Consuming StarlingX

StarlingX is ready for you to use today, however, limitations exist regarding what you can do with the open source software. Software features like secure boot and live software update are not fully enabled by the community.

The community does not provide signed software images, which are needed to enable features that depend on signed images to implement security features. Providing signed images is typically the responsibility of commercial vendors or the users themselves. Here are three ways in which you can consume StarlingX.

Deploy the open source code

You can use the open source software directly. Our community partner Wind River provides a StarlingX mirror with ready-to-run ISO images of the current StarlingX releases and daily builds.

View the StarlingX mirror.

As previously mentioned, these images are not signed and thus do not support secure boot or live software updates. You can also build your own images.

The StarlingX community recommends that users planning to deploy the open source software use the release images, which have been tested and validated by the community. Developers planning to work against the tip of the source trees typically use the daily builds.

Deploy an internal version of StarlingX

If you are part of a company, the company itself can create a team to create their own version of StarlingX for internal use. Such a team can do acceptance testing of the open source software, customize it as needed, sign their own internal images, and use the features in StarlingX to enable secure boot and to develop and deliver live software updates (patches) to their internal users.

Deploy code from a vendor

You can consume a commercial vendor’s StarlingX-based product or solution. Vendors provide signed images and signed software updates. They may also add features or content to the open source software and they may provide other services such as technical support.

The StarlingX community expects several vendors to provide StarlingX-based products and solutions. We hope to see more as our community grows.