MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan Developer Documentation Develop for the Nokia N9

Activating developer mode

Developer mode is a prerequisite for Harmattan development. Activating the developer mode enables the connectivity between the device and the software development kit (SDK) running on the host workstation, you also gain access to the device Terminal, in addition to a number of other tools. After you have activated developer mode, you can deploy your applications onto the Harmattan device and run and debug them.

Harmattan devices include a built-in root account that you can access with the devel-su command line tool that is available when developer mode is active. The default password for the root account is 'rootme'.

Unlike in many other UNIX systems, the root account in Harmattan does not have unrestricted access to system resources. Instead, root is a standard user account that retains file ownership and has an expanded set of commands and slightly less restricted access to system resources.

Activating developer mode

Prerequisite: When you activate developer mode for the first time, the device must have a working network connection. This is because the device installs the developer mode bundle package.

Note: Activating developer mode restarts the device.

To activate developer mode:

  1. Ensure that the device is switched on.
  2. Select Settings > Security > Developer mode, and activate Developer mode.
  3. A warning text is displayed. Select OK.
  4. A dependency notice appears. Click Accept.
    After the developer mode bundle package has been installed, the device restarts.
  5. Change the root password.

For more information on the contents of the developer mode bundle package, see Developer mode content.

Developer mode content

When you activate developer mode, the following packages are installed to the device:

  • Applications
    • sdk-connectivity: enables connectivity between the development host and the mobile device
    • meego-terminal: provides access to the command line environment
    • ssh: secure shell client
    • devel-su: su tool adapted to MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan platform security that allows you to access a customised root account
    Note: To launch the sdk-connectivity and meego-terminal applications, tap the application icons. You can launch the other applications from the command line.
  • Services
    • openssh-server: secure shell daemon
    • develsh: developer shell adapter for openssh-server
    • sysklogd: system logging and kernel message trapping daemons
    • gdbserver: remote debugger endpoint
  • Other
    • aegis-developer-unknown-source-policy: grants extra credentials that correspond to the set of credentials available for applications installed from Nokia Store.

You can also install additional tools through the developer mode screen in the device Settings. For more information, see Developer tools.

Changing the root password

After you have activated developer mode and the device has rebooted, change the root password.

  1. Open Terminal from the Applications view.
  2. To change to root user, enter the following command:
    devel-su
  3. Enter the root password. The default root password is 'rootme'.
    Note: To verify that you are the root user, enter pwd. Output example:
    ~# pwd
    /root
  4. To change the password, enter the following command:
    passwd
  5. Enter the new root password.
  6. Re-enter the new root password.
  7. To change back to /home/user, enter the following command:
    exit

The root password is now changed.

Deactivating developer mode

To deactivate developer mode, follow these steps:

  1. Ensure that the device is switched on.
  2. Select Settings > Security > Developer mode, and deactivate Developer mode.

When you deactivate developer mode, the icons for sdk-connectivity and meego-terminal programs on the launcher are hidden and the running services are terminated. However, the security policy used on the device remains. Because of the enhanced "unknown origin" security policy, the device is in a tainted state and the following warning icon is displayed:

File:Warning_dev_mode_disabled.png

If you are using the Nokia N950 device, you can reset it back to its original state by using the OneClickFlasher, see Flashing tools. Flashing the devices resets the security policy as well.