Recommended approach for udev support after balenalib deprecation?

balenalib base images migration
1

Now that balenalib base images have been deprecated (as of 2025), I’m looking for guidance on the best current approach for handling udev functionality in balena applications.

Previously, I was using balenalib images with ENV UDEV=1 to automatically handle dynamically plugged USB/serial devices. Now I’m migrating to standard ubuntu:22.04 base images.

  1. What’s the current recommended way to set up udev in standard base images for balena deployments?
  2. Do I need to manually install udev, create entry scripts, and handle the privileged container setup myself, or is there a balena-specific recommended pattern?
  3. Are there any balena-specific considerations or gotchas when setting up udev manually that I should be aware of?
  4. Has balena published any migration guides or best practices for this transition from balenalib to standard base images?

For context, I need to detect and interact with USB devices that are plugged in at runtime, similar to what UDEV=1 provided in balenalib images.

Any guidance or examples would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

2

@patree here’s a link that might help