Provided by: kiwi_10.2.27-1_amd64 
NAME
kiwi - Creating Operating System Images
SYNOPSIS
kiwi-ng [global options] service <command> [<args>]
kiwi-ng -h | --help
kiwi-ng [--profile=<name>...]
[--setenv=<variable=value>...]
[--temp-dir=<directory>]
[--type=<build_type>]
[--logfile=<filename>]
[--logsocket=<socketfile>]
[--loglevel=<number>]
[--debug]
[--debug-run-scripts-in-screen]
[--color-output]
[--config=<configfile>]
[--kiwi-file=<kiwifile>]
image <command> [<args>...]
kiwi-ng [--logfile=<filename>]
[--logsocket=<socketfile>]
[--loglevel=<number>]
[--debug]
[--debug-run-scripts-in-screen]
[--color-output]
[--config=<configfile>]
result <command> [<args>...]
kiwi-ng [--profile=<name>...]
[--setenv=<variable=value>...]
[--shared-cache-dir=<directory>]
[--temp-dir=<directory>]
[--target-arch=<name>]
[--type=<build_type>]
[--logfile=<filename>]
[--logsocket=<socketfile>]
[--loglevel=<number>]
[--debug]
[--debug-run-scripts-in-screen]
[--color-output]
[--config=<configfile>]
[--kiwi-file=<kiwifile>]
system <command> [<args>...]
kiwi-ng -v | --version
kiwi-ng help
DESCRIPTION
KIWI NG is an imaging solution that is based on an image XML description. A description can consist of a
single config.xml or .kiwi file. It may also include additional files, such as scripts or configuration
data.
A collection of example image descriptions can be found in the following GitHub repository: ‐
https://github.com/OSInside/kiwi-descriptions. Most of the descriptions provide a so-called appliance
image. Appliance is a small, text-based image including a predefined remote source setup to allow
installation of missing software components.
Although KIWI NG operates in two steps, the system build command combines both steps into one to make it
easier to start with KIWI NG.
The first step is to prepare a directory that includes the contents of a new filesystem based on one or
more software package sources. The second step uses the prepared contents of the new image root tree to
create an output image.
KIWI NG supports the creation of the following image types:
• ISO Live Systems
• virtual disk for e.g cloud frameworks
• OEM expandable disk for system deployment from ISO or the network
• file system images for deployment in a PXE boot environment
Depending on the image type, different disk formats and architectures are supported.
GLOBAL OPTIONS
--color-output
Use escape sequences to print different types of information in colored output. for this option to
work, the underlying terminal must support those escape characters. Error messages appear in red,
warning messages in yellow, and debugging information is printed in light grey.
--config=<configfile>
Use specified runtime configuration file. If not specified, the runtime configuration is expected
to be in the ~/.config/kiwi/config.yml or /etc/kiwi.yml files.
--debug
Print debug information on the command line. Same as: --loglevel 10.
--debug-run-scripts-in-screen
Run scripts called by KIWI NG in a screen session.
--logfile=<filename>
Specify log file. The logfile contains detailed information about the process. The special call:
--logfile stdout sends all information to standard out instead of writing to a file.
--logsocket=<socketfile>
Send log data to the specified Unix Domain socket in the same format as with --logfile.
--loglevel=<number>
Specify logging level as a number. Further info about the available log levels can be found at: ‐
https://docs.python.org/3/library/logging.html#logging-levels Setting a log level displays all
messages above the specified level.
----------------------------
| Level | Numeric value |
----------------------------
| CRITICAL | 50 |
| ERROR | 40 |
| WARNING | 30 |
| INFO | 20 |
| DEBUG | 10 |
| NOTSET | 0 |
----------------------------
--profile=<name>
Select profile to use. The specified profile must be part of the XML description. The option can
be specified multiple times to allow a combination of profiles.
--setenv=<variable=value>
export environment variable and its value into the caller environment. This option can be
specified multiple times
--shared-cache-dir=<directory>
Specify an alternative shared cache directory. The directory is shared via bind mount between the
build host and image root system, and it contains information about package repositories and their
cache and meta data. The default location is /var/cache/kiwi.
--temp-dir=<directory>
Specify an alternative base temporary directory. The provided path is used as base directory to
store temporary files and directories. Default is /var/tmp.
--target-arch=<name>
Specify an image architecture. By default, the host architecture is used as the image
architecture. If the specified architecture name does not match the host architecture (thus
requesting a cross architecture image build), you must configure the support for the image
architecture and binary format on the building host. This must be done during the preparation
stage, and it is beyond the scope of KIWI NG.
--type=<build_type>
Select an image build type. The specified build type must be configured as part of the XML
description.
--kiwi-file=<kiwifile>
Basename of kiwi file that contains the main image configuration elements. If not specified, kiwi
uses a file named config.xml or a file matching *.kiwi
--version
Show program version
EXAMPLE
$ git clone https://github.com/OSInside/kiwi
$ sudo kiwi-ng system build \
--description kiwi/build-tests/x86/leap/test-image-disk \
--set-repo https://download.opensuse.org/distribution/leap/15.6/repo/oss \
--target-dir /tmp/myimage
AUTHOR
Marcus Schäfer
COPYRIGHT
2020-2025, Marcus Schäfer
10.2.27 Jul 14, 2025 KIWI(8)