Installing Software

We’ll need to install some additional software on the Omega so that all of the code we write for our experiments can run. To do this, we’ll use the opkg utility.

What is OPKG?

Not everything available for the Omega is installed right away. Some people may never need certain utilities, so we configured the Omega to ship only with common packages you will likely use. We then made additional software available online that you can use to further tailor your Omega to suit your needs. This is done using the package manager on the Omega, opkg.

A package manager, well, manages software packages. It lets you run short, consistent commands to find, download, and install all kinds of software from the Internet. It also keeps track of what versions of programs that you have installed and can be used to update software directly from the command line.

There are package managers for other Linux systems such as apt-get and yum.

Installing the Required Packages

To install the packages we need for our experiments, run the following commands on the Omega:

opkg update
opkg install python-light pyOnionGpio pyOnionI2C

You should see something like the following:

root@Omega-ABCD:/# opkg update
Downloading http://repo.onioniot.com/omega2/packages/core/Packages.gz
Updated list of available packages in /var/opkg-lists/omega2_core
Downloading http://repo.onioniot.com/omega2/packages/core/Packages.sig
Signature check passed.
Downloading http://repo.onioniot.com/omega2/packages/base/Packages.gz
Updated list of available packages in /var/opkg-lists/omega2_base
Downloading http://repo.onioniot.com/omega2/packages/base/Packages.sig
Signature check passed.
...
(downloading more package lists)
...
root@Omega-ABCD:/# opkg install python-light pyOnionGpio pyOnionI2C
Installing python-light (2.7.13-4) to root...
Downloading http://repo.onioniot.com/omega2/packages/packages/python-light_2.7.13-4_mipsel_24kc.ipk
Installing python-base (2.7.13-4) to root...
Downloading http://repo.onioniot.com/omega2/packages/packages/python-base_2.7.13-4_mipsel_24kc.ipk
Installing libffi (3.2.1-2) to root...
Downloading http://repo.onioniot.com/omega2/packages/packages/libffi_3.2.1-2_mipsel_24kc.ipk
...
(downloading and installing more packages)
...
Configuring python-base.
Configuring pyOmegaExpansion.
Configuring pyOnionI2C.
Configuring libffi.
Configuring libbz2.
Configuring python-light.
Configuring pyOnionGpio.

If you see something like this, you’re good to go!

Doing More with OPKG

opkg can do a lot more! For full details, take a look at our opkg Guide.