Using Kubos Linux

Overview

This document is intended as a general guide for creating, loading, and using KubOS projects and other files within the user space of Kubos Linux.

Reference Documents

General Documentation

• Installing the Kubos SDK
• Creating Your First Mission Application

Board-Specific Documentation

• KubOS for the Beaglebone Black
• KubOS for the ISIS-OBC
• KubOS for the Pumpkin MBM2

Using Peripherals

Each board has a variety of different ports available for interacting with peripheral devices. Currently, users should interact with these devices using the standard Linux functions. A Kubos HAL will be added in the future.

Please refer to the appropriate Working with {board} document for more information about the specific peripheral availability.

User Accounts

In general, it is preferred to use a non-root user account to interact with a Linux system. A default user account ‘kubos’ is included with Kubos Linux. Other user accounts can be created using the standard Linux commands (adduser, useradd, etc).

All user accounts should have a home directory in the format ‘/home/{username}’.

The passwd command can be used to change the password of existing user accounts.

Kubos Linux File System

There are a few key directories residing within the Kubos Linux user space.

/home

All user-created files should reside under the /home directory. This directory maps to a separate partition from the root file system. As a result, all files here will remain unchanged if the system goes through a kernel upgrade or downgrade.

The home directories of all user accounts, except root, should live under this directory.

Warning

Any files not residing under the /home directory will be destroyed during an upgrade/downgrade

/home/system/logs

All log files generated with rsyslog reside in this directory. A symlink has been set up to have /var/log route to this location.

/home/system/usr/bin

This directory is included in the system’s PATH, so applications placed here can be called directly from anywhere, without needing to know the full file path.

/home/system/etc/init.d

All user-application initialization scripts live under this directory. The naming format is ‘S{run-level}{application}’.

Resetting the Boot Environment

Note

This is a case which normal users should never encounter, but becomes more likely when initially testing custom Kubos Linux builds. Due to the blocking nature of the behavior, this information has been included in this doc in order to make it more prominent.

If the system goes through the full recovery process and the bootcount is still exceeded, it will present the U-Boot CLI instead of attempting to boot into Kubos Linux again.

If this occurs, follow the instructions for resetting the boot environment.