Before you set up an environment for webOS Open Source Edition (OSE) development, make sure that you prepare the target device and systems that meet the following requirements.
Note webOS OSE cannot be built directly on the target device. You must use a separate Linux machine that meets the Build System Requirements.
Target Device Requirements
A target device is a device that runs webOS OSE. To test apps and services on your target device, we recommend that you prepare the following set of hardware and peripheral devices.
For webOS OSE 2.0 or Higher
Raspberry Pi 4
microSD card (8 GB or larger) and microSD card reader device
HDMI-compatible touchscreen using USB interface, with 1920x1080 resolution
Micro HDMI to HDMI cable
Ethernet cable and internet connection
(Optional) Input devices such as a keyboard and a mouse
Note
webOS OSE 2.0 officially supports Raspberry Pi 4 Model B. To avoid insufficient memory issues, the recommended RAM memory of Raspberry Pi 4 is 2 GB or 4 GB. Currently, the 8 GB RAM model is not supported.
webOS OSE 2.0 is designed for touch interface, so we recommend that you use a touch device as an input device for the target device. If you use a keyboard and a mouse as input devices, some functionalities might not work.
Caution We do not provide official support for issues caused by running webOS OSE 2.0 on Raspberry Pi 3.
For webOS OSE 1.x
Raspberry Pi 3
microSD card (8 GB or larger) and microSD card reader device
A build system is a computer that builds an image from webOS OSE source code. To build a webOS OSE image, you need a Linux machine. Building under Windows or macOS is currently not supported.
Operating System
webOS OSE can be built on the 64-bit version of Ubuntu Long Term Support (LTS) releases, including:
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) 64-bit
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver) 64-bit
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa) 64-bit
Caution
We strongly advise you NOT to use a Linux virtual machine on Windows or macOS for building webOS OSE, as it may cause unexpected issues.
Since webOS OSE 2.7.0, for building the VirtualBox emulator you need the following:
Recommended: Intel Core i7 quad-core with 8 threads or higher
RAM
Minimum: 8 GB
Recommended: 16 GB or higher
Storage
Minimum: HDD with 100 GB of free disk space
Recommended: SSD with 100 GB of free disk space or more
Git
Before you start building webOS OSE, you need to set up Git on your build system.
Host Machine Requirements
On the host machine, you can flash the built image to the target device or use SDK tools for further development processes. You can use Linux, Windows, or macOS for the host machine.
Note The build system (Linux machine) can be also used as a host machine for further development processes.
Operating System
Recommended version for each operating system are as follows:
Linux: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS or higher
Windows: Windows 7 or higher
macOS: Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard or higher
Software Tools
Prepare the following tools on the host machine.
Git
To use SDK tools properly, set up Git on your host machine.
Tools for Enact-based App Development
To develop an app using Enact library, you need to install Node.js. For information on the suitable version, refer to Enact Installation page.