SDAccel Environment Installation

With the delivery of the Xilinx® Alveo™ Data Center accelerator cards, you can configure your system for deploying applications only, or you can configure for development. The latter enables you to develop and debug applications, in addition to deploying them, but it requires additional software installation.

Deployment Systems

You can use a deployment system to run accelerated applications. To deploy accelerated applications, install the accelerator card into a system, along with the Xilinx Runtime (XRT) and deployment shell. For more information on the installation procedures, see Getting Started with Alveo Data Center Accelerator Cards (UG1301).

Development Systems

A development system is necessary to design and develop accelerated applications. It does not require an accelerator card (although, you can install one), but it does require XRT and a deployment shell, as well as a development shell. These packages are a required part of the SDAccel™ development environment to support a specific accelerator card in the tool.

To configure your system, use this workflow:

  1. Install the SDAccel environment software, as described in Install With the Installation File.
  2. For each acceleration platform that you want to develop for, install the platform-specific packages, as described in Installing Platform-Specific Packages.
    Note: For multiple accelerator cards, repeat the installation of platform-specific packages.

Prepare to Install the Tools

You must perform these actions prior to installation.
TIP: To reduce installation time, disable anti-virus software.
  1. Ensure your system meets the system requirements, as described in System Requirements.
  2. Close all open programs.

Download the Installation File

  1. Go to the Xilinx Downloads Website.
  2. Click an installation file to download.
    Web Installer
    The Web Installer is the recommended installation method, because it reduces download time and saves significant disk space.

    When you use the Web Installer, you choose the design tools, device families, and installation options at the time of installation. The only files that are downloaded and installed are files necessary to support those options.

    This method also mitigates issues such as network outages by resuming installation from where it stopped, instead of starting over.

    Single File Download (SFD)
    The SFD installation download is an image containing all devices and tool options that can be used for installation at a later time. This option is useful for installing all files on a network drive, or for providing maximum flexibility to users when they install the environment.

Install With the Installation File

Use the downloaded installation file to install the SDAccel development environment.

  1. Run the installation file, which opens SDx IDE Installer.
  2. Click Next.
  3. Enter your account credentials.
  4. Select Download and Install Now, and then click Next.
  5. Read and accept the license agreements.
    • To indicate that you accept the Xilinx Inc. End User License Agreement, click I Agree.
    • To indicate that you understand and accept the WebTalk Terms and Conditions, click I Agree.
    • To indicate that you accept the Third Party Software End User License Agreement, click I Agree.
  6. After accepting all license agreements, click Next.
  7. Customize the installation by selecting and clearing options in the tree.

    To add to this installation later, click Vivado > Help > Add Design Tools or Devices.

  8. Click Next.
  9. Select the installation directory.
    CAUTION:
    The installation directory path must not contain any spaces.
  10. (Optional) Select shortcut and file association options.
  11. Click Next.

    An Installation Summary window is displayed, describing the following information:

    • Devices
    • Design tools
    • Installation options
    • Installation locations
    • Download locations
    • Disk space requirements
  12. After reviewing the installation summary, click Install.

Install With the Single File Download

If you downloaded the full product installation, decompress the file, and then run xsetup to launch the installation.

Configuring Batch Mode Installation Flow

The installer can run in an unattended batch process. To run the installer unattended, you must do one of the following.

  • Specify a standard edition and installation location
  • Include a configuration file that provides the installer with the install location and the tools, devices, and options you want to install
Note: Generate this reference for each new release, so that new devices, tools, options, or other changes will be accounted for in your options file.

To begin using batch mode, open a command shell, and change to the directory where you have stored your extracted installer.

Generate a Configuration File

  1. Run xsetup -b ConfigGen.

    This will put you in an interactive mode where you will see the following menu:

    1. SDx Development Environments

Please choose:

    Type 1, and then press Enter.

