This directory contains scripts and support for Debian-based SolarNodeOS images for various hardware devices, like the Raspberry Pi.
The bin/customize.sh script is the main tool for taking an "upstream" Debian
based operating system image and turning it into SolarNodeOS. It relies on systemd-nspawn to
configure the operating system. Its job is just to create a temporary container out of the
upstream image and then run some other "setup" script within the container to do the actual
work of customizing the OS. When the setup script is complete, it will stop the container and
create a new image file out of it. The setup-sn.sh script is the one used to turn
upstream OS images into SolarNodeOS images.
The customize.sh script can also resize the output image and even change the filesystem type, for
example change the upstream ext4 filesystem into btrfs.
For example use, see the README files in the various device-specific directories under this one, such as the Raspberry Pi.
The bin/customize.sh script is also a handy way to customize SolarNodeOS images into vendor-specific SolarNodeOS variants. Instead of running the setup-sn.sh "setup" script, you provide your own.
A Linux host system is required. This can be a virtual machine, as long as nested virtual machine support is enabled. A Debian-based system is recommended, which must be version 10 (Buster) or later.
The following assumes you are using a Debian host. You need some packages installed to run the setup scripts:
sudo apt-get install git systemd-container qemu binfmt-support qemu-user-staticThe bin/setup-sn.sh script is the main tool for performing the steps of converting a "vanilla" upstream OS into SolarNodeOS. What it does is remove all but the software necessary for SolarNode to run and install the base SolarNode platform and core SolarNode system packages. The script is flexible enough so it can be used in different build settings, such as:
- transforming a Raspbian OS into SolarNodeOS
- integrating into the Armbian build process to build SolarNodeOS directly
Although the script has been primarily designed for Raspberry Pi and similar devices, it does also work for devices like the eBox 330MX. YMMV on other devices!
The setup-sn.sh script looks for 4 configuration files that define what packages are desired in
the final SolarNodeOS image. Each file contains a list of package names, one per line. By default
the script looks for these in a relative conf directory.
| File | Description |
|---|---|
setup-packages-add-early.txt |
Packages to add early in the setup process, before doing much else. |
setup-packages-keep.txt |
Packages that should remain in the output image (i.e. do not remove). |
setup-packages-add.txt |
Packages that should be added (installed) in the output image. |
setup-packages-del-late.txt |
Packages to delete near the end, even if they were included in the setup-packages-keey.txt file. |
To summarise how packages are installed/removed, the script performs the following steps:
- Install packages listed in
setup-packages-add-early.txt. - Remove packages not listed in either
setup-packages-keep.txtorsetup-packages-add.txt. - Install packages listed in
setup-packages-add.txt. - Remove packages listed in
setup-packages-del-late.txt.