brbox

brbox is a wrapper tools/script around buildroot to help in creating bare-metal bootable Linux images for different single-board-computers. It provides the foundational features of an embedded Linux system, serving as a base for extending and integrating various applications.

Update!!: A more recent, cleaner and well maintained version of brbox image creation is available here

Key Features

1. Failsafe In-System Programmability: Allows network-based Linux system updates using backup and main rootfs copies(A/B).
2. Zeroconf Announcement: Makes it easy to detect the IP of headless embedded Linux systems running brbox.
3. System Monitoring: Displays parameters such as IP, MAC address, RAM size, and CPU load via the web interface.

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Setting Up for brbox on ubuntu machine

1. Create and prepare a build directory:

   sudo mkdir -p /mnt/buildramdisk
   sudo chown user:user /mnt/buildramdisk  # Replace 'user' with your username

2. Install required dependencies:

   sudo apt-get update
   sudo apt-get install subversion git ckermit build-essential gcc-multilib libncurses5-dev expect

3. Configure temporary RAM disk(optional - but this step helps not to stress your hdd due to large amount of buid data):

   sudo vi /etc/fstab

   Add the following line(change the size as per your hw config):

   tmpfs   /mnt/buildramdisk    tmpfs   defaults,gid=100,size=6G 0 0
   

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How to build brbox images for different hardwares

1. Prepare directories:

   mkdir -p /home/user/dl
   mkdir -p /home/user/sandbox
   cd /home/user/sandbox

2. Clone the repository(with softlink, retain dl folder to avoid repeated downloads):

   git clone https://github.com/hackboxguy/brbox.git
   cd brbox
   mkdir -p ~/dl
   ln -s ~/dl dl

3. Prepare and build the system(e.g for pc-x86-64-efi):

   ./prepare-buildroot.sh
   ./build-image.sh -o /mnt/buildramdisk -v 01.00 -s mypw -b pc-x86-64-efi

   • -o: Output folder
   • -v: Build version number
   • -s: Your sudo password
   • -s: board type

The first build may take 1–2 hours. Once complete, the following files will be generated:

• bootable-usb-disk.img: Use this image for creating a bootable USB drive.
• uBrBoxRoot.uimg: Upgrade package for in-system updates(OTA).

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Creating a Bootable USB Flash Drive

1. Use the dd command to write the image to a USB drive:

   sudo dd if=/mnt/buildramdisk/01.00/images/bootable-usb-disk.img of=/dev/sdX bs=1M

   Replace /dev/sdX with the correct device node.
2. Configure your BIOS to boot from the USB drive and disable EFI boot.
3. Insert the USB drive and power up your system. Log in using the root account.

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Upgrading brbox over Network(OTA)

1. Copy the upgrade package to the device:

   scp /mnt/buildramdisk/01.00/images/uBrBoxRoot.uimg root@<brbox-ip>:/tmp/

2. Log in via SSH:

   ssh root@<brbox-ip>

3. Perform the upgrade:

   brdskmgr -v  # Check current version
   update -u /tmp/uBrBoxRoot.uimg
   reboot

4. Verify the upgrade:

   ssh root@<brbox-ip>
   brdskmgr -v  # Confirm the updated version

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Building brbox for Raspberry Pi 1

1. Create and build the image:

   cd ~/
   git clone https://github.com/hackboxguy/brbox.git
   cd brbox
   mkdir -p ~/dl/;ln -s ~/dl dl
   ./prepare-buildroot.sh
   time ./build-image.sh -o /mnt/buildramdisk -v 00.01 -s my_sudo_pw -b raspi1

2. Create a bootable SD card:

   sudo sh -c "pv -tpreb /mnt/buildramdisk/00.01/images/bootable-usb-disk.img | dd bs=128k of=/dev/sdX conv=fdatasync"

   Replace /dev/sdX with the correct device node.
3. Boot your Raspberry Pi with the SD card and log in as root with the password brb0x.

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