RE: Basic EPICS bootstrap (rant)

[Mark Rivers via Tech-talk <tech-talk@aps.anl.gov>]

Hi Graeme,

 

I don’t know of a general solution for your problems, but the epics-synApps module (https://github.com/EPICS-synApps) provides 2 useful tools:

 

• assemble_synApps “Used to pull a user-defined set of EPICS modules at given tags and package them into a single synApps directory that will build with a single 'make' command.”

You can instruct it to create a full clone, so that in the future each module can be updated independently.

https://github.com/EPICS-synApps/assemble_synApps 

• support:  Top-level Makefile supports “make release”.  You edit support/configure/RELEASE to define the versions and locations of each module.  “make release” will update the configure/RELEASE files in all modules to be consistent with support/configure/RELEASE.

 

These are used by most beamlines at the APS.

 

Mark

 

 

From: Tech-talk <tech-talk-bounces@aps.anl.gov> On Behalf Of Graeme Winter via Tech-talk
Sent: Tuesday, October 7, 2025 1:56 PM
To: tech-talk@aps.anl.gov
Subject: Basic EPICS bootstrap (rant)

 

Good afternoon

 

Working through 

 

Getting Started epics-controls.org

 

 

It really feels like this is something which could be made _much_ easier by writing a kind of bootstrap script but also by the configure process being able to pick up stuff from the environment rather than having to hard-code every location multiple times in every configuration file (where the defaults are of course where the author does _their_ epics development) - the need for them to all correctly cross-reference is also an irritation

 

Before I scrape another few mm off my already suffering sanity - 

 

- _has_ anyone got a bootstrap script which will clone / install all the necessary / regular support modules

- am I holding it wrong / reading the wrong getting started guide

 

I note I can conda install epics-base but this _only_ gives epics base

 

That rant to one side, also, does anyone know how to address a missing symbol issue like

 

Undefined symbols for architecture arm64:

  "_pvar_func_vxi11RegisterCommands", referenced from:

      _cryo1_registerRecordDeviceDriver in cryo1_registerRecordDeviceDriver.o

ld: symbol(s) not found for architecture arm64

 

The symbol is indeed missing and would appear to be from asyn/vxi11/drvVxi11.c but does not appear to be built

 

This got me thinking I should re-do the NN steps to get back to here which then got me wondering about process itself…

 

Thanks Graeme