MPLAB X IDE/IPE podman/docker container

AVR GCC, ARM GCC
Microchip XC8, XC16, XC32

• Easy update of IDE + toolchains
• Simple storage and sharing of specific environments

As of v5.10 the installer allows for skipping of 8/16/32bit support, shrinking the size of IDE + AVRGCC from >5GB to aprox 2.27GB.
16bit, 32bit and harmony is untested

Getting started

Assumes host user is in docker group.

MPLAB X runs as an unprivileged user inside container, docker daemon is always root!
All container capabilities are dropped except mknod which is needed for replugging of development boards/programmers to work.

Mounts the hosts X11 socket read-only so beware, never use untrusted prebuilt images that does this.

MPLAB X userdir defaults to 'mplabx', project folder 'MPLABXProjects'
Keep a backup when updating the image, you will be asked what you want to import including plugins.
To use USB from inside the container it is necessary that udev rules from z99-custom-microchip.rules are active.

Building

Edit build.args, Makefile or use --build-args.

Downloading {AVR,ARM}GCC from Microchip now requires a user

MCP_USER='valid_microchip@user.required'
MCP_PASS='blaAET13f'

Default build

docker build --tag andersdra/mplabx .
docker-compose build
make build

Default build args

C_USER=mplabx
C_UID=1000
C_GUID=1000
C_HOME="/home/${C_USER}"

MPLABX_IDE_ENTRY=1 // for toolchain only container
MPLABX_IDE=1
MPLABX_IPE=0
MPLABX_TELEMETRY=0
MPLABX_DARCULA=1
MPLABX_VERSION=0 # latest version
ADDITIONAL_PACKAGES='' // added to apt-get

ARDUINO=0
AVRGCC=0
ARMGCC=0
MCPXC8=0
MCPXC16=0
MCPXC32=0

PIC32_LEGACY=0
MPLAB_HARMONY=0
OTHERMCU=0 # only valid for >= V5.20 (SERIALEE, HCSxxxx) (2.0MB)
NO_PIC_DFP=0 # removes ~3GB of PIC related DFP's

Custom tool version args

ARDUINO_URL *.tar.xz
AVRGCC_URL *.tar
ARMGCC_URL *.tar
MCPXC8_URL *.run
MCPXC16_URL
MCPXC32_URL

MPLAB_HARMONY_URL *.run
PIC32_LEGACY_URL *.tar
DARCULA_URL	*.nbm

Example for building v5.15:

docker build --tag andersdra/mplabx515 --build-arg MPLABX_VERSION=5.15 .

Local user UID, GUID + AVRGCC

docker build \
--tag andersdra/mplabx \
--build-arg C_UID=$(id --user) \
--build-arg C_GUID=$(id --group) \
--build-arg AVRGCC=1 .

Running

make home # copy home folder from default image
make update-ids # if image is built using different UID:GUID this updates the container to match
make run

WSL2

IDE/IPE requires an X-server running on Windows host. (MobaXterm etc. (remote access needs to be enabled since communication is via TCP/IP))
Docker for Desktop with WSL backend support enabled for MPLABX WSL image will mess with docker context, this method uses WSL2's native docker socket.

Not working:

• Terminal does not load shell
• unable to create a project because of 'invalid project name'

Run commands in powershell as administrator.

Enable WSL and HYPER-V

dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart
dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all  

Download and install latest WSL kernel, set WSL2 as default

kernel_url = https://wslstorestorage.blob.core.windows.net/wslblob/wsl_update_x64.msi
download_dir = (New-Object -ComObject Shell.Application).NameSpace('shell:Downloads').Self.Path
Invoke-WebRequest $kernel_url -OutFile $download_dir\wsl_update_x64.msi
msiexec /a $download_dir\wsl_update_x64.msi /passive /norestart
Remove-Item $download_dir\wsl_update_x64.msi
wsl --set-default-version 2

Start a Debian WSL image downloaded from Microsoft store, install git, clone repo, sudo ./docker-mplabx/scripts/wsl/init.bash, build, run

Info/Troubleshooting

Podman need to be run with --userns keep-id or chown project and mplabx folder using podman unshare chown UID:GUID folder

When using Firefox instead of the embedded webkit browser, edit browser arguments to --profile /home/mplabx/.firefox_profile {URL}

Missing header files

No protocol specified or nothing happens when trying to start mplab_ide/mplab_ipe: Run xhost +local:$USER to allow access to X server.

Re-run created containers by their name from any folder
docker start mplab_ide || docker start mplab_ipe

Delete cache folder content if anything stops working as expected in IDE.

For sound events in IDE use ADDITIONAL_PACKAGES to install libcanberra-gtk-module

List of TZ database time zones

Microchip XC Compiler License options

Microchip MPLAB
Installing and Licensing MPLAB XC C Compilers

MPLAB XC8 C Compiler can be installed to run in Free mode,with a workstation license, or as a network client.
Default: Free
Allowed: FreeMode WorkstationMode NetworkMode
AVR and MPLAB are registered trademarks of Microchip in the U.S.A. and other countries.

Known Issues/Limitations

• Current udev rules will allow only 1 PICKit4, 1 Atmel ICE, 1 mEDBG at the same time.
• ModemManager can mess with ttyACMx devices under re-enumeration:
  root@host:# systemctl stop ModemManager.service
• Moving a floating window to another workspace under GNOME crashes IDE.

Todo

• Avoid mounting whole USB bus

License

This software is licensed under the MIT License.
See LICENSE for more information.