11. Images

The OpenEmbedded build system provides several example images to satisfy different needs. When you issue the bitbake command you provide a “top-level” recipe that essentially begins the build for the type of image you want.

Note

Building an image without GNU General Public License Version 3 (GPLv3), GNU Lesser General Public License Version 3 (LGPLv3), and the GNU Affero General Public License Version 3 (AGPL-3.0) components is only supported for minimal and base images. Furthermore, if you are going to build an image using non-GPLv3 and similarly licensed components, you must make the following changes in the local.conf file before using the BitBake command to build the minimal or base image:

1. Comment out the EXTRA_IMAGE_FEATURES line
2. Set INCOMPATIBLE_LICENSE = "GPL-3.0 LGPL-3.0 AGPL-3.0"

From within the poky Git repository, you can use the following command to display the list of directories within the Source Directory that contain image recipe files: $ ls meta*/recipes*/images/*.bb

Following is a list of supported recipes:

  • build-appliance-image: An example virtual machine that contains all the pieces required to run builds using the build system as well as the build system itself. You can boot and run the image using either the VMware Player or VMware Workstation. For more information on this image, see the Build Appliance page on the Yocto Project website.

  • core-image-base: A console-only image that fully supports the target device hardware.

  • core-image-clutter: An image with support for the Open GL-based toolkit Clutter, which enables development of rich and animated graphical user interfaces.

  • core-image-full-cmdline: A console-only image with more full-featured Linux system functionality installed.

  • core-image-lsb: An image that conforms to the Linux Standard Base (LSB) specification. This image requires a distribution configuration that enables LSB compliance (e.g. poky-lsb). If you build core-image-lsb without that configuration, the image will not be LSB-compliant.

  • core-image-lsb-dev: A core-image-lsb image that is suitable for development work using the host. The image includes headers and libraries you can use in a host development environment. This image requires a distribution configuration that enables LSB compliance (e.g. poky-lsb). If you build core-image-lsb-dev without that configuration, the image will not be LSB-compliant.

  • core-image-lsb-sdk: A core-image-lsb that includes everything in the cross-toolchain but also includes development headers and libraries to form a complete standalone SDK. This image requires a distribution configuration that enables LSB compliance (e.g. poky-lsb). If you build core-image-lsb-sdk without that configuration, the image will not be LSB-compliant. This image is suitable for development using the target.

  • core-image-minimal: A small image just capable of allowing a device to boot.

  • core-image-minimal-dev: A core-image-minimal image suitable for development work using the host. The image includes headers and libraries you can use in a host development environment.

  • core-image-minimal-initramfs: A core-image-minimal image that has the Minimal RAM-based Initial Root Filesystem (initramfs) as part of the kernel, which allows the system to find the first “init” program more efficiently. See the PACKAGE_INSTALL variable for additional information helpful when working with initramfs images.

  • core-image-minimal-mtdutils: A core-image-minimal image that has support for the Minimal MTD Utilities, which let the user interact with the MTD subsystem in the kernel to perform operations on flash devices.

  • core-image-rt: A core-image-minimal image plus a real-time test suite and tools appropriate for real-time use.

  • core-image-rt-sdk: A core-image-rt image that includes everything in the cross-toolchain. The image also includes development headers and libraries to form a complete stand-alone SDK and is suitable for development using the target.

  • core-image-sato: An image with Sato support, a mobile environment and visual style that works well with mobile devices. The image supports X11 with a Sato theme and applications such as a terminal, editor, file manager, media player, and so forth.

  • core-image-sato-dev: A core-image-sato image suitable for development using the host. The image includes libraries needed to build applications on the device itself, testing and profiling tools, and debug symbols. This image was formerly core-image-sdk.

  • core-image-sato-sdk: A core-image-sato image that includes everything in the cross-toolchain. The image also includes development headers and libraries to form a complete standalone SDK and is suitable for development using the target.

  • core-image-testmaster: A “master” image designed to be used for automated runtime testing. Provides a “known good” image that is deployed to a separate partition so that you can boot into it and use it to deploy a second image to be tested. You can find more information about runtime testing in the “Performing Automated Runtime Testing” section in the Yocto Project Development Tasks Manual.

  • core-image-testmaster-initramfs: A RAM-based Initial Root Filesystem (initramfs) image tailored for use with the core-image-testmaster image.

  • core-image-weston: A very basic Wayland image with a terminal. This image provides the Wayland protocol libraries and the reference Weston compositor. For more information, see the “Using Wayland and Weston” section in the Yocto Project Development Tasks Manual.

  • core-image-x11: A very basic X11 image with a terminal.