kiwi::system::boxbuild - Man Page

kiwi-ng [global options] service <command> [<args>]

kiwi-ng system boxbuild -h | --help
kiwi-ng system boxbuild --box=<name>
    [--box-memory=<vmgb>]
    [--box-console=<ttyname>]
    [--box-smp-cpus=<number>]
    [--box-debug]
    [--kiwi-version=<version>]
    [--shared-path=<path>]
    [--no-update-check]
    [--no-snapshot]
    [--no-accel]
    [--9p-sharing | --virtiofs-sharing | --sshfs-sharing]
    [--ssh-key=<name>]
    [--x86_64 | --aarch64]
    [--machine=<qemu_machine>]
    [--cpu=<qemu_cpu>]
    -- <kiwi_build_command_args>...
kiwi-ng system boxbuild --list-boxes
kiwi-ng system boxbuild help

build an image in a self contained environment. The boxbuild command uses KVM to start a virtual machine and run the kiwi build command inside of that virtual machine. The provided --description and --target-dir options are setup as shared folders between the host and the guest. No other data will be shared with the host which also allows for cross distribution builds. The boxbuild command provides the following additional features over the standard build command:

• Build images independent of the host.
• Build images as normal user not as root.
• Build cross distribution images on one host.
• Build in predefined build VMs called boxes which includes all components needed to build appliances.

For running the build process in a virtual machine it's required to provide VM images that are suitable to perform this job. We call the VM images boxes and they contain kiwi itself as well as all other components needed to build appliances. Those boxes are hosted in the Open Build Service and are publicly available on the Subprojects tab at: https://build.opensuse.org/project/show/Virtualization:Appliances:SelfContained

As a user you don't need to work with the boxes because this is all done by the plugin. The boxbuild command knows where to fetch the box and also cares for an update of the box when it has changed.

--box=<name>

Name of the virtual machine that should be used for the build process.

--list-boxes

show available build boxes.

--box-memory=<vmgb>

Number of GBs to reserve as main memory for the virtual machine. By default 8GB will be used.

--box-console=<ttyname>

Name of console in the kernel settings for the virtual machine. By default set to hvc0.

--box-smp-cpus=<number>

Number of CPUs to use in the SMP setup. By default 4 CPUs will be used

--no-update-check

Skip check for available box update. The option has no effect if the selected box does not yet exist on the host.

--no-snapshot

Run box with snapshot mode switched off. This causes the box disk file to be modified by the build process and allows to keep a persistent package cache as part of the box. The option can be used to increase the build performance due to data stored in the box which doesn't have to be reloaded from the network. On the contrary this option invalidates the immutable box attribute and should be used with care. On update of the box all data stored will be wiped. To prevent this combine the option with the --no-update-check option.

--no-accel

Run box without hardware acceleration. By default KVM acceleration is activated

--9p-sharing|--virtiofs-sharing|--sshfs-sharing

Select sharing backend to use for sharing data between the host and the box. This can be either 9p, virtiofs or sshfs. By default 9p is used

--ssh-key=<name>

Name of ssh key to authorize for connection. By default 'id_rsa' is used.

--x86_64|--aarch64

Select box for the x86_64 architecture. If no architecture is selected the host architecture is used for selecting the box. The selected box architecture also specifies the target architecture for the image build with that box.

--box-debug

In debug mode the started virtual machine will be kept open

--kiwi-version=<version>

Specify a KIWI version to use for the build. The referenced KIWI will be fetched from pip and replaces the box installed KIWI version. Note: If --no-snapshot is used in combination with this option, the change of the KIWI version will be permanently stored in the used box.

--shared-path=<path>

Optional host path to share with the box. The same path as it is present on the host will also be available inside of the box during build time.

--machine=<qemu_machine>

Optional machine name used by QEMU. By default no specific value is used here and qemu selects its default machine type. For cross arch builds or for system architectures for which QEMU defines no default like for Arm, it's required to specify a machine name.

If you don’t care about reproducing the idiosyncrasies of a particular bit of hardware, the best option is to use the 'virt' machine type.

--cpu=<qemu_cpu>

Optional CPU type used by QEMU. By default the host CPU type is used which is only a good selection if the host and the selected box are from the same architecture. On cross arch builds it's required to specify the CPU emulation the box should use

-- <kiwi_build_command_args>...

List of command parameters as supported by the kiwi-ng build command. The information given here is passed along to the kiwi-ng system build command running in the virtual machine. See the Example below how to provide options to the build command correctly.

$ git clone https://github.com/OSInside/kiwi-descriptions

$ kiwi --type vmx system boxbuild --box suse -- \
    --description kiwi-descriptions/suse/x86_64/suse-tumbleweed-JeOS \
    --target-dir /tmp/myimage

Marcus Schäfer

2020, Marcus Schäfer