PlatformIO Docker Build
Run the PlatformIO command-line builder in a docker container. This image will take it from there and turn your PlatformIO project into a binary which you then can flash to the ESP8266.
Target audience
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IoT application developers
They just need a ready-made firmware.
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Occasional firmware hackers
They don't need full control over the complete tool chain and don't want to setup a Linux VM with the build environment.
This image has been created for purposes of the THiNX IoT management platform.
Usage
Install Docker
Follow the instructions at https://docs.docker.com/get-started/.
Run this image with Docker
Start terminal and change to the your PlatformIO project directory. Then run:
docker run --rm -ti -v `pwd`:/opt/workspace suculent/platformio-docker-build
Depending on the performance of your system it takes 1-3min until the compilation finishes. The first time you run this it takes longer because Docker needs to download the image and create a container.
docker pull suculent/platformio-docker-build
Note for Windows users
(Docker on) Windows handles paths slightly differently. The command thus becomes (c equals C drive i.e. c:):
docker run --rm -it -v //c/Users/<user>/<workspace>:/opt/platformio-builder suculent/platformio-docker-build
If the Windows path contains spaces it would have to be wrapped in quotes as usual on Windows.
`docker run --rm -it -v "//c/Users/monster tune/"/opt/workspace suculent/platformio-docker-build``
Output
The firmware file is created in the bin sub folder of your root directory. You will also find a mapfile in the bin folder with the same name as the firmware file but with a .map ending.
Options
You can pass the following optional parameters to the Docker build like so docker run -e "<parameter>=value" -e ....
WORKDIRJust an parametrization example, will deprecate or be used for additional libraries.
Flashing the built binary
There are several tools to flash the firmware to the ESP8266. If you were to use esptool (like I do) you'd run:
esptool.py --port <USB-port-with-ESP8266> write_flash 0x00000 <workspace>/bin/firmware.bin
Pre-cached platforms
You may edit Dockerfile in order to pre-build image with your preferred platform. Initially, this image is configured to kick-start builds for ESP8266 and ESP32.
Support
Don't leave comments on Docker Hub that are intended to be support requests. First, Docker Hub doesn't notify me when you write them, second I can't properly reply and third even if I could often it doesn't make much sense to keep them around forever and a day. Instead ask a question on StackOverflow and assign the platformio and docker tags.
For bugs and improvement suggestions create an issue at https://github.com/suculent/platformio-docker-build/issues.
Credits
Thanks to Marcel Stoer who inspired me with his NodeMCU firmware builder on http://frightanic.com