wiring_shift.c -o wiring_shift.c.o
    $(CPP) $(CPP_FLAGS) $(INCLUDE_FILES) $(LIBRARY_DIR)CDC.cpp -o CDC.cpp.o
    $(CPP) $(CPP_FLAGS) $(INCLUDE_FILES) $(LIBRARY_DIR)HardwareSerial.cpp -o HardwareSerial.cpp.o
    $(CPP) $(CPP_FLAGS) $(INCLUDE_FILES) $(LIBRARY_DIR)HID.cpp -o HID.cpp.o
    $(CPP) $(CPP_FLAGS) $(INCLUDE_FILES) $(LIBRARY_DIR)IPAddress.cpp -o IPAddress.cpp.o
    $(CPP) $(CPP_FLAGS) $(INCLUDE_FILES) $(LIBRARY_DIR)main.cpp -o main.cpp.o
    $(CPP) $(CPP_FLAGS) $(INCLUDE_FILES) $(LIBRARY_DIR)new.cpp -o new.cpp.o
    $(CPP) $(CPP_FLAGS) $(INCLUDE_FILES) $(LIBRARY_DIR)Print.cpp -o Print.cpp.o
    $(CPP) $(CPP_FLAGS) $(INCLUDE_FILES) $(LIBRARY_DIR)Stream.cpp -o Stream.cpp.o
    $(CPP) $(CPP_FLAGS) $(INCLUDE_FILES) $(LIBRARY_DIR)Tone.cpp -o Tone.cpp.o
    $(CPP) $(CPP_FLAGS) $(INCLUDE_FILES) $(LIBRARY_DIR)USBCore.cpp -o USBCore.cpp.o
    $(CPP) $(CPP_FLAGS) $(INCLUDE_FILES) $(LIBRARY_DIR)WMath.cpp -o WMath.cpp.o
    $(CPP) $(CPP_FLAGS) $(INCLUDE_FILES) $(LIBRARY_DIR)WString.cpp -o WString.cpp.o
    rm core.a
    $(AR) rcs core.a malloc.c.o
    $(AR) rcs core.a realloc.c.o
    $(AR) rcs core.a WInterrupts.c.o
    $(AR) rcs core.a wiring.c.o
    $(AR) rcs core.a wiring_analog.c.o
    $(AR) rcs core.a wiring_digital.c.o
    $(AR) rcs core.a wiring_pulse.c.o
    $(AR) rcs core.a wiring_shift.c.o
    $(AR) rcs core.a CDC.cpp.o
    $(AR) rcs core.a HardwareSerial.cpp.o
    $(AR) rcs core.a HID.cpp.o
    $(AR) rcs core.a IPAddress.cpp.o
    $(AR) rcs core.a main.cpp.o
    $(AR) rcs core.a new.cpp.o
    $(AR) rcs core.a Print.cpp.o
    $(AR) rcs core.a Stream.cpp.o
    $(AR) rcs core.a Tone.cpp.o
    $(AR) rcs core.a USBCore.cpp.o
    $(AR) rcs core.a WMath.cpp.o
    $(AR) rcs core.a WString.cpp.o
    $(CC) -Os -Wl,--gc-sections -mmcu=$(MCU) -o $(MAIN_SKETCH).elf $(MAIN_SKETCH).o core.a -lm
    $(OBJ_COPY) -O ihex -j .eeprom --set-section-flags=.eeprom=alloc,load --no-change-warnings --change-section-lma .eeprom=0 $(MAIN_SKETCH).elf $(MAIN_SKETCH).eep
    $(OBJ_COPY) -O ihex -R .eeprom $(MAIN_SKETCH).elf $(MAIN_SKETCH).hex

You would need to change ARDUINO_DIR at least, to reflect where you installed the IDE. If you use other things like the Wire library you would need to expand it somewhat to compile additional libraries. Again, you can use what the IDE generates itself to guide your changes.

The lines with the leading spaces above would need the tab character instead of spaces, as is normal for a Makefile.

What you need is a Makefile. There are a few Makefile projects around for Arduino. Googling for "Arduino Makefile" returns many results including what looks like a good one on Github: https://github.com/sudar/Arduino-Makefile

Compiling from the command line isn't trivial due to the way the Arduino IDE handles libraries.

The equivalent to the IDE's serial monitor is probably connecting a terminal emulator (e.g. screen) to /dev/ttyACM0, right?

For the serial monitor I would recommend minicom. It is a fully functional terminal emulator (vt102) on the command line.

minicom -D /dev/ttyACM0 -b 115200

... for example.

How to compile, upload and monitor via the Linux command line?

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