AnthillaOS

AnthillaOS, Appliance Operating System

• GitHub Repository is for documentation and linking with other projects.

AnthillaOS can be used to build a normal, standalone appliance,
or can be used to build structured and/or destructured Clusters in High Availability and Fault Tolerance

Introduction

Anthilla OS aims to be a complete Linux System image to serve HA and FT services distributed and replicated (virtualized or not) with a primary focus on bypass the real problem of any "System" (System in general sense),the drift towards chaos.

This, simply Using and without structural modification or package forks or custom developments, we want to use a normal Linux (recompiled Gentoo, with Genkernel kernel images, like System Rescue CD, or Sabayon) System, as custom Linux embedded System readonly as possible, separing configurations, and Data leaving System image untouched.

Using heavily Systemd and looking to CoreOS and Android, CyanogenMod, or Network Appliances Custom application can be added (we suggest, as additional image) on the Boot Volume BootExt and loaded at boot with some pluggable runlevel (thanks systemd)

• System Image,
• Kernel package,
• Firmwares,
• Data,
• Configurations,

are separed, like an Android system on a smartphone. But is a pure Linux, based on Gentoo, rebuilded with different USE flags looking to Arch Linux and Sabayon.

the APPS can be loaded dinamically making a compressed squash package as "standalone deploy" and simply mounting it in read only, and read/write directories are created and mounted separately in a simply structured filesystem Layout similar to Android

We work usually to write APPS in dotnet, c# firstly, and run through MONO compiled from latest git tree, and system-coherent, always present in the System Image, we also preparing Apps Templates related to antd project, the system Manager for AnthillaOS

AnthillaOS + antd aims to be a plug and play environment for standalone application, managed by systemd as process.

A note: please, share with us use cases, and configuration, to tune and make AnthillaOS more powerful and clean.

Thanks for attention and Enjoy.

Anthilla Team

Description

Usable test/dev exercise for appliances.

An x86-64bit Gentoo image customized for readonly usage as appliances, fully functional and complete of near 1200 pkg enclosing Gentoo distro in squash files + boot loader

AnthillaOS project use intensively "mount" command to "overmount" files and directory (with -o bind option) to attach files to the read only system inage, and to make updates easy and non-bloking as possible.

The system always boot in a known state; then starts an our service through systemd, and mount extended targets (runlevels) to run kernel related Units and application Units

Focusing the work on pure web Apps, it's present a Target level for websockets to integrate services and applications to get they web-aware

For Apps we suggest the use of NancyFX and mono about the command available on the system, we refer on linux kernel officially related packages and structures.

• pseudo filesystems /sys /proc to "speak with the Kernel" on the fly,
• iproute2 for the network,
• tc for traffic control,
• nftables for the firewall

but near 1200 packages are available. such as: systemd, bird routing daemon, openvswitch, zfs, qemu(kvm), libvirt, gluster, docker, nginx, php, go-lang ...

some packages like NetworkManager or other are present, but not normally used and their use is discouraged, will be removed in future releases.

any Apps who need to work with the system have to use a definite cli command line, like a operator have to do the usage need to be clean as possible, without dependenciecies on system specific libs or system objects, but simply use the system. or directly or by systemd units, also for oneshot executions.

Available as VM Image .qed (qemu, xen, kvm, virtualbox) it is ready to be used as vm or to be dumped to and usb key:

• Download it;
• Configure the "aos_DATE_vhd001.*" as first virtual hard disk of a vm;
• Boot it;
• Log In with user: "root" and password: "root";
• Access also from network, dhcp on eth0 and sshd are enabled by default.

The content of: aos_DATE_vhd001.qed

• System Image in: System/aos_DATE_System.squashfs.xz - Readonly OS img.
• Kernel in: Kernel directory.
• Looks and Make Attention (!!!) to the Partition layout, and BootExt Volume Structure.
• DIRS directory it's made to contain your images and directories to Overmount to default one or new one.

  • Please maintain the Syntax: DIR_path + extension (!!!) for example:

    • example 1: DIR_lib64_firmware.squashfs.xz -Mount On-> /lib64/firmware (part of kernel pkg in Kernel directory, on BootEx).
    • example 2: DIR_etc_ssh -Mount On-> /etc/ssh .

  • DIR_ can be the prefix for directories(compressed or uncompressed) and FILE_ for single files always in DIRS directory on BootExt.

Why is important to maintain this syntax? because we are working to automate it!

• Default automated mountpoints by genkernel-next :

  • /mnt/cdrom : BootExt Volume: ("Boot Volume" and the "System Repository")
  • /mnt/livecd : mounted Active System Image /System/aos_DATE_System.squashfs.xz
  • /mnt/overlay : Aufs auto overlay (it's a tmpfs aka ramdisk that permit to "change" as read/write image the running system) all changes not voluntary stored on /mnt/cdrom (mounted in rw) or other Partitions or Disks, are lost on reboot.

• You can store on the BootExt volume(formatted in ext4 as default) what you need and your experiments in BootExt (Mounted On /mnt/cdrom) structure:

• Apps : Repository for your Apps wrote in Php, Mono, Go, or any kind of present language/processor available

• DIRS : Repository for Custom DIRS and FILES, NOT DATA(s)

• Kernel : Kernel Repository, a softlink called active-kernel and active-initrd respectively to kernel and initrd define the boot kernel, the same for recovery-kernel and recovery-initrd

• Overlay : Repository for a aufs custom overlay if is needed

• Scripts : Repository for your scripts

• SecureBoot : SecureBoot, Thanks Sabayon Linux!!!!

• System : System Repository, a softlink called active-system the same for recovery-system

• Units : Repository for Externally called Systemd, Runlevels, and Units

• boot : link to "." for boot

• grub : The home of Grub2! here is the grub.cfg, simplified.

• livecd : important empty file to permit the genkernel generated kernel to find the volume to boot

###If you want mount or look into without booting, take an image file, you can mount QED it with qemu-nbd command.

Example:

qemu-nbd --connect=/dev/nbdX aos_DATE_vhd001.qed
kpartx -a /dev/nbdX
blkid #looks /dev/mapper/nbdXp3 BootExt
mount LABEL=BootExt /mountpoint -o rw,noatime,discard

Mirrors

Our development "nightlies" and "unstable release" Repository . http://srv.anthilla.com/

Anthilla OS Repository Mirrors: Cleaned and niglty replicated in Rsync.

HTTP: http://ftp.tsukuba.wide.ad.jp/Linux/anthilla/ http://ftp.nluug.nl/os/Linux/distr/anthilla/ http://ftp.cc.uoc.gr/mirrors/linux/anthilla/ http://ftp.belnet.be/anthilla.com/

FTP: ftp://ftp.tsukuba.wide.ad.jp/Linux/anthilla/ ftp://ftp.nluug.nl/os/Linux/distr/anthilla/ ftp://ftp.cc.uoc.gr/mirrors/linux/anthilla/ ftp://ftp.belnet.be/mirror/anthilla.com/

Inspiration

We use monolithic images of customized gentoo since 2010, for High Availability installations, in mission critical environment, where a System Incoherence (aka lib64 and compilation flags disalignment inside the binary package or after an update) can rappresent a stability issue.

##Initially inspired by:

• System Rescue CD
• Cisco Ios, as imaged system, with links/copy that points to a loadable config repository
• PF Sense as a good way to produce an appliance
• Elektra as Configuration Repository
• Sabayon
• VM Ware History

And following the natural evolution of I.C.T Scenario with:

• CoreOS ...was born from...
• ChromeOS ...was born from (following the same building principles of AnthillaOS) ...
• Gentoo The "third tree" of Linux Distros after Debian and RedHat system structure,

Our Methods

• We suggest you experiment with configurations and non-traditional methods to use the system without changing the System image, keeping the minimal boot to last runlevel (to be sure the system has booted) and then start what you want with controlled scripts or applications, following a quote.. "let's try to use a telephone pbx , to handle rail traffic".
• SkunkWorks Team methods
• Do you want to change anything? Overmount, from /mnt/cdrom/DIRS/DIR_path_your_dir and reload services;
  • think to leave system image untouched... experiment with mount, mount -t tmpfs, mount -o bind on files and dirs... and jump readonly limits, and automate it with runlevels and Antd Project;

All Open Source components from other projects are released under respective licenses, all parts, files, subprojects developed as part or this project are released under the BSD 3 clause license.

Features

• Squash xz compressed (so read only) booting image;
• Build to run with Antd Antd on Github
• ZFS a part of OpenZFS project;
• Samba Samba Gentoo ebuild
• Linux Kernel Latest Long Term aufs from gentoo sources with powerful configuration (most builtin);
• Systemd with minimal set of services, plus a set of custom runlevel that permits to load external defined services during boot (from git master) with a lot of features including:
  • Systemd internal container system;
  • machinectl to control containers and virtualization through libvirt;
  • some useful links to virtualize and playing with Systemd containers;
  • #1;
  • #2;
  • #3;
  • #4;
  • #5;
  • #6;
  • #7;
  • #8;
• Docker;
• HAProxy;
• Teamd with some howtos; #1 #2
• KVM, Qemu;
• Libvirt ;
• Gluster;
• LXC;
• CoreOS etcd & fleet;
• a lot of high availability and semplified deploying method included and working out of the box;
• fully rebuilded and coherent linux system;
• <1000 pkg installed, system size: 2.8Gb uncompressed, compressed 647mb;
• Grub2 with a simplyfied maintenance;
• innovative and particular tools included, filesystems, networking;
• latest releases or git versions;
• zram and tmpfs usage;
• php5.6 and Mono 4.2 included (ready to be an appliance);
• fully 64bit System;
• fully a standard Gentoo compiled and boxed system, cleaned (/etc/portage, ports and /var/db/pkg) are separated as DEV pkg;
• git included;
• boot with dhcp enabled for eth0, user: root, password: root;
• do you want to change anything? Overmount, from /mnt/cdrom/DIRS/DIR_path_your_dir and reload services;
• think to leave system image untouched... experiment with mount, mount -t tmpfs, mount -o bind on files and dirs... and jump readonly limits, and automate it with runlevels and Antd Project;
• looks for tips.*.tips files for summary description in the /mnt/cdrom structure.

Collaborate with us, or make requests, or communicate with us

Contact us by email -> osdev@anthilla.com

AND / OR

AND / OR

contact us in IRC on freenode channel, #anthilla

Change requests to other projects

• Genkernel Next;
• in particular: [Discussion about changing mount point names](Sabayon/genkernel-next#27 write by me,Dorvan).