Armbian Linux Build Framework

Table of contents

• What this project does?
• Getting started
• Compare with industry standards
• Download prebuilt images
• Project structure
• Contribution
• Support
• Contact
• Contributors
• Sponsors
• License

What this project does?

• Builds custom kernel, image or a distribution optimized for low resource HW such as single board computers,
• 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

• x64 or aarch64 machine with at least 2GB of memory and ~35GB of disk space for a virtual machine, container or bare metal installation,
• Ubuntu Jammy 22.04 x64 or aarch64 for native building or any Docker capable x64 / aarch64 Linux for containerised,
• Superuser rights (configured sudo or root access).

Simply start with the build script

apt-get -y install git
git clone https://github.com/armbian/build
cd build
./compile.sh

• Interactive graphical interface.
• The workspace will be prepared by installing the necessary dependencies and sources.
• It guides the entire process until a kernel package or ready-to-use image of the SD card is created.

Build parameter examples

Show work in progress areas in interactive mode:

./compile.sh EXPERT="yes"

Run build framework inside Docker container:

./compile.sh docker

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_ONLY=no \
KERNEL_CONFIGURE=no \
CARD_DEVICE="/dev/sda"

More information:

• Building Armbian — how to start, how to automate;
• Build options — all build options;
• Building with Docker — how to build inside container;
• 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

Compare with industry standards

Check similarity, 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

├── cache                                Work / cache directory
│   ├── rootfs                           Compressed userspace packages cache
│   ├── sources                          Kernel, u-boot and various drivers sources.
│   ├── toolchains                       External cross compilers from Linaro™ or ARM™
├── 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
├── 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 as well as find a board on the Board Maintainers list which has less than 2 maintainers, then please apply using the linked form.

Want to become a developer?

If you want to help with development, you should first review the Development Code Review Procedures and Guidelines and 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 needs a review
• dashboard for junior and seniors developers
• documentation
• continuous integration

Support

Support is provided in one of two ways:

• For commercial or prioritized assistance:
  • book a an hour of professional consultation,
  • consider becoming a project partner. Reach us out at https://armbian.com/contact,
• Alternatively free support is provided via general project search engine, documentation, community forums or IRC/Discord. Keep in mind this is mostly provided by our awesome community members in a best effort manner and therefore there are no guarenteed solutions.

Contact

• Forums for Participate in Armbian
• IRC: #armbian on Libera.chat
• Discord: http://discord.armbian.com
• Follow @armbian on Twitter or LinkedIn.
• Bugs: issues / JIRA
• Office hours: Wednesday, 12 midday, 18 afternoon, CET

Contributors

Thank you to all the people who already contributed Armbian!

Also

• Current and past contributors, our families and friends.
• Support staff that keeps forums usable.
• Individuals that help with their ideas, reports and donations.

Sponsors

Most of the project is sponsored with a work done by volunteer collaborators, while some part of the project costs are being covered by the industry. We would not be able to get this far without their help.

Would you like your name to appear below?

License

This software is published under the GPL-2.0 License license.