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I am new to Yocto so apologies for any mistakes.

I understand roughly that Yocto can be used for Embedded linux. (I got one example of installing it and running it on a Rapsberry Pi). I also read about running a emulator in the host computer.

My question is, is there a way to run Yocto inside a (docker) container? So that I can run this container on my PC

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Yocto is a tool for building a custom Linux-based OS for your chosen hardware target (e.g. Raspberry Pi, x86-64 PC, etc.). It also fully supports various devices emulated by QEMU, which is helpful for development and testing.

It is quite straightforward to run your Yocto builds inside containers during development (e.g. using a ubuntu-20.04 container), and this helpfully keeps your development environment consistent.

However, if you would like to use Yocto to build a container that you can then run using Docker (rather than building for a specific board or emulator), then this is more complex and not supported out-of-the-box. Containers typically don't need a complete filesystem and kernel to run (this is Yocto's usual output), and so there is quite a lot of work required to trim it down and configure it to do this. There was a presentation at ELC 2018 about it (video, slides).

Perhaps take a look through the Overview and Concepts Manual, which explains a bit more information about the architecture, QEMU emulator, and development environment.

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Thanks!. >t is quite straightforward to run your Yocto builds inside containers during development (e.g. using a ubuntu-20.04 container), > By this you mean having a ubuntu container as a "Host" where to build the yocto images?
>chosen hardware target (e.g. Raspberry Pi, x86-64 PC, > I understand the Rpi case, but what do you mean x86-64 PC? Does that mean I can build a linux-based OS for the PC and run it there? Inside a container? a bit of detail here will be appreciated
Yes, in the ubuntu-20.04 example, it would be the host PC. You are correct about x86-64 target - Yocto could build an OS that you could boot on it. It would not run in a container, although you could include the docker package if you wanted to use Docker within that OS.
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Kas is a very good project which match your requirement very well.

Kas is a setup tool for bitbake-based projects. It simplifies the process of managing and building Yocto Project-based systems. Here are some key features provided by the kas build tool:

  • Cloning and Checking Out Bitbake Layers:

kas can clone and checkout bitbake layers, making it easier to manage your project’s dependencies.

  • Creating Default Bitbake Settings:

It initializes default bitbake settings such as machine type, architecture, etc.

  • Launching a Minimal Build Environment:

kas starts a minimal build environment, reducing the risk of host contamination. This environment is isolated from the host system, ensuring a clean build process.

  • Initiating the Bitbake Build Process: Once set up, kas can initiate the bitbake build process for your embedded Linux system.

You can check the detail at: https://kas.readthedocs.io/en/latest/

You can install kas via pip or just clone it from github. It has a script kas-container to run the build inside container which already have all yocto dependent software installed.

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any affiliation? /help/promotion also, please show how to use it to solve the problem in the question.

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