Using KIWI NG in a Python Project

Note

Abstract

KIWI NG is provided as a Python module under the kiwi namespace. It is available for the Python 3 version. The following description applies for KIWI NG version 10.2.24.

KIWI NG can also function as a module for other Python projects. The following example demonstrates how to read an existing image description, add a new repository definition, and export the modified description on stdout.

import sys
import logging

from kiwi.xml_description import XMLDescription
from kiwi.xml_state import XMLState

description = XMLDescription('path/to/kiwi/XML/config.xml')

xml_data = description.load()

xml_state = XMLState(
    xml_data=xml_data, profiles=[], build_type='iso'
)

xml_state.add_repository(
    repo_source='http://repo',
    repo_type='rpm-md',
    repo_alias='myrepo',
    repo_prio=99
)

xml_data.export(
    outfile=sys.stdout, level=0
)

Each class in the example is responsible for a single tasks, so they can be reused in other user cases. Therefore it is possible to use KIWI NG beyond the main image building scope, for example to manage setup of loop devices, filesystems, partitions, etc.

This means KIWI NG offers a way to describe a system, but you can choose whether you want to use the KIWI NG description format or not. The following example shows how to use KIWI NG to create a simple filesystem image which contains your host tmp directory.

import logging

from kiwi.storage.loop_device import LoopDevice
from kiwi.filesystem import FileSystem

with LoopDevice(
    filename='my_tmp.ext4', filesize_mbytes=100
) as loop_provider:
    loop_provider.create()

    filesystem = FileSystem.new(
        'ext4', loop_provider, '/tmp/'
    )
    filesystem.create_on_device(
        label='TMP'
    )
    filesystem.sync_data()