Tcl Initialization Scripts - 2021.2 English

Vivado Design Suite Tcl Command Reference Guide (UG835)

Document ID
UG835
Release Date
2021-10-22
Version
2021.2 English
Tip: The following describes where you can place Vivado_init.tcl scripts if you would like to customize Vivado on startup. No Vivado_init.tcl scripts are provided in the Vivado release by default.
When you start the Vivado tool, it looks for a Tcl initialization script in three different locations, each one overriding the last one found:
  1. Enterprise: In the software installation directory, <installdir>/Vivado/<version>/scripts/Vivado_init.tcl
  2. Vivado Version: In a local user directory, for a specific version of the Vivado Design Suite:
    • For Windows 7: %APPDATA%/Xilinx/Vivado/<version>/Vivado_init.tcl
    • For Linux: $HOME/.Xilinx/Vivado/<version>/Vivado_init.tcl
  3. Vivado User: In a local user directory, for the general Vivado Design Suite:
    • For Windows 7: %APPDATA%/Xilinx/Vivado/Vivado_init.tcl
    • For Linux: $HOME/.Xilinx/Vivado/Vivado_init.tcl
Where:
  • <installdir> is the installation directory where the Vivado Design Suite is installed.

If Vivado_init.tcl exists, in one or all of these locations, the Vivado tool sources this file, in the order described above.
  • The Vivado_init.tcl file in the installation directory allows a company or design group to support a common initialization script for all users. Anyone starting the Vivado tool from that installation location sources the enterprise Vivado_init.tcl script.
  • A user's Vivado_init.tcl file in the home directory allows each user to specify additional commands, or to override commands from the software installation to meet their specific design requirements.
  • No Vivado_init.tcl file is provided with the Vivado Design Suite installation. You must create the Vivado_init.tcl file and place it in either the installation directory, or your home directory, as discussed to meet your specific needs.
    Tip: Other tools in the Vivado Design Suite also support initialization scripts in the following form: <tool>_init.tcl, where <tool> can include Vivado, vivado_lab, xsim, and xelab.

The Vivado_init.tcl file is a standard Tcl command file that can contain any valid Tcl command supported by the Vivado tool. You can also source another Tcl script file from within Vivado_init.tcl by adding the following statement:

source <path_to_file>/<file_name>.tcl
Note: You can also specify the -init option when launching the Vivado Design Suite from the command line. Type vivado -help for more information.