Starting with version 2.0.9.3, Marlin automatically extracts the configuration used to generate the firmware and stores it in the firmware binary. This is enabled by defining `CONFIGURATION_EMBEDDING` in `Configuration_adv.h`.
Starting with version 2.0.9.3, Marlin can automatically extract the configuration used to generate the firmware and store it in the firmware binary. This is enabled by defining `CONFIGURATION_EMBEDDING` in `Configuration_adv.h`.
## How it's done
To create the embedded configuration, we do a compiler pass to process the Configuration files and extract all active options. The active options are parsed into key/value pairs, serialized to JSON format, and stored in a file called`marlin_config.json`, which also includes specific build information (like the git revision, the build date, and some version information. The JSON file is then compressed in a ZIP archive called `.pio/build/mc.zip` which is converted into a C array and stored in a C++ file called `mc.h` which is included in the build.
At the start of the PlatformIO build process, we create an embedded configuration by extracting all active options from the Configuration files and writing them out as JSON to`marlin_config.json`, which also includes specific build information (like the git revision, the build date, and some version information. The JSON file is then compressed in a ZIP archive called `.pio/build/mc.zip` which is converted into a C array and stored in a C++ file called `mc.h` which is included in the build.
## Extracting configurations from a Marlin binary
To get the configuration out of a binary firmware, you'll need a non-write-protected SD card inserted into the printer while running the firmware.