add PS5 kernel build pipeline with multi-distro support and arm64 cross-compile

.github/workflows/dispatch.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+name: Dispatch to CI
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - main
+
+jobs:
+  dispatch:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Send repository_dispatch
+        uses: peter-evans/repository-dispatch@v3
+        with:
+          token: ${{ secrets.DISPATCH_TOKEN }}
+          repository: resulknad/ps5-vps-setup
+          event-type: image-builder-updated
+          client-payload: '{"sha": "${{ github.sha }}"}'

.gitignore

@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 cache/
+ccache/
 work/
 output/
 linux-bin/
 build.log
 
+*.swp
+patches.diff

README.md

@@ -47,6 +47,8 @@ sudo dd if=output/ps5-ubuntu2604.img of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress
 | `--kernel` | Path to kernel source directory | auto-clone `v6.19.10` |
 | `--img-size` | Disk image size in MB | `12000` (`32000` for `all`) |
 | `--clean` | Remove all cached build artifacts and start fresh | off |
+| `--kernel-only` | Build and package the kernel only, then exit | off |
+| `--patches-ref` | Branch, tag, or commit SHA for patches | `v1.0` |
 
 ## Caching
 
@@ -105,10 +107,27 @@ All verbose output goes to `build.log`. The terminal shows a spinner with live p
 
 The boot partition contains kexec scripts to switch between distros at runtime. Ubuntu 26.04 is the default boot target.
 
