Zephyr West build without internet access (not a question)

RE: Zephyr West build without internet access (not a question)

Sigurd Hellesvik — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 07:45:47 GMT

Toolchain:

See Required tools for a list of which version of which tools in our toolchain. You can select "Version" on this docs page to see which versions we tested for a specific version of the nRF Connect SDK.
You are free to install and "freeze" versions of these as you see fit.
There are multiple ways to do this, but to mention some:

You can use nrfutil device toolchain-manager to install a specific version of the toolchain.
you can for example use a docker container with pinned dependencies.

SDK:

You can see a list of repositories we depend on at nRF Connect SDK repository revisions. You can select "Version" on this docs page to see which versions we tested for a specific version of the nRF Connect SDK.
You are free to download and "freeze" any of these as you see fit.
There are multiple ways to do this, but to mention one, you can install the SDK normally and then copy out the folders containing the SDK and store them where you want.

RE: Zephyr West build without internet access (not a question)

David2 — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 14:01:13 GMT

Hi Sigurd,

Once a firmware project begins, the tools are locked down and upgrading tools is not something to be taken lightly, as it requires extensive validation. Software is much more flexible as it doesn't typically adhere to the same levels of validation. That's the reason it's called Firmware.

Firmware must be able to stored away for a few years, come back and have it still compile. It will never treated as some continuous integration project of the latest updates and SDK updates. If you survey your customers, I'm sure you will find this to be true across the board.

This means, I should be able to take any laptop with fresh OS installation, checkout the tools and code from my repository, and have it compile. As simple as that, and your toolset does not support that.

David

RE: Zephyr West build without internet access (not a question)

Sigurd Hellesvik — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 07:46:14 GMT

Hi David,

When making tools, such as the nRF Connect SDK Bare Metal, we are making choices on design that we think will be the most beneficial. Unfortunately, the fit can not be perfect for everyone.

That said, I think you will be happy to hear that you can build projects with the nRF Connect SDK Bare Metal without internet. To build with this SDK you do need to install the following:

Toolchain
SDK

To install and update these, you need internet. However, once you have installed them, you can build and flash our devices without internet.

Additionally, we provide the VS Code Extension as an IDE to help you develop with our devices. I do not think that this requires internet to work either.

If you have any issues with operating the Toolchain or SDK without internet, let me know in this ticket, and I will assist you as best I can.

Regards,
Sigurd Hellesvik