rpm-ostree/docs/compose-server.md
Alexander Wellbrock 5ed0834144 docs/compose: add a introductory section
This section is meant to give a broad overview of this doc.

First introducing the tool in general. Then showing the distinction
between 'compose tree' and the granular approach. Finally transitioning
over to the next section.
2021-03-24 17:05:58 -04:00

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# Compose server
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1. TOC
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## Managing RPM based OSTree commits
With `rpm-ostree compose` you get a tool to compose your own ostree commits based on a
[treefile](https://coreos.github.io/rpm-ostree/treefile/) configuration, a couple of RPMs,
some post-processing and possibly some custom modifications directly in the resulting tree.
The tool allows to either build a tree commit in one go with a single command: `rpm-ostree compose tree`.
Or to split that process up into smaller chunks with the usage of `rpm-ostree compose install`,
followed by `rpm-ostree compose postprocess` and finally `rpm-ostree compose commit`. While
the former approach is pretty complete and allows most use-cases the latter is useful if you need
some more customization on the resulting filesystem. More customization than the sandboxed
post-process functionality of the treefile allows.
In most scenarios you'll want to consider using a more "high level" tool, than `rpm-ostree compose`.
## Using higher level build tooling
Originally `rpm-ostree compose tree` was intended to be a "high level" tool,
but that didn't work out very well in practice. Today, you should consider
it as a low level tool. For example, most people that want to generate
OSTree commits *also* want to generate bootable disk images, and rpm-ostree
has nothing to do with that.
One example higher level tool that takes care of both OSTree commit generation
and bootable disk images is [coreos-assembler](https://github.com/coreos/coreos-assembler);
it is strongly oriented towards "CoreOS-like" systems which include rpm-ostree
and Ignition.
The [osbuild](https://www.osbuild.org/) project has some support for
rpm-ostree based systems. See [this blog entry](https://www.osbuild.org/news/2020-06-01-how-to-ostree-anaconda.html)
for example.
## Background on managing an OSTree repository
Before you get started, it's recommended to read (at least) these two sections
of the OSTree manual:
- [buildsystem-and-repos](https://ostreedev.github.io/ostree/buildsystem-and-repos/)
- [repository-management](https://ostreedev.github.io/ostree/repository-management/)
## Choosing a base config
Currently, rpm-ostree is fairly coupled to the Fedora project. We are open to supporting
other distributions however.
Example base rpm-ostree "manifest repositories" are:
- [Silverblue](https://pagure.io/workstation-ostree-config)
- [IoT](https://pagure.io/fedora-iot/ostree)
- [Fedora CoreOS](https://github.com/coreos/fedora-coreos-config/)
## Running `rpm-ostree compose tree`
This program takes as input a manifest file that describes the target system,
and commits the result to an OSTree repository.
The input format is a YAML (or JSON) "treefile".
If you're doing this multiple times, it's strongly recommended to create a cache
directory:
```
# rpm-ostree compose tree --unified-core --cachedir=cache --repo=/srv/repo /path/to/manifest.yaml
```
This will download RPMs from the referenced repos, and commit the result to the
OSTree repository, using the ref named by `ref`.
Once we have that commit, let's export it:
```
# ostree --repo=repo pull-local build-repo exampleos/8/x86_64/stable
```
You can tell client systems to rebase to it by combining `ostree remote add`,
and `rpm-ostree rebase` on the client side.
## Generating OSTree commits in a container
`rpm-ostree compose tree` runs well in an unprivileged (or "run as root")
podman container. You can also use other container tools, they are just less
frequently tested.
You can also directly install `rpm-ostree` on a traditional `yum/rpm` based
virtual (or physical) machine - it won't affect your host. However, containers
are encouraged.
## More information
- https://www.osbuild.org/news/2020-06-01-how-to-ostree-anaconda.html
- https://github.com/coreos/coreos-assembler