LXMASTER

LXMASTER turns a standard Linux machine into a production-ready EtherCAT master. It ships as two tools that work together: a command-line tool for host setup, network management, and diagnostics, and a C++ library that abstracts the entire EtherCAT stack so your application code deals only with axes, I/O modules, and encoders — not with fieldbus plumbing.

Architecture

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lxmaster — The CLI tool

The lxmaster command-line tool prepares the host and manages the network before your application runs. You do not need to write any code to use it.

• Host setup — a single guided command configures real-time scheduling, CPU isolation, and IRQ affinity, and qualifies the machine for DC-sync operation. Settings are written to /etc/profile.d/lxmaster-config.sh and picked up automatically by the library at runtime.
• ENI management — scan the live bus, pull ESI device description files, and generate the EtherCAT Network Information (ENI) XML that describes your network topology.
• Run on the RT core — launch any application inside the isolated real-time CPU slice with all environment variables forwarded, so you get deterministic scheduling without modifying your binary.
• Debug and diagnose — run jitter benchmarks, inspect slave states, and read DC-sync telemetry directly from the command line, without starting your application.

See the CLI Tutorials for step-by-step guides to each command.

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liblxmaster — The C++ library

liblxmaster abstracts the entire EtherCAT implementation behind a small, stable public API. Your application never touches raw PDO pointers, sync manager offsets, or ESM walk logic — the library handles all of that.

• Single header — #include <lxmaster/lxmaster.hpp> pulls in the whole public API under the flat lxmaster:: namespace. No other headers are needed for application code.
• Device handles — work with Axis, IoModule, Encoder, and GenericDevice objects. Set targets, read feedback, and inspect faults through typed methods; the PDO mapping and cyclic exchange happen behind the scenes.
• Lifecycle managed — EcNetwork::start() handles the full ESM walk, distributed clock setup, and real-time thread launch in one call. stop() tears everything down cleanly.
• Extensible — bind a custom device profile to any slave identified by vendor ID + product code, either by subclassing a built-in profile or implementing IDeviceProfile from scratch.

lxmaster::NetworkConfig cfg = lxmaster::NetworkConfig::defaults();
cfg.eni.eni_path = "network.eni.xml";

lxmaster::EcNetwork net(cfg);
net.start();
// axes(), ioModules(), encoders() are live
net.stop();

See Getting Started for a full build and run walkthrough, the C++ API Reference for the complete reference, and Examples for ready-to-run projects.

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Where to next

• EtherCAT Basics — foundational EtherCAT concepts before diving into LXMASTER.
• Getting Started — install LXMASTER and run your first application.
• C++ Application Tutorials — learn facades and device profiles from basics to advanced.
• CLI Tutorials — step-by-step guides to the lxmaster command-line tool.
• C++ API Reference — full library reference.
• Release Notes — version history and upgrade notes.