+## Building the Kernel Standalone
+
+Use `--kernel-only` to compile the PS5 kernel and produce installable packages without building a full disk image.
+
+```bash
+./build_image.sh --kernel-only                                # .deb (default)
+./build_image.sh --kernel-only --distro all                   # .deb + .pkg.tar.zst
+./build_image.sh --kernel-only --patches-ref main             # fetch from specific branch/tag
+./build_image.sh --kernel-only --clean                        # wipe and rebuild from scratch
+```
+
+Output packages are written to `linux-bin/`. Install on a running PS5 Linux system:
+
+```bash
+sudo dpkg -i linux-bin/linux-ps5_*.deb
+```
+
 ## Directory Layout
 
 ```
-build_image.sh                  # Main build script
+build_image.sh                  # Image builder (also supports --kernel-only)
 docker/
   kernel-builder/               # Kernel compilation container
   kernel-builder-arch/         # Repackages .deb kernel as .pkg.tar.zst

build_image.sh

@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ DISTRO="ubuntu2604"
 KERNEL_SRC=""
 CLEAN=false
 IMG_SIZE=12000
+KERNEL_ONLY=false
+PATCHES_REF="v1.0"
 
 MULTI_DISTROS="ubuntu2604 arch alpine cachyos"
 
@@ -19,15 +21,19 @@ usage() {
     echo "  --kernel     Path to kernel source directory (default: auto-clone to work/linux/)"
     echo "  --img-size   Disk image size in MB (default: 12000, 32000 for --distro all)"
     echo "  --clean      Remove all cached build artifacts and start from scratch"
+    echo "  --kernel-only  Build and package the kernel only, then exit"
+    echo "  --patches-ref  Branch, tag, or commit SHA for patches (default: v1.0)"
     exit 1
 }
 
 while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
     case $1 in
-        --distro)    DISTRO="$2";      shift 2 ;;
+        --distro)    DISTRO="$2";          shift 2 ;;
-        --kernel)    KERNEL_SRC="$2";  shift 2 ;;
+        --kernel)    KERNEL_SRC="$2";      shift 2 ;;
-        --img-size)  IMG_SIZE="$2";    shift 2 ;;
+        --img-size)  IMG_SIZE="$2";        shift 2 ;;
-        --clean)     CLEAN=true;       shift ;;
+        --clean)     CLEAN=true;           shift ;;
+        --kernel-only) KERNEL_ONLY=true;   shift ;;
+        --patches-ref) [ -n "$2" ] && PATCHES_REF="$2"; shift 2 ;;
         -h|--help)   usage ;;
         *) echo "Unknown option: $1"; usage ;;
     esac
@@ -36,10 +42,8 @@ done
 LINUX_REPO="https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git"
 LINUX_DEFAULT_DIR="$SCRIPT_DIR/work/linux"
 
-PATCHES_REPO="https://github.com/ps5-linux/ps5-linux-patches.git"
+PATCHES_REPO="https://github.com/resulknad/ps5-linux-patches.git"
-PATCHES_BRANCH="v1.0"
 PATCHES_DIR="$SCRIPT_DIR/work/ps5-linux-patches"
-PATCHES_CONFIG=".config"
 
 if [ -z "$KERNEL_SRC" ]; then
     KERNEL_SRC="$LINUX_DEFAULT_DIR"
@@ -49,14 +53,25 @@ KERNEL_OUT="$SCRIPT_DIR/linux-bin"
 OUTPUT_DIR="$SCRIPT_DIR/output"
 CHROOT_DIR="$SCRIPT_DIR/work/chroot"
 CACHE_DIR="$SCRIPT_DIR/work/cache"
-CCACHE_DIR="$SCRIPT_DIR/cache/ccache"
+CCACHE_DIR="${CCACHE_DIR:-$SCRIPT_DIR/ccache}"
 LOG_FILE="$SCRIPT_DIR/build.log"
 DOCKER_NAME="ps5-build-$$"
 
+
+
 if [ "$DISTRO" = "all" ] && [ "$IMG_SIZE" = "12000" ]; then
     IMG_SIZE=32000
 fi
 
+if [ -z "$FORMAT" ]; then
+    case "$DISTRO" in arch) FORMAT="arch" ;; all) FORMAT="all" ;; *) FORMAT="deb" ;; esac
+fi
+
+KERNEL_BUILDER_PLATFORM="linux/amd64"
+case "$(uname -m)" in
+    aarch64|arm64) KERNEL_BUILDER_PLATFORM="linux/arm64" ;;
+esac
+
 # --- Signal trap: clean up docker containers and background jobs on exit ---
 BUILD_PID=""
 
@@ -73,14 +88,11 @@ trap cleanup INT TERM
 # --- Clean ---
 if [ "$CLEAN" = true ]; then
     echo "Cleaning all build artifacts..."
-    # Build artifacts contain root-owned files from Docker — use a container to remove them
