Noob question on adding programs to Busybox

Denys Vlasenko vda.linux at googlemail.com
Thu Feb 11 02:58:09 UTC 2010


On Wednesday 10 February 2010 18:02, Pete Helgren wrote:
> Background: I am not a *NIX person although I do have a few Linux 
> installations under my belt.  I have had to compile Linux apps before 
> (Asterisk for example) but it has been done by following step by step 
> instructions (monkey see, monkey do) so this may be ridiculously simple 
> question for the regular Linux guy. I did read quite a bit last night 
> about how to compile Busybox and how to cross compile in Linux in 
> general but I didn't see a clear answer.  I am primarily a Java 
> developer so I have been insulated from the C and C++ environments when 
> it comes to having to compile applications.
> 
> Here is the situation: I have a device that has Busybox installed 
> (BusyBox v1.1.3 (2007.10.23-16:18+0000) Built-in shell (ash) ).  What is 
> missing in this particular build on this device is any kind of http 
> server.  I want to be able to send a request to the device and have it 
> return a file to me.  After looking at the options, it seems that an 
> http server, with maybe a cgi app that parses and returns the data might 
> be the easiest way to do it.  I could probably do it with FTP as well.  
> The whole idea is to send a request for data, query the sqlite DB and 
> send back a file of the data.
> 
> So, finally, the question: Can I compile an application on Busybox and 
> have it work?  Or, do I need to follow the cross compile instructions 
> and "build" this http server on a Linux distro and then move the 
> executable onto Busybox OR do I need to build a whole new Busybox 
> executable and include the http server?  Since I am not 100% sure of how 
> Busybox is implemented, I am not sure of how best to approach getting an 
> http server into this currently embedded version of Busybox.
> 
> Links, tutorials, and step by step instructions are appreciated.

http://busybox.net/FAQ.html#build

http://landley.net/code/firmware/

-- 
vda


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