# Develop plugins using Qualcomm IM SDK The GStreamer plugins allow you to effectively use and implement the Qualcomm IM SDK functionality. [Download and install eSDK](https://docs.qualcomm.com/bundle/publicresource/topics/80-80022-51/install-sdk.html#download-and-install-esdk) to develop or customize plugins. Using Qualcomm IM SDK, you can do the following: - Update or customize the existing plugins for improvements, or make them compatible with the latest version of the GStreamer framework. - Develop preprocessing and postprocessing plugins for AI/ML models. ## Customize a plugin Customize a Qualcomm GStreamer plugin and install it on the target device. As an example, the following procedure uses the `mlvdetection` plugin. 1. Set up the environment: cd $ESDK_ROOT Copy to clipboard source environment-setup-armv8-2a-qcom-linux Copy to clipboard The following message is displayed: SDK environment now set up; additionally you may now run devtool to perform development tasks. Run devtool --help for further details. [/local/mnt/workspace/QIMSDK\_ESDK\_6490/] 2. Download the Qualcomm IM SDK plugin sources. cd $ESDK_ROOT Copy to clipboard devtool modify qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-mlvdetection Copy to clipboard In this command, `qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-mlvdetection` is the BitBake recipe that downloads the sources of the plugin. NOTE: Starting bitbake server... Loading cache: 100% |######################################| Time: 0:00:00 Loaded 9816 entries from dependency cache. Parsing recipes: 100% |####################################| Time: 0:00:01 Parsing of 6700 .bb files complete (6678 cached, 22 parsed). 9838 targets, 842 skipped, 0 masked, 0 errors. NOTE: Resolving any missing task queue dependencies Initialising tasks: 100% |#################################| Time: 0:00:55 Sstate summary: Wanted 10 local 0 mirrors 0 Missed 10 Current 10 (0% match, 50% complete) NOTE: Executing Tasks NOTE: Tasks Summary: Attempted 93 tasks of which 90 didn't need to be rerun and all succeeded. INFO: Source tree extracted to /local/mnt/workspace/QIMSDK_ESDK_6490/workspace/sources/qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-mlvdetection INFO: Recipe qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-mlvdetection now setup to build from /local/mnt/workspace/QIMSDK_ESDK_6490/workspace/sources/qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-mlvdetection Copy to clipboard The plugin source code is downloaded to `$ESDK_ROOT/workspace/sources/qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-mlvdetection`. [/local/mnt/workspace/QIMSDK_ESDK_6490/workspace/sources/qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-mlvdetection]$ ls CMakeLists.txt config.h.in mlvdetection.h modules [/local/mnt/workspace/QIMSDK_ESDK_6490/workspace/sources/qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-mlvdetection]$ Copy to clipboard 3. Perform the required customization and run the following command to rebuild the plugin: devtool build qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-mlvdetection Copy to clipboard The following message is displayed: NOTE: Starting bitbake server... Loading cache: 100% |################################################| Time: 0:00:00 Loaded 9816 entries from dependency cache. Parsing recipes: 100% |##############################################| Time: 0:00:01 Parsing of 6700 .bb files complete (6678 cached, 22 parsed). 9838 targets, 842 skipped, 0 masked, 0 errors. NOTE: Resolving any missing task queue dependencies Initialising tasks: 100% |###########################################| Time: 0:00:55 Checking sstate mirror object availability: 100% |###################| Time: 0:01:06 Sstate Summary: Wanted 264 Local 0 Mirrors 0 Missed 264 Current 255 (0% match, 49% complete) Removing 1 stale sstate objects for arch qcs6490_rb3gen2_vision_kit: 100% |################################################| Time: 0:00:12 Removing 1 stale sstate objects for arch armv8-2a: 100% |##################################################################| Time: 0:00:16 NOTE: Executing Tasks NOTE: qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-mlvdetection: compiling from external source tree /local/mnt/workspace/QIMSDK_ESDK_6490/workspace/sources/qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-mlvdetection NOTE: Task Summary: Attempted 1836 tasks of which 1827 didn't need to be rerun and all succeeded. Copy to clipboard 4. To install the application on the target device, generate the plugin installer (ipk): devtool package qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-mlvdetection Copy to clipboard The installable package is at `ls -1 $ESDK_ROOT/tmp/deploy/ipk/armv8-2a/`. qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-mlvdetection_1.0-r0_armv8-2a.ipk qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-mlvdetection_dbg_1.0-r0_armv8-2a.ipk qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-mlvdetection_dev_1.0-r0_armv8-2a.ipk qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-mlvdetection_src_1.0-r0_armv8-2a.ipk [/local/mnt/workspace/QIMSDK_ESDK_6490/workspace/sources/qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-mlvdetection]$ Copy to clipboard 5. Set up a connection with the target device through SSH. For instructions, see [Sign in using SSH](https://docs.qualcomm.com/bundle/publicresource/topics/80-80022-254/how_to.html#use-ssh). The development kit is accessible through its configured IP address. 