Environment setup

Besides the proper linux kernel version and node available, development tools must be present in order to properly build the native part of the library. Install it following the best suited instructions for your SBC.

Requirements

Fedora/RHEL-based

sudo dnf install @development-tools g++ \
 libgpiod libgpiod-devel libgpiod-utils \
 nodejs nodejs-devel

openSUSE

sudo zypper in -t pattern devel_basis
sudo zypper in libgpiod libgpiod-devel libgpiod-utils
sudo zypper in nodejs-default nodejs-devel-default

debina/ubuntu-based

sudo apt install build-essential gpiod libgpiod2 \
 libgpiod-dev libnode-dev nodejs npm

libpiod version

Check your libgpiod version

Current node-libgpiod version supports native libgpiod from 1.5.x to 1.6.x releases.

The libpiod 2.x series introduced breaking changes in the API, and our node wrapper for this version is currently under construction.

Check the API coverage for more details.

User permissions

Another important aspect is the user permissions to proper access to gpio device exposed by libgpiod.

Some systems properly sets the gpio group to /dev/gpiochip* devices, some does not.

You can check owner and group for gpio devices in your SBC by simply listing it:

ls -la /dev/gpio*

If your devices has the wrong group, add this udev rule to fix it:

# /etc/udev/rules.d/85-gpiochip.rules 
KERNEL=="gpiochip*", SUBSYSTEM=="gpio", MODE="0660", GROUP="gpio"

Next, make sure your user (the user running the scripts blinking things) has the gpio group:

sudo usermod -aG gpio $USER

Then log out and login again. Or activate the new group for your actual session:

newgrp gpio

And that's it, the current user should be able to run tools like gpiodetect, gpioinfo and run all sort of scripts using the libgpiod goodies.