1566750242
Python2 is announced to be unmaintained from Jan 2020. KIWI supports Python 2.7 and it should not support any python version that is not maintained upstream. This Fixes #1036
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3.1 KiB
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93 lines
3.1 KiB
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Overview
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========
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.. hint:: **Abstract**
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This document provides a conceptual overview about the steps
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of creating an image with KIWI. It also explains the terminology
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regarding the concept and process when building system images
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with KIWI |version|.
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.. toctree::
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:maxdepth: 1
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overview/workflow
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Conceptual Overview
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-------------------
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A system image (usually called "image"), is a *complete installation* of a Linux
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system within a file. The image represents an operation system and,
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optionally, contains the "final" configuration.
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KIWI creates images in a two step process:
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1. The first step, the *prepare operation*, generates a so-called
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*unpacked image tree* (directory) using the information provided in
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the image description.
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2. The second step, the *create operation*, creates the *packed image* or
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*image* in the specified format based on the unpacked image and the
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information provided in the configuration file.
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The image creation process with KIWI is automated and does not require any
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user interaction. The information required for the image creation process is
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provided by the image description.
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Terminology
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-----------
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Appliance
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An appliance is a ready to use image of an operating system
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including a pre-configured application for a specific use case.
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The appliance is provided as an image file and needs to be
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deployed to, or activated in the target system or service.
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Image
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The result of a KIWI build process.
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Image Description
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Specification to define an appliance. The image description is a
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collection of human readable files in a directory. At least one XML
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file :file:`config.xml` or :file:`.kiwi` is required. In addition
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there may be as well other files like scripts or configuration data.
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These can be used to customize certain parts either of the KIWI
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build process or of the initial start-up behavior of the image.
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Overlay Files
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A directory structure with files and subdirectories stored as part
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of the Image Description. This directory structure is packaged as
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a file :file:`root.tar.gz` or stored inside a directory named
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:file:`root`. The content of the directory structure is copied on top of
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the the existing file system (overlayed) of the appliance root.
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This also includes permissions and attributes as a supplement.
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KIWI
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An OS appliance builder.
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Virtualization Technology
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Software simulated computer hardware. A virtual machine acts like
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a real computer, but is separated from the physical hardware.
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Within this documentation the QEMU virtualization system is
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used. Another popular alternative is Virtualbox.
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System Requirements
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-------------------
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To use and run KIWI, you need:
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* A recent Linux distribution, see :ref:`supported-distributions` for
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details. Alternatively a Linux distribution which supports the docker
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container system, where KIWI can be run inside a container, see:
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:ref:`container-building`
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* Enough free disk space to build and store the image. We recommend a
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minimum of 15GB.
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* Python version 3.4 or higher
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* Git (package ``git``) to clone a repository.
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* Any virtualization technology to start the image. We recommend QEMU.
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