Best way to create image of raspbian setup?

[jklondon]

Hi - I have been working on a project with a developer which uses sensehat. I want to port the application to a clean RPi. The setup manually is cumbersome as there are bunch of things that need to be setup as root first. I was wondering if the best way to achieve this would be to take an image (perhaps using docker?) and transfer that to a clean SD card.

Any help welcomed here.

JK

[fruitoftheloom]

Hi - I have been working on a project with a developer which uses sensehat. I want to port the application to a clean RPi. The setup manually is cumbersome as there are bunch of things that need to be setup as root first. I was wondering if the best way to achieve this would be to take an image (perhaps using docker?) and transfer that to a clean SD card.

Any help welcomed here.

JK

https://github.com/billw2/rpi-clone

[texy]

Sounds sensible approach for the initial build at least. I use win32diskimager to create the master .img file then transfer to the target sd card(s). Just make sure the target has at least as much capacity as the master. You might want a different approach once the target units go live and only certain applications need updating.
Texy

[jklondon]

Thanks - used win32diskimager before so will try that first.

[GTR2Fan]

Using rpi-clone to make a master backup has the advantage that the backup will fit onto any microSD card large enough to hold the occupied file space of the original so, for example, a 32GB card can be cloned to an 8GB or 16GB card if the 32GB card has less than 8GB or 16GB occupied. It's then just a matter of expanding the filesystem back out again via raspi-config when it's cloned back to a larger target.

By contrast, Win32DiskImager is a PITA because the target card must be EXACTLY the same size or larger than the original. Check the capacity of any, let's say, 32GB cards you have to hand and the chances are high that their capacities will almost certainly be different unless they're all from the same batch and are all the same make and model, so there's a fair chance that a clone of one won't fit onto another.

If you want a quick-launch installation of Bill Wilson's rpi-clone on a master Pi, take a look at my guide here...

viewtopic.php?f=29&t=137693&p=914109#p914109