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Installing Xilinx ISE/EDK 11.5 under Ubuntu 9.10

This guide tell how-to install Xilinx ISE and EDK under Ubuntu 9.10, using a 30-days evaluation license acquired at http://www.xilinx.com/ise_eval/index.htm.

Required tools
The EDK needs make, which must be called gmake. The easiest way is to install build essential and make a symlink from make to gmake. Futhermore fxload is needed for firmware upload and motif for the GUI.

sudo apt-get install fxload build-essential motif-clients
sudo ln -s /usr/bin/make /usr/bin/gmake

If you have purchased a development board from Xilinx, use the included DVD:

cd /media/cdrom
sudo ./xsetup

If not, follow the download link at the above URL, and download the ISE Design Suite: Full DVD, which is roughly 5.6 GB and untar it:

mkdir ise
cd ise
tar -cvf Xilinx_11.1_ISE_DS_SFD.tar
cd Xilinx_11.1_ISE_DS_SFD
sudo ./xsetup

You do not need to use sudo, but if all users on the system should use EDK, it will be installed in /opt/Xilinx/ using sudo. If sudo is not used, it will be installed in /home/username/.

The installation process is straight forward, and will guide you to setting up a license in the last step. If you choose to use the 30-day trial, a browser will open the Xilinx license system, which will generate the license, download it and install it.

Start up scripts

In order to start xps the environment variable $XILINX must hold the path to ISE. To start xps type

export XILINX=/opt/Xilinx/11.1/ISE/ && /opt/Xilinx/11.1/EDK/bin/lin/xps