1 .TH MKIMAGE 1 "2010-05-16"
4 mkimage \- Generate image for U-Boot
7 .RB "\-l [" "uimage file name" "]"
10 .RB [\fIoptions\fP] " \-f [" "image tree source file" "]" " [" "uimage file name" "]"
13 .RB [\fIoptions\fP] " \-F [" "uimage file name" "]"
16 .RB [\fIoptions\fP] " (legacy mode)"
21 command is used to create images for use with the U-Boot boot loader.
22 These images can contain the linux kernel, device tree blob, root file
23 system image, firmware images etc., either separate or combined.
26 supports two different formats:
30 format concatenates the individual parts (for example, kernel image,
31 device tree blob and ramdisk image) and adds a 64 bytes header
32 containing information about target architecture, operating system,
33 image type, compression method, entry points, time stamp, checksums,
37 .I FIT (Flattened Image Tree) format
38 allows for more flexibility in handling images of various types and also
39 enhances integrity protection of images with stronger checksums. It also
40 supports verified boot.
44 .B List image information:
47 .BI "\-l [" "uimage file name" "]"
48 mkimage lists the information contained in the header of an existing U-Boot image.
51 .B Create old legacy image:
54 .BI "\-A [" "architecture" "]"
55 Set architecture. Pass \-h as the architecture to see the list of supported architectures.
59 Set operating system. bootm command of u-boot changes boot method by os type.
60 Pass \-h as the OS to see the list of supported OS.
63 .BI "\-T [" "image type" "]"
65 Pass \-h as the image to see the list of supported image type.
68 .BI "\-C [" "compression type" "]"
70 Pass \-h as the compression to see the list of supported compression type.
73 .BI "\-a [" "load address" "]"
74 Set load address with a hex number.
77 .BI "\-e [" "entry point" "]"
78 Set entry point with a hex number.
82 List the contents of an image.
85 .BI "\-n [" "image name" "]"
86 Set image name to 'image name'.
89 .BI "\-d [" "image data file" "]"
90 Use image data from 'image data file'.
94 Set XIP (execute in place) flag.
100 .BI "\-b [" "device tree file" "]
101 Appends the device tree binary file (.dtb) to the FIT.
104 .BI "\-c [" "comment" "]"
105 Specifies a comment to be added when signing. This is typically a useful
106 message which describes how the image was signed or some other useful
110 .BI "\-D [" "dtc options" "]"
111 Provide special options to the device tree compiler that is used to
116 After processing, move the image data outside the FIT and store a data offset
117 in the FIT. Images will be placed one after the other immediately after the
118 FIT, with each one aligned to a 4-byte boundary. The existing 'data' property
119 in each image will be replaced with 'data-offset' and 'data-size' properties.
120 A 'data-offset' of 0 indicates that it starts in the first (4-byte aligned)
124 .BI "\-f [" "image tree source file" " | " "auto" "]"
125 Image tree source file that describes the structure and contents of the
128 This can be automatically generated for some simple cases.
129 Use "-f auto" for this. In that case the arguments -d, -A, -O, -T, -C, -a
130 and -e are used to specify the image to include in the FIT and its attributes.
131 No .its file is required.
135 Indicates that an existing FIT image should be modified. No dtc
136 compilation is performed and the \-f flag should not be given.
137 This can be used to sign images with additional keys after initial image
141 .BI "\-k [" "key_directory" "]"
142 Specifies the directory containing keys to use for signing. This directory
143 should contain a private key file <name>.key for use with signing and a
144 certificate <name>.crt (containing the public key) for use with verification.
147 .BI "\-K [" "key_destination" "]"
148 Specifies a compiled device tree binary file (typically .dtb) to write
149 public key information into. When a private key is used to sign an image,
150 the corresponding public key is written into this file for for run-time
151 verification. Typically the file here is the device tree binary used by
152 CONFIG_OF_CONTROL in U-Boot.
155 .BI "\-p [" "external position" "]"
156 Place external data at a static external position. See \-E. Instead of writing
157 a 'data-offset' property defining the offset from the end of the FIT, \-p will
158 use 'data-position' as the absolute position from the base of the FIT.
162 Specifies that keys used to sign the FIT are required. This means that they
163 must be verified for the image to boot. Without this option, the verification
164 will be optional (useful for testing but not for release).
168 List image information:
173 Create legacy image with compressed PowerPC Linux kernel:
175 .B mkimage -A powerpc -O linux -T kernel -C gzip \\\\
177 .B -a 0 -e 0 -n Linux -d vmlinux.gz uImage
180 Create FIT image with compressed PowerPC Linux kernel:
182 .B mkimage -f kernel.its kernel.itb
185 Create FIT image with compressed kernel and sign it with keys in the
186 /public/signing-keys directory. Add corresponding public keys into u-boot.dtb,
187 skipping those for which keys cannot be found. Also add a comment.
189 .B mkimage -f kernel.its -k /public/signing-keys -K u-boot.dtb \\\\
191 .B -c """Kernel 3.8 image for production devices""" kernel.itb
195 Update an existing FIT image, signing it with additional keys.
196 Add corresponding public keys into u-boot.dtb. This will resign all images
197 with keys that are available in the new directory. Images that request signing
198 with unavailable keys are skipped.
200 .B mkimage -F -k /secret/signing-keys -K u-boot.dtb \\\\
202 .B -c """Kernel 3.8 image for production devices""" kernel.itb
206 Create a FIT image containing a kernel, using automatic mode. No .its file
209 .B mkimage -f auto -A arm -O linux -T kernel -C none -a 43e00000 -e 0 \\\\
211 .B -c """Kernel 4.4 image for production devices""" -d vmlinuz kernel.itb
214 Create a FIT image containing a kernel and some device tree files, using
215 automatic mode. No .its file is required.
217 .B mkimage -f auto -A arm -O linux -T kernel -C none -a 43e00000 -e 0 \\\\
219 .B -c """Kernel 4.4 image for production devices""" -d vmlinuz \\\\
220 .B -b /path/to/rk3288-firefly.dtb -b /path/to/rk3288-jerry.dtb kernel.itb
224 http://www.denx.de/wiki/U-Boot/WebHome
227 This manual page was written by Nobuhiro Iwamatsu <iwamatsu@nigauri.org>
228 and Wolfgang Denk <wd@denx.de>. It was updated for image signing by
229 Simon Glass <sjg@chromium.org>.