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Hardware

A physical Roku device with developer mode enabled. Developer mode is required for sideloading; it cannot be done on a software emulator.

Software

make, zip, and curl — standard Unix tools used by the Makefile to build and deploy the channel.

Network

Your Roku and development machine must be on the same local network (LAN). The Makefile communicates with the Roku over HTTP on port 80.

Credentials

A Roku developer password, set when you enable developer mode. Required for every make install and make pkg invocation.

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Hardware: Roku device in developer mode

You need a physical Roku device. Developer mode is activated directly on the device using a remote key sequence. To enable developer mode:
  1. On your Roku remote, press the following sequence: 
    Home × 3  →  Up × 2  →  Right  Left  Right  Left  Right
  2. A Developer Settings screen appears on the TV. Select Enable Installer and Restart.
  3. After reboot, the screen displays your Roku’s local IP address and the developer web portal URL (e.g., http://192.168.1.45). You are prompted to create a developer password.
  4. Note down the IP address and the password — these are your ROKU_IP and ROKU_PASS values.
Enabling developer mode disables automatic channel updates from the Roku Channel Store for sideloaded channels. Re-enter the key sequence and select Disable Installer when you no longer need developer access.

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Software: make, zip, curl

All three tools must be available in your terminal’s PATH.
curl ships with macOS. Install make and zip via Homebrew:
brew install make zip curl
Alternatively, make and curl are included with Xcode Command Line Tools:
xcode-select --install
Verify installation:
make --version && zip --version && curl --version

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Network: same LAN, Roku IP address

The make install, make pkg, and make screenshot targets communicate with your Roku over HTTP. Both devices must be reachable on the same local network. Find your Roku’s IP address:
  • It is displayed on the TV when you enable developer mode.
  • Alternatively, go to Settings → Network → About on the Roku home screen.
Pass the IP to make: 
make install ROKU_IP=192.168.1.45 ROKU_PASS=yourpassword
If your router uses DHCP, the Roku’s IP address can change between sessions. Assign a static IP or DHCP reservation in your router settings to keep the address stable.

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Credentials: Roku developer password

You set the developer password when you enable developer mode for the first time. It is used as HTTP basic auth credentials (rokudev:<password>) for all requests to the plugin installer.
  • Username: always rokudev (fixed by Roku)
  • Password: the value you set during developer mode activation (ROKU_PASS)
To reset the password, re-enter the developer mode key sequence on the Roku and follow the prompts.

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Optional: signing key for make pkg

The make pkg target generates a signed .pkg file for submission to the Roku Channel Store. This requires a signing key generated on the Roku device itself. Generate a signing key with genkey:
  1. Connect to the Roku over Telnet (port 8080): 
    telnet 192.168.1.45 8080
  2. At the BrightScript prompt, run: 
    genkey
  3. The command outputs a DevID and a signing password. Save both. The signing password becomes your SIGN_PASSWORD.
Use it with make: 
make pkg ROKU_IP=192.168.1.45 ROKU_PASS=yourpassword SIGN_PASSWORD=yoursigningpassword
The signed package is saved to: 
out/GlobalTV-1.0.7.pkg
The signing key is tied to the specific Roku device where genkey was run. Packages signed with one device’s key cannot be verified with a different device’s key. Keep the SIGN_PASSWORD secure — do not commit it to source control.