Compile Mbed TLS to a static library in Eclipse CDT

Introduction

This tutorial will show how to compile Mbed TLS to a static .a library file in Eclipse CDT.

Requirements

• Ensure Cygwin and Eclipse CDT are properly installed on your Windows system.

• If not, check our manual How to set up the Eclipse CDT environment on Windows to get you started.

Download Mbed TLS

• Download the latest version of Mbed TLS.

• Unpack the downloaded file to a location of your choice, such as C:/MbedTLS.

Note: Avoid locations like Documents and Settings or Program Files (x86) because spaces and special characters in the path can cause problems in Eclipse.

Create the project

• Start your Eclipse CDT environment by running eclipse.exe in the Eclipse installed directory.

• Choose an appropriate directory for the workspace you would like to save your project.

• You can close the Welcome screen if it pops up.

• Create your new C project by choosing File > New C Project.

• The C Project dialog pops up:

• In the Project name field, enter your project name (for example, “Mbedtls”).

Note: Be aware that the compiler will automatically prefix your compiled static library name with lib in front of the project name. A project named Mbedtls will produce a libmbedtls.a library.

• Leave Use default location checked.

• In the Project Types box, select Static Library > Empty Project.

• In the Toolchains box, choose your compiler (such as Cygwin GCC or MinGW GCC) and click Next.

• The Select Configurations dialog appears.

• Select both Debug and Release, then click Finish.

• Your C project is now created.

Import Mbed TLS code into your project

In this step, you import the Mbed TLS code into the project and make it ready for compilation.

• Inside the Project Explorer tree on the left side, right click on your project folder and click Properties.

• A project properties window pops up.

• Go to C/C++ > General Paths and Symbols and choose the includes tab.

• Under Languages, select GNU C.

• Add the Mbed include location and click Apply, then OK.

Since we are using a mixture of Windows- and Unix-based tools, we will encounter our first problem:

Option 1: Windows-style path:

If you add a Windows-style path like C:/mbed/include, project rebuilds will fail and make returns a multiple target error caused by the : character in your path. One solution is to always clean the project before a new rebuild.

Option 2: Cygwin-style path:

If you add a Cygwin-style path like /cygdrive/c/mbed/include Eclipse will warn you that the directory cannot be found, and all your includes get an unresolved warning. The project will compile anyway.

• Right click on your project and click Import.

• Choose General > Filesystem and Next.

• Navigate to the MbedTLS library folder

• Select all the .c files

• Click Finish.

Build your project

Your project is now ready to build.

• Right click on your project folder.

• Click Build project.

• Your compiled lib .a file is located inside the Debug folder.