Advanced Host Tools Installation

The Advanced Host Tools Installation page lets you install or repair individual parts of the host tools, instead of the one-click Install Host Tools. Use it to skip tools you already have, choose which Python is used, or fix a single broken tool without reinstalling everything.

Open the page

• Before the first installation: click Install Host Tools (Advanced) in the Workbench for Zephyr view, or the Advanced installation link in the Host tools view.
• After installation: click the Advanced installation button in the Host Tools Manager.
• From the Command Palette: Zephyr Workbench: Install Host Tools (Advanced).
• The Reinstall host tools confirmation dialog also offers an Advanced choice that opens this page.

Python and virtual environment

Python and the global virtual environment are always installed, even when every tool is skipped: the selected Python is used by the tools and to create the virtual environment.

Choose where Python comes from:

• The default source depends on your OS:
  • Windows: Zinstaller, a portable Python downloaded automatically.
  • Linux: Portable AppImage, downloaded automatically, no sudo needed.
  • macOS: Homebrew, the python@3.13 formula installed with brew.
• System (detected from PATH): use the Python already installed on your machine.
• Custom: enter the path to a Python executable (or its folder), or browse for it. A detection line below the field shows the detected path and version.

note

Current Zephyr requirements recommend Python 3.12 or newer. A warning is shown if the selected Python is older.

A status line indicates whether the global virtual environment is already present, or will be created on the next run.

Zephyr requirements version: selects the Zephyr version whose pip requirements are installed into the virtual environment. Tags and branches are fetched from GitHub, with the latest release selected by default. If the list cannot be fetched (offline), type a tag or branch manually (for example v4.2.0 or main).

Tools

The table lists each installable tool with its Status (Installed, System only, or Not installed), the Detected version, and the Available version. System only means the tool was found on your system but was not installed by Workbench.

The rows depend on your OS:

• Windows: CMake, Ninja, gperf, Device Tree Compiler, Git, wget. Everything is a portable download, nothing is installed system-wide.
• Linux: CMake and Ninja are direct downloads (no sudo). The System packages row installs the remaining dependencies (git, gperf, dtc, gcc, make, ccache, dfu-util, wget, xz, file, SDL2, hidapi, libmagic, unzip, python3 support packages) with your distribution's package manager. It carries a sudo badge: your password is requested only when this row is selected.
• macOS: CMake, Ninja, gperf, Device Tree Compiler, and Git install as Homebrew formulas. The Utilities row installs the remaining packages (ccache, libmagic, wget, yq, xz, dfu-util, libftdi, hidapi) in one go.

warning

On macOS, everything installs through Homebrew. If Homebrew is not detected, the page shows an error and the install actions stay disabled until you install it from brew.sh and refresh.

To install:

1. Tick the tools you want, or use Select missing (selects everything not yet installed), Select all, or Unselect all.
2. Click Install selected. You can also click the Install button of a single row.
3. A result line summarizes what was installed. If a part failed, click Open terminal output to see the log.

note

If a download fails or its checksum does not match, it is retried automatically from the Ac6 mirror.

Other actions

Once at least one part is installed, two more buttons appear at the bottom of the page:

• Reinstall everything: removes the installed host tools and the global virtual environment, then reinstalls everything with the selected Python source. A confirmation is shown first. On Linux, your sudo password is requested.
• Rebuild virtual environment: recreates only the global Python virtual environment.