+    for dir in "$SCRIPT_DIR/work" "$KERNEL_OUT" "$SCRIPT_DIR/cache" "$OUTPUT_DIR"; do
-    for dir in "$SCRIPT_DIR/work" "$KERNEL_OUT" "$SCRIPT_DIR/cache"; do
+        [ -d "$dir" ] && docker run --rm \
-        if [ -d "$dir" ]; then
+            -v "$(dirname "$dir")":/parent \
-            docker run --rm --privileged -v "$dir":/clean alpine sh -c 'rm -rf /clean/*'
+            alpine rm -rf "/parent/$(basename "$dir")"
-            rmdir "$dir" 2>/dev/null || true
-        fi
     done
-    rm -rf "$OUTPUT_DIR"
     echo "Done."
     echo ""
 fi
@@ -89,17 +101,13 @@ fi
 SKIP_KERNEL=false
 SKIP_CHROOT=false
 
-# Kernel packages already built?
+case "$FORMAT" in
-if [ "$DISTRO" = "arch" ] || [ "$DISTRO" = "cachyos" ]; then
+    arch) ls "$KERNEL_OUT"/*.pkg.tar.zst 1>/dev/null 2>&1 && SKIP_KERNEL=true ;;
-    ls "$KERNEL_OUT"/*.pkg.tar.zst 1>/dev/null 2>&1 && SKIP_KERNEL=true
+    all)  ls "$KERNEL_OUT"/*.deb 1>/dev/null 2>&1 && \
-elif [ "$DISTRO" = "all" ]; then
+          ls "$KERNEL_OUT"/*.pkg.tar.zst 1>/dev/null 2>&1 && SKIP_KERNEL=true ;;
-    ls "$KERNEL_OUT"/*.deb 1>/dev/null 2>&1 && \
+    *)    ls "$KERNEL_OUT"/*.deb 1>/dev/null 2>&1 && SKIP_KERNEL=true ;;
-    ls "$KERNEL_OUT"/*.pkg.tar.zst 1>/dev/null 2>&1 && SKIP_KERNEL=true
+esac
-else
-    ls "$KERNEL_OUT"/*.deb 1>/dev/null 2>&1 && SKIP_KERNEL=true
-fi
 
-# Chroot already populated?
 if [ "$DISTRO" = "all" ]; then
     SKIP_CHROOT=true
     for d in $MULTI_DISTROS; do
@@ -109,21 +117,18 @@ else
     [ -d "$CHROOT_DIR/bin" ] && SKIP_CHROOT=true
 fi
 
-if [ "$DISTRO" = "arch" ] || [ "$DISTRO" = "cachyos" ]; then
-    PKG_EXT="pkg.tar.zst"
-else
-    PKG_EXT="deb"
-fi
-
 # --- Build plan summary ---
 echo ""
 echo "PS5 Linux Image Builder"
 echo "======================="
-echo "  Distro:       $DISTRO"
+if [ "$KERNEL_ONLY" = true ]; then
-if [ "$DISTRO" = "all" ]; then
+    echo "  Mode:         kernel only"
-    echo "                ($MULTI_DISTROS)"
+    echo "  Format:       $FORMAT"
+else
+    echo "  Distro:       $DISTRO"
+    [ "$DISTRO" = "all" ] && echo "                ($MULTI_DISTROS)"
+    echo "  Image size:   ${IMG_SIZE}MB"
 fi
-echo "  Image size:   ${IMG_SIZE}MB"
 if [ -f "$PATCHES_DIR/.config" ]; then
     LINUX_BRANCH="v$(grep -m1 "^# Linux/" "$PATCHES_DIR/.config" | grep -oP '\d+\.\d+(\.\d+)?')"
     echo "  Kernel:       $LINUX_BRANCH"
@@ -135,19 +140,19 @@ echo ""
 echo "Stages:"
 if [ "$SKIP_KERNEL" = true ]; then
     echo "  1. Kernel            cached"
+elif [ -d "$KERNEL_SRC/.git" ]; then
+    echo "  1. Kernel            build (source cached)"
 else
-    if [ -d "$KERNEL_SRC/.git" ]; then
+    echo "  1. Kernel            clone + build"
-        echo "  1. Kernel            build (source cached)"
+fi
+if [ "$KERNEL_ONLY" = false ]; then
+    if [ "$SKIP_CHROOT" = true ]; then
+        echo "  2. Root filesystem   cached"
     else
-        echo "  1. Kernel            clone + build"
+        echo "  2. Root filesystem   build"
     fi
+    echo "  3. Disk image        build"
 fi
-if [ "$SKIP_CHROOT" = true ]; then
-    echo "  2. Root filesystem   cached"
-else
-    echo "  2. Root filesystem   build"
-fi
-echo "  3. Disk image        build"
 echo ""
 echo "Logs: $LOG_FILE"
 echo ""
@@ -160,6 +165,19 @@ SPIN_CHARS='⠋⠙⠹⠸⠼⠴⠦⠧⠇⠏'
 run_stage() {
     local name="$1"
     shift
+
+    if [ "${CI:-}" = "true" ]; then
+        echo "::group::$name"
+        local rc=0
+        "$@" || rc=$?
+        echo "::endgroup::"
+        if [ $rc -ne 0 ]; then
+            echo "::error::Build failed at: $name"
+            exit $rc
+        fi
+        return
+    fi
+
     local status_msg="$name"
     local spin_i=0
 
@@ -213,27 +231,31 @@ if [ "$SKIP_KERNEL" = true ]; then
     printf "  ✓ %-60s\n" "Kernel packages (cached)"
 else
     if [ ! -d "$KERNEL_SRC/.git" ]; then
