clic-rpi-image/README.md
T. Joseph Carter d729fc2dbb README.md: Describe more config variables, cleanup
Added some documentation of environment variables to README.md,
specifically WORK_DIR and DEPLOY_DIR.  Explicitly did not include
SCRIPT_DIR at this time because that appears to require some small work
before it can be changed.

Took the chance for some other syntax cleanups while I was at it, mostly
breaking long lines and inserting whitespace where some Markdown parsers
require it.
2017-05-08 16:25:04 +01:00

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# pi-gen
_Tool used to create the raspberrypi.org Raspbian images_
### TODO
1. Documentation
## Dependencies
On Debian-based systems:
```bash
apt-get install quilt parted realpath qemu-user-static debootstrap zerofree pxz zip \
dosfstools bsdtar libcap2-bin grep rsync
```
The file `depends` contains a list of tools needed. The format of this
package is `<tool>[:<debian-package>]`.
## Config
Upon execution, `build.sh` will source the file `config` in the current
working directory. This bash shell fragment is intended to set needed
environment variables.
The following environment variables are supported:
* `IMG_NAME` **required** (Default: unset)
The name of the image to build with the current stage directories. Setting
`IMG_NAME=Raspbian` is logical for an unmodified RPi-Distro/pi-gen build,
but you should use something else for a customized version. Export files
in stages may add suffixes to `IMG_NAME`.
* `APT_PROXY` (Default: unset)
If you require the use of an apt proxy, set it here. This proxy setting
will not be included in the image, making it safe to use an `apt-cacher` or
similar package for development.
* `BASE_DIR` (Default: location of `build.sh`)
**CAUTION**: Currently, changing this value will probably break build.sh
Top-level directory for `pi-gen`. Contains stage directories, build
scripts, and by default both work and deployment directories.
* `WORK_DIR` (Default: `"$BASE_DIR/work"`)
Directory in which `pi-gen` builds the target system. This value can be
changed if you have a suitably large, fast storage location for stages to
be built and cached. Note, `WORK_DIR` stores a complete copy of the target
system for each build stage, amounting to tens of gigabytes in the case of
Raspbian.
* `DEPLOY_DIR` (Default: `"$BASE_DIR/deploy"`)
Output directory for target system images and NOOBS bundles.
A simple example for building Raspbian:
```bash
IMG_NAME='Raspbian'
```
## Docker Build
```bash
vi config # Edit your config file. See above.
./build-docker.sh
```
If everything goes well, your finished image will be in the `deploy/` folder.
You can then remove the build container with `docker rm pigen_work`
If something breaks along the line, you can edit the corresponding scripts, and
continue:
```bash
CONTINUE=1 ./build-docker.sh
```
There is a possibility that even when running from a docker container, the
installation of `qemu-user-static` will silently fail when building the image
because `binfmt-support` _must be enabled on the underlying kernel_. An easy
fix is to ensure `binfmt-support` is installed on the host machine before
starting the `./build-docker.sh` script (or using your own docker build
solution).
## Stage Anatomy
### Raspbian Stage Overview
The build of Raspbian is divided up into several stages for logical clarity
and modularity. This causes some initial complexity, but it simplifies
maintenance and allows for more easy customization.
- **Stage 0** - bootstrap. The primary purpose of this stage is to create a
usable filesystem. This is accomplished largely through the use of
`debootstrap`, which creates a minimal filesystem suitable for use as a
base.tgz on Debian systems. This stage also configures apt settings and
installs `raspberrypi-bootloader` which is missed by debootstrap. The
minimal core is installed but not configured, and the system will not quite
boot yet.
- **Stage 1** - truly minimal system. This stage makes the system bootable by
installing system files like `/etc/fstab`, configures the bootloader, makes
the network operable, and installs packages like raspi-config. At this
stage the system should boot to a local console from which you have the
means to perform basic tasks needed to configure and install the system.
This is as minimal as a system can possibly get, and its arguably not
really usable yet in a traditional sense yet. Still, if you want minimal,
this is minimal and the rest you could reasonably do yourself as sysadmin.
- **Stage 2** - lite system. This stage produces the Raspbian-Lite image. It
installs some optimized memory functions, sets timezone and charmap
defaults, installs fake-hwclock and ntp, wifi and bluetooth support,
dphys-swapfile, and other basics for managing the hardware. It also
creates necessary groups and gives the pi user access to sudo and the
standard console hardware permission groups.
There are a few tools that may not make a whole lot of sense here for
development purposes on a minimal system such as basic python and lua
packages as well as the `build-essential` package. They are lumped right
in with more essential packages presently, though they need not be with
pi-gen. These are understandable for Raspbian's target audience, but if
you were looking for something between truly minimal and Raspbian-lite,
here's where you start trimming.
- **Stage 3** - desktop system. Here's where you get the full desktop system
with X11 and LXDE, web browsers, git for development, Raspbian custom UI
enhancements, etc. This is a base desktop system, with some development
tools installed.
- **Stage 4** - complete Raspbian system. More development tools, an email
client, learning tools like Scratch, specialized packages like sonic-pi and
wolfram-engine, system documentation, office productivity, etc. This is
the stage that installs all of the things that make Raspbian friendly to
new users.
### Stage specification
If you wish to build up to a specified stage (such as building up to stage 2
for a lite system), place an empty file named `SKIP` in each of the `./stage`
directories you wish not to include.
Then remove the `EXPORT*` files from `./stage4` (if building up to stage 2) or
from `./stage2` (if building a minimal system).
```bash
# Example for building a lite system
touch ./stage3/SKIP ./stage4/SKIP
rm stage4/EXPORT*
```
If you wish to build further configurations upon (for example) the lite
system, you can also delete the contents of `./stage3` and `./stage4` and
replace with your own contents in the same format.