Uploaded January 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Layer meta-virtualization in Yocto/OpenEmbedded is a specialized layer designed to enable virtualization and containerization technologies, including Docker, on embedded platforms like the Raspberry Pi 5. By integrating this layer into a Yocto-based distribution, developers gain access to recipes and configurations that simplify the inclusion of Docker and related tools in their custom images and Linux distributions. This layer provides support for key components such as container runtimes, management tools, and dependencies required to build and run containerized applications efficiently on resource-constrained devices. Layer meta-virtualization depends on several sub-layers from meta-openembedded: meta-oe, meta-python, meta-filesystems and meta-networking. In the first video about the Yocto Project on Raspberry Pi I showed you how to built core-image-base, in the second I enabled SSH and in this third video the exact steps how to run Docker containers on Raspberry Pi 5 are shown. Follow the steps below to achieve the same result on your setup:
* Download meta-virtualization
git clone -b scarthgap git://git.yoctoproject.org/meta-virtualization
* Download meta-openembedded
git clone -b scarthgap git://git.openembedded.org/meta-openembedded
* Initialize the build environment:
source oe-init-build-env
* Add layers to bblayers.conf:
bitbake-layers add-layer ../meta-openembedded/meta-oe
bitbake-layers add-layer ../meta-openembedded/meta-python
bitbake-layers add-layer ../meta-openembedded/meta-networking
bitbake-layers add-layer ../meta-openembedded/meta-filesystems
bitbake-layers add-layer ../meta-virtualization
* Enable virtualization and install Docker to the image by adding the following two lines to end of conf/local.conf:
DISTRO_FEATURES:append = “ virtualiztion”
IMAGE_INSTALL:append = “ docker-moby”
* Build the image:
bitbake core-image-base
* Flash core-image-base on a microSD card and boot it on Raspberry Pi 5 as shown in the video
* Run hello-world Docker image
docker run -it hello-world
* Run WordPress Docker image and expose port 80:
docker run -it --expose 80 -p 80:80 wordpress
🔗 Related Videos
===
Episode 1: The Yocto Project on Raspberry Pi 5: Building an Embedded GNU Linux Distribution
youtu.be/fY7u6PiV8qA?si=-DgvkJ_yTsiX05vx
Episode 2: SSH for Remote Network Access
youtu.be/ltckiBV9FXg?si=DJwsKLDhHkDIqCIn
Episode 4: The Yocto Project on Raspberry Pi 5 Episode 4: U-Boot Bootloader
youtu.be/9tohomiv1Ug?si=kylUv0uT_BFmXt5g
Episode 5: Modifying U-Boot Environment in Linux with fw_setenv
youtu.be/SB5NvIF1IEU?si=0So6Gfv9hQR7gQgY
Episode 6: Runtime Package Management with apt and deb Packages
youtu.be/6i5UtF7fiaA?si=8DuUHUxywVEEtdyN
Episode 7: Create a New Layer, a New Recipe (.bb) and .bbappend
youtu.be/W5J1W_Cy14Y?si=ftu5WpeGqel8BZhf
📚 Useful Links
===
yoctoproject.org
docs.yoctoproject.org
openembedded.org/wiki/Main_Page
anavi.org/article/300
Layer meta-virtualization in Yocto/OpenEmbedded is a specialized layer designed to enable virtualization and containerization technologies, including Docker, on embedded platforms like the Raspberry Pi 5. By integrating this layer into a Yocto-based distribution, developers gain access to recipes and configurations that simplify the inclusion of Docker and related tools in their custom images and Linux distributions. This layer provides support for key components such as container runtimes, management tools, and dependencies required to build and run containerized applications efficiently on resource-constrained devices. Layer meta-virtualization depends on several sub-layers from meta-openembedded: meta-oe, meta-python, meta-filesystems and meta-networking. In the first video about the Yocto Project on Raspberry Pi I showed you how to built core-image-base, in the second I enabled SSH and in this third video the exact steps how to run Docker containers on Raspberry Pi 5 are shown. Follow the steps below to achieve the same result on your setup:
* Download meta-virtualization
git clone -b scarthgap git://git.yoctoproject.org/meta-virtualization
* Download meta-openembedded
git clone -b scarthgap git://git.openembedded.org/meta-openembedded
* Initialize the build environment:
source oe-init-build-env
* Add layers to bblayers.conf:
bitbake-layers add-layer ../meta-openembedded/meta-oe
bitbake-layers add-layer ../meta-openembedded/meta-python
bitbake-layers add-layer ../meta-openembedded/meta-networking
bitbake-layers add-layer ../meta-openembedded/meta-filesystems
bitbake-layers add-layer ../meta-virtualization
* Enable virtualization and install Docker to the image by adding the following two lines to end of conf/local.conf:
DISTRO_FEATURES:append = “ virtualiztion”
IMAGE_INSTALL:append = “ docker-moby”
* Build the image:
bitbake core-image-base
* Flash core-image-base on a microSD card and boot it on Raspberry Pi 5 as shown in the video
* Run hello-world Docker image
docker run -it hello-world
* Run WordPress Docker image and expose port 80:
docker run -it --expose 80 -p 80:80 wordpress
🔗 Related Videos
===
Episode 1: The Yocto Project on Raspberry Pi 5: Building an Embedded GNU Linux Distribution
youtu.be/fY7u6PiV8qA?si=-DgvkJ_yTsiX05vx
Episode 2: SSH for Remote Network Access
youtu.be/ltckiBV9FXg?si=DJwsKLDhHkDIqCIn
Episode 4: The Yocto Project on Raspberry Pi 5 Episode 4: U-Boot Bootloader
youtu.be/9tohomiv1Ug?si=kylUv0uT_BFmXt5g
Episode 5: Modifying U-Boot Environment in Linux with fw_setenv
youtu.be/SB5NvIF1IEU?si=0So6Gfv9hQR7gQgY
Episode 6: Runtime Package Management with apt and deb Packages
youtu.be/6i5UtF7fiaA?si=8DuUHUxywVEEtdyN
Episode 7: Create a New Layer, a New Recipe (.bb) and .bbappend
youtu.be/W5J1W_Cy14Y?si=ftu5WpeGqel8BZhf
📚 Useful Links
===
yoctoproject.org
docs.yoctoproject.org
openembedded.org/wiki/Main_Page
anavi.org/article/300
