---

name: vela-run description: Run NuttX and Vela RTOS targets on QEMU, FVP, goldfish emulator, and simulator. Supports ARM Cortex-M (MPS3-AN547), ARMv7-A, ARMv8-A, ARMv8-R FVP, goldfish (Android emulator), and native simulator with automatic detection and GDB debugging. license: MIT compatibility: Requires qemu-system-arm, qemu-system-aarch64, or Android emulator. FVP requires ARM FVP_BaseR_AEMv8R tool.

Vela Run Skill

Run NuttX and Vela RTOS builds on various emulation targets.

Target Types

Usage Examples

CopyUse the vela-run skill to run qemu-armv8a with gdb on port 1234
Use the vela-run skill to run mps3-an547
Use the vela-run skill to run goldfish arm32
Use the vela-run skill to run fvp-armv8r with smp
Use the vela-run skill to run the simulator

QEMU Common Parameters

All QEMU targets share these parameters:

Debug Parameters

Display & I/O Parameters

Machine Parameters

Machine Options (for -machine virt)

Network Parameters

Filesystem Parameters

Device Loading

Run Commands

MPS3-AN547 (ARM Cortex-M)

Basic run:

Copyqemu-system-arm -M mps3-an547 -nographic -kernel nuttx.bin

With GDB:

Copyqemu-system-arm -M mps3-an547 -m 2G -nographic -kernel nuttx.bin -S -s
# Or custom port:
qemu-system-arm -M mps3-an547 -m 2G -nographic -kernel nuttx.bin -gdb tcp::1128

With ROMFS (for PIC apps):

Copyqemu-system-arm -M mps3-an547 -m 2G -nographic \
  -kernel nuttx.bin \
  -device loader,file=romfs.img,addr=0x60000000

Note (QEMU 9.20+): UART interrupts swapped, configure:

CopyCONFIG_CMSDK_UART0_TX_IRQ=50
CONFIG_CMSDK_UART0_RX_IRQ=49

QEMU ARMv7-A

Basic run:

Copyqemu-system-arm -cpu cortex-a7 -nographic \
  -machine virt,virtualization=off,gic-version=2 \
  -net none \
  -chardev stdio,id=con,mux=on \
  -serial chardev:con \
  -mon chardev=con,mode=readline \
  -kernel nuttx

With GDB (paused):

Copyqemu-system-arm -cpu cortex-a7 -nographic \
  -machine virt,virtualization=off,gic-version=2 \
  -net none \
  -chardev stdio,id=con,mux=on \
  -serial chardev:con \
  -mon chardev=con,mode=readline \
  -kernel nuttx \
  -S -s

With ivshmem (OpenAMP):

Copyqemu-system-arm -cpu cortex-a7 -nographic \
  -machine virt,highmem=off \
  -object memory-backend-file,id=shmmem-shmem0,mem-path=/dev/shm/ivshmem0,size=4194304,share=yes \
  -device ivshmem-plain,id=shmem0,memdev=shmmem-shmem0,addr=0xb \
  -kernel nuttx

QEMU ARMv8-A (AArch64)

Single core (GICv3):

Copyqemu-system-aarch64 -cpu cortex-a53 -nographic \
  -machine virt,virtualization=on,gic-version=3 \
  -net none \
  -chardev stdio,id=con,mux=on \
  -serial chardev:con \
  -mon chardev=con,mode=readline \
  -kernel nuttx

SMP (4 cores):

Copyqemu-system-aarch64 -cpu cortex-a53 -smp 4 -nographic \
  -machine virt,virtualization=on,gic-version=3 \
  -net none \
  -chardev stdio,id=con,mux=on \
  -serial chardev:con \
  -mon chardev=con,mode=readline \
  -kernel nuttx

With GDB (paused):

Copyqemu-system-aarch64 -cpu cortex-a53 -smp 4 -nographic \
  -machine virt,virtualization=on,gic-version=3 \
  -net none \
  -chardev stdio,id=con,mux=on \
  -serial chardev:con \
  -mon chardev=con,mode=readline \
  -kernel nuttx \
  -S -s

With semihosting:

Copyqemu-system-aarch64 -cpu cortex-a53 -smp 4 -semihosting -nographic \
  -machine virt,virtualization=on,gic-version=3 \
  -net none \
  -chardev stdio,id=con,mux=on \
  -serial chardev:con \
  -mon chardev=con,mode=readline \
  -kernel nuttx

GICv2 variant:

Copyqemu-system-aarch64 -cpu cortex-a53 -nographic \
  -machine virt,virtualization=off,gic-version=2 \
  -net none \
  -chardev stdio,id=con,mux=on \
  -serial chardev:con \
  -mon chardev=con,mode=readline \
  -kernel nuttx

