Install avra with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, Nix

Project links

• Homepage
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• avra

Project history

The official README says the initial version of AVRA was written by John Anders Haugum, who released versions through 0.7. Tobias Weber later took over, followed by Burkhard Arenfeld for the 1.2 line and Jerry Jacobs for 1.3.

The changelog shows AVRA evolving from a late-1990s/early-2000s AVR assembler into a practical replacement for AVRASM32: COFF output, device definitions, macro improvements, AVRASM-compatible command-line behavior, include paths, Windows and Linux build fixes, and later regression tests.

After an eight-year inactive period following the 1.3 era, Virgil Dupras revived the project and prepared the 1.4 release. The current GitHub repository was created in 2019 and continues that revived maintenance line.

Adoption history

AVRA's adoption follows the embedded-toolchain pattern: small C program, no daemon, useful in Makefiles, and easy to package. The batch input lists Alpine, Homebrew, Debian, Fedora, Nix, and Ubuntu packages.

Its reason to exist in package managers is compatibility. Developers with old AVR assembly projects or examples written for Atmel tooling can assemble them on Unix-like systems without installing the original Windows AVRASM32 environment.

How it is used

The basic command is `avra mysource.S`, producing Intel HEX output by default. AVRA also supports list, map, object/debug output, include paths, C-like conditional directives, enhanced macros, build date meta tags, and a device list.

The README frames AVRA as a drop-in-ish replacement for AVRASM32, including error-message behavior intended to work with AVR Studio-style workflows.

Why package nerds care

AVRA is package-manager-friendly embedded tooling: a standalone compiler-like binary that turns source into HEX files and does not require a vendor IDE.

It also represents the open-source preservation of AVR assembly workflows. Its changelog is full of small device database additions and compatibility fixes, exactly the maintenance work that keeps old microcontroller projects buildable.

Timeline

• 1999: Version 0.4 added global labels in macros and parser fixes.
• 2000: Version 0.7 added many AVR devices, instruction support, and Intel HEX 32 output.
• 2004: Version 1.0.0 added AVRASM-compatible list/map syntax.
• 2006: Version 1.2.0 released by Burkhard Arenfeld.
• 2010: Version 1.3.0 released by Jerry Jacobs.
• 2019: Version 1.4.0 revived the project with build, macro, test, and device updates.
• 2020: Version 1.4.2 added more AVR devices and regression-test improvements.

Related projects

• Atmel AVRASM32 is the compatibility target named by the AVRA README.
• AVR Studio is mentioned as a workflow target for AVRA error output and COFF debugging.

Sources

• https://github.com/Ro5bert/avra/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md
• https://github.com/Ro5bert/avra/blob/master/README.md
• https://github.com/Ro5bert/avra/blob/master/USAGE.md
• source_facts.package-manager