This patch applies to the 'build' project in the android-4.2.2_r1 branch of AOSP and allows you to build flashable .zips without including the factory recovery.

optional-recovery.patch

From bdfb8228f5a8ddd541ddc401d7e5b87a7b43234b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: inhies
Date: Thu, 7 Mar 2013 08:43:24 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] Add option to prevent building of recovery image with OTA .zip

Change-Id: I604ddaaa79442465ff821b74259b947da23ae98a
---
 core/Makefile                            |    7 +++++++
 tools/releasetools/ota_from_target_files |   28 +++++++++++++++++++++-------
 2 files changed, 28 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)

diff --git a/core/Makefile b/core/Makefile
index a25d80f..3672015 100644
--- a/core/Makefile
+++ b/core/Makefile
@@ -1173,11 +1173,18 @@ INTERNAL_OTA_PACKAGE_TARGET := $(PRODUCT_OUT)/$(name).zip
 
 $(INTERNAL_OTA_PACKAGE_TARGET): KEY_CERT_PAIR := $(DEFAULT_KEY_CERT_PAIR)
 
+$(INTERNAL_OTA_PACKAGE_TARGET): increcovery := true
+
+ifdef INCLUDE_RECOVERY
+  $(INTERNAL_OTA_PACKAGE_TARGET): increcovery = $(INCLUDE_RECOVERY)
+endif
+
 $(INTERNAL_OTA_PACKAGE_TARGET): $(BUILT_TARGET_FILES_PACKAGE) $(DISTTOOLS)
 	@echo "Package OTA: $@"
 	$(hide) ./build/tools/releasetools/ota_from_target_files -v \
 	   -p $(HOST_OUT) \
 	   -k $(KEY_CERT_PAIR) \
+           --increcovery=$(increcovery) \
 	   $(BUILT_TARGET_FILES_PACKAGE) $@
 
 .PHONY: otapackage
diff --git a/tools/releasetools/ota_from_target_files b/tools/releasetools/ota_from_target_files
index 170f5b3..38428bf 100755
--- a/tools/releasetools/ota_from_target_files
+++ b/tools/releasetools/ota_from_target_files
@@ -51,6 +51,10 @@ Usage:  ota_from_target_files [flags] input_target_files output_ota_package
 
   -a  (--aslr_mode)  <on|off>
       Specify whether to turn on ASLR for the package (on by default).
+           
+  --increcovery  <boolean>
+      Specify the inclusion of recovery.img or /recovery
+      Default is true
 
 """
 
@@ -88,6 +92,7 @@ OPTIONS.omit_prereq = False
 OPTIONS.extra_script = None
 OPTIONS.aslr_mode = True
 OPTIONS.worker_threads = 3
+OPTIONS.inc_recovery = True
 
 def MostPopularKey(d, default):
   """Given a dict, return the key corresponding to the largest
@@ -335,8 +340,10 @@ def MakeRecoveryPatch(input_tmp, output_zip, recovery_img, boot_img):
 
   d = common.Difference(recovery_img, boot_img, diff_program=diff_program)
   _, _, patch = d.ComputePatch()
-  common.ZipWriteStr(output_zip, "recovery/recovery-from-boot.p", patch)
-  Item.Get("system/recovery-from-boot.p", dir=False)
+
+  if OPTIONS.inc_recovery:
+    common.ZipWriteStr(output_zip, "recovery/recovery-from-boot.p", patch)
+    Item.Get("system/recovery-from-boot.p", dir=False)
 
   boot_type, boot_device = common.GetTypeAndDevice("/boot", OPTIONS.info_dict)
   recovery_type, recovery_device = common.GetTypeAndDevice("/recovery", OPTIONS.info_dict)
@@ -403,7 +410,10 @@ def WriteFullOTAPackage(input_zip, output_zip):
 
   script.FormatPartition("/system")
   script.Mount("/system")
-  script.UnpackPackageDir("recovery", "/system")
+
+  if OPTIONS.inc_recovery:
+    script.UnpackPackageDir("recovery", "/system")
+
   script.UnpackPackageDir("system", "/system")
 
   symlinks = CopySystemFiles(input_zip, output_zip)
@@ -411,9 +421,10 @@ def WriteFullOTAPackage(input_zip, output_zip):
 
   boot_img = common.GetBootableImage("boot.img", "boot.img",
                                      OPTIONS.input_tmp, "BOOT")
-  recovery_img = common.GetBootableImage("recovery.img", "recovery.img",
-                                         OPTIONS.input_tmp, "RECOVERY")
-  MakeRecoveryPatch(OPTIONS.input_tmp, output_zip, recovery_img, boot_img)
+  if OPTIONS.inc_recovery:
+    recovery_img = common.GetBootableImage("recovery.img", "recovery.img",
+                                           OPTIONS.input_tmp, "RECOVERY")
+    MakeRecoveryPatch(OPTIONS.input_tmp, output_zip, recovery_img, boot_img)
 
   Item.GetMetadata(input_zip)
   Item.Get("system").SetPermissions(script)
@@ -759,7 +770,9 @@ def main(argv):
       else:
         OPTIONS.aslr_mode = False
     elif o in ("--worker_threads"):
-      OPTIONS.worker_threads = int(a)
+      OPTIONS.worker_threads = int(a)      
+    elif o in ("--increcovery"):
+      OPTIONS.inc_recovery = bool(a.lower() == 'true')
     else:
       return False
     return True
@@ -773,6 +786,7 @@ def main(argv):
                                               "no_prereq",
                                               "extra_script=",
                                               "worker_threads=",
+                                              "increcovery=",
                                               "aslr_mode=",
                                               ],
                              extra_option_handler=option_handler)
-- 
1.7.2.5