With virtio networking:

Copyqemu-system-aarch64 -cpu cortex-a53 -smp 4 -nographic \
  -machine virt,virtualization=on,gic-version=3 \
  -chardev stdio,id=con,mux=on -serial chardev:con \
  -global virtio-mmio.force-legacy=false \
  -netdev user,id=u1,hostfwd=tcp:127.0.0.1:10023-10.0.2.15:23 \
  -device virtio-net-device,netdev=u1,bus=virtio-mmio-bus.0 \
  -mon chardev=con,mode=readline \
  -kernel nuttx

With 9pfs (host filesystem sharing):

Copyqemu-system-aarch64 -cpu cortex-a53 -nographic \
  -machine virt,virtualization=on,gic-version=3 \
  -fsdev local,security_model=none,id=fsdev0,path=/path/to/share \
  -device virtio-9p-device,id=fs0,fsdev=fsdev0,mount_tag=host \
  -chardev stdio,id=con,mux=on -serial chardev:con \
  -mon chardev=con,mode=readline \
  -kernel nuttx

FVP ARMv8-R (Cortex-R82)

Prerequisites: Download FVP from ARM Ecosystem Models

Single core:

CopyFVP_BaseR_AEMv8R \
  -f boards/arm64/fvp-v8r/fvp-armv8r/scripts/fvp_cfg.txt \
  -a ./nuttx

SMP:

CopyFVP_BaseR_AEMv8R \
  -f boards/arm64/fvp-v8r/fvp-armv8r/scripts/fvp_cfg_smp.txt \
  -a ./nuttx

Serial ports: FVP exposes 4 UART ports on localhost:

• terminal_0: port 5000
• terminal_1: port 5001 (default console)
• terminal_2: port 5002
• terminal_3: port 5003

Connect to console:

Copytelnet localhost 5001

Goldfish (Vela Android Emulator)

ARM32:

Copy./emulator.sh out/qemu_vela_goldfish-armeabi-v7a-ap/

ARM64:

Copy./emulator.sh out/qemu_vela_goldfish-arm64-v8a-ap/

No window (terminal only):

Copy./emulator.sh out/qemu_vela_goldfish-armeabi-v7a-ap/ -no-window

With GDB (paused):

Copy./emulator.sh out/qemu_vela_goldfish-armeabi-v7a-ap/ -qemu -S -s

With semihosting (for hostfs):

Copy./emulator.sh out/qemu_vela_goldfish-armeabi-v7a-ap/ -qemu -semihosting

With 9pfs:

Copy./emulator.sh out/qemu_vela_goldfish-armeabi-v7a-ap/ \
  -qemu \
  -fsdev local,security_model=passthrough,id=fsdev0,path=/path/to/share \
  -device virtio-9p-pci,id=fs0,fsdev=fsdev0,mount_tag=hostshare

Persistent instance (-keep):

Copy./emulator.sh vela -keep -no-window

Simulator (Native)

Direct execution:

Copy./build/nuttx

Skill Integration

Interactive Sessions

For interactive work with QEMU, simulator, or GDB where user needs to interact with the console:

Use the tmux skill to start and manage interactive sessions. This allows:

• Running QEMU/simulator in background
• Sending commands and capturing output
• User can attach to monitor the session

GDB Debugging

For debugging NuttX with GDB:

Use the gdb-start skill to connect GDB to QEMU's GDB server. Start QEMU with -S -s flags first.

GDB toolchains:

• arm: gdb-multiarch
• xtensa: xtensa-esp32s3-elf-gdb
• Vela prebuilt: ./prebuilts/gcc/linux/arm[64]/bin/

Enable debug symbols in defconfig:

CopyCONFIG_DEBUG_SYMBOLS=y

Automated Tasks

For fully automated tasks without user interaction:

Use the executor skill to run and control processes programmatically.

Target Detection

From Build Output

CopyOUTDIR=$(cat .vela_build_outdir 2>/dev/null || echo "build")

# Detect from directory name
case "$OUTDIR" in
  *sim*|*simulator*) TARGET="simulator" ;;
  *goldfish*) TARGET="goldfish" ;;
  *mps3*|*an547*) TARGET="mps3-an547" ;;
  *armv7a*|*v7a*) TARGET="qemu-armv7a" ;;
  *armv8a*|*v8a*|*arm64*|*aarch64*) TARGET="qemu-armv8a" ;;
  *fvp*|*armv8r*) TARGET="fvp-armv8r" ;;
  *) TARGET="unknown" ;;
esac

Binary Location

Default Parameters

Error Handling

References

• NuttX MPS3-AN547
• NuttX QEMU ARMv7-A
• NuttX QEMU ARMv8-A
• NuttX FVP ARMv8-R