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Python Flask Dashboard

View source on GitHub

This guide walks you through building and running the Python Flask dashboard reference on Avocado OS. The app serves a real-time device metrics dashboard and JSON API using Flask.

Prerequisites​

  • macOS 10.12+ or Linux (Ubuntu 22.04+, Fedora 39+)
  • Docker Desktop installed and running
  • The latest version of the Avocado CLI

For hardware targets, you will also need:

  • Your target device and any required accessories (SD card, USB cable, serial console adapter)
  • See the Support Matrix for your target's requirements

Initialize​

Clone the reference or initialize a new project from it:

avocado init --reference python-flask python-flask
cd python-flask

To target specific hardware instead of the default, pass --target:

avocado init --reference python-flask --target raspberrypi5 python-flask
cd python-flask

Install​

Install the SDK toolchain, extension dependencies, and runtime packages:

avocado install -f

This pulls the SDK container image and installs nativesdk-uv for pip package compilation.

Build​

Build the extensions and assemble the runtime image:

avocado build

The build step runs app-compile.sh inside the SDK container, which uses uv pip install --target app/packages flask to download Flask and its dependencies. Then app-install.sh copies the packages into the extension sysroot at /usr/lib/app/packages/.

Deploy​

QEMU​

For QEMU targets, provision and boot the VM:

avocado provision -r dev
avocado sdk run -iE vm dev --host-fwd "5000-:5000"

SD card targets (Raspberry Pi, Seeed reTerminal, NXP, STMicroelectronics)​

Insert your SD card and provision:

avocado provision -r dev --profile sd

Insert the SD card into the device and apply power.

USB flash targets (OnLogic)​

avocado provision -r dev --profile usb

NVIDIA Jetson​

avocado provision -r dev --profile tegraflash

Follow the USB disconnect/reconnect prompts during the flash process.

Verify​

Log in as root with an empty password. The app service starts automatically on boot.

Open your browser to http://localhost:5000 (QEMU) or http://<device-ip>:5000 (hardware) to view the dashboard.

systemctl status app
journalctl -u app -f

You should see output like:

app starting
  device: avocado-qemuarm64
  dashboard: http://0.0.0.0:5000

The dashboard polls the device every 2 seconds showing CPU usage, memory, disk, load average, uptime, temperature, network, and a sortable process table.

Customize​

Change the port​

Edit app/overlay/usr/local/bin/app.py:

app.run(host="0.0.0.0", port=8080)  # change port

Add pip dependencies​

Edit app-compile.sh:

uv pip install --target app/packages flask gunicorn

Rebuild after changes​

After any change, rebuild and reprovision:

avocado build
avocado provision -r dev