Vitis Embedded Platform Source Repository

Welcome to the Vitis embedded platform source repository. This repository contains the source code needed to recreate, modify, and extend the AMD Vitis Embedded Platforms.

To build the Vitis embedded platforms from source code in this repository, you will need to have the following tools installed and follow the build instructions:

• Linux host OS supported by Vitis
• Vitis 2026.1
• Common Software Image 2026.1 (PetaLinux flow only)
• EDF Image(EDF flow only)

By using these platform sources you agree to the AMD End User License Agreement.

Available Platforms

Embedded Development Flow (EDF) Platforms (Recommended for New Designs)

Platform	Board	Description
vek385_base	VEK385 Rev B	Versal AI Edge Gen2 base platform
vek385_base_reva	VEK385 Rev A	Versal AI Edge Gen2 base platform
vrk160_base	VRK160	Versal AI RF base platform
vck190_base	VCK190	Versal AI Core base platform
vek280_base	VEK280	Versal AI Edge base platform
kv260_base	KV260	Kria SOM base platform

PetaLinux Flow Platforms

Platform	Board	Description
xilinx_vck190_base_202610_1	VCK190	Versal AI Core base platform
xilinx_vek280_base_202610_1	VEK280	Versal AI Edge base platform
xilinx_vck190_base_dfx_202610_1	VCK190	Versal AI Core DFX platform

Build Instructions

Set up the Vitis environment before building any platform:

source <Vitis_install_path>/Vitis/settings64.sh

Note: Platform builds are supported on Linux only (VM or Docker container is acceptable).

Building EDF-Based Platforms

For EDF-based platforms, refer to the Vitis Tutorials for step-by-step guidance. Pre-built EDF artifacts are also available from the AMD Embedded Development Framework download page.

Note: For platforms with a two-stage boot flow (e.g., VRK160), the first stage boots from OSPI. Update the OSPI image files with the boot images generated when you build or package your system project in the Vitis Unified IDE.

Building PetaLinux-Based Platforms

The build flow generates a Vitis platform in three steps:

1. Generate hardware specification file (XSA) using Vivado
2. Generate software components
3. Package hardware and software into a Vitis platform

Quick Start

# Build with pre-built Linux from default path (/opt/xilinx/platform/xilinx-<arch>-common-<ver>)
make all

# Build with pre-built Linux from a custom path
make all PREBUILT_LINUX_PATH=<path/to/common_sw/dir>

# Build with post-implementation XSA (required for DFX platforms)
make all PRE_SYNTH=FALSE PREBUILT_LINUX_PATH=<path/to/common_sw/dir>

The built platform output is located at platform_repo/<platform_name>/export/<platform_name>/.

Build Options

Flag	Default	Description
PREBUILT_LINUX_PATH	/opt/xilinx/platform/xilinx-<arch>-common-<ver>	Path to pre-built common software directory containing u-boot.elf, boot.scr, and bl31.elf. These files are architecture-specific (Zynq, ZynqMP, and Versal use different components).
PRE_SYNTH	TRUE	Set to FALSE to generate a post-implementation XSA (includes bitstream, longer build time). Required for DFX platforms.
XSA	(none)	Path to a pre-built XSA file. Use when building a platform from an existing XSA.

Using a pre-built XSA:

make linux XSA=/home/user/<platform_dir>/vivado/build/<platform_name>.xsa
make platform

XSA Types

• Pre-Synth XSA (default): Does not contain a bitstream. Faster to generate. Not valid for DFX platforms.
• Post-Impl XSA: Runs through Vivado implementation and includes the PL bitstream. Required for DFX platforms. For flat platforms, this allows early detection of implementation issues and provides resource info via platforminfo.

Note: For Versal platforms, the PDI in XSA is always a pre-synth PDI.

Software Preparation Methods

There are two ways to prepare the platform software:

1. Pre-built Common Images (recommended): Download and install the Common Software Image. This skips PetaLinux project creation and significantly reduces build time.

2. PetaLinux (for customization): Build everything locally with PetaLinux for full customization of software components. See the PetaLinux Customization Tutorial for details.

Installing the Common Software

AMD provides pre-built Common Software images so you can skip PetaLinux project creation for common use cases. Download from the AMD Download Center:

• Embedded Platforms tab

Look for the Common images for Embedded Vitis platforms section.

The download package contains:

• Pre-built Linux kernel
• Pre-built root file system
• sdk.sh to generate sysroot
• Boot files (u-boot.elf, boot.scr, bl31.elf, etc.)

Extract and install:

tar -xzf xilinx-<arch>-common-<version>.tar.gz

Place the extracted files at /opt/xilinx/platform/ (default path), or pass a custom path via the PREBUILT_LINUX_PATH flag during build.

Note: For Ubuntu-based application development, download Ubuntu images from Canonical.

Installing the Sysroot

Vitis applications require libraries from the sysroot for cross-compilation. The sysroot is not required for building base platforms — only for building Vitis applications that target those platforms.

The sdk.sh script is included in the Common Software image package. Run it to install:

# Interactive install
./sdk.sh

# Non-interactive install to a specific directory
./sdk.sh -y -d <install_dir>

After installation, set up the cross-compilation environment:

source <sysroot_install_dir>/environment-setup-*-xilinx-linux

Note: For Ubuntu-based application development, download the sysroot from Canonical.