Armbian Linux Build Framework
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Table of contents
- What does this project do?
- Getting started
- Compared with industry standards
- Download prebuilt images
- Project structure
- Contribution
- Support
- Contact
- Contributors
- Partners
- License
What does this project do?
- Builds custom kernel, image or a distribution optimized for low-resource hardware,
- Include filesystem generation, low-level control software, kernel image and bootloader compilation,
- Provides a consistent user experience by keeping system standards across different platforms.
Getting started
Basic requirements
- x86_64 or aarch64 machine with at least 2GB of memory and ~35GB of disk space for a virtual machine, WSL2, container or bare metal installation
- Ubuntu Jammy 22.04.x amd64 or aarch64 for native building or any Docker capable amd64 / aarch64 Linux for containerised
- Superuser rights (configured sudo or root access).
- Make sure all your system components are up-to-date. Outdated Docker binaries, for example, can cause trouble.
Start with the build script
apt-get -y install git
git clone --depth=1 --branch=main https://github.com/armbian/build
cd build
./compile.sh
- Interactive graphical interface.
- Prepares the workspace by installing the necessary dependencies and sources.
- It guides the entire process and creates a kernel package or a ready-to-use SD card image.
Build parameter examples
Show work-in-progress areas in interactive mode:
./compile.sh EXPERT="yes"Build minimal CLI Armbian Focal image for Orangepi Zero. Use modern kernel and write image to the SD card:
./compile.sh \
BOARD=orangepizero \
BRANCH=current \
RELEASE=focal \
BUILD_MINIMAL=yes \
BUILD_DESKTOP=no \
KERNEL_CONFIGURE=no \
CARD_DEVICE="/dev/sdX"More information:
- Building Armbian — how to start, how to automate;
- Build options — all build options;
- User configuration — how to add packages, patches, and override sources config;
Download prebuilt images
- quarterly released supported builds — https://www.armbian.com/download
- weekly released unsupported community builds — https://github.com/armbian/community
- upon code change unsupported development builds — https://github.com/armbian/build/releases
Compared with industry standards
Check similarities, advantages and disadvantages compared with leading industry standard build software.
| Function | Armbian | Yocto | Buildroot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Target | general purpose | embedded | embedded / IOT |
| U-boot and kernel | compiled from sources | compiled from sources | compiled from sources |
| Board support maintenance | complete | outside | outside |
| Root file system | Debian or Ubuntu based | custom | custom |
| Package manager | APT | any | none |
| Configurability | limited | large | large |
| Initramfs support | yes | yes | yes |
| Getting started | quick | very slow | slow |
| Cross compilation | yes | yes | yes |
Project structure
Expand
├── cache Work / cache directory
│ ├── aptcache Packages
│ ├── ccache C/C++ compiler
│ ├── docker Docker last pull
│ ├── git-bare Minimal Git
│ ├── git-bundles Full Git
│ ├── initrd Ram disk
│ ├── memoize Git status
│ ├── patch Kernel drivers patch
│ ├── pip Python
│ ├── rootfs Compressed userspaces
│ ├── sources Kernel, u-boot and other sources
│ ├── tools Additional tools like ORAS
│ └── utility
├── config Packages repository configurations
│ ├── targets.conf Board build target configuration
│ ├── boards Board configurations
│ ├── bootenv Initial boot loaders environments per family
│ ├── bootscripts Initial Boot loaders scripts per family
│ ├── cli CLI packages configurations per distribution
│ ├── desktop Desktop packages configurations per distribution
│ ├── distributions Distributions settings
│ ├── kernel Kernel build configurations per family
│ ├── sources Kernel and u-boot sources locations and scripts
│ ├── templates User configuration templates which populate userpatches
│ └── torrents External compiler and rootfs cache torrents
├── extensions Extend build system with specific functionality
├── lib Main build framework libraries
│ ├── functions
│ │ ├── artifacts
│ │ ├── bsp
│ │ ├── cli
│ │ ├── compilation
│ │ ├── configuration
│ │ ├── general
│ │ ├── host
│ │ ├── image
│ │ ├── logging
│ │ ├── main
│ │ └── rootfs
│ └── tools
├── output Build artifact
│ └── deb Deb packages
│ └── images Bootable images - RAW or compressed
│ └── debug Patch and build logs
│ └── config Kernel configuration export location
│ └── patch Created patches location
├── packages Support scripts, binary blobs, packages
│ ├── blobs Wallpapers, various configs, closed source bootloaders
│ ├── bsp-cli Automatically added to armbian-bsp-cli package
│ ├── bsp-desktop Automatically added to armbian-bsp-desktopo package
│ ├── bsp Scripts and configs overlay for rootfs
│ └── extras-buildpkgs Optional compilation and packaging engine
├── patch Collection of patches
│ ├── atf ARM trusted firmware
│ ├── kernel Linux kernel patches
| | └── family-branch Per kernel family and branch
│ ├── misc Linux kernel packaging patches
│ └── u-boot Universal boot loader patches
| ├── u-boot-board For specific board
| └── u-boot-family For entire kernel family
├── tools Tools for dealing with kernel patches and configs
└── userpatches User: configuration patching area
├── lib.config User: framework common config/override file
├── config-default.conf User: default user config file
├── customize-image.sh User: script will execute just before closing the image
├── atf User: ARM trusted firmware
├── kernel User: Linux kernel per kernel family
├── misc User: various
└── u-boot User: universal boot loader patches
Contribution
You don't need to be a programmer to help!
- The easiest way to help is by "Starring" our repository - it helps more people find our code.
- Check out our list of volunteer positions and choose what you want to do
❤️ - Seed torrents
- Help with forum moderating
- Project administration
- Donate.
Want to become a maintainer?
Please review the Board Maintainers Procedures and Guidelines, and if you can meet the requirements and find a board on the Board Maintainers list with less than two maintainers, then please apply using the linked form.
Want to become a developer?
To help with development, you should first review the Development Code Review Procedures and Guidelines. Then you can review the pre-made Jira dashboards and additional resources provided below to find open tasks and how you can assist:
- pull requests that need a review
- dashboard for junior and seniors developers
- documentation
- continuous integration
Support
For commercial or prioritized assistance:
- Book an hour of professional consultation
- Consider becoming a project partner. Reach us at https://armbian.com/contact. Alternatively, find free support via general project search engine, documentation, community forums or IRC/Discord. Remember that our awesome community members mainly provide this in a best-effort manner, so there are no guaranteed solutions.
Contact
- Forums for Participate in Armbian
- IRC:
#armbianon Libera.chat - Discord: https://discord.gg/armbian
- Follow @armbian on Twitter, Fosstodon or LinkedIn.
- Bugs: issues / JIRA
- Office hours: Wednesday, 12 midday, 18 afternoon, CET
Contributors
Thank you to all the people who already contributed to Armbian!
Also
- Current and past contributors, our families and friends.
- Support staff that keeps forums usable.
- Friends and individuals who support us with resources and their time.
- The Armbian Community helps with their ideas, reports and donations.
Armbian Partners
Armbian's partnership program helps to support Armbian and the Armbian community! Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with our Partners:
Star History
License
This software is published under the GPL-2.0 License license.