Bus Engine Development Images
The virtual-server image path is accepted.
Bus Engine OS now has an accepted virtual-server profile for a
source-built QEMU/KVM server image. The additive virtual-desktop profile
is still in development, and production release, update, and recovery guarantees
remain outside the current development preview.
Current image profiles
| Profile | Status | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
virtual-server | Accepted | Minimal QEMU/KVM server image for Bus Engine runtime use. |
virtual-desktop | In development | Additive desktop profile for graphical runtime work. It is not the accepted server image. |
What the accepted image contains
The accepted virtual-server proof builds a package-built root filesystem from validated package archives, extracts the packaged Linux kernel image, creates QEMU artifacts, records build provenance and checksums, boots in QEMU, reaches Systemd multi-user readiness, starts OpenSSH, and proves Engine SSH access.
| Component | Current accepted version |
|---|---|
| Linux kernel | 6.18.36 |
| Systemd | 261.1 |
| OpenSSL | 3.5.7 |
| OpenSSH | 10.3p1 |
| Iproute2 | 7.1.0 |
| Util-linux | 2.42.2 |
| SQLite | 3.53.3 |
How to build and run one
The default build profile is virtual-server. Name it only when you
want to be explicit; use --target-arch only for an intentional
cross-architecture build or promotion.
bus engine os build image
bus engine os build image --profile virtual-server
bus engine os artifact promote-engine
bus services up
bus engine start
bus engine status
bus engine sshmacOS arm64 and Linux 64-bit hosts are the current supported operator environments for the documented build flow. macOS uses Docker for the Linux build environment. Linux uses the local build host when preflight passes and can fall back to Docker when Docker is available.
Image terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Compatibility input | A verified upstream image used for preview and compatibility work. Debian cloud images are one supported input option for development evaluation. |
| Development image | A pre-production image generated or assembled during development to test boot, package, kernel, service, and validation behavior. |
| Bus Engine OS image | An image built from the Bus Engine OS blueprint and package pipeline. The virtual-server image path is accepted; GUI, WASM, and production release profiles remain development work. |
| Release artifact | A published binary, source bundle, manifest, checksum, notice bundle, or related release file for a specific release. |
| Production-supported image | A future supported image with contractual support boundaries, release notes, compatibility expectations, and service terms. |
Artifact flow
Engine profiles refer to image, kernel, package, and bootstrap artifacts by catalog identity and digest. The artifact service downloads or imports each file, verifies the expected checksum, stages it atomically, and exposes a stable content handle for the VM provider.
Bus Engine creates the default artifact catalog when the default Engine profile
starts and requests its configured image artifacts. Use
bus artifacts catalog set when adding a local kernel package or
another artifact that is outside that profile.
bus artifacts catalog set bus-engine-kernel-amd64 \
--handle /path/to/linux-image-7.1.0_6_amd64.deb \
--digest sha256:<expected-digest>Runtime profile choices
A profile selects the target architecture, build profile, kernel package and configuration, rootfs package groups, runtime configuration packages, service expectations, boot expectations, and acceptance policy. The accepted server profile is separate from GUI development work, so GUI package iteration cannot masquerade as accepted server image artifacts.
| Profile piece | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Image artifact | The boot target used for a development or compatibility run. |
| Kernel package | The selected Bus kernel package and boot metadata. |
| Package set | Bus-built package artifacts, source revisions, patches, manifests, and notices. |
| Validation policy | Boot checks, service checks, diagnostics, workload tests, and acceptance evidence. |
Current boundary
Do not treat a compatibility input as a Bus Engine OS release. Also do not treat the accepted virtual-server profile as a production SLA. The first public development preview is a rolling pre-production channel for technical evaluation, and update, recovery, rollback, GUI completion, and production release operations remain active development work.
Review the capability status.
The capabilities page lists the Engine, artifact, VM, QEMU, AI integration, local model, and Bus Engine OS modules that support this image work.