Install BeagleBoard Imaging Utility (GUI)

This page explains how to install the graphical version of the BeagleBoard Imaging Utility. Most users should choose one of the prebuilt options listed below.

Recommended Downloads

Choose the option that best matches your operating system.

Platform Package Type Notes Link

Windows

Installer (.msi / .exe)

Standard Windows installer with Start Menu integration.

x86_64

macOS

Application bundle

Drag-and-drop install into the Applications folder.

aarch64, x86_64

Linux

Flatpak

Recommended for most Linux users. Sandboxed, automatic updates.

Flathub

Snap

Recommended for distros that do not support Flatpak. Sandboxed, automatic updates.

Snap

AppImage

Portable single-file download. No installation required.

aarch64, x86_64

Installation Instructions

Windows

  1. Download the Windows installer.

  2. Double-click the installer.

  3. Follow the on-screen instructions.

After installation, launch the application from the Start Menu.

Windows Security Notes

Flashing images requires low-level access to removable storage devices.

On Windows:

  • You may be prompted by User Account Control (UAC) to allow elevated permissions.

  • Some antivirus or endpoint security software may temporarily flag disk-writing tools.

These prompts are expected and required for the imaging process. Always ensure you downloaded the installer from an official BeagleBoard source.

macOS

  1. Open the downloaded application or disk image.

  2. Drag BeagleBoard Imaging Utility into the Applications folder.

  3. Launch it from Applications or Spotlight.

macOS may ask for permission to access removable volumes the first time you run the application. Granting this access is required to write images to SD cards.

Linux

Flatpak (Recommended)

Flatpak provides a sandboxed installation and automatic updates via Flathub.

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
flatpak install flathub org.beagleboard.imagingutility

Snap

The Snap package is ideal for the Ubuntu family of Linux distributions.

snap install bb-imager

Out of the box, this installation only supports flashing SD cards. Steps to enable serial flashing are provided below.

I2C (BeagleConnect Zepto) and hidraw (MSP430) based flashing is not supported due to limitations of snap format.
Enable Serial Flashing (e.g. BeagleConnect Freedom)

If you need to flash firmware to boards over a serial connection, you will need to enable experimental hotplug support and connect the serial port interface. Run the following commands:

# Enable hotplug support
snap set system experimental.hotplug=true

# Restart the Snap daemon to apply changes
systemctl restart snapd

# Connect the serial port interface
snap connect bb-imager:serial-port

AppImage

AppImage is useful if you prefer a portable, self-contained executable.

chmod +x bb-imager-*.AppImage
./bb-imager-*.AppImage

Enable Serial Flashing Support (Optional)

If you are using Linux and need to flash firmware to boards over a serial connection (such as the BeagleConnect Freedom), your system will require a custom udev rule to access the serial interface without root privileges.

This step is not required if you are only flashing SD cards or USB storage.

  1. Create a new udev rules file:

    sudo nano /etc/udev/rules.d/99-beagleboard-imager.rules

  2. Add the following lines to grant user-level access to serial devices:

    # Copy this file to /etc/udev/rules.d/
# If rules fail to reload automatically, you can refresh udev rules
# with the command "udevadm control --reload"

# BeagleConnect Freedom
SUBSYSTEM=="tty", ATTRS{product}=="BeagleConnect", ATTRS{manufacturer}=="BeagleBoard.org", MODE="0660", TAG+="uaccess"

# BeagleConnect Freedom MSP430
SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="2047", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0200", MODE="0660", TAG+="uaccess"

  3. Reload the rules to apply the changes immediately:

    sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
sudo udevadm trigger