What is BEAM Tools ?

beamtools is a set of software which install Erlang and Elixir version ready to use. Without waste time compiling the most up-to-date versions. It is available for Linux users and is an alternative for the Erlang and Elixir installation methods.

Currently, when we want to install Erlang and Elixir we have a few choices:

• delegates to Linux distribution packages. While the install process is easy and usual, The available versions could not be the latest one
• build using version management tool like [kerl]kerl. That is a better approach to get the most recent version and the user wants to control build flags
• download and install a ready package from Erlang Solutions. That is a feasible approach too, but is not possible to customize the build process
• get Erlang source code and follow the Erlang OTP install procedures

All of the above options work. However, beamtools could be an option to install a BEAM development suite delivering:

• Erlang
• Elixir
• rebar3
• elvis
• erlfmt

beamtools is installed from a selfcontent file and available at beamtools releases pages. Each release is a set of latest versions from the above listed softwares. And the minimal requirement is a modern Linux distribution.

Install and use

Get the beamtool:

$ wget https://github.com/meta-erlang/meta-erlang/releases/download/beamtools-0.4.0/x86_64-beamtools-nativesdk-standalone-4.0.1-erlang-25.0-elixir-1.13.3.sh

Let’s check which options the selfcontent installation script provides:

$ sh ./x86_64-beamtools-nativesdk-standalone-4.0.1-erlang-25.0-elixir-1.13.3.sh --help
Usage: x86_64-beamtools-nativesdk-standalone-4.0.1-erlang-25.0-elixir-1.13.3.sh [-y] [-d <dir>]
  -y         Automatic yes to all prompts
  -d <dir>   Install the SDK to <dir>
======== Extensible SDK only options ============
  -n         Do not prepare the build system
  -p         Publish mode (implies -n)
======== Advanced DEBUGGING ONLY OPTIONS ========
  -S         Save relocation scripts
  -R         Do not relocate executables
  -D         use set -x to see what is going on
  -l         list files that will be extracted

To install it, the best options is to install into a local folder and saying yes for all questions. Like this:

$ sh ./x86_64-beamtools-nativesdk-standalone-4.0.1-erlang-25.0-elixir-1.13.3.sh -y -d $HOME/beamtools/4.0.1-erlang-25.0-elixir-1.13.3

After that, for all shells where we want to call erl or iex, we just have to initialize a script which configures the current shell variables. The most important variable is PATH which points to the right places where erl and iex were installed:

$HOME/beamtools/4.0.1-erlang-25.0-elixir-1.13.3/environment-setup-x86_64-pokysdk-linux

That’s all, from now and beyond, for the current shell just calling erl or iex. Also the Observer application is also available without installing anything more (like wxWidgets).

All softwares delivered by beamtools are built from source code using Yocto Project and the meta-erlang. More details could be find at BEAM Tools documentação.

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