rpi-image-build

name	rpi-image-build
description	Guide for building Raspberry Pi images locally using the VS Code build tasks that invoke act. Use this when you need a dev or release image and the extracted .img.xz output path.

Raspberry Pi Image Builds with act

This skill helps you build Raspberry Pi images locally and locate the extracted .img.xz artifacts.

When to use this skill

Use this skill when you need to:

• Build a development or release Raspberry Pi image from this repo
• Run the existing VS Code tasks instead of invoking act manually
• Confirm where the extracted .img.xz is written

Running builds

1. Ensure prerequisites are available: Docker and act.
2. Run the appropriate VS Code task:
   • Build RPi Image Locally (dev) for a development image
   • Build RPi Image Locally (release) for a production image
3. Locate outputs at the repo root:
   • Dev: netalertx-rpi-image-dev/
   • Release: netalertx-rpi-image-release/

Task behavior details

Build RPi Image Locally (dev)

• Purpose: Build the development image locally.
• Flow:
  • Fixes ownership in /tmp and clears previous artifacts.
  • Runs act job build-dev with a privileged container.
  • Extracts the resulting .img.xz into netalertx-rpi-image-dev/ at the repo root.
• Output location: netalertx-rpi-image-dev/
• Default build task: Yes.

Build RPi Image Locally (release)

• Purpose: Build the production (release) image locally.
• Flow:
  • Fixes ownership in /tmp and clears previous artifacts.
  • Runs act job build-release using workflow_dispatch with image_variant=production and a privileged container.
  • Extracts the resulting .img.xz into netalertx-rpi-image-release/ at the repo root.
• Output location: netalertx-rpi-image-release/
• Default build task: No.

Best practices

• Prefer the dev build when iterating; use release only for production validation.
• Verify Docker is running before launching a build task.
• Clean up /tmp/artifacts if a previous run was interrupted.