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https://github.com/0rax/berryos

Lightweight distribution of Raspberry Pi OS configurable headlessly using cloud-init.
https://github.com/0rax/berryos

arm64 armhf cloud-init debian linux operating-system raspberry-pi raspberrypi

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Lightweight distribution of Raspberry Pi OS configurable headlessly using cloud-init.

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README 

        
# ![BerryOS](docs/assets/berryos-banner.png)



## What is BerryOS ?



BerryOS is a lightweight distribution of Raspberry Pi OS, meant to be used as a clean base when configuring a new Raspberry Pi. It focuses on providing a lighter operating system than can be configured headlessly at first boot.



It was born out of the frustration of not being able to configure Raspberry Pi OS Lite using [`cloud-init`](https://cloud-init.io/) easily and the fact that alternatives such as Ubuntu includes way too many pieces of software by default (such as `snapd` or `unattended-upgrades` which can chew RAM and CPU cycles).



## Overview



### Compatible hardware



BerryOS is available in two variant, a 32-bit version called `BerryOS/armhf` and a 64-bit version called `BerryOS/arm64`. Each image should have the same compatibility as their Raspberry Pi OS counterpart meaning:



- `BerryOS/armhf` should be compatible with ALL Raspberry Pi models

- `BerryOS/arm64` should be compatible with:

  - Raspberry Pi 3 B

  - Raspberry Pi 3 B+

  - Raspberry Pi 4

  - Raspberry Pi 400

  - Raspberry Compute Module 3

  - Raspberry Compute Module 3 +

  - Raspberry Compute Module 4

  - Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W

  - Raspberry Pi 5



Each release is tested on the following hardware:



- Raspberry Pi 2 B (`armhf`)

- Raspberry Pi 3 B (`armhf` & `arm64`)

- Raspberry Pi 3 B+ (`armhf` & `arm64`)



Due to its nature, it should also provide the same level of compatibility with 3rd party software and hardware as Raspberry Pi OS.



### Similarities and differences with Raspberry Pi OS Lite



The goal of the images provided by BerryOS is to provide a similar user experience to Raspberry Pi OS Lite while including as little pre-installed packages as possible and making unattended provisioning possible.



To do so, BerryOS is bootstrapped from the same base as Raspberry Pi OS Lite with a reduced list of package installed by default and the following changes to the default configuration:



- Addition of [`cloud-init`](https://cloud-init.io/) to handle unattended provisioning at first boot

- Addition of [`netplan`](https://netplan.io/) to handle Wi-Fi configuration using `cloud-init`

- `openssh` enabled by default

- Serial console disabled by default

- Bluetooth support not configured by default

- No swapfile configured by default

- `wpa_supplicant` installed and configured but disabled by default

- Support for `/boot/config.toml` removed in favor of `cloud-init` (see [#5](https://github.com/0rax/BerryOS/pull/5) and [#15](https://github.com/0rax/BerryOS/pull/15))



On the other hand, some services have been kept as is from Raspberry Pi such as:



- `fake-hwclock` to emulate a hardware clock by committing current date to disk periodically

- `rngd` to enable random number generation offloading to the hardware (provided by `rng-tools5`)

- `systemd-timesyncd` to handle network time synchronization (configurable via `cloud-init`)



In the end, BerryOS is just a stripped down version of [Raspberry Pi OS Lite (Stage 2)](https://github.com/RPi-Distro/pi-gen/blob/master/README.md#stage-anatomy) with the addition of `cloud-init` & `netplan`, making it the perfect base to self-host any application your Raspberry Pi.



### Default environment



If not configured using `/boot/firmware/user-data`, BerryOS will be provisioned using its default configuration, this default environment will include the default user accessible via:



- Username: `pi`

- Password: `raspberry`



To follow [the decision made by the Raspberry Pi OS team in April 2022](https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/raspberry-pi-bullseye-update-april-2022/), access to this default user via SSH will be DISABLED by default. In order to access your system headlessly and configure SSH access, follow the ["Getting started" guide](#getting-started) down below.



This default environment will also try to:



- Enable and configure `eth0` using DHCP

- Synchronize time with the default NTP pool (`debian.pool.ntp.org`)



## Getting Started



- Download the latest version of BerryOS for your targeted architecture from the [latest release](https://github.com/0rax/BerryOS/releases/latest) and flash it on your SD card using your tool of choice

- Unplug and re-plug your SD card from your computer to discover newly created partition

- Open the `user-data` file from the `boot` partition of your SD card with your favorite editor

- Uncomment `Configure default user access` section and update it to your need

- We suggest reading through the whole file to see all the possible configuration available before continuing

- Unmount your SD card, insert it in your Raspberry Pi, plug your Ethernet cable and provide it with power

- Congratulation, you are now running BerryOS !



A more detailed explanation of most of what can be configured using `cloud-init` is available in [this project documentation](https://berryos.wiki/docs/config/). A set of [example `user-data` file](https://berryos.wiki/docs/examples/) is also available.



## Benchmark



Benchmarked on a Raspberry Pi 3 B+ connected to internet via Ethernet using DHCP running the following commands after first-boot:



- RAM usage: `free -th | mawk '/^Total:/{print $3}'`

- Running processes: `pstree -Ta` (removing the current user session, i.e: `login -p` & `systemctl --user` processes)

- Disk usage: `findmnt -no USED /`

- Pre-installed packages: `dpkg --get-selections | wc -l`



Download and image sizes have been calculated using `ls -l --block-size=M`.



### `BerryOS/armhf`



| Stat                   | BerryOS Bookworm (2024.07.21) | RaspiOS Lite Bookworm (2024-07-04) |

| ---------------------- | ----------------------------- | ---------------------------------- |

| RAM usage              | 99M                           | 110M                               |

| Running processes      | 10                            | 16                                 |

| Disk usage             | 880M                          | 1.7G                               |

| Pre-installed packages | 333                           | 603                                |

| Download size          | 361M                          | 500M                               |

| Image size             | 1344M                         | 2512M                              |



### `BerryOS/arm64`



| Stat                   | BerryOS Bookworm (2024.07.21) | RaspiOS Lite Bookworm (2024-07-04) |

| ---------------------- | ----------------------------- | ---------------------------------- |

| RAM usage              | 116M                          | 131M                               |

| Running processes      | 10                            | 16                                 |

| Disk usage             | 856M                          | 1.8G                               |

| Pre-installed packages | 310                           | 590                                |

| Download size          | 288M                          | 432M                               |

| Image size             | 1296M                         | 2704M                              |



## Acknowledgements



This project has been heavily inspired by the work previously done by the team at [Hypriot](https://github.com/hypriot) for their HypriotOS. It was the starting point of this project and this project wouldn't exist without it.



The [RPi-Distro/pi-gen](https://github.com/RPi-Distro/pi-gen), [RPi-Distro/raspi-config](https://github.com/RPi-Distro/raspi-config) & [RPi-Distro/raspberrypi-sys-mods](https://github.com/RPi-Distro/raspberrypi-sys-mods/) projects have also been very helpful when tackling some hardware specific issues and optimizing image creation.



To the team responsible for those great pieces of software, thank you !