Configure IoT Edge module build options

Applies to: IoT Edge 1.5

Important

IoT Edge 1.5 LTS is the supported release. IoT Edge 1.4 LTS is end of life as of November 12, 2024. If you are on an earlier release, see Update IoT Edge.

The module.json file controls how modules are built and deployed. IoT Edge module Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code projects include the module.json file. The file contains IoT Edge module configuration details including the version and platform that is used when building an IoT Edge module.

module.json settings

The module.json file includes the following settings:

Setting	Description
image.repository	The repository of the module.
image.tag.version	The version of the module.
image.tag.platforms	A list of supported platforms and their corresponding dockerfile. Each entry is a platform key and dockerfile pair <platform key>:<dockerfile>.
image.buildOptions	The build arguments used when running docker build.
image.contextPath	The context path used when running docker build. By default, it's the current folder of the module.json file. If your Docker build needs files not included in the current folder such as a reference to an external package or project, set the contextPath to the root path of all necessary files. Verify the files are copied in the dockerfile.
language	The programming language of the module.

For example, the following module.json file is for a C# IoT Edge module:

JSON

{
    "$schema-version": "0.0.1",
    "description": "",
    "image": {
        "repository": "localhost:5000/edgemodule",
        "tag": {
            "version": "0.0.1",
            "platforms": {
                "amd64": "./Dockerfile.amd64", 
                "amd64.debug": "./Dockerfile.amd64.debug",
                "arm32v7": "./Dockerfile.arm32v7",
                "arm32v7.debug": "./Dockerfile.arm32v7.debug",
                "arm64v8": "./Dockerfile.arm64v8",
                "arm64v8.debug": "./Dockerfile.arm64v8.debug",
                "windows-amd64": "./Dockerfile.windows-amd64"
            }
        },
        "buildOptions": ["--add-host=docker:10.180.0.1"],
        "contextPath": "./"
    },
    "language": "csharp"
}

Once the module is built, the final tag of the image is combined with both version and platform as <repository>:<version>-<platform key>. For this example, the image tag for amd64.debug is localhost:5000/csharpmod:0.0.1-amd64.debug.

Next step

Understand the requirements and tools for developing IoT Edge modules