  2. After you make a selection, you will be prompted with the location/file name for your configuration file and the interactive mode exits. Below is a sample configuration file:
    Edition=SDx Development Environments

# Path where Xilinx software will be installed.
Destination=/opt/Xilinx

# Choose the Products/Devices the you would like to install.
Modules=Built-in Platforms and associated devices for SDSoC:1,Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC:1,Virtex UltraScale+ HBM ES:0,Zynq-7000:1,Kintex UltraScale+ ES:0,Kintex UltraScale+:1,ARM Cortex-A53:1,Spartan-7:1,ARM Cortex-A9:1,ARM Cortex R5:1,Virtex UltraScale+ ES:0,System Generator for DSP:0,Artix-7:1,Built-in Platforms and associated devices for SDAccel:1,DocNav:1,Kintex-7:1,Virtex UltraScale+:1,Model Composer:0,Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC ES:0,Kintex UltraScale:1,Engineering Sample Devices for Custom Platforms:0,Virtex UltraScale:1,Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC ES:0,MicroBlaze:1,Virtex-7:1

# Choose the post install scripts you'd like to run as part of the finalization step. Please note that some of these scripts may require user interaction during runtime.
InstallOptions=Acquire or Manage a License Key:0,Enable WebTalk for SDK to send usage statistics to Xilinx:1,Enable WebTalk for Vivado to send usage statistics to Xilinx (Always enabled for WebPACK license):1

## Shortcuts and File associations ##
# Choose whether Start menu/Application menu shortcuts will be created or not.
CreateProgramGroupShortcuts=1

# Choose the name of the Start menu/Application menu shortcut. This setting will be ignored if you choose NOT to create shortcuts.
ProgramGroupFolder=Xilinx Design Tools

# Choose whether shortcuts will be created for All users or just the Current user. Shortcuts can be created for all users only if you run the installer as administrator.
CreateShortcutsForAllUsers=0

# Choose whether shortcuts will be created on the desktop or not.
CreateDesktopShortcuts=1

# Choose whether file associations will be created or not.
CreateFileAssociation=1

    Each option in the configuration file matches a corresponding option in the GUI. A value of 1 means that option is selected; a value of 0 means the option is unselected.

    Note: In this configuration file, by default, there are no devices selected for installation (that is, all devices have a value of 0). To install a device, you must change the value to 1.

Running the Installer

After editing your configuration file to reflect your installation preferences, you can run the installer. During the command line installation, you must indicate your acceptance of the Xilinx End-User License Agreement and Third Party End-User License Agreement, and confirm you understand the WebTalk Terms and Conditions.

WebTalk Terms and Conditions

The WebTalk Terms and Conditions, which you must agree to when running the installer, is below:

By indicating I Agree, I also confirm that I have read Section 13 of the terms and conditions above concerning WebTalk and have been afforded the opportunity to read the WebTalk FAQ posted at https://www.xilinx.com/webtalk. I understand that I am able to disable WebTalk later if certain criteria described in Section 13(c) apply. If they don't apply, I can disable WebTalk by uninstalling the Software or using the Software on a machine not connected to the Internet. If I fail to satisfy the applicable criteria or if I fail to take the applicable steps to prevent such transmission of information, I agree to allow Xilinx to collect the information described in Section 13(a) for the purposes described in Section 13(b).

When using the command line, use the command-line switch, -a or --agree, to indicate your agreement to each of the above. If one of the above is left out of the list, or the agree switch is not specified, the installer exits with an error and does not install.

Batch Mode Installation

This is an example of the command line for a typical new installation using a configuration file. 
xsetup --agree XilinxEULA,3rdPartyEULA,WebTalkTerms 
--batch Install --config install_config.txt
If you want to use one of the Xilinx default edition configurations, you do not have to specify the --config option, but since the destination directory is included in the configuration file, you will be required to specify this on the command line.
xsetup --agree 3rdPartyEULA,WebTalkTerms,XilinxEULA 
--batch Install --edition "SDx Development Environments" --location "/home/Xilinx"

The above command uses the default configuration options for the edition specified. To see the default configuration options, use the –b ConfigGen mode as described above. The batch mode of the installer can also uninstall and upgrade (add additional tools and devices). For the full list of the options in the installer batch mode, run xsetup -h or xsetup --help.

