RTOS Docker Development Environment

Docker container for Zephyr RTOS development with multi-stage builds and selective toolchain support.

🎯 Motivation

This custom container offers several advantages over official alternatives like the Zephyr CI container:

• Smaller size - Optimized multi-stage builds reduce image size
• Private registry support - Can be deployed to your own container registry for enterprise environments
• Tool control - Full control over installed tools, versions, and configurations
• Customizable - Easy to modify and extend for specific project requirements
• Selective toolchains - Install only needed toolchains to minimize size and attack surface

�🚀 Latest Versions

• Zephyr SDK v0.17.4 - Current SDK version
• Debian Trixie Slim - Base image
• Multi-platform - AMD64 and ARM64 support
• Size optimization

📦 Pre-built Images

Pre-built images are available on GitHub Container Registry:

# Latest with all toolchains
docker pull ghcr.io/tobiwan88/zephyr_docker:latest

# ARM toolchain only (commonly used)
docker pull ghcr.io/tobiwan88/zephyr_docker:arm

# RISC-V toolchain
docker pull ghcr.io/tobiwan88/zephyr_docker:riscv64

# Multi-toolchain builds
docker pull ghcr.io/tobiwan88/zephyr_docker:arm-riscv64

Note: Replace tobiwan88 with the actual repository owner.

✨ Key Features

• SDK Integration - Zephyr SDK v0.17.4 with selective toolchain installation
• Security - Non-root user and minimal package set
• Multi-Platform - Support for linux/amd64 and linux/arm64
• CI/CD Ready - Works with GitHub Actions and automated workflows
• Development Tools - West tool and Python environment included
• Size Optimized - Selective toolchain installation and build optimization

📋 Build Arguments

Argument	Default	Description
DEBIAN_VERSION	trixie-slim	Debian base image version
ZEPHYR_VERSION	v4.2.0	Zephyr version for SDK compatibility
TOOLCHAIN_VERSION	0.17.4	Zephyr SDK version
TOOLCHAINS	arm-zephyr-eabi	Comma-separated toolchain list or "all"

🏗️ Available Toolchains

By default, only ARM toolchain is installed to reduce image size (~500MB vs ~2GB for all toolchains).

Toolchain	Architecture	Use Case
arm-zephyr-eabi	ARM Cortex-M/A/R	Common (default)
riscv64-zephyr-elf	RISC-V 64-bit	RISC-V development
x86_64-zephyr-elf	x86 64-bit	x86 targets
xtensa-intel_ace15_mtl_zephyr-elf	Xtensa	Intel Audio DSP
arc-zephyr-elf	ARC	ARC processors
sparc-zephyr-elf	SPARC	SPARC processors
all	All architectures	All toolchains

🔨 Quick Start

Using Pre-built Images

# Pull and run with project mounting
docker pull ghcr.io/tobiwan88/zephyr_docker:arm
docker run -it --rm -v $(pwd):/home/zephyr/workspace ghcr.io/tobiwan88/zephyr_docker:arm

# Inside container
source ~/.venv/bin/activate
west init -m https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr --mr v4.2.0 myproject
cd myproject && west update
west build -b qemu_x86 zephyr/samples/hello_world

Custom Builds

# Build with specific toolchains
TOOLCHAINS="arm-zephyr-eabi,riscv64-zephyr-elf" ./build.sh

# Build all toolchains
TOOLCHAINS="all" ./build.sh

# Build for registry
REGISTRY_PREFIX="ghcr.io/username/repo" ./build.sh --push

CI/CD Integration

name: Zephyr Build
on: [push, pull_request]
jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    container: ghcr.io/tobiwan88/zephyr_docker:arm
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - run: |
          source ~/.venv/bin/activate
          west init -l . && west update
          west build -b <board> <app>

📂 Cross-Platform Usage

Platform	Command
Linux/macOS	docker run -it --rm -v $(pwd):/home/zephyr/workspace <image>
Windows (PowerShell)	docker run -it --rm -v ${PWD}:/home/zephyr/workspace <image>
Windows (CMD)	docker run -it --rm -v %cd%:/home/zephyr/workspace <image>

🔧 Container Environment

• SDK Path: /home/zephyr/zephyr-sdk with selected toolchains
• Python: Virtual environment at /home/zephyr/.venv with West
• User: Non-root zephyr user (UID 1000) for security
• Workspace: /home/zephyr/workspace for project mounting

🛠️ Development Workflow

1. Start container with project directory mounted
2. Activate environment: source ~/.venv/bin/activate
3. Initialize project: west init -l . or west init -m <manifest>
4. Update dependencies: west update
5. Build application: west build -b <board> <app>

🏗️ Architecture

Multi-stage optimized build process:

• Builder Stage: Downloads and configures Zephyr SDK
• Production Stage: Minimal runtime with essential tools
• Optimization: Removes documentation and unused components

� License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

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Optimized for production Zephyr RTOS development workflows