OpenOCD command-line options can be combined in a single command-line.

The most important options and commands include:

Option

Description

--file (-f)

Specifies the configuration file to use

--search (-s)

Specifies the directory to search for configuration files

--command (-c)

Executes an OpenOCD command. See OpenOCD Commands Overview for details.

--debug (-d)

Specifies the debug level

--log_output (-l)

Redirects the log output to the file

--help (-h)

Displays the help message

--version (-v)

Displays the OpenOCD version

--file (-f)​

Specifies the configuration file to use.

Multiple configuration files can be specified from a command line. They are interpreted in the order they are specified in the command line.

openocd -f <filename.cfg>
openocd -f interface/ADAPTER.cfg -f target/TARGET.cfg

Example:

openocd -s ../scripts -f interface/jlink.cfg -c "transport select jtag" -f target/infineon/pse84xgxs2.cfg

The output should appear similar to the following:



The "tap/service found" message should appear with no warnings, which means the JTAG communication is working.

--search (-s)​

Specifies the directory to search for configuration files.

Multiple -s options can be specified. Configuration files and scripts are searched for in the following paths:

  • the current directory

  • any search directory specified on the command line using the -s option

  • any search directory specified using the add_script_search_dir command

  • $HOME/.openocd (not on Windows)

  • a directory in the OPENOCD_SCRIPTS environment variable (if set)

  • the site-wide script library $pkgdatadir/site

  • the OpenOCD-supplied script library $pkgdatadir/scripts.

The file first found with a matching file name is used.

openocd -s <directory>

Example (J-Link & PSOC™ Edge MCU target):

openocd -s ../scripts -f interface/jlink.cfg -f target/infineon/pse84xgxs2.cfg

In this example, the -s option specifies the relative path to the directory where the interface and target configurations are located.

--command (-c)​

Executes the Tcl command(s).

Multiple commands can be executed by either specifying the multiple -c options or passing several commands to the single -c options. In the latter case, separate the commands with a semicolon.

openocd -c <command>
openocd -c <"command1; command2; …">

Example (J-Link & PSOC™ Edge MCU target):

openocd -s ../scripts -f interface/jlink.cfg -f target/infineon/pse84xgxs2.cfg -c "targets; shutdown"

--debug (-d)​

Specifies the debug level. The debug level is 2 by default.

openocd -d<n>

This affects the kind of messages sent to the server log:

  • Level 0: Error messages only

  • Level 1: Level 0 messages + warnings

  • Level 2: Level 1 messages + informational messages

  • Level 3: Level 2 messages + debugging messages

Example:

openocd -d1

--log_output (-l)​

Redirects the log output to the file

logfile.txt

.

openocd -l <logfile.txt>

Example (KitProg3 & PSOC™ Edge MCU target):

openocd -s ../scripts -f interface/kitprog3.cfg -f target/infineon/pse84xgxs2.cfg -l log.txt -c "targets; shutdown"

--help (-h)​

Displays the help message.

openocd -h

--version (-v)​

Displays the OpenOCD version.

openocd -v