---
name: "kas-shell"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "kas"
version: "4.8.1-2"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/kas-shell"
---

# kas-shell(1)

kas shell plugin

## NAME

kas-shell - kas shell plugin

## SYNOPSIS

```
kas shell [-h] [--skip STEP] [--force-checkout] [--update] [-E] [-k]
          [-c COMMAND]
          [config]
```

## DESCRIPTION

Run a shell in the build environment.

This plugin implements the **kas shell** command.

When this command is executed, kas will checkout repositories, setup the build environment and then start a shell in the build environment. This can be used to manually run **bitbake** with custom command line options or to execute other commands such as **runqemu**.

For example, to start a shell in the build environment for the file **kas-project.yml** you could run:

```
kas shell kas-project.yml
```

Or to invoke qemu to test an image which has been built:

```
kas shell kas-project.yml -c 'runqemu'
```

## OPTIONS

**Positional Arguments**

- **config**

  Config file(s), separated by colon. Using .config.yaml in KAS\_WORK\_DIR if none is specified.

**Named Arguments**

- **--skip=\[\]**

  Skip build steps. To skip more than one step, use this argument multiple times.

  Possible choices: setup\_dir, setup\_home, init\_setup\_repos, repo\_setup\_loop, finish\_setup\_repos, repos\_checkout, repos\_check\_signatures, repos\_apply\_patches, setup\_environ, write\_bbconfig

- **--force-checkout=False**

  Always checkout the desired commit/branch/tag of each repository, discarding any local changes

- **--update=False**

  Pull new upstream changes to the desired branch even if it is already checked out locally

- **-E=False, --preserve-env=False**

  Keep current user environment block

- **-k, --keep-config-unchanged**

  Skip steps that change the configuration

- **-c='', --command=''**

  Run command

## KAS

Part of the **[kas(1)](/kas/1.md)** suite.

## AUTHOR

Daniel Wagner, Jan Kiszka, Claudius Heine

## COPYRIGHT

Siemens and contributors, 2017-2025