rpi-image-tools

Turns a Fedora ARMv7 minimal image into an image bootable on Raspberry Pi 3.

Usage

• Clone and cd.

  git clone https://github.com/jistr/rpi-image-tools
  cd rpi-image-tools

• Download the sources (Fedora ARMv7 minimal image, RPi firmware). They'll be downloaded into rpi-image-sources directory.

  ./download-sources.sh

• Build the image. You'll be prompted for image and partition sizes, and a root password (the root password for the image, not your workstation's root password).

  ./build-image.sh

• That's it! The generated image is in the rpi-image-output directory. You can dd it onto an SD card.

  It's quite possible you'll want to make further customizations to the image. For that you can use e.g. tools like virt-customize or virt-edit or a loop device mount. (You can also write the image to an SD card first and then mount and customize the SD card directly.)

Q & A

• What does ./build-image.sh do with the downloaded source image?

  ./build-image.sh does e.g.:

  • Resizes the image to your liking.

  • Optionally removes the swap partition.

  • Changes the boot partition from ext3 to vfat (as required by the Pi) and amends /etc/fstab accordingly.

  • Installs the Raspberry Pi firmware (kernel, modules etc.).

  • Configures very basic /boot/cmdline.txt and /boot/config.txt.

  • Enables getty on the serial console breakout pins.

  • Disables auditd (RPi kernels don't have audit support).

  • Sets a root password and disables initial-setup app.

  • Installs WiFi firmware when building for RPi 3 (it's non-free, not shipped with Fedora).

  For a complete list of changes, read the source (it's not too long).

• Why disable the initial-setup app?

  The aim is to have an image in a ready working state, so that it can be used even without a display attached to the Raspberry Pi.

• What Fedora image and firmware versions are downloaded?

  The defaults are visible on the top of the lib/variables.sh file. You can export custom values for the RPI_OS_IMAGE_URL and RPI_FIRMWARE_URL variables prior to running the download and build scripts. However, please make sure not to break the tool's expectations on what it downloads. This means, mainly:

  • The RPI_OS_IMAGE_URL points to a Fedora ARMv7 minimal .raw.xz image with 3 partitions - sda1 is boot, sda2 is swap, sda3 is root.

  • The RPI_FIRMWARE_URL points to a .tar.gz archive of some commit in the GitHub Raspberry Pi firmware repository. The tool relies on the internal structure of these archives.

• Can parameters be passed into ./build-image.sh instead of asking for user input?

  Yes, use RPI_MODEL, RPI_BOOT_SIZE, RPI_SWAP_SIZE, RPI_ROOT_SIZE, RPI_IMAGE_SIZE, and RPI_ROOT_PASSWORD environment variables.

• Do the scripts have to be run as root?

  No, the scripts don't have to (and should not) be run as root.

• Can i use the image on Raspberry Pi 1?

  No, the Fedora ARM images are for ARMv7+ processors, so Raspberry Pi older than 2 will not work with these.