Bluefin Server

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 components.

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

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.
• Minimal, distroless OS image — no shell in the running rootfs by default.
• systemd-native installer — systemd-sysinstall provides the interactive terminal UI and systemd-repart handles partitioning and block-copy DDI placement.
• Optional k3s as a systemd-sysext so the base image stays distroless.

Temporary bring-up exception: SSH is enabled for cluster boot tests and remote debugging. It is scheduled for removal once diagnostics move to serial logs or a guest agent. 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 matrix and agent skill routing.

Contributing

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

Release trust

• GitHub Actions builds all artifacts, signs a combined SHA256SUMS manifest, and publishes a GitHub Release.
• Updates are verified with GPG-signed SHA256SUMS manifests from GitHub Releases.
• See docs/skills/systemd-sysupdate-verification.md for the trust model.

License

Apache-2.0.