GEM5: Docker Setup and Run Hello World

Gem5 is a popular open-source computer architecture simulator that allows you to model and analyze the performance of hardware systems. To get started with Gem5, you’ll need to set up a working environment. This guide will walk you through setting up Gem5 in a Docker container.

Make sure you have Docker installed

Setting Up Docker

1. Create a directory to store your Gem5 files. For example, you can create a directory named ‘gem5’ in your home directory:

   mkdir /home/<your_username>/gem5
   

2. We can pull a pre-built Docker image that contains all the dependencies needed to run Gem5.

   docker run -tid --hostname=gem5_dev --name=ubuntu24_gem5 -v /home/<your_username>/gem5:/root ghcr.io/gem5/ubuntu-24.04_all-dependencies:v24-0 /bin/bash    
   

   Remember to replace <your_username> with your actual username.

Entering Your Container

To access your new container and start working:

docker exec -ti ubuntu24_gem5 /bin/bash
cd /root

Installing Gem5 and Building It

Now we’ll get the Gem5 code and build it:

git clone https://github.com/gem5/gem5.git
cd gem5
scons build/X86/gem5.opt -j 8

Please note that this build process might take some time.

Testing Gem5

To make sure everything is set up correctly, run this test:

build/X86/gem5.opt configs/learning_gem5/part1/simple.py

if you see the output, then you have successfully set up Gem5 in your Docker container.

…

…

Beginning simulation!

src/sim/simulate.cc:199: info: Entering event queue @ 0. Starting simulation…

Hello world!

Exiting @ tick 493443000 because exiting with last active thread context

Conclusion

You now have a working Gem5 environment set up in a Docker container. You can use this setup to explore the capabilities of Gem5 and run various simulations to analyze the performance of different hardware configurations. Happy simulating!