Installing¶
Boards Manager¶
This is the suggested installation method for end users.
Prerequisites¶
- Arduino 1.6.8, get it from Arduino website.
- Internet connection
Instructions¶
- Start Arduino and open Preferences window.
- Enter
https://arduino.esp8266.com/stable/package_esp8266com_index.json
into Additional Board Manager URLs field. You can add multiple URLs, separating them with commas. - Open Boards Manager from Tools > Board menu and find esp8266 platform.
- Select the version you need from a drop-down box.
- Click install button.
- Don’t forget to select your ESP8266 board from Tools > Board menu after installation.
For more information on the Arduino Board Manager, see:
Using git version¶
This is the suggested installation method for contributors and library developers.
Prerequisites¶
- Arduino 1.6.8 (or newer, current working version is 1.8.5)
- git
- Python 2.7 (https://python.org)
- terminal, console, or command prompt (depending on your OS)
- Internet connection
Instructions - Windows 10¶
First, make sure you don’t already have the ESP8266 library installed using the Board Manager (see above)
Install git for Windows (if not already; see https://git-scm.com/download/win)
Open a command prompt (cmd) and go to Arduino default directory. This is typically the sketchbook directory (usually
C:\users\{username}\Documents\Arduino
where the environment variable%USERPROFILE%
usually containsC:\users\{username}
)Clone this repository into hardware/esp8266com/esp8266 directory.
cd %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Arduino\ if not exist hardware mkdir hardware cd hardware if not exist esp8266com mkdir esp8266com cd esp8266com git clone https://github.com/esp8266/Arduino.git esp8266
You should end up with the following directory structure in
C:\Users\{your username}\Documents\
Arduino | --- libraries --- hardware | --- esp8266com | --- esp8266 | --- bootloaders --- cores --- doc --- libraries --- package --- tests --- tools --- variants --- platform.txt --- programmers.txt --- README.md --- boards.txt --- LICENSE
Initialize the submodules
cd %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Arduino\hardware\esp8266com\esp8266 git submodule update --init
If error messages about missing files related toSoftwareSerial
are encountered during the build process, it should be because this step was missed and is required.
Download binary tools
cd esp8266/tools python get.py
Restart Arduino
If using the Arduino IDE for Visual Studio (https://www.visualmicro.com/), be sure to click Tools - Visual Micro - Rescan Toolchains and Libraries
When later updating your local library, goto the esp8266 directory and do a git pull
cd %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Arduino\hardware\esp8266com\esp8266 git status git pull
Note that you could, in theory install in C:\Program Files (x86)\Arduino\hardware
however this has security implications, not to mention the directory often gets blown away when re-installing Arduino IDE. It does have the benefit (or drawback, depending on your perspective) - of being available to all users on your PC that use Arduino.
Instructions - Other OS¶
Open the console and go to Arduino directory. This can be either your sketchbook directory (usually
<Documents>/Arduino
), or the directory of Arduino application itself, the choice is up to you.Clone this repository into hardware/esp8266com/esp8266 directory. Alternatively, clone it elsewhere and create a symlink, if your OS supports them.
cd hardware mkdir esp8266com cd esp8266com git clone https://github.com/esp8266/Arduino.git esp8266
You should end up with the following directory structure:
Arduino | --- hardware | --- esp8266com | --- esp8266 | --- bootloaders --- cores --- doc --- libraries --- package --- tests --- tools --- variants --- platform.txt --- programmers.txt --- README.md --- boards.txt --- LICENSE
Initialize the submodules
cd esp8266 git submodule update --init
If error messages about missing files related toSoftwareSerial
are encountered during the build process, it should be because this step was missed and is required.
Download binary tools
cd esp8266/tools python get.py
Restart Arduino
When later updating your local library, goto the esp8266 directory and do a git pull
cd hardware\esp8266com\esp8266 git status git pull