This chapter describes, how you can configure the running system. Be aware that if you are doing
a mass deployment, it might make more sense to create complete images instead of installing
standard images and configuring them afterwards. Please consult Chapter 7, Creating a new root filesystem if
you want to learn more about creating images.
1. Using the package manager
The products covered by this manual use a package manager called opkg.
It enables you to install additional software without the need to (cross) compile it yourself.
This section contains information on common tasks when using opkg.
1.1. Updating the package database
Before you can install additional packages or update them you have to get the current
list of available packages:
opkg update
You can repeat this command as often as you want to ensure, that the package database
is always up to date. This way, the package manager always knows if there are updates
or new packages.
1.2. Upgrade installed software
From time to time, there might be updates to some packages, mostly because of bug fixes.
These updates can easily be installed after updating the packages database:
opkg upgrade
Do not worry about the download error at the end. It is there because the Ångström
distribution's website does not host packages specific to taskit boards. If the error
bothers you, you can remove the opkg config file specific to your board, e.g.
/etc/opkg/stamp9g20evb-feed.conf.
1.3. Installing new software
You can install software, that is currently not installed with the following command:
opkg install package
1.4. Removing installed packages
If you do not need a package anymore and want to get rid of it, you can remove it with opkg:
opkg remove package
When installing a package, opkg might also have installed additional packages, e.g.
libraries. You can instruct opkg to remove these software packages automatically
when removing packages:
opkg -autoremove remove package
There are cases where you might be trying to remove packages that are needed by other
packages. If this happens opkg will list all packages that depend on the package to be
removed. You now have three choices:
Leave the package in the system
This might be your only choice, if you need the depending packages.
Remove the package and all packages depending on this package
If you do not need the other packages, you can let opkg remove them, too:
opkg -recursive remove package
You can also use the option -autoremove here.
Remove only the package
This is not advised because it is very likely that the dependent packages are
broken afterwards, but if you really want to do that, you can use the following
command:
opkg -force-depends remove package
1.5. Listing available packages
Before installing a package you certainly want to know, which packages are available.
Be aware, that the following command can produce a very long list:
opkg list
1.6. Search for a package in the package list
As opkg has no native ability to search in the package list you have to use tools like
grep to search the package list, e.g.
opkg list|grep mysql
to find all packages containing mysql in their package name oder description.
1.7. Listing installed packages
If you want to know, which packages are currently installed, run
opkg list_installed
