1.. SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-SA-2.0-UK 2 3Flashing Images Using `bmaptool` 4******************************** 5 6A fast and easy way to flash an image to a bootable device is to use 7`bmaptool`, which is integrated into the OpenEmbedded build system. 8`bmaptool` is a generic tool that creates a file's block map (bmap) and 9then uses that map to copy the file. As compared to traditional tools 10such as `dd` or `cp`, `bmaptool` can copy (or flash) large files like raw 11system image files much faster. 12 13.. note:: 14 15 - If you are using Ubuntu or Debian distributions, you can install 16 the ``bmap-tools`` package using the following command and then 17 use the tool without specifying ``PATH`` even from the root 18 account:: 19 20 $ sudo apt install bmap-tools 21 22 - If you are unable to install the ``bmap-tools`` package, you will 23 need to build `bmaptool` before using it. Use the following command:: 24 25 $ bitbake bmaptool-native -caddto_recipe_sysroot 26 27Following, is an example that shows how to flash a Wic image. Realize 28that while this example uses a Wic image, you can use `bmaptool` to flash 29any type of image. Use these steps to flash an image using `bmaptool`: 30 31#. *Update your local.conf File:* You need to have the following set 32 in your ``local.conf`` file before building your image:: 33 34 IMAGE_FSTYPES += "wic wic.bmap" 35 36#. *Get Your Image:* Either have your image ready (pre-built with the 37 :term:`IMAGE_FSTYPES` 38 setting previously mentioned) or take the step to build the image:: 39 40 $ bitbake image 41 42#. *Flash the Device:* Flash the device with the image by using `bmaptool` 43 depending on your particular setup. The following commands assume the 44 image resides in the :term:`Build Directory`'s ``deploy/images/`` area: 45 46 - If you installed the package for `bmaptool`, you can directly run:: 47 48 $ sudo bmaptool copy build-directory/tmp/deploy/images/machine/image.wic /dev/sdX 49 50 - Otherwise, if you built `bmaptool` with BitBake, run:: 51 52 $ sudo chmod a+w /dev/sdX # get write access to the media, needed only once after booting 53 $ oe-run-native bmaptool-native bmaptool copy build-directory/tmp/deploy/images/machine/image.wic /dev/sdX 54 55For help on the ``bmaptool`` command, use the following command:: 56 57 $ bmaptool --help 58 59