dc(e)OS — Data Center Operating System
Subtitle: Opinionated, manageable, immutable Linux profile for datacenter nodes.
Problem
General-purpose Linux distributions are powerful. For datacenter nodes, KVM, libvirt, OVS, OVN, telemetry, storage integration, security hardening, and centralized management often end up as bespoke scripts and habits per organization.
The result: even inside one org, node profiles drift, troubleshooting gets harder.
Goal
dc(e)OS is not a new general-purpose Linux distro. It targets a consistent, manageable base OS profile for OpenSDDC hosts.
Highlights
- RHEL / Rocky / Alma-aligned baseline
- Immutable root (goal)
- KVM/QEMU/libvirt-ready profile
- OVS/OVN-ready profile
- SLTV and gIMI integration
- Host model manageable by OpenSDDC Manager
Architecture approach
- Base layer: Production-mature foundation close to the RHEL family.
- Immutable root: Atomic updates / rollback (OSTree-like).
- Profiles: Opinionated profiles such as “compute node,” “storage node,” “edge node.”
- Bootstrap: Automated node registration (Ignition / cloud-init style).
- Manager integration: Inventory, lifecycle, and update coordination via OpenSDDC Manager.
Roadmap
dc(e)OS matures in Phase 3:
- First bootable dc(e)OS image
- Host bootstrap flow
- Node registration model for OpenSDDC Manager