This is an old revision of the document!

Install Digilent's Board Files

Digilent provides board files for each FPGA development board. These files make it easy to select the correct part when creating a new project and allow for automated configuration of several complicated components (including the Zynq Processing System and Memory Interface Generator) used in many designs.

The board files will be copied into your version of Vivado's installation directory. At the end of this section, an alternate method of installation is presented, which users familiar with git may find more convenient.

Download the most recent Master Branch ZIP Archive of Digilent's vivado-boards Github repository and extract it.

Important! At the time of writing, if using a Spartan or Artix-based board for Microblaze designs, it is recommended to use an alternate version of the board files which better support the DDR memory present on some boards. This version of the board files can be downloaded via this link: Microblaze-MIG.zip.

Open the folder extracted from the archive and navigate to its 'new/board_files' directory. Select all folders within this directory and copy them.

Note: When installing Vivado versions 2014.4 or older, use the files found in 'old/board_files' instead.

Open the folder that Vivado was installed into - 'C:/Xilinx/Vivado' or '/opt/Xilinx/Vivado' by default. Under this folder, navigate to its '<version>/data/boards/board_files' directory, then paste the board files into this directory.

Appendix: Installing the Board Files via the vivado-boards Github Repository

Download the ZIP archive of the Digilent's “vivado-boards” Github repository and extract it into a memorable location where it can stay.

Find the file “Vivado_init.tcl” in the “utility” subdirectory of the vivado-boards repo. Copy and paste it into the %APPDATA%/Xilinx/Vivado/ directory for Windows or $HOME/.Xilinx/Vivado/ (after authenticating as superuser) in Linux. This file is a script that will be run whenever Vivado is launched. It will load Digilent's board files for use in Vivado from the directory they were extracted into.

Note: The script init.tcl should be used instead of Vivado_init.tcl for Vivado versions 2016.4 and older. If multiple versions of Vivado from before and after 2016.4 are installed, both scripts should used.

Open the copied init script in a text editor. Change the text <extracted path> in the script to the path to the extracted vivado-boards folder. Save and close the file.