6. Install the compiled reference application on the target device through the SSH shell: ssh root@[IP Address of the device] Copy to clipboard Note If prompted for a password, enter *oelinux123*. 7. On the target device, reconfigure the file system partition to support read and write operations: mount -o remount,rw / Copy to clipboard exit Copy to clipboard 8. On the host computer, transfer the application installer to the target device: cd $ESDK_ROOT/tmp/deploy/ipk/armv8-2a/ Copy to clipboard scp qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-mlvdetection_1.0-r0_armv8-2a.ipk root@:/opt Copy to clipboard 9. Sign in to the SSH shell: ssh root@[IP Address of the device] Copy to clipboard 10. On the target device, install the application: opkg --force-depends --force-reinstall --force-overwrite install /opt/qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-mlvdetection_1.0-r0_armv8-2a.ipk Copy to clipboard 11. Verify if the IPK installation is successful: Installing qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-mlvdetection (1.0) on root Configuring qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-mlvdetection. Copy to clipboard ## Create a plugin Create your own plugin and compile it as part of the Qualcomm IM SDK. Each ML plugin is integrated into the SDK as an independent BitBake recipe. To update the BitBake files for custom plugin compilation, do the following: 1. Set up the environment: cd $ESDK_ROOT Copy to clipboard source environment-setup-armv8-2a-qcom-linux Copy to clipboard SDK environment now set up; additionally you may now run devtool to perform development tasks. Run devtool --help for further details. [/local/mnt/workspace/Platform\_eSDK\_plus\_QIM]$ 2. Create a BitBake file at `$ESDK_ROOT/layers/meta-qcom-qim-product-sdk/recipes-gst/gstreamer/`. For example: $ESDK_ROOT/layers/meta-qcom-qim-product-sdk/recipes-gst/gstreamer/qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-sample-mlvclassification.bb Copy to clipboard 1. Copy the contents of the existing plugin to the new file created in step 2. 2. Update the `SUMMARY`, `SRC_URI`, and `S` variables: ... inherit cmake pkgconfig **SUMMARY = "My custom plugin for ML image categorization"** SECTION= "multimedia" LICENSE = "BSD-3-Clause-Clear" LIC\_FILES\_CHKSUM - "file://${COMMON\_LICENSE\_DIR}/${LICENSE};md5=7a43440b65lf4a472ca93716d01033a" # Dependencies. DEPENDS := "gstreamer1.0" DEPENDS += "gstreamer1.0-plugins-base" DEPENDS += "qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-base" DEPENDS += "cairo" [\*\*](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-80022-50/topic/develop-plugins-for-sdk.html#id1)#SRCPROJECT = "git://git.codelinaro.org/clo/le/platform/vendor/qcom-opensource/gst-plugins-qti-oss.git;protocol=https" #SRCBRANCH = "imsdk.lnx.2.0.0.r2-rel" #SRCREV = "49256b26148d10257959b2b8d55879f72888cb0f" #SRC\_URI = "${SRCPROJECT};branch=${SRCBRANCH};rev=${SRCREV};subpath=gst-plugin-mlvclassification" #S = "${WORKDIR}/gst-plugin-mlvclassification" SRC\_URI += "file://gst-plugin-sample-mlvclassification" S = "${WORKDIR}/gst-plugin-sample-mlvclassification"\*\* # Instal directories. INSTALL\_INCDIR := "${includedir}" ... 3. Create a directory called `files` at `$ESDK_ROOT/layers/meta-qcom-qim-product-sdk/recipes-gst/gstreamer/files`. Under `files`, create the `gst-plugin-sample-mlvclassification` directory, and then copy the Qualcomm IM SDK plugin source code in this directory. Note Ensure that the source code is available for the `sample-mlvclassification` plugin. files | ├── gst-plugin-sample-mlvclassification | ├── CMakeLists.txt ├── config.h.in ├── mlvclassification.c ├── mlvclassification.h └── modules ├── CMakeLists.txt ├── ml-vclassification-mobilenet.c ├── ml-vclassification-ocr.c ├── ml-vclassification-qfr.c └── README Copy to clipboard 4. To include `qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-sample-mlvclassification` in the package group, add it under `RDEPENDS` in the `$ESDK_ROOT/layers/meta-qcom-qim-product-sdk/recipes-gst/packagegroups/packagegroup-qcom-gst.bb` directory. RDEPENDS:${PN}:qcom-custom-bsp = " \ ${PN}-dependencies \ ${PN}-basic \ . . . **qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-sample-mlvclassification \\** " Copy to clipboard 5. To include `qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-sample-mlvclassification:do_package_write_ipk` in package group bbclass, add it under `do_package_write_ipk` in the `$ESDK_ROOT/layers/meta-qcom-qim-product-sdk/classes/qimsdk-pkg.bbclass` directory. GST_PLUGINS = " \ gstd:do_package_write_ipk \ gstreamer1.0:do_package_write_ipk \ . . . **qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-sample-mlvclassification:do\_package\_write\_ipk \\** " Copy to clipboard 6. Download the Qualcomm IM SDK plugin sources: cd $ESDK_ROOT Copy to clipboard devtool modify qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-sample-mlvclassification Copy to clipboard In this command, `qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-sample-mlvclassification` is the BitBake recipe that downloads the plugin source. NOTE: Starting bitbake server ... Loading cache: 100% |###################################################################################| Time 0:00:02 Loaded 9814 entries from dependency cache. Parsing recipes: 100% |#################################################################################| Time 0:00:03 Parsing of 6702 .bb files complete (6670 cached, 32 parsed). 9840 targets, 842 skipped, 0 masked, 0 errors. Summary: There were 0 WARNING messages. NOTE: Resolving any missing task queue dependencies Initialising tasks: 100% |##############################################################################| Time 0:00:08 Sstate summary: Wanted 10 Local 0 Mirrors 0 Missed 10 Current 10 (0% match, 50% complete) NOTE: Executing Tasks NOTE: Tasks Summary: Attempted 93 tasks of which 90 didn't need to be rerun and all succeeded. INFO: Source tree extracted to /local/mnt/workspace/QIMSDK_ESDK_6490/workspace/sources/qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-sample-mlvclassification INFO: Recipe qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-sample-mlvclassification now set up to build from /local/mnt/workspace/QIMSDK_ESDK_6490/workspace/sources/qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-sample-mlvclassification Copy to clipboard The plugin source code is downloaded at `$ESDK_ROOT/workspace/sources/qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-sample-mlvclassification`. 7. Perform the required customizations and run the following command to rebuild the plugin: devtool build qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-sample-mlvclassification Copy to clipboard NOTE: Starting bitbake server ... Loading cache: 100% | | ETA -:--:-- Loaded 0 entries from dependency cache. ... Copy to clipboard 8. To install the application on the target device, generate the plugin installer (ipk): devtool package qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-sample-mlvclassification Copy to clipboard The installable package is at `$ESDK_ROOT/tmp/deploy/ipk/armv8-2a/`. NOTE: Starting bitbake server ... Loading cache: 100% |###################################################################| ETA 0:00:14 Loaded 9812 entries from dependency cache. Parsing recipes: 100% |#################################################################################| Time 0:00:03 Parsing of 6702 .bb files complete (6674 cached, 28 parsed). 9840 targets, 842 skipped, 0 masked, 0 errors. NOTE: Resolving any missing task queue dependencies Initialising tasks: 100% |##############################################################################| Time 0:00:10 Checking sstate mirror object availability: 100% |######################################################| Time 0:00:00 Sstate summary: Wanted 262 Local 0 Mirrors 0 Missed 262 Current 259 (0% match, 49% complete) NOTE: Executing Tasks NOTE: Tasks Summary: Attempted 1847 tasks of which 1847 didn't need to be rerun and all succeeded. Summary: There were 0 WARNING messages. INFO: Your packages are in /local/mnt/workspace/QIMSDK_ESDK_6490/tmp/deploy/ipk Copy to clipboard 9. Set up a connection with the target device through SSH. For instructions, see [Sign in using SSH](https://docs.qualcomm.com/bundle/publicresource/topics/80-80022-254/how_to.html#use-ssh). Qualcomm Linux is accessible through its configured IP address. 10. On the Qualcomm EVK, install the compiled reference applications: qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-sample-mlvclassification_1.0-r0_armv8-2a.ipk Copy to clipboard 11. Sign in to the SSH shell: ssh root@[ip-addr] Copy to clipboard Note If prompted for a password, enter *oelinux123*. 12. On the target device, reconfigure the file system partition to support *read* and *write*: mount -o remount,rw / Copy to clipboard exit Copy to clipboard 13. On the host computer, transfer the application installer to the target device: cd $ESDK_ROOT/tmp/deploy/ipk/armv8-2a/ Copy to clipboard scp qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-sample-mlvclassification_1.0-r0_armv8-2a.ipk root@:/opt/ Copy to clipboard 14. In the SSH shell, run the command on the target device to install the application: opkg --force-depends --force-reinstall --force-overwrite install /opt/qcom-gstreamer1.0-plugins-oss-sample-mlvclassification_1.0-r0_armv8-2a.ipk Copy to clipboard Last Published: May 14, 2026 [Previous Topic qtismartvencbin](https://docs.qualcomm.com/bundle/publicresource/80-80022-50/topics/qtismartvencbin.md) [Next Topic Use GStreamer utilities for custom plugins](https://docs.qualcomm.com/bundle/publicresource/80-80022-50/topics/im-sdk-base-uitilities.md)