Etcher as a Service
Specification
Process
The following workflow describes the current process of a customer placing an order for SD cards provisioned with their specified OS image.
An order is composed of the following options:
- SD Card Type (SanDisk Ultra microSD, etc.)
- SD Card Size (8GB, 16GB, etc.)
- Quantity of SD Cards
- Image file (url to customer's image or balena
org/fleet)- {optional} If it is a balena image, specify OS version and/or pinned application release
- Delivery address(es)
- {optional} SD Card branding, e.g. stickers on cases
FAQ
Q) What is Etcher as a Service?
A) Etcher as a Service is a process for taking customer files, data, images, etc. and flashing them to N number of SD cards. The process handles purchasing, flashing and distributing SD cards so that the customer only needs to upload data to their file hosting platform of choice, specify how many SD cards and where they should be delivered.
Q) Why are only 32GB Sandisk microSD cards available to choose from?
A) This product is in early access and we are constraining the process to a small subset of the products we plan to offer in the future. As this develops, we plan to increase the selection of storage mediums.
Q) What file types are supported?
A) Initially .iso, .img, .img.zip and .img.tar.gz file types are supported.
Please ensure you are using the correct file extension when you host your image file.
If the wrong file type is provided, we will contact you.
Q) Where should I host my file?
A) Anywhere as long as it is accessible via a url, e.g. it should download when you click the link.
Some suggested options are Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, etc.
In the future, we plan to support authenticated access so you can upload private file types.
Q) How will I receive the mSD cards?
A) Your mSD cards will be delivered via a plastic tray for distribution and packaging.
Issues
None known so far.