Resolve Internet Connection Issues

The installer connects to the Internet through the system proxy. The installer uses Firefox browser proxy settings (when explicitly set) to determine connectivity.

If there are connectivity issues, verify the following:

  1. If you are using alternate proxy settings to the ones referred to, select the Manual Proxy Configuration option to specify the settings.
  2. Check whether your company firewall requires a proxy authentication with a user name and password. If so, select the Manual Proxy Configuration option in the dialog box above.
  3. If either the Use System settings or the Auto detect settings option is selected in the Firefox browser, then you must manually set the proxy in the installer.

Installing Platform-Specific Packages

To develop FPGA-accelerated applications in the SDAccel environment, you must install the following three platform-specific packages for each platform that you want to develop applications for:
Xilinx Runtime (XRT)
The XRT is implemented as a combination of user-space and kernel driver components. XRT supports PCIe-based boards, and provides a software interface to Xilinx FPGAs.
Deployment Shell
The deployment shell is the communication layer for the accelerator card, and is needed both to build applications with SDAccel and to run them on the corresponding accelerator card.
Development Shell
To develop and deliver accelerated applications in the SDAccel development environment, you must install the development shell. The development shell includes platform information necessary for compiling and debugging new acceleration applications.

Before you install platform-specific packages, download the Xilinx Runtime (XRT), the Deployment Shell, and the Development Shell for your specific card from these product pages:

All software installations use standard Linux RPM and Linux DEB distribution files, and root access is required for all software and firmware installations.

Your operating system might require additional packages to be installed prior to installing the XRT and shells. To verify that you have installed all required packages on your machine, use this script: https://github.com/Xilinx/XRT/blob/master/src/runtime_src/tools/scripts/xrtdeps.sh.

IMPORTANT: The installation packages found on the product pages are updated regularly, and the file names specified in this document might be different. Make sure to update file names in commands to match the packages that you actually downloaded.
Note: If you are installing these packages for use with just the SDAccel development environment, you can ignore any message asking you to flash the accelerator card. However, if you are installing these packages for use with an installed accelerator card, you must follow the instructions in Getting Started with Alveo Data Center Accelerator Cards (UG1301).

Installing the Packages on CentOS/RedHat

To install and use the XRT on CentOS/RedHat, ensure that you have installed all required packages and recommended libraries, as described in Install Required CentOS/RHEL Packages.

To successfully install XRT, you must have kernel-headers and kernel-devel packages installed on your machine. On CentOS/RedHat, XRT supports Linux kernel up to: 3.10.0-862.14.4.el7.x86_64.

Use the following commands to install the packages for your specific platform.

Where <rpm-dir> is the directory where the packages were downloaded in the previous step, and <version> is the latter part of the XRT file name.

sudo yum install <rpm-dir>/xrt_<version>.rpm
sudo yum install <rpm-dir>/xilinx-<card>-<shell>-<version>.rpm
sudo yum install <rpm-dir>/xilinx-<card>-<shell>-dev-<version>.rpm

Installing the Packages on Ubuntu

Use the following commands to install the packages for your specific platform.

Where <deb-dir> is the directory where the packages were downloaded to, <version> is the latter part of the XRT file name, and <os> is the operating system.

sudo apt install <deb-dir>/xrt_<version>.deb
sudo apt install <deb-dir>/xilinx-<card>-<shell>-<version>_<os>.deb
sudo apt install <deb-dir>/xilinx-<card>-<shell>-<version>-dev_<os>.deb

Setting Up the Environment to Run SDAccel

To set up the environment to run the SDx tools: source the file below so that the elements of the SDAccel development environment are in the PATH, and other variables that are required are also set up.

IMPORTANT: For the SDAccel development environment, you must set up both the SDAccel tool and the XRT that was installed as part of Installing Platform-Specific Packages.

C Shell:

source <XRT_INSTALL_DIR>/settings64.csh
source <XRT_INSTALL_DIR>/xrt/setup.csh

Bash:

source <XRT_INSTALL_DIR>/settings64.sh
source <XRT_INSTALL_DIR>/xrt/setup.sh