Embedded Development Docker Containers

Reusable Docker containers for embedded systems development. Can be used across multiple projects with your own Docker registry or Docker Hub.

📦 Available Containers

1. ARM Cortex-M Development (arm-cortex-m/)

• ARM GNU Toolchain 13.3
• OpenOCD with ST-Link, J-Link support
• GDB multiarch
• STM32CubeMX compatible
• Platforms: STM32, NRF52, SAMD, LPC, etc.

2. ESP32 Development (esp32/)

• ESP-IDF v5.1.2
• Esptool, ESP-IDF tools
• Support for ESP32, ESP32-S2, ESP32-S3, ESP32-C3
• Platforms: ESP32 all variants

3. RISC-V Development (riscv/)

• RISC-V GCC toolchain 13.2.0
• OpenOCD RISC-V support
• Platforms: GD32V, CH32V, SiFive, etc.

4. Renesas RA Development (renesas-ra/)

• ARM GNU Toolchain 13.3
• J-Link Software & Tools
• OpenOCD with J-Link support
• Platforms: RA2, RA4, RA6 series (Cortex-M23/M4/M33)

5. Multi-Platform PlatformIO (platformio/)

• PlatformIO Core
• Support for 50+ platforms
• Arduino framework
• Platforms: Universal embedded development

6. Complete Embedded Suite (complete/)

• All toolchains in one container
• Best for development workstations
• ~15.7GB image size (includes all tools)

🚀 Quick Usage

Build Containers

# Build specific container
cd arm-cortex-m
docker build -t <your-registry>/embedded-arm-cortex-m:latest .

# Build all containers
./build-all.sh

Push to Your Registry

# Tag for your registry (Docker Hub example)
docker tag embedded-arm-cortex-m:latest yourusername/embedded-arm-cortex-m:latest
docker push yourusername/embedded-arm-cortex-m:latest

# Or use your private registry
docker tag embedded-arm-cortex-m:latest registry.example.com/embedded-arm-cortex-m:latest
docker push registry.example.com/embedded-arm-cortex-m:latest

Pull and Run

# Pull from your registry
docker pull yourusername/embedded-arm-cortex-m:latest

# Run container
docker run -it --rm \
  --privileged \
  -v $(pwd):/workspace \
  yourusername/embedded-arm-cortex-m:latest

📚 Documentation

• Quick Start Guide - Basic usage examples
• DevContainer Guide - VS Code DevContainer integration
• Setup Summary - Container specifications
• Recommendations - Best practices

📋 Common Workflow

1. Development with Volume Mounting

# Start container with your project
docker run -it --rm \
  --name my-embedded-project \
  -v /path/to/project:/workspace \
  -v build-cache:/workspace/build \
  yourusername/embedded-arm-cortex-m:latest bash

# Inside container
cd /workspace
cmake -B build && cmake --build build

2. Flash Hardware

# With USB device passthrough
docker run -it --rm \
  --privileged \
  --device=/dev/bus/usb:/dev/bus/usb \
  -v $(pwd):/workspace \
  yourusername/embedded-arm-cortex-m:latest \
  openocd -f interface/stlink.cfg -f target/stm32f4x.cfg \
  -c "program /workspace/build/firmware.elf verify reset exit"

3. Using Docker Compose

version: '3.8'
services:
  embedded-dev:
    image: yourusername/embedded-arm-cortex-m:latest
    privileged: true
    devices:
      - /dev/bus/usb:/dev/bus/usb
    volumes:
      - ./:/workspace
      - build-cache:/workspace/build
    working_dir: /workspace

🔧 Container Details

All containers include:

• Non-root user (developer:developer, UID/GID 1000)
• USB device rules for debugging/flashing
• Common build tools (cmake, ninja, make)
• Git for version control
• Pre-configured toolchains in /opt/

🛠️ Customization

Modify Dockerfiles

Each directory contains a Dockerfile you can customize:

• Change toolchain versions
• Add additional tools
• Modify default configurations

Build with Custom Tags

docker build -t mycompany/embedded-arm:v1.0 ./arm-cortex-m/

📊 Container Sizes

Container	Size	Main Components
arm-cortex-m	~1.7GB	ARM GCC, OpenOCD
esp32	~10GB	ESP-IDF, Python tools
riscv	~3.3GB	RISC-V GCC, OpenOCD
renesas-ra	~1.7GB	ARM GCC, J-Link
platformio	~3.7GB	PlatformIO, 7 platforms
complete	~16GB	All toolchains combined

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Feel free to:

• Report bugs
• Suggest new features
• Submit pull requests
• Share your configurations

📝 License

MIT License - See LICENSE file for details

🔗 Related Projects

• VS Code Remote - Containers
• DevContainer Specification
• PlatformIO
• ESP-IDF

💡 Tips

• Use volume mounts for build caches to speed up compilation
• Keep containers running for multiple build iterations
• Use .dockerignore in your projects to exclude unnecessary files
• Configure VS Code DevContainers for team consistency