Bluefin Server

Amargasaurus cazaui

An FSDK-based, image-based Linux server OS.

Bluefin Server targets the same use-case space as Flatcar Container Linux, Fedora CoreOS, and Talos, but is built from scratch with BuildStream 2 from freedesktop-sdk (FSDK 26.08) components and uutils coreutils.

It is DDI first: the OS payload is a compressed XFS DDI filesystem image that is deployed by an offline, systemd-native installer.

The only thing worse than a nightmare is a factory of nightmares that makes other nightmares

Release status: Alpha

Bluefin Server is currently in Alpha:

• Milestone status: Phase A (reproducible build path, uutils, k0s sysext, graph validation) is complete. Phase B (automated boot verification on lab cluster) is in progress.
• Trust model: Releases include cryptographic provenance with GPG-signed SHA256SUMS manifests and in-tree systemd-sysupdate verification configurations.
• Suitability: Alpha builds are intended for evaluation, testing, and factory validation. Not yet recommended for production workloads.
• Readiness roadmap: Track completed criteria and remaining gates toward 1.0 in docs/MVP_1_0_READINESS.md.

What it is

• Image-based updates and atomic rollbacks via A/B partition slots and systemd-sysupdate.
• DDI-first delivery — the installer embeds the OS payload as a data partition; no network is required at install time.
• Streamlined base OS image — modern userspace with uutils coreutils and bash for interactive login and diagnostics.
• systemd-native installer — systemd-sysinstall provides the interactive terminal UI and systemd-repart handles partitioning and block-copy DDI placement.
• Optional k0s as a systemd-sysext so the base image stays minimal.

Remote diagnostics: OpenSSH is installed for on-demand diagnostics, but is disabled by default via systemd presets. It can be started manually with systemctl start sshd when remote access is needed. See docs/skills/factory-integration.md.

Quick start

You need only podman and just. BuildStream runs inside the FSDK bst2 container, so BuildStream is not installed locally.

just validate              # resolve the element graph
just show-me-the-future    # end-to-end QEMU installer smoke test

See AGENTS.md for the full build command matrix, hard rules, and agent skill routing.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for the contributor checklist, Conventional Commit rules, and docs/skills/index.md for task-specific guidance.

Security and release trust

• Signed manifests: GitHub Actions builds all release artifacts, generates a combined SHA256SUMS manifest, and signs it with GPG before publishing to GitHub Releases.
• Sysupdate verification: Target nodes verify updates using signed manifest transfers; see docs/skills/systemd-sysupdate-verification.md for details.
• Vulnerability disclosure: See SECURITY.md for policy details and how to report security issues.

License

Apache-2.0.