TorizonCore Builder Overview

Introduction

TorizonCore Builder is a command-line tool that simplifies the process of generating production-ready, customized Torizon OS images.

After building your custom image, you can:

• Flash it manually using the Toradex Easy Installer.
• Deploy it directly to the SoM over SSH.
• Push it remotely to Torizon Cloud for OTA deployment.

Supported features

TorizonCore Builder supports the following features:

• Hardware and I/O support:
  • Apply device tree overlays: Enable and configure hardware peripherals such as GPIOs, I2C, SPI and display interfaces.
  • Change pin functions (multiplexing)
  • Build kernel modules: Extend the OS functionality, for example, by enabling custom drivers.
• Kernel and boot-time configuration:
  • Customize kernel arguments: Control kernel behavior, logging and more.
• Boot experience:
  • Change the system splash screen: Personalize the boot screen.
• Deployment and development workflow:
  • Pre-provision Docker container images: Boot your device with preloaded containers on the first boot, without needing to pull them from the internet. Ideal for production.
  • Capture device configuration: Preserve configuration changes made to a target device at runtime during development, and embed them into your final OS image.
  • Use Visual Studio Code integration: Develop, customize, and deploy TorizonCore Builder projects directly from VS Code.

Unsupported Use Cases

TorizonCore Builder does not support the following customizations:

• Modifying the kernel source code
• Adding in-tree kernel modules
• Customizing the bootloader (U-Boot)
• Changing the initramfs (initial RAM filesystem)

Use the Yocto Project to implement these kinds of custom changes.

If you want to add a kernel module that is already available in the kernel source (in-tree), make a request in our community. If it does not negatively impact Torizon OS, we may include it as a module.

Workflow

The diagram below illustrates the role of TorizonCore Builder in a typical Torizon OS development workflow:

A typical workflow consists of the following steps:

1. Install TorizonCore Builder.
2. Download a base OS image.
3. Customize the image (e.g., splash screen, device tree, containers, kernel arguments).
4. Deploy your custom image to the target device.

Documentation Summary

• Install TorizonCore Builder: Install the tool on Linux or Windows host machines.
• Customize Torizon OS Images: Learn the process from downloading a Torizon OS base image to building and deploying your custom image.
• Configuration File: A walkthrough of the configuration file used by TorizonCore Builder to customize images. Learn what you can customize, such as kernel arguments, device tree overlays, kernel modules and more.
• Customization Examples: Examples for different use cases, such as changing the OS splash screen, building kernel modules, provisioning containers and more.
• Commands Manual: A manual for all available TorizonCore Builder commands.
• Visual Studio Code Integration: How to leverage Visual Studio Code tasks to streamline OS customization.
• In-Depth Use Cases: A set of articles that cover the supported use cases in depth, such as pin multiplexing, capturing changes, pre-provisioning Docker containers, etc.