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Bluefin Server

Bluefin Server is an FSDK-based, image-based, DDI-first Linux server operating system. It 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.

Early release

Bluefin Server is in active development. Track progress, file issues, and participate at projectbluefin/server.

Architecture & Principles​

Bluefin Server is DDI first (Discoverable Disk Images): the OS payload is a compressed XFS DDI filesystem image deployed by an offline, systemd-native installer.

  • 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 connection 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.
  • Kubernetes ready — optional k3s is provided as a systemd-sysext so the base operating system stays completely distroless.

Quick Start & Testing​

For local development and testing, you only need podman and just. BuildStream runs inside the FSDK bst2 container:

git clone https://github.com/projectbluefin/server.git
cd server
just validate              # resolve element dependency graph
just show-me-the-future    # end-to-end QEMU installer smoke test

Downloads & Releases​

Official release artifacts are published on GitHub Releases:

  1. Download release images from the Bluefin Server releases page.
  2. Available artifacts:
    • bluefin-server-installer-*.raw.zst: Bootable installer image.
    • bluefin-server-ddi-*.raw.zst: Standalone DDI system image.
    • k3s-*.raw.zst: Optional Kubernetes system extension.
    • bluefin-server-*.efi: Unified kernel image (UKI).
  3. Release Trust & Verification:
    • Releases include GPG-signed SHA256SUMS manifests for cryptographic verification.

Further Reading​

Bare-metal Flatcar Deployments

For deploying bare-metal Flatcar Container Linux clusters with an interactive TUI installer and sysext support, see Knuckle and the Bluespeed homelab factory.