RPI-IMAGER(1)

📦
version 2.0.12 · 2 versions
, in arch rolling

💾 rpi-imager 💾

okay so bestie, welcome to the rpi-imager manual page — it's the General Commands Manual for rpi-imager, and i'm literally about to make flashing disk images make sense. no cap, this tool is iconic. ✨

🌸 NAME 🌸

rpi-imager — flash disk images to removable storage 🎀

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

okay so here's the vibe check on how you run this thing:

rpi-imager [--debug] [--repo url] [--qm translations]
           [--disable-telemetry] [--enable-secure-boot] [image-uri]

rpi-imager --cli [--debug] [--quiet] [--disable-verify]
           [--sha256 expected-hash] [--secure-boot-key key-file] image-
           uri destination-device

rpi-imager --version

rpi-imager --help

💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

so rpi-imager is literally a utility for writing a disk image file — which may optionally be compressed — to a removable destination disk. think micro-SD card or a USB-attached SSD drive. it's giving "main character energy" for all your flashing needs. 🔥

when you run it without further command line arguments, the utility presents a simple graphical interface with controls for image-file selection, target drive selection, and one to start writing. in this mode, the Raspberry Pi server (and potentially third party servers) will be queried for available OS images. you may also specify an image-uri (which may be a local file, or an HTTP or HTTPS URL) to flash directly on the command line. 🫶

when run with the --cli argument, the utility directly flashes the image-uri given to the specified destination-drive. in this case, the --sha256 option can be used to pass in the expected SHA256 checksum of the image. ngl, that's lowkey iconic. ✨

⭐ OPTIONS ⭐

okay bestie, here's the full menu of flags — every single one, no skips, fr fr:

  • --cli — Do not launch the graphical interface; just flash the image given to the specified drive. In this mode, the image-uri and destination-device must both be specified. 💖
  • --debug — Output extra debugging information on the console. lowkey useful when things get messy. 🐛
  • --disable-telemetry — Do not report OS writes to http://rpi-imager-stats.raspberrypi.com/. keep your business private, periodt. 🙈
  • --disable-verify — After writing the image, do not attempt to verify that the image was written correctly. Only valid when run with --cli. 💀
  • --enable-secure-boot — Force enable the secure boot customization step in the GUI, regardless of whether the selected operating system declares support for secure boot via its capabilities flag. Useful for testing or advanced usage scenarios where secure boot signing should be available even for operating systems that don't explicitly advertise the feature. 👑
  • --help — Display a synopsis of the command line syntax and exit. the classic "help me help you" moment. 🫶
  • --quiet — Suppress all console output. Only valid when run with --cli. shhh bestie, we're being sneaky. 🤫
  • --qm translations — Specify an alternate Qt message translations file to use with the GUI. for my multilingual besties. 🌈
  • --repo url — Instead of querying the Raspberry Pi servers for the list of available OS images, query this URL instead. The URL will be expected to return a JSON file conforming to the format described in the associated json-schema. 🧚
  • --secure-boot-key key-file — Path to an RSA 2048-bit private key file in PEM format for signing the boot partition to enable Raspberry Pi secure boot. When specified, the utility will create boot.img and boot.sig files on the boot partition. The key file must exist and be readable. This option can be combined with other customization options like --first-run-script or --cloudinit-userdata. Only valid when run with --cli. 🔐
  • --sha256 expected-hash — Verify that the image matches the expected-hash before writing it to the specified destination. Only valid when run with --cli. ✅
  • --version — Report the version of the utility, and the default URI it will attempt to query to determine the available OS images. know your roots, bestie. 💜
  • image-uri — If specified, the URI of the image to write to the destination. This may be a local file, or a remote URL supporting the HTTP or HTTPS protocols. This must be specified when using --cli. 🍓
  • destination-device — The device to which to write the specified image, e.g. /dev/mmcblk0. Only valid when run with --cli. the place where the magic happens. ✨

🌟 EXAMPLES 🌟

okay so here's where it gets fun — real commands, real vibes:

  • rpi-imager — Launch the graphical interface. simple. iconic. 💅
  • rpi-imager --repo http://localhost:8080/os_list_utility.json — Test a locally hosted version of the OS list with the graphical interface. for my dev besties testing things out. 🛠️
  • rpi-imager --cli --disable-verify test.img /dev/mmcblk0 — Write test.img to /dev/mmcblk0 without any verification of the image itself, and no check that the image flashed correctly. This also avoids launching the graphical interface. lowkey risky but you got this. 😭
  • rpi-imager --cli --secure-boot-key ~/secure-boot-key.pem raspios.img /dev/mmcblk0 — Write raspios.img to /dev/mmcblk0 and sign the boot partition with the RSA private key located at ~/secure-boot-key.pem. This enables Raspberry Pi secure boot verification. 🔥
  • rpi-imager --enable-secure-boot — Launch the graphical interface with secure boot customization step enabled for all operating systems, regardless of their declared capabilities. The RSA key must still be configured in the App Options dialog. 👑

🔍 SEE ALSO 🔍

dd(1) — the OG, the classic, the one your CS professor told you to use. 💀

💖✨ and that's literally it, bestie ✨💖

this page is from the General Commands Manual — source and version are the whole RPI-IMAGER(1) situation, and the date is right there in the footer, so consider this your cute little sign-off. now go flash some drives and slay. 💅🎀🦋

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