Renode Driver¶

jumpstarter-driver-renode provides a Jumpstarter driver for the Renode embedded systems emulation framework. It enables microcontroller-class virtual targets (Cortex-M, RISC-V MCUs) running bare-metal firmware or RTOS as Jumpstarter test targets.

Installation¶

$ pip3 install --extra-index-url https://pkg.jumpstarter.dev/simple jumpstarter-driver-renode

Renode must be installed separately and available in PATH. See Renode installation.

Configuration¶

Users define Renode targets entirely through YAML configuration. No code changes are needed for new targets.

Configuration Parameters¶

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`platform`	`str`	(required)	Path to `.repl` file or Renode built-in platform name
`uart`	`str`	`sysbus.uart0`	Peripheral path for the console UART
`machine_name`	`str`	`machine-0`	Name of the Renode machine instance
`monitor_port`	`int`	`0` (auto)	TCP port for the Renode monitor (0 = auto-assign)
`extra_commands`	`list[str]`	`[]`	Additional monitor commands run after platform load

Examples¶

STM32F407 Discovery (opensomeip FreeRTOS/ThreadX)¶

export:
  ecu:
    type: jumpstarter_driver_renode.driver.Renode
    config:
      platform: "platforms/boards/stm32f4_discovery-kit.repl"
      uart: "sysbus.usart2"

NXP S32K388 (opensomeip Zephyr)¶

export:
  ecu:
    type: jumpstarter_driver_renode.driver.Renode
    config:
      platform: "/path/to/s32k388_renode.repl"
      uart: "sysbus.uart0"
      extra_commands:
        - "sysbus WriteDoubleWord 0x40090030 0x0301"

Nucleo H753ZI (openbsw-zephyr)¶

export:
  ecu:
    type: jumpstarter_driver_renode.driver.Renode
    config:
      platform: "platforms/cpus/stm32h743.repl"
      uart: "sysbus.usart3"

Usage¶

Programmatic (pytest)¶

from jumpstarter_driver_renode.driver import Renode
from jumpstarter.common.utils import serve

with serve(
    Renode(
        platform="platforms/boards/stm32f4_discovery-kit.repl",
        uart="sysbus.usart2",
    )
) as renode:
    renode.flasher.flash("/path/to/firmware.elf")
    renode.power.on()

    with renode.console.pexpect() as p:
        p.expect("Hello from MCU", timeout=30)

    renode.power.off()

Monitor Commands¶

Send arbitrary Renode monitor commands via the client:

response = renode.monitor_cmd("sysbus GetRegistrationPoints sysbus.usart2")

The monitor CLI subcommand is also available inside a jmp shell session.

Architecture¶

The driver follows the composite driver pattern:

Renode - root composite driver, manages the simulation lifecycle
RenodePower - starts/stops the Renode process and controls the simulation via the telnet monitor interface
RenodeFlasher - loads firmware (ELF/BIN/HEX) into the simulated MCU
console - UART output via PTY terminal, reusing the PySerial driver

Design Decisions¶

Key decisions:

Control interface: Telnet monitor via anyio.connect_tcp (no pyrenode3 / .NET dependency)
UART exposure: PTY terminal reusing PySerial (consistent with QEMU)
Configuration model: Managed mode with extra_commands for target-specific customization
Firmware loading: flash() stores path, on() loads into simulation

API Reference¶

class jumpstarter_driver_renode.driver.Renode¶

Renode emulation framework driver for Jumpstarter.

Provides a composite driver that manages a Renode simulation instance with power control, firmware flashing, and serial console access.

Users inject their Renode target configuration via YAML without modifying driver code:

platform: path to a .repl file or Renode built-in name
uart: peripheral path in the Renode object model
extra_commands: list of monitor commands for target-specific setup