-        LINUX_TMP_DIR="${LINUX_DEFAULT_DIR}.tmp"
+        REPO_URL="$PATCHES_REPO"
-        rm -rf "$LINUX_TMP_DIR"
+        [ -n "$PATCHES_TOKEN" ] && REPO_URL="${PATCHES_REPO/https:\/\//https:\/\/${PATCHES_TOKEN}@}"
+        
+
 
         mkdir -p "$PATCHES_DIR"
-        if [ ! -d "$PATCHES_DIR/.git" ]; then
+        run_stage "Fetch ps5-linux-patches ($PATCHES_REF)" bash -c '
-            run_stage "Clone ps5-linux-patches" \
+            cd "'"$PATCHES_DIR"'"
-                git clone --branch "$PATCHES_BRANCH" --depth 1 "$PATCHES_REPO" "$PATCHES_DIR"
+            [ ! -d .git ] && git init && git remote add origin "'"$REPO_URL"'"
-        else
+            git fetch --depth 1 origin "'"$PATCHES_REF"'" || git fetch origin "'"$PATCHES_REF"'"
-            run_stage "Update ps5-linux-patches" bash -c '
+            git reset --hard FETCH_HEAD
-                git -C "'"$PATCHES_DIR"'" fetch --depth 1 origin tag "'"$PATCHES_BRANCH"'"
+        '
-                git -C "'"$PATCHES_DIR"'" checkout "'"$PATCHES_BRANCH"'"
+        LINUX_TMP_DIR="${LINUX_DEFAULT_DIR}.tmp"
-                git -C "'"$PATCHES_DIR"'" reset --hard "'"$PATCHES_BRANCH"'"'
+        for dir in "$LINUX_TMP_DIR" "$LINUX_DEFAULT_DIR"; do
-        fi
+            [ -d "$dir" ] && docker run --rm \
+                -v "$(dirname "$dir")":/parent \
+                alpine rm -rf "/parent/$(basename "$dir")"
+        done
         LINUX_BRANCH="v$(grep -m1 "^# Linux/" "$PATCHES_DIR/.config" | grep -oP '\d+\.\d+(\.\d+)?')"
 
         run_stage "Clone kernel $LINUX_BRANCH" \
             git clone --branch "$LINUX_BRANCH" --depth 1 "$LINUX_REPO" "$LINUX_TMP_DIR"
 
         run_stage "Apply patches" bash -c '
-            set -e
+            set -e; shopt -s nullglob
-            shopt -s nullglob
             patches=("'"$PATCHES_DIR"'"/*.patch)
             [ ${#patches[@]} -eq 0 ] && { echo "No .patch files found in '"$PATCHES_DIR"'"; exit 1; }
             for p in "${patches[@]}"; do
@@ -242,63 +264,57 @@ else
             done'
 
         run_stage "Copy kernel config" \
-            cp "$PATCHES_DIR/$PATCHES_CONFIG" "$LINUX_TMP_DIR/.config"
+            cp "$PATCHES_DIR/.config" "$LINUX_TMP_DIR/.config"
 
         mv "$LINUX_TMP_DIR" "$LINUX_DEFAULT_DIR"
+        KERNEL_SRC="$LINUX_DEFAULT_DIR"
     else
         printf "  ✓ %-60s\n" "Kernel source (cached)"
     fi
 
     KERNEL_SRC="$(cd "$KERNEL_SRC" && pwd)"
 
-    rm -f "$KERNEL_OUT"/*.$PKG_EXT
+    rm -f "$KERNEL_OUT"/*.deb "$KERNEL_OUT"/*.pkg.tar.zst
 
     run_stage "Build kernel builder image" \
-        docker build -t ps5-kernel-builder -f "$SCRIPT_DIR/docker/kernel-builder/Dockerfile" "$SCRIPT_DIR"
+        docker build --platform "$KERNEL_BUILDER_PLATFORM" -t ps5-kernel-builder \
+            -f "$SCRIPT_DIR/docker/kernel-builder/Dockerfile" "$SCRIPT_DIR"
 
     run_stage "Compile kernel" \
-        docker run --rm --name "$DOCKER_NAME" \
+        docker run --rm --platform "$KERNEL_BUILDER_PLATFORM" --name "$DOCKER_NAME" \
             -v "$KERNEL_SRC":/src \
             -v "$KERNEL_OUT":/out \
             -v "$CCACHE_DIR":/ccache \
             ps5-kernel-builder
 
-    if [ "$DISTRO" = "all" ]; then
+    ls "$KERNEL_OUT/staging/lib/modules/" | head -1 > "$KERNEL_OUT/VERSION"
+
+    case "$FORMAT" in deb|all)
         run_stage "Package kernel (.deb)" \
-            docker run --rm --name "$DOCKER_NAME" \
+            docker run --rm --platform "$KERNEL_BUILDER_PLATFORM" --name "$DOCKER_NAME" \
                 -v "$KERNEL_SRC":/src \
                 -v "$KERNEL_OUT":/out \
                 -v "$CCACHE_DIR":/ccache \
                 ps5-kernel-builder \
-                bash -c 'make -j$(nproc) bindeb-pkg && cp /*.deb /out/'
+                /package-deb.sh
+    esac
 
