Build flashable Raspberry Pi SD card image

[lxtzfr]

Goal

Build a ready-to-flash Raspberry Pi OS image with everything pre-installed. Flash the SD card, boot the Pi, and it connects to the server automatically — no manual setup.

How it works

The image is generic. Robot-specific config is set in /boot/veezbot.config.json (FAT32 partition, editable before flashing):

{
  "serverUrl": "https://api.veezbot.com",
  "robotToken": "xxx"
}

On first boot:

1. robot.service (systemd) starts
2. update.sh pulls the latest tarball from veezbot/robot releases
3. Robot connects to the server

Repo structure

veezbot/image
├── config/
│   └── veezbot.config.json     # default config template
├── scripts/
│   ├── update.sh               # pull latest veezbot/robot tarball + restart
│   └── robot.service           # systemd unit
├── stage/                      # pi-gen customisation
│   └── 00-install/
│       └── 01-run.sh           # install Node.js, copy scripts, enable service
└── .github/workflows/
    └── build.yml               # build .img.gz → publish as GitHub release

Tasks

• Set up pi-gen as base (official Raspberry Pi OS build tool)
• Write 01-run.sh stage: install Node.js, copy scripts, enable systemd service
• Write update.sh: download latest tarball from veezbot/robot releases via gh
• Write robot.service: systemd unit with auto-restart
• Handle /boot/veezbot.config.json config loading at boot
• GitHub Actions workflow: build image → publish robot-pi-vX.X.X.img.gz as release
• Test: flash image, verify robot connects automatically

Notes

• Image is generic — token and server URL are set in /boot/veezbot.config.json before flashing
• Robot client updates are independent: update.sh always pulls latest from veezbot/robot
• Build tool: pi-gen (same tool used to build official Raspberry Pi OS)