Introduction

Katsu is a tool to create working Linux disk images from scratch. It is written in Rust and strives to be fast and modular, featuring a modular YAML configuration.

Katsu can be used to create full-fledged disk images for virtual machines, containers, or bare-metal systems. It can even be used to create bootable ISO images powered by Limine or GRUB.

Katsu is similar to tools like mkosi (opens in a new tab), Lorax (opens in a new tab), or Packer (opens in a new tab), but it's designed to build images entirely from scratch, and focuses on modularity and readability.

Like all Fyra projects, Katsu is proudly open source. The source code is available on our GitHub repository (opens in a new tab).

Features

• Modular, reusable YAML modules for common scripts and configurations.
• Support for multiple architectures (currently ARM64 and x86_64).
• Support for multiple image formats (currently raw and ISO).
• Support for multiple bootloaders (currently Limine and GRUB, systemd-boot is planned).
• OCI/Docker and LXC/LXD container image targets (planned).
• File templating and variable substitution for configuration files. (planned)

Differences from other tools

mkosi

• mkosi is part of the systemd project, and is written in Python, while Katsu is written in Rust and is created as part of the Ultramarine Linux and tauOS projects.
• mkosi is primarily designed for integration tests for systemd, while Katsu is designed to be a general-purpose image builder.
• mkosi uses a INI-like configuration format, while Katsu uses a completely modular YAML configuration format.
• mkosi can only generate disk images.

Lorax

• Lorax is written in Python, while Katsu is written in Rust.
• Lorax has 2 different configuration formats, for different use cases, while Katsu has a single, modular YAML configuration format that builds for all outputs.
  • The installer image is built using solely command-line arguments
  • The live/disk images are built using Anaconda kickstart files, which is a DSL for the Anaconda installer. Since this is a non-standard DSL, it is not very portable.
• Lorax uses Mako templates for configuring images later in the build process, while Katsu simply uses Tera templates, which is similar to Jinja2 and Django templates, lowering the learning curve.

Packer

• Packer is written in Go, while Katsu is written in Rust.
• Packer builds on top of existing images, while Katsu builds images from scratch.
• Packer uses HCL or JSON for configuration, while Katsu uses a modular YAML configuration format.
• Packer is primarily designed for building images for cloud providers, while Katsu is mostly designed for bare-metal and virtual machine images.
• Packer has a large number of plugins, while Katsu relies on modular scripts installed in the workspace itself.

Antlir

• Antlir (opens in a new tab) relies on the Buck build system to even build images, while Katsu is completely standalone, and ingests YAML manifests.
• Antlir makes heavy use of Btrfs subvolumes for caching and layering, while Katsu uses the traditional method of chrooting into the image and installing packages.
• Antlir will only support Fedora-based images, while Katsu is planned to support any Linux distribution.

KIWI

• KIWI (opens in a new tab) is written in Python, while Katsu is written in Rust.
• KIWI uses XML for configuration, while Katsu uses YAML.
• KIWI is primarily made for OpenSUSE, while Katsu is made for Fedora.