KIWI::SYSTEM::BUILD(8) KIWI NG KIWI::SYSTEM::BUILD(8)

kiwi::system::build - Build image in combined prepare and create step

kiwi-ng [global options] service <command> [<args>]
kiwi-ng system build -h | --help
kiwi-ng system build --description=<directory> --target-dir=<directory>
    [--allow-existing-root]
    [--clear-cache]
    [--ignore-repos]
    [--ignore-repos-used-for-build]
    [--set-repo=<source,type,alias,priority,imageinclude,package_gpgcheck,{signing_keys},components,distribution,repo_gpgcheck>]
    [--set-repo-credentials=<user:pass_or_filename>]
    [--add-repo=<source,type,alias,priority,imageinclude,package_gpgcheck,{signing_keys},components,distribution,repo_gpgcheck>...]
    [--add-repo-credentials=<user:pass_or_filename>...]
    [--add-package=<name>...]
    [--add-bootstrap-package=<name>...]
    [--delete-package=<name>...]
    [--set-container-derived-from=<uri>]
    [--set-container-tag=<name>]
    [--add-container-label=<label>...]
    [--set-type-attr=<attribute=value>...]
    [--set-release-version=<version>]
    [--signing-key=<key-file>...]
kiwi-ng system build help


Build an image in one step. The build command combines preparation and building steps, which makes it possible to create an image with a single command. The build command creates the root directory of the image under <target-dir>/build/image-root and writes a log file <target-dir>/build/image-root.log. The result image files are created in the specified target directory.

Specify package to install as part of the early KIWI NG bootstrap phase. The option can be specified multiple times.
Add a container label in the container configuration metadata. It overwrites the label with the provided key-value pair if it is already defined in the XML description.
Specify package to add (install). The option can be specified multiple times.
Add a new repository to the existing repository setup in the XML description. This option can be specified multiple times. For details about the possible option values see the --set-repo information below.
For uri://user:pass@location repositories, set the user and password associated with an add-repo specification. If the provided value describes a filename in the filesystem, the first line of that file is used as credentials.
Use an existing root directory from a previous build attempt. Use with caution, because this can cause an inconsistent root tree if the existing contents does not fit to the previous image type setup.
Delete repository cache for each of the used repositories before installing any package. This is useful when an image build validates the signature of the package from the original repository source for any build. Some package managers unconditionally trust the contents of the cache, which works for cache data dedicated to one build. In case of KIWI NG, the cache is shared between multiple image builds on that host for performance reasons.
Specify package to delete. The option can be specified multiple times.
Path to an XML description. This is a directory containing at least one _config.xml_ or _*.kiwi_ XML file.
Ignore all repository configurations from the XML description. This option is used in combination with the --add-repo` option. Otherwise, there are no repositories available for an image build, which leads to an error.
Works the same way as --ignore-repos, except that repository configuration with the imageonly attribute set to true is not ignored.
Overwrite the first repository entry in the XML description with the provided information:
  • source

    Source URL pointing to a package repository that must be in a format supported by the selected package manager. See the URI_TYPES section for details about the supported source locators.

  • type

    Repository type: rpm-md, apt-deb.

  • alias

    An alias name for the repository. If not specified, KIWI NG generates an alias name as result of hex representation from uuid4. While the hex is used to uniquely identify the repository, it is not descriptive. We recommend using descriptive aliases.

  • priority

    A number indicating the repository priority. How the value is evaluated depends on the selected package manager. Refer to the package manager documentation for details about the supported priority ranges and their meaning.

  • imageinclude

    Set to either true or false to indicate if the repository is be part of the system image repository setup or not.

  • package_gpgcheck

    Set to either true or false to indicate if the repository should validate the package signatures.

  • {signing_keys}

    List of signing_keys enclosed in curly brackets and delimited by the semicolon. The reference to a signing key must be provided in the URI format.

  • components

    Component list for Debian-based repos as space-delimited string.

  • distribution

    Main distribution name for Debian-based repos.

  • repo_gpgcheck

    Set to either true or false to indicate if the repository should validate the repository signature.


For uri://user:pass@location type repositories, set the user and password connected to the set-repo specification. If the provided value describes a filename in the filesystem, the first line of that file is used as credentials.
Overwrite the source location of the base container for the selected image type. The setting applies only if the configured image type is setup with an initial derived_from reference.
Overwrite the container tag in the container configuration. The setting is only effective if the container configuration provides the initial tag value.
Overwrite/set the attribute with the provided value in the selected build type section. Example: --set-type-attr volid=some
Overwrite/set the release-version element in the selected build type preferences section
Set the key file to be trusted and imported into the package manager database before performing any operation. This is useful when an image build validates repository and package signatures during build time. This option can be specified multiple times.
Path to store the build results.

  • http:// | https:// | ftp://

    Remote repository delivered via the HTTP or FTP protocol.

  • obs://

    Open Buildservice repository. The source data is translated into an HTTP URL pointing to http://download.opensuse.org.

  • ibs://

    Internal Open Buildservice repository. The source data is translated into an HTTP URL pointing to download.suse.de.

  • iso://

    Local ISO file. KIWI NG loop mounts the file and uses the mount point as temporary directory source type.

  • dir://

    Local directory.


Marcus Schäfer

2020-2024, Marcus Schäfer

November 26, 2024 10.2.0