Package Management on a Cargt design

Cargt images use apt and dpkg with Debian (.deb) packages built by Yocto. This page shows how to install packages from the Cargt package repository, from your own Yocto build, and from a local directory.

The examples on this page are from an i.MX 91 00363 on the 00365 carrier, running cargt-image-dev (wrynose).

Package Feeds

A Yocto build puts its packages in <build_dir>/tmp/deploy/deb, in one directory per package architecture:

Directory

Contents

all

Architecture-independent packages, such as scripts and data

armv8a, cortexa55, …

Packages built for the processor’s CPU tuning: cortexa55 on the i.MX 91 (images from October 29, 2026), armv8a on the i.MX 93

cortexa55-mx91, armv8a-mx93, …

Packages built for one i.MX processor family

imx91_cargt_00363_00365, …

Packages built for one machine, such as the kernel, its modules and the device trees

Each directory is a separate apt source (a feed). Cargt images list the feeds on yocto.cargt.com for their machine in /etc/apt/sources.list. For the i.MX 91 00363 on the 00365, images from October 29, 2026 list:

deb [trusted=yes] https://yocto.cargt.com/linux-imx/wrynose/all ./
deb [trusted=yes] https://yocto.cargt.com/linux-imx/wrynose/cortexa55 ./
deb [trusted=yes] https://yocto.cargt.com/linux-imx/wrynose/cortexa55-mx91 ./
deb [trusted=yes] https://yocto.cargt.com/linux-imx/wrynose/imx91_cargt_00363_00365 ./

Earlier i.MX 91 images list armv8a and armv8a-mx91 in place of the two cortexa55 feeds. Those feeds are no longer updated, so do not mix them with the new ones; cat /etc/apt/sources.list shows which your board uses.

The feeds are not signed, so each line has [trusted=yes].

Installing Packages

Refresh the package lists, then search for and install packages:

apt-get update
apt-cache search <name>
apt-get install <package>

Other useful commands:

apt list --installed                 # installed packages
apt-cache policy <package>           # installed and available versions, and their feeds
dpkg -L <package>                    # files a package installed
dpkg -i <file>.deb                   # install a downloaded package file

apt-get update prints Ign lines for InRelease and Release.gpg, because the feeds are not signed. They are harmless.

Warning

Install packages from the same build as the image on the board. Kernel module packages only work with the kernel they were built for (see Developing Applications and Kernel Modules), and other packages can depend on libraries at the versions of their own build. On an image you built yourself, the Cargt feeds hold packages from a different build, and apt list --upgradable lists some of them at the same version numbers. Do not run apt-get upgrade against them; point the board at your own build’s feeds instead (see below).

Hosting Packages from Your Own Build

Any Yocto build directory can serve its packages to boards on your network.

  1. Generate the package indexes (the Packages files) after building:

    bitbake package-index

    Run it again after each build, so the indexes list the new packages.

  2. Serve tmp/deploy/deb with Python’s built-in web server. Choose any free port above 1024; SWUpdate’s web interface uses 8080:

    cd <build_dir>/tmp/deploy/deb
python3 -m http.server 5678

    The server runs until you press Ctrl+C. Opening http://<host-ip>:5678/ in a browser lists the feeds and their packages.

  3. On the board, add one line per feed in a file under /etc/apt/sources.list.d/, using your machine’s directory names:

    # /etc/apt/sources.list.d/my-feed.list
deb [trusted=yes] http://<host-ip>:5678/all ./
deb [trusted=yes] http://<host-ip>:5678/cortexa55 ./
deb [trusted=yes] http://<host-ip>:5678/cortexa55-mx91 ./
deb [trusted=yes] http://<host-ip>:5678/imx91_cargt_00363_00365 ./

  4. Update and install. apt-cache policy shows which feed a package comes from. Here hello-cmake, the example program from Developing Applications and Kernel Modules, exists only in the build on the host. That build was made before the October 29 tuning change, so its feeds are named armv8a and armv8a-mx91:

    root@imx91-cargt-00363-00365:~# apt-get update
Ign:1 http://<host-ip>:5678/all ./ InRelease
...
Get:13 http://<host-ip>:5678/all ./ Packages [51.8 kB]
Get:14 http://<host-ip>:5678/armv8a ./ Packages [1726 kB]
Get:15 http://<host-ip>:5678/armv8a-mx91 ./ Packages [39.6 kB]
Get:16 http://<host-ip>:5678/imx91_cargt_00363_00365 ./ Packages [202 kB]
...
Reading package lists...
root@imx91-cargt-00363-00365:~# apt-cache policy hello-cmake
hello-cmake:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 1.0-r0
  Version table:
     1.0-r0 500
        500 http://<host-ip>:5678/armv8a ./ Packages
root@imx91-cargt-00363-00365:~# apt-get install -y hello-cmake
...
Get:1 http://<host-ip>:5678/armv8a ./ hello-cmake 1.0-r0 [2752 B]
Fetched 2752 B in 0s (38.6 kB/s)
Selecting previously unselected package hello-cmake.
...
Setting up hello-cmake (1.0-r0) ...
root@imx91-cargt-00363-00365:~# hello-cmake
Hello from a CMake project, built with devtool

Setting the Feeds in Your Image

The feed lines in /etc/apt/sources.list come from these variables, which Cargt sets for every i.MX machine in meta-imx-cargt/conf/distro/include/cargt-imx-base.inc. To make your own images use your own server, set them in your distro configuration or local.conf. For the i.MX 91 00363 on the 00365 they expand to:

PACKAGE_FEED_URIS = "https://yocto.cargt.com/linux-imx/wrynose"
PACKAGE_FEED_BASE_PATHS = ""
PACKAGE_FEED_ARCHS = "all cortexa55 cortexa55-mx91 imx91_cargt_00363_00365"

The i.MX 93 00363 and i.MX 95 00414 machines also add their SOM’s own directory, such as imx93_cargt_00363_osm_som.

Each combination of a URI, a base path and an architecture becomes one deb line. See PACKAGE_FEED_ARCHS in the Yocto Project reference manual.

Using a Local Directory

apt can also install from a directory on the board, such as a USB drive, without a network. Put the .deb files in a directory, and create the index on a Linux host with dpkg-scanpackages (in Debian and Ubuntu’s dpkg-dev package):

$ ls
hello-cmake_1.0-r0_arm64.deb
$ dpkg-scanpackages -m . > Packages
dpkg-scanpackages: info: Wrote 1 entries to output Packages file.

Copy the directory to the board (here to /data/apt) and add it as a source with file::

root@imx91-cargt-00363-00365:~# echo "deb [trusted=yes] file:/data/apt ./" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/local.list
root@imx91-cargt-00363-00365:~# apt-get update
...
root@imx91-cargt-00363-00365:~# apt-cache policy hello-cmake
hello-cmake:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 1.0-r0
  Version table:
     1.0-r0 500
        500 file:/data/apt ./ Packages
root@imx91-cargt-00363-00365:~# apt-get install -y hello-cmake

For a local source, apt-get update also reports Err lines for Translation-en files, followed by Ign; they are harmless. apt-ftparchive packages . > Packages creates the same index.