Using the Image Builder
The Image Builder is a precompiled OpenWrt build environment suitable to create custom images without compiling everything from scratch.
Reasons for using the Image Builder are:
- Building minimal images for example without the web interface
- Embedding packages directly into the squashfs to reduce space requirements on the target
- Preconfigure images by embedding configuration files directly into squashfs
Download
For the release of OpenWrt 10.03 'Backfire', the ImageBuilder is built along with the target images and available for download on the server.
- Browse to the OpenWrt download folder http://backfire.openwrt.org/10.03/
- Click on your architecture, for example ar71xx when making an image for the WR1043ND
- Download the ImageBuilder archive. Use i686 on 32 bit host systems or x86_64 for systems with 64 bit CPU
- Extract the archive and change into the ImageBuilder directory
$ wget http://backfire.openwrt.org/...-for-Linux-i686.tar.bz2
$ tar -xjf OpenWrt-ImageBuilder-ar71xx-for-Linux-i686.tar.bz2
$ cd OpenWrt-ImageBuilder-ar71xx-for-Linux-i686/ |
Usage
The make image command will create a minimal image with just essential packages included, the behaviour can be controlled with three variables passed as arguments:
PROFILE- specifies the target image to buildPACKAGES- a list of packages to embed into the imageFILES- directory with custom files to include
See the sections below for an explaination.
After the make command is finished, the generated images are stored in the bin directory.
$ ls bin/
md5sums openwrt-wrt350n_v1-squashfs.bin
openwrt-brcm-2.4-squashfs.trx openwrt-wrt54g-squashfs.bin
openwrt-usr5461-squashfs.bin openwrt-wrt54g3g-em-squashfs.bin
openwrt-wa840g-squashfs.bin openwrt-wrt54g3g-squashfs.bin
openwrt-we800g-squashfs.bin openwrt-wrt54gs-squashfs.bin
openwrt-wr850g-squashfs.bin openwrt-wrt54gs_v4-squashfs.bin
openwrt-wrt150n-squashfs.bin openwrt-wrtsl54gs-squashfs.bin
openwrt-wrt300n_v1-squashfs.bin |
Profiles
Run make info to obtain a list of defined profiles:
$ make info
Current Target: "brcm-2.4"
Default Packages: base-files libgcc … kmod-switch kmod-diag nvram
Available Profiles:
Broadcom:
Generic, Broadcom WiFi (default)
Packages: kmod-brcm-wl wlc nas kmod-wlcompat
BroadcomMimo:
Generic, Broadcom WiFi (MIMO)
Packages: kmod-brcm-wl-mimo wlc nas kmod-wlcompat
None:
Generic, No WiFi
Packages:
USBGeneric:
Generic USB
Packages: kmod-brcm-wl kmod-usb-core kmod-usb-ohci kmod-usb2 …
WL500G:
ASUS WL-500g
Packages: kmod-brcm-wl kmod-usb-core kmod-usb-ohci kmod-lp …
WL500GD:
ASUS WL-500g Deluxe
Packages: kmod-brcm-wl kmod-usb-core kmod-usb-uhci kmod-usb2 …
WL500GP:
ASUS WL-500g Premium
Packages: kmod-brcm-wl kmod-usb-core kmod-usb-uhci-iv …
WL700GE:
WL-700gE
Packages: -ppp -ppp-mod-pppoe -kmod-ipt-nathelper -iptables …
WLHDD:
WL-HDD
Packages: kmod-brcm-wl kmod-usb-core kmod-usb-ohci …
WRT54G3G:
Linksys WRT54G3G
Packages: kmod-brcm-wl kmod-usb-core kmod-usb-ohci kmod-usb2 … |
… and pass the appropriate profile to the make command:
$ make image PROFILE=WL500GP |
Packages
The PACKAGES variable specifies a list of packages to include when building an image. If a name is prefixed with - then the corresponding package will be excluded from the image.
$ make image PROFILE=WL500GP PACKAGES="nano openvpn -ppp -ppp-mod-pppoe" |
Tip: The list of currently installed packages can be obtained with the command below:
root@OpenWrt:~# echo `opkg list_installed | awk '{ print $1 }'` |
Files
A directory with custom files to add can be specified using the FILES variable. Custom files will replace default ones if necessary.
$ mkdir -p files/etc/config
$ scp root@192.168.1.1:/etc/config/network files/etc/config/
$ scp root@192.168.1.1:/etc/config/wireless files/etc/config/
$ scp root@192.168.1.1:/etc/config/firewall files/etc/config/
$ make image PROFILE=WL500GP PACKAGES="nano openvpn -ppp -ppp-mod-pppoe" FILES=files/ |
Cleanup
To clean up temporary build files and generated images, use the make clean command.
doc/howto/imagebuilder.txt · Last modified: 2010/06/30 17:56 by orca