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

:substitutions:
$ pip3 install --extra-index-url {{index_url}} 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

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

.. autoclass:: jumpstarter_driver_renode.driver.Renode()