px4-sih-deb-report.md

PX4 SIH .deb Package — Local Validation Report

Date: 2026-02-19 Branch: mrpollo/deb-package Platform: Apple Silicon (aarch64 / arm64)

---

1. Build Summary

Field	Value
Build container	px4io/px4-dev:v1.17.0-beta1
Host arch	aarch64 (arm64)
Git describe	v1.17.0-alpha1-663-gb84a385e48d
.deb filename	px4_1.17.0~alpha1-noble_arm64.deb
.deb size	11,651,428 bytes (11.6 MB)
Installed size	~4.6 GB (uncompressed)

Build command

docker run --rm \
  -v /Users/rroche/Work/Dronecode:/Users/rroche/Work/Dronecode \
  -w /Users/rroche/Work/Dronecode/PX4-Autopilot-deb \
  px4io/px4-dev:v1.17.0-beta1 \
  bash -c "
    git config --global --add safe.directory /Users/rroche/Work/Dronecode/PX4-Autopilot-deb &&
    git config --global --add safe.directory /Users/rroche/Work/Dronecode/PX4-Autopilot &&
    make px4_sitl_sih &&
    cd build/px4_sitl_sih &&
    cpack -G DEB
  "

Note: The worktree's .git file contains a relative path that references the main PX4-Autopilot repo. The parent Dronecode/ directory must be mounted at the same absolute path inside the container so all relative git references resolve correctly.

dpkg-deb -I output

 new Debian package, version 2.0.
 size 11651428 bytes: control archive=5831 bytes.
     308 bytes,    10 lines      control
   14816 bytes,   174 lines      md5sums
      61 bytes,     4 lines   *  postinst             #!/bin/sh
     101 bytes,     6 lines   *  postrm               #!/bin/sh
 Architecture: arm64
 Depends: libc6, libstdc++6, libc6 (>= 2.38), libgcc-s1 (>= 3.0), libstdc++6 (>= 13.1)
 Description: PX4 SITL autopilot with SIH physics (no Gazebo)
 Maintainer: Daniel Agar <daniel@agar.ca>
 Package: px4
 Priority: optional
 Section: misc
 Version: 1.17.0~alpha1-noble
 Installed-Size: 4631974

dpkg-deb -c highlights (abbreviated)

drwxr-xr-x root/root         0 ./opt/px4/
drwxr-xr-x root/root         0 ./opt/px4/bin/
-rwxr-xr-x root/root  52697512 ./opt/px4/bin/px4
lrwxr-xr-x root/root         0 ./opt/px4/bin/px4-alias.sh -> px4          (and 80+ module symlinks)
drwxr-xr-x root/root         0 ./opt/px4/etc/
drwxr-xr-x root/root         0 ./opt/px4/etc/init.d/
drwxr-xr-x root/root         0 ./opt/px4/etc/init.d-posix/
drwxr-xr-x root/root         0 ./opt/px4/etc/extras/

No ./opt/px4/share/gz/ entries — Gazebo resources correctly absent.

---

2. Install Verification (ubuntu:24.04)

docker run --rm \
  -v .../build/px4_sitl_sih:/debs \
  ubuntu:24.04 \
  bash -c "apt-get install -y /debs/px4_*.deb && <checks>"

Check	Result
Package installs without errors	✅ PASS
/opt/px4/bin/px4 exists and is executable (52 MB)	✅ PASS
/usr/bin/px4 -> /opt/px4/bin/px4 symlink created by postinst	✅ PASS
/opt/px4/share/gz/ does NOT exist (no Gazebo)	✅ PASS
/opt/px4/etc/ contains ROMFS (extras, init.d, init.d-posix)	✅ PASS

Raw output:

Setting up px4 (1.17.0~alpha1-noble) ...
--- binary ---
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 52697512 Feb 19 18:09 /opt/px4/bin/px4
--- symlink ---
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 Feb 19 18:10 /usr/bin/px4 -> /opt/px4/bin/px4
--- no Gazebo ---
PASS
--- etc (ROMFS) ---
extras
init.d
init.d-posix

---

3. Runtime Output (60-second smoke test)

docker run --rm \
  -v .../build/px4_sitl_sih:/debs \
  ubuntu:24.04 \
  bash -c "
    apt-get install -y /debs/px4_*.deb &&
    export PX4_SIM_MODEL=sihsim_quadx &&
    export PATH=/opt/px4/bin:$PATH &&   # px4-alias.sh must be in PATH for rcS
    mkdir -p /root/.local/share/px4/rootfs &&
    timeout 60 /usr/bin/px4 -d 2>&1 || true
  "

PATH note: rcS sources px4-alias.sh via . px4-alias.sh (no absolute path). /opt/px4/bin must be in PATH for this to resolve. This is a post-install step that a system-level shell profile (e.g. /etc/profile.d/px4.sh) would handle in production.

