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The CM5 image uses a combination of standard Arch Linux packages (installed via pacstrap) and custom PKGBUILDs for hardware-specific components.

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Core packages (pacstrap)

These packages are installed into the image during the cm5-setup.sh build:
PackagePurpose
base, base-develBase Arch Linux system and build tools
linux-rpiRaspberry Pi kernel with RPi-specific patches
linux-rpi-headersKernel headers (required for DKMS modules)
linux-firmwareFirmware blobs for broadcom/wireless/GPU
btrfs-progsBtrfs filesystem utilities
grub, efibootmgrGRUB bootloader and EFI boot manager
dracutInitramfs generator
dropbearLightweight SSH server for early initramfs rescue
networkmanagerNetwork management daemon
opensshFull OpenSSH server
sudoPrivilege escalation
rpi-eepromRPi EEPROM update utility
snapperBtrfs snapshot manager with timeline cleanup
vimText editor
curl, wget, gitDownload and version control utilities

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Service stack packages

Additional packages needed for the full home automation and NAS stack. Add these to the pacstrap call or install after first boot: 
sudo pacman -S samba avahi nss-mdns nfs-utils
PackagePurpose
sambaSMB/CIFS file sharing
avahimDNS/DNS-SD for Time Machine and device discovery
nss-mdnsNSS module for mDNS hostname resolution
nfs-utilsNFS export support

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Custom PKGBUILDs

Three custom PKGBUILDs in Arch-Linux/ provide hardware-specific packages. Build them with makepkg: 
# From the repository root
cd Arch-Linux/exaviz-dkms
makepkg -si

cd ../metis-dkms
makepkg -si

cd ../voyager-sdk
makepkg -si

​
exaviz-dkms

Provides out-of-tree DKMS kernel modules for the Exaviz Cruiser carrier board (fan controller, custom GPIO expander, etc.):
Arch-Linux/exaviz-dkms/PKGBUILD
# PKGBUILD: exaviz-dkms
pkgname=exaviz-dkms
pkgver=1.0.0
pkgrel=1
pkgdesc="DKMS kernel modules for Exaviz Cruiser CM5"
arch=('aarch64')
depends=('dkms' 'linux-rpi-headers')
source=(
    "https://github.com/exaviz-ai/cruiser/archive/v${pkgver}.tar.gz"
)
sha256sums=('SKIP')

package() {
    local modname="exaviz-cruiser"
    local modver="${pkgver}"
    local destdir="${pkgdir}/usr/src/${modname}-${modver}"

    install -dm755 "$destdir"
    cp -r "${srcdir}/cruiser-${pkgver}/drivers/"* "$destdir/"

    cat > "${destdir}/dkms.conf" <<EOF
PACKAGE_NAME="${modname}"
PACKAGE_VERSION="${modver}"
BUILT_MODULE_NAME[0]="exaviz_cruiser"
DEST_MODULE_LOCATION[0]="/kernel/drivers/misc"
AUTOINSTALL="yes"
EOF
}

​
metis-dkms

Provides the Axelera Metis PCIe driver (DKMS):
Arch-Linux/metis-dkms/PKGBUILD
pkgname=metis-dkms
pkgver=1.5.0
pkgrel=1
pkgdesc="Axelera Metis PCIe driver (DKMS)"
arch=('x86_64' 'aarch64')
url="https://github.com/axelera-ai-hub/axelera-driver"
license=('GPL2')
depends=('dkms')
makedepends=('linux-headers')
source=("$pkgname-$pkgver::https://github.com/axelera-ai-hub/axelera-driver/archive/refs/tags/v$pkgver.tar.gz")
sha256sums=('SKIP')

package() {
    cd axelera-driver-$pkgver
    install -d "$pkgdir/usr/src/metis-$pkgver"
    cp -r . "$pkgdir/usr/src/metis-$pkgver"
    install -Dm644 dkms.conf "$pkgdir/usr/src/metis-$pkgver/dkms.conf"
}

​
voyager-sdk

Provides the Axelera Voyager SDK Python runtime:
Arch-Linux/voyager-sdk/PKGBUILD
pkgname=voyager-sdk
pkgver=1.5.0
pkgrel=1
pkgdesc="Axelera Voyager SDK (Python runtime)"
arch=('any')
url="https://github.com/axelera-ai-hub/voyager-sdk"
license=('Apache')
depends=(
  'python'
  'python-numpy'
  'python-pyyaml'
  'python-requests'
  'python-tqdm'
  'python-python-dateutil'
)
makedepends=('python-build' 'python-installer' 'python-wheel')
source=("$pkgname-$pkgver::https://github.com/axelera-ai-hub/voyager-sdk/archive/refs/tags/v$pkgver.tar.gz")

build() {
    cd voyager-sdk-$pkgver
    python -m build --wheel --no-isolation
}

package() {
    cd voyager-sdk-$pkgver
    python -m installer --destdir="$pkgdir" dist/*.whl
}

​
Inspecting Exaviz apt packages

Before writing PKGBUILDs you may want to inspect what Exaviz ships in their Debian apt repository. The scripts/exaviz-recon.sh script adds the Exaviz apt repo temporarily, lists matching packages, and extracts .deb contents for inspection — without installing anything: 
# Run on a Debian/Ubuntu host or debootstrap chroot
sudo bash scripts/exaviz-recon.sh
The script probes these likely package names and extracts them to /tmp/exaviz-inspect/: 
exaviz-cruiser-firmware   exaviz-cruiser-dtb
exaviz-cruiser-kernel     exaviz-cm5-carrier
linux-image-exaviz        linux-dtb-exaviz
raspi-firmware-exaviz     exaviz-config
exaviz-tools
The Exaviz apt repository URL (https://apt.exaviz.com/debian) is a placeholder. Check the official Exaviz documentation for the actual repository URL before running this script.

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Gentoo overlay

The axelera.ai-overlay/ directory is a Gentoo Portage overlay that provides the metis-dkms ebuild for Gentoo-based systems:
axelera.ai-overlay/sys-kernel/metis-dkms/metis-dkms.ebuild
EAPI=8
DESCRIPTION="Axelera Metis PCIe DKMS kernel module"
HOMEPAGE="https://github.com/axelera-ai-hub/axelera-driver"
SRC_URI="https://github.com/axelera-ai-hub/axelera-driver/archive/refs/tags/v${PV}.tar.gz -> metis-${PV}.tar.gz"
LICENSE="GPL-2"
SLOT="0"
KEYWORDS="~amd64 ~arm64"
DEPEND="sys-kernel/dkms"
To use the overlay on a Gentoo system, add it via eselect repository or place axelera.ai-overlay/ in your repos configuration, then emerge sys-kernel/metis-dkms.

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CI builds

The Arch-Linux/build.yml uses the 2m/arch-pkgbuild-builder GitHub Action to build all three PKGBUILDs:
Arch-Linux/build.yml
uses: 2m/arch-pkgbuild-builder@v1.16
with:
  target: 'pkgbuild'
  pkgname: 'metis-dkms'
  pkgname: 'metis-sdk'
  pkgname: 'voyager-sdk'

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