ZentriOS SDK Quickstart

Follow the steps below to set up your ZentriOS SDK development environment and prepare your device for developing ZAPs (ZentriOS Apps).

  1. Download the ZentriOS SDK for Windows
  2. Install the SDK
  3. Set up your Device

When your device is set up, follow the steps below to develop and publish a ZAP.

  1. Create a ZentriOS Project
  2. Build, Download and Run your project
  3. Release it to the DMS

Device Support

For details of supported devices, see Device Support.

The SDK supports the following devices:


Signing up for a Zentri DMS Account

Signing up for a Zentri DMS Account is quick, easy and best of all, completely free.

After sign up, your account is used to authenticate with the DMS from within the ZentriOS Development Environment.

If you need an account, sign up at https://dms.zentri.com/signup

Installing the ZentriOS SDK

In your web browser, download the ZentriOS SDK Installer from http://resources.zentri.com/zentrios_sdk/ZentriOS_SDK_Installer.exe.

Run the installer.

Provide your DMS credentials at the log in page. See Signing up for a Zentri DMS Account above.

Full Installation

If your development computer runs 64-bit Windows, and you are using a Zentri evaluation board, you can perform a full installation.

At the ZentriOS SDK Installer, Full or Custom Install page, choose Full Install.

The SDK and IDE are installed as subdirectories of the installation directory you choose.

Custom Installation

If your development computer runs 32-bit Windows, or you have an NXP evaluation board, you need to perform a custom installation.

At the Full or Custom Install page, choose Custom Install.

To complete the installation, see Custom SDK Installation.

Completing Installation

After installation is complete, open the IDE.

The ZentriOS_SDK folder appears in the Project Explorer panel at the left of the IDE. A ZentriOS menu option now in the menu bar.

Manually Installing USB Drivers

USB drivers are supplied with the ZentriOS SDK, and install automatically. If for some reason the USB drivers do not install correctly, you can install them manually. See Manually Installing USB Drivers.

Setting Up the ZentriOS Device

Now that the ZentriOS development environment is installed, you need to set up the device on which your product will be developed.

The steps involved are:

Note: If at any time you re-install device firmware with an OTA, you need to run ZentriOS -> Setup Device again.

Connecting Your Device

The procedures for connecting the supported devices are listed below.

Running the ZentriOS Setup Device Wizard

In the IDE, choose the menu option ZentriOS -> Setup Device and work through the following steps:

StepDescription
Accept SDK LicenseRead the license and click Accept SDK License to confirm
LoginSupply the credentials you obtained on registering with the DMS. If you have already supplied DMS credentials, the DMS login completes automatically.
DiscoverThe Setup Device wizard automatically discovers a device plugged in to a USB port.
RegisterThis step completes automatically. The wizard retrieves device information from the DMS, writes it to the device, and registers the device in the DMS.
SelectChoose the ZentriOS version to install on your device. The most recent is selected by default.
ProgramThe Setup Device wizard retrieves the appropriate firmware bundles from the DMS and programs the device.
UpdateThe SDK version must match the device firmware. If required, the SDK is updated to match the firmware programmed into the device.
FinishedYour device has been successfully set up. You can now program ZentriOS applications on it. Click Finish to exit the Setup Device wizard.

Creating a ZentriOS Project

To create a new ZentriOS project, right click the ZentriOS SDK entry in the Project Explorer. From the context menu choose Create New ZentriOS Project. Alternatively choose the menu option File -> New -> ZentriOS Project.

The ZentriOS SDK Project dialog appears.

Specify the project name. Click Create Project to launch the ZentriOS SDK Create New Project wizard.

Here you select from your available device platforms, and if desired, choose an existing project to clone, from among the example applications.

If you choose Do not clone SDK Project, the project starts with a generic hello world app.

The ZentriOS plugin suggests switching to the ZentriOS perspective. This is a convenient window setup for developing ZentriOS apps.

The new project appears in the Project Explorer panel.

Location of Source Files

When you create a new SDK ZentriOS project, the project directory is by default created in your Eclipse IDE workspace. To use source files outside the ZentriOS project or SDK directories, see Source File Location.

Building, Downloading and Running a ZentriOS Project

Before running a project based on one the example apps, you can open a USB ZentriOS terminal to your device.

The example apps typically send output to the ZentriOS terminal.

See Getting Started with the ZentriOS Terminal in the ZentriOS Command API documentation.

To run a ZentriOS project, right click the project in the Project Explorer. From the context menu choose one of the build items in the ZentriOS submenu.

If you choose Build / Download / Run, the app is built, downloaded to your device and run automatically.

The output from the build process appears in the IDE console panel.

After building the app binary, the build process logs into the DMS, encrypts the application, and then downloads the encrypted binary to the device.

It then automatically starts the application.

The hello world app simply displays 'Hello world!!' on the ZentriOS terminal console and exits:

Ready
> Hello world!!

After a ZentriOS application exits, the device reboots.

Viewing the Downloaded App and Version

Zentri Devices

On Zentri devices, such as AMW004 or AM106 modules, the application firmware is stored in the file system. Use the ls command to view the file. The result is similar to:

ls
!  #   Size   Version  Filename
#  0   7873     3.0.0  .recovery.html
#  1    400     1.0.0  apps/external/testproj-debug.zap
...

Note that by default, the downloaded app is a debug build, indicated by -debug appended to the filename. A debug build has additional symbols and information compiled into the app file to allow step-by-step debugging during the development phase. See Application Debugging. When the app is ready to be released, you can switch to a release build. See Releasing Apps to the DMS.

NXP Devices

On some devices, such as the NXP-SCCK, the application firmware bundle is stored on flash outside the file system. The app and version stored on flash is obtained by issuing the version command.

> version
ZENTRI-TestProj-1.0.0.0, Built:2015-11-28 00:35:53 for ZentriOS-WZ-3.0.0.13

Re-running the ZentriOS App

The ZAP runs by default on power-up or reboot.

For debugging purposes, you can temporarily disable the app from running on reboot. See variable zap.debug.auto_run.