⚠️ This code was originally developed for a project back in 2018/2019: I'm no longer actively working with rPi on a day to day basis, so I won't be adding features, and will only fix bugs if I get the time. If someone wants to take over the project with a fork, I'd be happy to point users to it! :warning: Please use the ideas here as a reference: but it isn't going to be kept up to date.

Factory reset your Pi

⚠️ Factory-resetting will delete any data off the root partition during restoration. ⚠️

Description

If you regularly need to reset or restore a Raspberry Pi, it can become a bit annoying to have to power down the rPi, unplug the sdcard, and re-flash the original image back again.

This project modifies the vanilla Pi OS images to add a /boot/factory_reset utility and a recovery partition containing a pristine image, which can be reset remotely with a single command.

The most basic usage is that when you want to factory reset the pi, is to to run the following command from the image:

root@raspberrypi:~# /boot/factory_reset --reset

It support some other options to preserve various settings

root@raspberrypi:~# /boot/factory_reset
usage: /boot/factory_reset options
Calling this script causes the rPi to reboot and factory reset. All data is lost

OPTIONS:
  --reset                set this option to proceed with reset,
                          otherwise script will exit and do nothing

  --copy-pi-password     during the reset, preserve the pi user password

  --copy-root-password   during the reset, preserve the root password

  --copy-wifi            preserve the current wifi settings

The factory reset causes the rPi to reboot to a recovery partition, upon which it restores the original root partition, and then reboots back to the fresh installation (all without user intervention).

Ready to use images

These Pi OS/raspbian images can be directly flashed and run:

https://github.com/limepepper/raspberry-pi-factory-reset/wiki/Downloads

Usage

Resetting the rPi back to factory state

Once the restore image is flash and the pi is booted, it will work as a normal Pi OS/raspbian installation.

For example you could do the following (over ssh) from the rPi to cause a factory reset:

root@raspberrypi:~# /boot/factory_reset --reset
factory restore script
resetting
rebooting...
Connection to raspberrypi.local closed by remote host.
Connection to raspberrypi.local closed.

The Pi will restore to a fresh installation:

The pi will then reboot back to a fresh installation of Raspbian. The script sets up the restored raspbian so ssh is running and available.

Note on image sizes

These zipped images contain a copy of the original root partition, a pristine copy of the rootfs, and a recovery partition. So they are at least 2 times the original size.

Other information

Building your own images

Background

Warning

Obviously factory resetting a device is a destructive process, so don't try this unless you understand what you are doing.

License

The code is provided as is, and can be used/modified for any purpose, attribution is appreciated but not required.

Sources/References

This project was inspired by a blog post on binarycents.com, but that site appears to be gone now: http://www.binarycents.com/raspberry-pi/raspberry-pi-remote-reinstall/

Some other sources of information:

https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/80070/remote-full-reset-re-install-of-a-raspberry

There is some more information about the process in these blog posts: