Google Container-VM Image: A Container-Optimized OS Image Based on Chromium OS

Google Container-VM Image: A Container-Optimized OS Image Based on Chromium OS(cloud.google.com)

92 points by ryancox 10 years ago | 11 comments

javamonn 10 years ago |

This is the image that the instances in a Google Container Engine cluster run. Nice that its getting easier and easier to run a local cluster - for most things it doesn't matter but every so often I'd like to test things in a kube configuration locally before deploying to staging/production.

Edit: at least I'm assuming these are the same images as what they run GKE with due to the same name - can anyone confirm this?

crb 10 years ago | |

As of today, GKE uses the Debian-based ContainerVM: https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/containers/container_v...

dlor 10 years ago | | |

Here's the issue tracking the switch: https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/issues/25276

skj 10 years ago | | |

I believe those images are used to run a 1-node kubernetes cluster, but are not the same as those used by GKE.

Artemis2 10 years ago |

Now it[1] just needs a centralized lock service[2] for safe cluster-wide rolling upgrades! The three release channels are already there, with the Omaha upgrade system.

1: https://coreos.com

2: https://coreos.com/etcd

dward 10 years ago | |

Probably should link this as well: https://github.com/coreos/locksmith

vially 10 years ago |

It seems these images use systemd (a nice departure from the init.d scripts used in the previous container_vms images [1]).

[1] - https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/containers/container_v...

dward 10 years ago | |

Yes, it runs both systemd and upstart. Staying true to chromiumos, upstart is still the /sbin/init. I believe both upstart and systemd support some subset of the sysvinit api (e.g. rc and /etc/init.d).

The previous debian based container-vm image only ran upstart.

DiabloD3 10 years ago | |

That isn't a nice departure. It uselessly bloats the image up, introduces untested code that isn't really production ready, and opens you up to security issues.

Debian sysvinit scripts are well understood, are used in production in Fortune 500 companies, and execute much quicker on boot.

Systemd is a mistake, and no one should be backing that project.

swiley 10 years ago |

I hope it's not as "lightweight" as android and chromeos.

MikeKusold 10 years ago | |

CoreOS is also based on ChromiumOS. I wouldn't be too worried on if this is lightweight or not. Google has been running everything in containers since 2014, and before that they were using containers since the mid-2000s. When it comes to containers, I'm don't think anyone has more experience using containers at large scales than Google.