Description

I created an Ansible collection to automate the installation of essential developer tools for bare-metal embedded development on Ubuntu Linux systems. This collection simplifies the setup process by providing predefined roles for installing commonly used tools.

What the collection includes

The collection contains roles for installing:

  • arm-none-eabi-gcc (cross-compiler for ARM)
  • SEGGER J-Link (debugger and programmer)
  • can-utils and PEAK CAN driver (for working with CAN bus)

Roles can be combined, extended, or used selectively.

Quick Start

  1. Set up the target machine (Ubuntu, OpenSSH, Ansible). Install Ansible: 
    sudo apt update && sudo apt install ansible
  2. Install the collection via Ansible Galaxy: 
    ansible-galaxy collection install paulfirs.baremetal
  3. Create a playbook, for example, site.yml, or use a ready-made one from examples/: 
    - hosts: all
  become: yes
  roles:
    - paulfirs.baremetal.install_eabi_arm_gcc
    - paulfirs.baremetal.install_jlink
    - paulfirs.baremetal.install_can_tools
  4. Run the playbook: 
    ansible-playbook -i "user@host," site.yml --ask-pass --ask-become-pass
    • -i "user@host," — inventory as a string (you can use an inventory file)
    • --ask-pass — prompt for SSH user password (if not using a key)
    • --ask-become-pass — prompt for sudo password (root access) You can use an inventory file for mass configuration.

Implementation details

  • PEAK CAN driver is always downloaded from the official website, the latest version.
  • All roles use become: yes to work with system files and packages.
  • All dependencies are installed automatically.
  • README contains detailed instructions for installation and running.

Advantages of the approach

  • Fast and repeatable setup of any baremetal environment.
  • Minimal manual actions — everything is done with a single command.
  • Easy to extend: you can add new roles for other tools or exclude unnecessary ones from site.yml.
  • Easy to integrate into CI/CD pipelines.

Conclusion

If you often set up Linux machines for embedded development, try automating this process with Ansible. Save time and avoid errors!