Raspberry Pi SSD/SD Card Image Manager (sdm)

Introduction

The Raspberry Pi SSD/SD Card Image Manager (sdm) is a powerful command-line tool that simplifies the process of creating consistent, ready-to-use SSDs and SD cards for Raspberry Pi systems.

With sdm, you can easily build customised images that include your preferred packages, configurations, and personal customizations, making it ideal for:

• Maintaining consistency across multiple Raspberry Pi systems

• Quickly rebuilding Raspberry Pi systems with pre-installed packages and customizations

• Streamlining the setup process when new releases of Raspberry Pi OS become available

• Efficiently creating and distributing customized images for Raspberry Pi projects

Features

sdm offers a wide range of features to help you create tailored Raspberry Pi images:

• Customization of system settings, such as keyboard mapping, locale, timezone, and Wi-Fi country

• Installation of additional packages and applications

• Configuration of VNC (RealVNC, TightVNC, or TigerVNC) for remote access

• Setup of access points (hotspots) in various modes (local, routed, or bridged)

• Enabling of Pi-specific devices, such as camera and I2C

• Integration of personal customizations through plugins

• Appending custom fstab entries to /etc/fstab

• Disabling complex functions like Bluetooth, piwiz, swap, triggerhappy, and Wi-Fi

• Configuration and management of systemd services

• Burning customized images for network distribution

• Updating existing Raspberry Pi SD cards or SSDs using the --explore command

Installation

To install sdm, run the following command in your terminal:

curl -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gitbls/sdm/master/EZsdmInstaller | bash

This will download the necessary files to /usr/local/sdm and create a symlink for sdm in /usr/local/bin for easy access.

Usage

Customising an Image

To customise a Raspberry Pi OS image with sdm, use the following command:

sudo sdm --customize --plugin user:"adduser=bls|password=mypassword" --plugin L10n:host --plugin disables:piwiz --regen-ssh-host-keys --restart 2023-12-05-raspios-bookworm-arm64.img

This command will:

• Copy localisation settings (keymap, locale, timezone, and Wi-Fi country) from the host system

• Configure SSH to be enabled

• Create a specified user with the given password and enable sudo for that user

• Perform an apt update and apt upgrade

• Prevent piwiz from running and regenerate SSH host keys after system time synchronization on first boot

Burning an Image to an SD Card

To burn a customized image to an SD card, use the following command:

sudo sdm --burn /dev/sde --hostname mypi1 --expand-root 2023-12-05-raspios-bookworm-arm64.img

This command will burn the image to the SD card at /dev/sde, set the hostname to mypi1, and expand the root filesystem after the burn is complete.

Plugins

sdm supports various plugins to extend its functionality:

• apps: Install additional packages and applications

• VNC: Install and configure VNC (RealVNC, TightVNC, or TigerVNC)

• raspiconfig: Enable Pi-specific devices, such as camera and I2C

• system: Append custom fstab entries and manage systemd services

You can create your own plugins by copying and modifying the sdm-plugin-example skeleton plugin. See the "Programming Plugins" section in the documentation for more details.

Exploring an SD Card or SSD

To update an existing Raspberry Pi SD card or SSD, use the --explore command:

sudo sdm --explore /dev/sde

This command will allow you to nspawn into the SD card or SSD and perform system management tasks, such as changing account passwords or installing additional packages.

Documentation

For complete documentation on sdm, refer to the online documentation. You can also watch sdm in action here (note: the video is slightly outdated and doesn't use plugins, but it provides a good overview of how sdm works).

Conclusion

sdm is a versatile tool that streamlines the process of creating and managing Raspberry Pi images.

By leveraging its features and plugins, you can save time and effort in setting up and maintaining your Raspberry Pi systems, allowing you to focus on your projects and goals.