Full output

______  __   __    ___
| ___ \ \ \ / /   /   |
| |_/ /  \ V /   / /| |
|  __/   /   \  / /_| |
| |     / /^\ \ \___  |
\_|     \/   \/     |_/

px4 starting.

INFO  [px4] startup script: /bin/sh etc/init.d-posix/rcS 0    ← startup confirmed
INFO  [init] found model autostart file as SYS_AUTOSTART=10040
INFO  [param] selected parameter default file parameters.bson
INFO  [param] selected parameter backup file parameters_backup.bson
  SYS_AUTOCONFIG: curr: 0 -> new: 1
  SYS_AUTOSTART: curr: 0 -> new: 10040
  CAL_ACC0_ID: curr: 0 -> new: 1310988
  CAL_GYRO0_ID: curr: 0 -> new: 1310988
  CAL_ACC1_ID: curr: 0 -> new: 1310996
  CAL_GYRO1_ID: curr: 0 -> new: 1310996
  CAL_ACC2_ID: curr: 0 -> new: 1311004
  CAL_GYRO2_ID: curr: 0 -> new: 1311004
  CAL_MAG0_ID: curr: 0 -> new: 197388
  CAL_MAG0_PRIO: curr: -1 -> new: 50
  CAL_MAG1_ID: curr: 0 -> new: 197644
  CAL_MAG1_PRIO: curr: -1 -> new: 50
  SENS_BOARD_X_OFF: curr: 0.0000 -> new: 0.0000
  SENS_DPRES_OFF: curr: 0.0000 -> new: 0.0010
INFO  [dataman] data manager file './dataman' size is 1208528 bytes
INFO  [init] SIH simulator
INFO  [simulator_sih] Simulation loop with 250 Hz (4000 us sim time interval)
INFO  [simulator_sih] Simulation with 1.0x speedup. Loop with (4000 us wall time interval)
INFO  [lockstep_scheduler] setting initial absolute time to 4000 us
INFO  [commander] LED: open /dev/led0 failed (22)                ← expected in container (no LED dev)
INFO  [uxrce_dds_client] init UDP agent IP:127.0.0.1, port:8888
INFO  [mavlink] mode: Normal, data rate: 4000000 B/s on udp port 18570 remote port 14550
INFO  [mavlink] mode: Onboard, data rate: 4000000 B/s on udp port 14580 remote port 14540
INFO  [mavlink] mode: Onboard, data rate: 4000 B/s on udp port 14280 remote port 14030
INFO  [mavlink] mode: Gimbal, data rate: 400000 B/s on udp port 13030 remote port 13280
INFO  [tone_alarm] home set
INFO  [mavlink] mode: Custom, data rate: 400000 B/s on udp port 19450 remote port 19410
INFO  [logger] logger started (mode=all)
INFO  [logger] Start file log (type: full)
INFO  [logger] [logger] ./log/2026-02-19/18_11_03.ulg
INFO  [logger] Opened full log file: ./log/2026-02-19/18_11_03.ulg
INFO  [mavlink] MAVLink only on localhost (set param MAV_{i}_BROADCAST = 1 to enable network)
INFO  [mavlink] MAVLink only on localhost (set param MAV_{i}_BROADCAST = 1 to enable network)
INFO  [mavlink] MAVLink only on localhost (set param MAV_{i}_BROADCAST = 1 to enable network)
INFO  [px4] Startup script returned successfully
INFO  [commander] Ready for takeoff!                             ← clean startup reached

PX4 Exiting...
Exiting NOW.

Log analysis

Item	Finding
Startup confirmed (INFO [px4] startup script)	✅ Yes
ERROR lines	⚠️ commander: LED: open /dev/led0 failed (22) — expected, no /dev/led0 in container
WARN lines	None
SIH simulator started	✅ INFO [simulator_sih] Simulation loop with 250 Hz
Reached "Ready for takeoff!"	✅ Yes
Clean shutdown	✅ PX4 Exiting... / Exiting NOW.

Runtime note: With -d flag (daemon/no-shell mode), px4 runs the startup script and then exits once stdin closes. For a persistent 60-second run, px4 would need to be started without -d or with a persistent sim client attached. The startup sequence is fully validated.

---

4. Verdict

✅ OVERALL PASS

Criterion	Result
.deb builds without error	✅ PASS
Filename matches px4_*-noble_arm64.deb	✅ PASS — px4_1.17.0~alpha1-noble_arm64.deb
dpkg-deb -I shows Package: px4, Depends: libc6, libstdc++6	✅ PASS
Install checks (binary, symlink, no Gazebo, ROMFS) all PASS	✅ PASS (5/5)
px4 starts with INFO [px4] lines	✅ PASS
Reaches "Ready for takeoff!"	✅ PASS
Clean exit	✅ PASS
No unexpected ERROR lines	✅ PASS (LED error is expected in containerized environment)

One finding for follow-up: /opt/px4/bin must be in PATH for rcS to source px4-alias.sh. A /etc/profile.d/px4.sh snippet in the postinst would eliminate the manual PATH export for end users.