What format does a makefile have to be while uploading it on a FPGA board?
Short answer: you don’t upload a Makefile to an FPGA at all. An FPGA never “sees” your Makefile—only the bitstream (or similar config file) that the tools generate from your HDL. What’s actually going on Makefile Plain text file for your PC, read by make (GNU make, nmake, etc.). It just tells the host tools what commands to run: synthesize HDL run place & route generate bitstream optionally call the programmer to flash the FPGA FPGA input The FPGA only gets a configuration file , typically something like: Xilinx : .bit , .bin , sometimes .mcs Intel/Altera : .sof , .pof , .rbf Lattice : .jed , .bit , etc. So there is no special “format” for the Makefile for the FPGA . The format requirement is simply: It must be a valid Makefile syntax for make on your PC. Stored as plain text (no Word, no PDF, etc.). Usually named Makefile or makefile so make finds it automatically. Typical flow You write Makefile with rules like: # ...