Build from Source

Use this page when you are rebuilding the VM from the repository or preparing release images for students.

The project is a Nix flake, but you should use the scripts in this repository instead of calling Nix directly. They use the repo-local nix-portable setup and keep build output under out.

Prerequisites

These builds need enough local storage, CPU, and memory to keep the VM image and PDK builds moving.

Requirement	What to use
Builder OS	NixOS or another Linux host that can run the repo scripts
Free storage	At least 600 GB for VM images, PDK closures, and intermediate output
CPU and memory	At least 12 CPU cores and 32 GB RAM
Build time	About 6 to 10 minutes per release build
Build machines	One of each architecture

Get the source

git clone https://github.com/ZimengXiong/basicsvm.git
cd basicsvm

Build a local VM

For a local x86_64 VM build:

scripts/build-vm x86_64

On an ARM builder:

scripts/build-vm aarch64

The result links are written under out:

out/result-vm-x86_64
out/result-vm-aarch64

Package release images

Use the target for the student platform you are publishing:

scripts/package-vm macos-apple-silicon
scripts/package-vm macos-intel
scripts/package-vm windows-x86
scripts/package-vm windows-arm
scripts/package-vm linux-x86
scripts/package-vm linux-arm

Linux ARM is provided as a QEMU disk image rather than a VirtualBox appliance.

Target	Architecture	Output	Student host
macos-apple-silicon	aarch64-linux	zipped UTM bundle	Apple Silicon Mac
macos-intel	x86_64-linux	zipped UTM bundle	Intel Mac
windows-x86	x86_64-linux	VirtualBox OVA	Windows on Intel or AMD
windows-arm	aarch64-linux	VirtualBox OVA	Windows on ARM
linux-x86	x86_64-linux	VirtualBox OVA	Linux on Intel or AMD
linux-arm	aarch64-linux	QEMU QCOW2	Linux on ARM

For a full release batch:

scripts/build-release local
scripts/build-release x86
BASICS_ARM_BUILDER=xzm@xzm.local scripts/build-release arm
scripts/finalize-release

Verify the build

Before publishing, run the checks:

scripts/nix flake check
scripts/verify-source
scripts/verify-fresh

verify-fresh rebuilds the profile, templates, and PDK packages. It also checks that the expected tools, Python imports, PDK links, and packaged templates are present.

After the scripted checks pass, boot or import at least one x86 release and one ARM release. In each VM, run the SKY130 counter flow from First Flow.