Bootable Containers Initiative
Fedora as a hub for community development and promotion of bootable container technology and implementation

Objective
Integrate bootable containers into relevant Fedora projects, and promote the use of bootable containers among Fedora users and the broader community.
Goal
Specific elements to accomplish
Official Fedora base boot image(s)
DIY docs (build your own base image and derive images from a project-provided base image)
Explore base image sharing among relevant projects
Discussion/Chat spaces for Bootable Containers community
More Details
This relates to the following Fedora Change proposal, which will need to be updated / rewritten: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/OstreeNativeContainerStable

This proposal concerns all image-mode Fedora variants (i.e. those currently based on OSTree).

Roughly, the following items are proposed:
We will start building official base Fedora bootable container images.
All the image-mode Fedora variants will be built in a uniform way, sharing as much as possible with each other and the base images.
Updates on these variants will be shipped as OCI containers instead of via OSTree.
We will build up a CI story around the shared base images as a way to share CI efforts.
End-users (and “repackagers” like Universal Blue) will be able to build their own base images, or derive from the same official base images, or derive from one of the variants’ layered images.
We will ship dnf in these base images to make derivation easier.
Client-side logic currently in rpm-ostree will slowly be migrated to dnf.
Deliverables and Scope
Key Results
Plans and Work Areas
Participating Working Groups
Fedora IoT (Paul Whalen)
Fedora CoreOS (Jonathan Lebon)
Fedora Atomic Desktops (Timothée Ravier)
Fedora Cloud (Major Hayden)
Fedora Server
Fedora Marketing Team (Joseph Gayoso, Justin W. Flory (JWF))
Fedora Council (Executive Sponsor TBD)

Objective Lead
Timeframe

Fedora Community Initiative Checklist
Find an initiative Lead
Create wiki page (ex https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Initiatives/Mentored_Projects_2024)
Lead talks about the initiative on fedora discussion w/ #council tag (ex https://discussion.fedoraproject.org/t/fedora-council-tickets-ticket-472-new-objective-mentored-projects-2024/96877/2)
Find council sponsor
File a ticket https://pagure.io/Fedora-Council/tickets/ (ex https://pagure.io/Fedora-Council/tickets/issue/472)

Other tasks
Initial fedora image
Initial fedora docs
Blog post about the image, docs and initiative
Messaging points for the Summit Booth
Wiki Page content
We’ll copy this into the fedora wiki once we’re ready to begin proposing the initiative publicly
Purpose
Vision
The Fedora community is the center of activity for implementing methods of configuring and managing image based Linux systems using OCI container tools.
Mission
The Fedora working groups that build and promote image-based Fedora variants improve the experiences of their contributors and their users, as well as those of prospective new image-based Fedora implementations, by working together to explore, refine and document the tools and processes around bootable containers.
Objective Leads
Lead: Jason Brooks
Executive Sponsor: TK
Timeframe
One year
Logic Model
Visual
Expanded
Inputs
Leads and Sponsor
Reps from WGs
Marketing Team support and outreach
User & community feedback
Activities
Identify opportunities to share base images
Identify and work through Fedora Infra issues
Document use of bootable container tools and processes
Promote the use of Fedora bootable containers with blog and mailing list posts, social media, and coordination with Fedora Marketing Team
Reach out to projects outside of Fedora proper that might want to collaborate
Outputs
We will start building official base Fedora bootable container images.
All the image-mode Fedora variants will be built in a uniform way, sharing as much as possible with each other and the base images.
Updates on these variants will be shipped as OCI containers instead of via OSTree.
We will build up a CI story around the shared base images as a way to share CI efforts.
End-users (and “repackagers” like Universal Blue) will be able to build their own base images, or derive from the same official base images, or derive from one of the variants’ layered images.
We will ship dnf in these base images to make derivation easier.
Client-side logic currently in rpm-ostree will slowly be migrated to dnf.
Outcomes
Multiple image-based efforts sharing a base image
Full integration of bootable containers tooling in Fedora infra
New docs on bootable containers use
Impact
Mission
The Fedora working groups that build and promote image-based Fedora variants improve the experiences of their contributors and their users, as well as those of prospective new image-based Fedora implementations, by working together to explore, refine and document the tools and processes around bootable containers.
Vision
The Fedora community is the center of activity for implementing methods of configuring and managing image based Linux systems using OCI container tools.
Stakeholders
Initiative Team
Teams
Fedora IoT (Paul Whalen)
Fedora CoreOS (Jonathan Lebon)
Fedora Atomic Desktops (Timothée Ravier)
Fedora Cloud (Major Hayden)
Fedora Server
Fedora Marketing Team (Joseph Gayoso, Justin W. Flory (JWF))
Fedora Council (Executive Sponsor TBD)
Relevant Links
Related Fedora Changes
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/OstreeNativeContainerStable
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/Fedora_IoT_Bootable_Container

Blog Post

For quite a while now, we've had image-based Fedora Linux variants -- starting with Fedora Atomic Host and Atomic Desktop, and those original variants have evolved into Fedora CoreOS, Fedora IoT, a whole family of Fedora Atomic Desktops and the awesome Universal Blue project.

If you've used one of these image-based Fedora systems, you know how easy they are to update, upgrade, or, if things aren't working quite right, to roll back. However, creating your own custom image-based Fedora system has always been a bit tricky, requiring special tools, processes and infrastructure.

Over the past couple of years, the tools and methods available for building image-based systems in Fedora have evolved to natively support OCI/Docker containers as a transport and delivery mechanism for operating system content.

With these changes, and the introduction of bootc, we now have the tools to build image-based systems using ordinary Containerfiles and regular OCI-container build tools and infrastructure to define, build, deploy and manage Linux systems.

For instance, the Fedora IoT WG has plans to deliver two bootc containers for Fedora IoT users: a cut down minimal version for users to use as a base to build their own vision of Fedora IoT, as well as a second image to deliver the traditional Fedora IoT user experience.

We have a great opportunity to enhance collaboration among image-based Fedora variants, and to empower other projects and individual users to create their own Fedora-based derivatives by working together on bootable container technologies.

That's why I'm excited to announce that we've proposed a new Fedora Community Initiative aimed at bringing together the Fedora working groups that build and promote image-based Fedora variants to seize that opportunity.

The contributors working on the proposed initiative will:

Identify opportunities to share base images
Identify and work through Fedora Infra issues
Document use of bootable container tools and processes
Promote the use of Fedora bootable containers with blog and mailing list posts, social media, and coordination with Fedora Marketing Team
Reach out to projects outside of Fedora proper that might want to collaborate

Check out the initiative wiki page for more information, including who you can reach out to if you'd like to get involved in the effort in the context of one of the Fedora variants. Also, you can join the discussion on Fedora's matrix instance in the fedora-bootc room, or on Fedora discussion by following or posting with the bootc tag. Finally, check out the doc page at WHERE to kick the tires on Fedora bootc for yourself.