Greenboot is a generic health check framework for systemd on RPM-OSTree based Linux distributions. Red Hat engineers have worked on Greenboot as part of the likes of Fedora IoT and their other RPM-OSTree initiatives for checking on the overall system health with ease.
Greenboot started out as health checks written in Bash scripts for evaluating the overall system health and interfacing with systemd. But an ongoing effort has been rewriting Greenboot in Rust rather than Bash. That “greenboot-rs” effort has been successful and the engineers involved are preparing to release the Rust version.
A Fedora change proposal has been filed for shipping that Rust rewrite of Greenboot in the upcoming Fedora 43 release.
“A rewrite of Greenboot written in Rust will be released, designed for use with bootc and rpm-ostree based systems. This Greenboot release will have the same functionality as the original Bash release, which was only intended for rpm-ostree based systems.
This release is another step towards the adoption and support of bootc systems with Fedora. Originally, the Greenboot release was written in Bash and designed for use only with rpm-ostree based systems. This change releases a new version of Greenboot, Greenboot-RS, written in Rust and designed for usage with bootc and rpm-ostree based systems. This change will allow users to utilize the advantages of a bootc system, while still having the safety and reliability of Greenboot.”
The Fedora Engineering and Steering Committee (FESCo) still needs to vote on this proposal but given that the greenboot-rs code is already out there as a Git branch to the original project and being worked on by Red Hat engineers, it stands good chances of being wrapped up for the Fedora 43 cycle. Those wanting to learn more about this Rust rewrite of Greenboot can do so via the Fedora change proposal. The existing Greenboot code for those interested can be found on GitHub.