+    case "$FORMAT" in arch|all)
         run_stage "Build arch packager image" \
             docker build -t ps5-kernel-packager-arch \
                 -f "$SCRIPT_DIR/docker/kernel-builder-arch/Dockerfile" "$SCRIPT_DIR"
-
         run_stage "Package kernel (.pkg.tar.zst)" \
             docker run --rm --name "$DOCKER_NAME" \
                 -v "$KERNEL_OUT":/out \
                 ps5-kernel-packager-arch
+    esac
+fi
 
-    elif [ "$DISTRO" = "arch" ] || [ "$DISTRO" = "cachyos" ]; then
+if [ "$KERNEL_ONLY" = true ]; then
-        run_stage "Build arch packager image" \
+    KVER=$(cat "$KERNEL_OUT/VERSION" 2>/dev/null || echo "unknown")
-            docker build -t ps5-kernel-packager-arch \
+    echo ""
-                -f "$SCRIPT_DIR/docker/kernel-builder-arch/Dockerfile" "$SCRIPT_DIR"
+    echo "Done! Kernel $KVER packages in $KERNEL_OUT/"
-
+    exit 0
-        run_stage "Package kernel (.pkg.tar.zst)" \
-            docker run --rm --name "$DOCKER_NAME" \
-                -v "$KERNEL_OUT":/out \
-                ps5-kernel-packager-arch
-    else
-        run_stage "Package kernel (.deb)" \
-            docker run --rm --name "$DOCKER_NAME" \
-                -v "$KERNEL_SRC":/src \
-                -v "$KERNEL_OUT":/out \
-                -v "$CCACHE_DIR":/ccache \
-                ps5-kernel-builder \
-                bash -c 'make -j$(nproc) bindeb-pkg && cp /*.deb /out/'
-    fi
 fi
 
 # --- Step 2: Build distribution image ---

docker/kernel-builder-arch/Dockerfile

@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
-FROM archlinux:latest
+FROM --platform=linux/amd64 archlinux:latest
+
+# pacman 7+ sandbox doesn't work in Docker containers
+RUN echo 'DisableSandbox' >> /etc/pacman.conf
 
 # Only packaging tools needed — kernel is already compiled
 RUN pacman -Syu --noconfirm && pacman -S --noconfirm \

docker/kernel-builder/Dockerfile

@@ -7,8 +7,11 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
     libdw-dev libelf-dev libssl-dev \
     python3 rsync dpkg-dev debhelper zstd \
     perl git xz-utils ccache \
+    gcc-x86-64-linux-gnu binutils-x86-64-linux-gnu libc6-dev-amd64-cross \
     && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
+ENV ARCH=x86_64
+ENV CROSS_COMPILE=x86_64-linux-gnu-
 ENV PATH="/usr/lib/ccache:${PATH}"
 ENV CCACHE_DIR=/ccache
 
@@ -18,6 +21,7 @@ WORKDIR /src
 # Build artifacts are staged to /out/staging
 
 COPY docker/kernel-builder/build.sh /build.sh
-RUN chmod +x /build.sh
+COPY docker/kernel-builder/package-deb.sh /package-deb.sh
+RUN chmod +x /build.sh /package-deb.sh
 
 CMD ["/build.sh"]

docker/kernel-builder/package-deb.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Builds a combined linux-ps5 .deb from the kernel source at /src.
+# Runs inside the kernel-builder container; output goes to /out.
+set -e
+
+make -j$(nproc) DPKG_FLAGS=-d bindeb-pkg
+
+VER=$(dpkg-deb -f "$(ls /linux-image-[0-9]*.deb | grep -v dbg | head -1)" Version)
+ARCH=$(dpkg-deb -f "$(ls /linux-image-[0-9]*.deb | grep -v dbg | head -1)" Architecture)
+KVER=$(ls /src/debian/linux-image-[0-9]*/lib/modules/ 2>/dev/null | head -1)
+
+TMPDIR=$(mktemp -d)
+mkdir -p "$TMPDIR/DEBIAN"
+for deb in $(ls /linux-image-[0-9]*.deb /linux-headers-*.deb /linux-libc-dev_*.deb 2>/dev/null | grep -v -- '-dbg_'); do
+    dpkg-deb -x "$deb" "$TMPDIR"
+done
+
+cat > "$TMPDIR/DEBIAN/control" << CTRL
+Package: linux-ps5
+Version: $VER
+Architecture: $ARCH
+Maintainer: PS5 Linux
+Provides: linux-image, linux-image-$KVER, linux-headers-$KVER, linux-libc-dev
+Conflicts: linux-image-$KVER, linux-headers-$KVER, linux-libc-dev
+Replaces: linux-image-$KVER, linux-headers-$KVER, linux-libc-dev
+Description: PS5 Linux kernel $KVER (image + headers + libc-dev)
+CTRL
+
+dpkg-deb --build --root-owner-group "$TMPDIR" "/out/linux-ps5_${VER}_${ARCH}.deb"