README

tl;dr Smaller kernel image for server-centric Debian-based Live CDs. This is NOT for Desktop systems.

What is this?

This is a set of minimal Debian kernel images for Live CDs, with a focus on server systems.

The target kernel versions are longterm release kernels
- Only versions that compile without a proliferation of configuration files are considered
- There will be occasionally other releases for bleeding edge versions
This is for both amd64 and aarch64 architectures
Drivers for audio, video or other “non-meaningful” settings are discarded
The resulting kernel image installation size should be as small as possible

The system should be able to successfully boot from UEFI or BIOS mode on most machines
The system should successfully power off without hanging
The system should support “containerization” (podman, docker, etc.)
The system should support iptables for firewall settings
The system should support popular file-systems used in Live CDs such as squashfs
The system Live media size should be reduced significantly with provided kernel packages

The first use-case for this repository is supporting the Live CD creation of a document sanitizer tool (Entrusted).

Start with an Ubuntu kernel configuration in your /boot folder
Compare settings with the Alpine Linux virt-flavor kernel configuration
Remove as many settings as possible, while testing few Live CDs for arm64 and amd64
Stop removing settings when it becomes too cumbersome to test

Please visit the releases page for downloads (64-bit: amd64/x86_64 and arm64/aarch64).

The zip archive for each architecture (amd64 or arm64) contains 3 Debian packages:

Package	Description
`linux-headers`	Linux kernel headers
`linux-image`	Linux kernel
`linux-libc-dev`	Linux support headers for userspace development

The arm64 kernel packages are created via cross-compilation.

Debian kernel packages for servers running on minimal Live CDs

GNU General Public License v3.0