Snappy Ubuntu Core - alpha-02

Hello Snappy Lovers,

ss you might have already spotted in the news, this time we bring you the snappiness of Ubuntu Core right to the Thing next to you :).

Release highlights that got packed up in this snappy Ubuntu Core alpha release with focus on the Things world include:

1. a new port of ubuntu-core system image to armhf architecture
2. support for u-boot for our transaction system image update
3. an early drop of our new "Web Device Manager" (webdm) framework that enables humans to manage snappy systems through their browser
4. a prebuilt beaglebone image that comes with webdm preinstalled
5. ubuntu-device-flash as tool to produce snappy images for local hacking on enablement and to assemble your custom appliance
6. a porting guide to explain to the world of board manufacturers what they need to do to get their board ready for development of snappy appliances

Also you might be pleased to see that we have started consolidating our tutorials, walkthroughs. docs, specs and examples into a single place on developer.ubuntu.com [2] that is eaasy to remember and easy to find.

Of course, this release also brings a refresh of our already availble snappy ubuntu-core offerig for the cloud. Install instructions on how to get the latest on KVM and your favourite public cloud can still be found on our snappy cloud landing page [3]

For that that want to know more details, check out our release wiki page that we created for this release [4].

Thanks and see you soon snapping yet another thing :).

Cheers,

• - Alexander

[1] - http://www.ubuntu.com/things [2] - http://developer.ubuntu.com/en/snappy [3] - http://www.ubuntu.com/cloud/tools/snappy [4] - https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuCore/Snappy/BetaReleaseUpdates/Alpha02#preview }}}

Features

Core:

• new kernel 3.18 for amd64
• bringup of generic_armhf build that supports the beaglebone black out of the box
• introduce u-boot as an alterative to grub for our transactional system image logic
• system-image now detects failed boots after upgrade and automatically rolls back to the previous image next time you powercycle
• if the kernel or system init fail, a reboot will occur automatically.
• snappy rollback support for apps now available
• boot sequence waits for cloud-init to finish to avoid getting spurious noise on the login prompt and to ensure that users and keys are properly set up before getting prompted
• the ubuntu users password can now be changed on CLI and also through cloud-init
• services shipped by snapps are now restarted on upgrade/rollback and reinstall
• a/b upgrade path got fixed to apply only the diff needed
• support for an prototype oem type of snapps that will allow system builders to customize their product through official means
• showcase system settings through snappy config ubuntu-core (currently timezone supported)
• application data is properly copied when upgrading
• environment for snappy apps and services now exposes key paths of the snappy filesystem layout and documentation got updated
• Each apps has its own private TMPDIR
• Each app has its own private HOME set to SNAPP_APP_USER_DATA_PATH
• make SNAPP_APP_PATH, SNAPP_APP_DATA_PATH, SNAPP_APP_USER_DATA_PATH available in the environment
• make cloud-init generate

Store:

• support developer app namespaces, simply use appname.username for uploading your snapps
• support armhf and and multi arch packages
• make pregenerated .pngs easily avilable by webdm

Examples:

• hello-world example grew hello-world.env command that dumps the environment from the perspective of a snapp
• hello-world example grew hello-world.evil command to showcase confinement
• go-webserver-example show case how to do a fat package that supports multiple architectures
• ros-tutorials example showing how to package a Robot in a snapp
• webdm showing how to build a framwork that can manage apps

Known High Critical Bugs

• #1412698: upgrade path calculation may be incorrect in certain scenarios.
• #1412734: 'snappy versions' claims it needs root access.
• #1412736: grub does not use a shared directory.
• #1412737: system should automatically reboot into the other partition when a bad boot is detected.