The Armbian project has introduced a new utility called Armbian Imager, designed for flashing the Armbian operating system onto single-board computers (SBCs). This utility supports over 300 boards, organized by manufacturer, and features advanced filtering options for Armbian builds, allowing users to choose between stable and nightly versions, as well as varying types of setups (desktop, server, minimal) and kernel variants.
Despite its compact size of just 15MB, Armbian Imager includes several useful features. It automatically detects device connections or disconnections (hot-swap support), allows the use of custom image files in various formats (.img, .img.xz, .img.gz, .img.bz2, .img.zst), and can exclude system disks from the flashing process. Additionally, it provides SHA256 read-back verification after writing, supports 15 different languages, and includes a one-click error log upload feature with a QR code for convenience. Users can choose between light and dark themes that align with their system preferences.
The interface is designed to be modern and user-friendly, with a simple four-step process: selecting the manufacturer or custom image, choosing the board model, picking an Armbian build, and selecting the storage medium.
The beta version of Armbian Imager is available for public testing on GitHub, where users can also find instructions for building the tool from source if desired. However, it’s advised to use the pre-built binaries for stability. Keep in mind that as a beta release, it may have limitations and bugs which should improve in the forthcoming stable version.
For more information and to access the beta, visit the Armbian Imager GitHub page.