How does installing ESP-IDF differ between the legacy method (before v6.0) and the ESP-IDF Installation Manager (v6.0 and later)?
Legacy: git clone a tagged release with its submodules, run ./install.sh all, then . ./export.sh in each shell. From v6.0: install the EIM tool from Espressif's APT repository, run eim install -i v6.1, then source the generated activate_idf_v6.1.sh.
| Step | Legacy (< v6.0) | EIM (>= v6.0) |
|---|---|---|
| Get the framework | git clone -b v6.1 --single-branch --recursive https://github.com/espressif/esp-idf.git |
Add the APT repo, sudo apt install eim-cli |
| Install tools | cd esp-idf && ./install.sh all |
eim install -i v6.1 |
| Use it in a shell | . ./export.sh |
source ~/.espressif/tools/activate_idf_v6.1.sh |
The git flags matter. -b v6.1 --single-branch checks out exactly one release instead of the whole history of every branch. --recursive also pulls the submodules: many ESP-IDF components (the Wi-Fi libraries, mbedTLS, LWIP and others) live in separate repositories, and a clone without them does not build. install.sh all downloads the cross-compilers for all supported chips (ESP32, -S3, -C3, …) and creates the Python virtual environment.
EIM does the same work with one tool, can keep several ESP-IDF versions side by side, and has a GUI as well as a CLI. Both methods end the same way: you still have to activate the environment in every new terminal before idf.py works.
Go deeper:
ESP-IDF Installation Manager documentation — EIM's GUI and CLI, offline installs and managing several versions.- ESP-IDF — Legacy installation on Linux and macOS — the
install.sh/export.shroute. - ESP-IDF — Get Started — the overview for all three operating systems, from installing to the first flashed project.
GitHub — espressif/esp-idf — the repository the legacy clone pulls, with its release tags and submodule list.