# Call for Testing: Bluefin LTS (Alpha) **URL:** \ **Category:** Bluefin\ **Tags:** announcements, bluefin-news\ **Created:** [December 22, 2024, 3:50am UTC](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/call-for-testing-bluefin-lts-alpha/5841 "2024-12-22T03:50:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![hanthor](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/universal-blue.discourse.group/hanthor/32/4609_2.png) [@hanthor](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/u/hanthor)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 12:43pm UTC](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/call-for-testing-bluefin-lts-alpha/5841/42 "2025-03-07T12:43:33Z")
You could do a podman run -it [ghcr.com/ublue-os/bluefin:stable](http://ghcr.com/ublue-os/bluefin:stable) bash and podman run -it [ghcr.com/ublue-os/bluefin:lts](http://ghcr.com/ublue-os/bluefin:lts) bash and then do a diff between the two. I haven’t tried it but let me know how it goes ---
**Author:** ![akarypid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5a626/32.png) [@akarypid](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/u/akarypid)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 11:08pm UTC](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/call-for-testing-bluefin-lts-alpha/5841/43 "2025-03-07T23:08:28Z")
The whole point is to avoid downloading the image. I would hope there is something one can do with tools like [skopeo](https://docs.oracle.com/en/operating-systems/oracle-linux/podman/podman-UsingSkopeotoInspectandCopyImages.html). I am playing with: ```auto ❯ skopeo inspect docker://ghcr.io/ublue-os/bluefin-dx:gts | jq '.Labels."dev.hhd.rechunk.info".packages' jq: error (at :2963): Cannot index string with string "packages" ``` Unfortunately I can’t seem to isolate just the “packages” key… ---
**Author:** ![akarypid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5a626/32.png) [@akarypid](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/u/akarypid)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2025, 11:44am UTC](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/call-for-testing-bluefin-lts-alpha/5841/44 "2025-03-08T11:44:53Z")
Got this working: ```auto ~ took 2s ❯ skopeo inspect docker://ghcr.io/ublue-os/bluefin-dx:lts | jq -r '.Labels."dev.hhd.rechunk.info" | fromjson.packages' | sort > blts ~ took 6s ❯ skopeo inspect docker://ghcr.io/ublue-os/bluefin-dx:stable | jq -r '.Labels."dev.hhd.rechunk.info" | fromjson.packages' | sort > bstable ~ took 6s ❯ skopeo inspect docker://ghcr.io/ublue-os/bluefin-dx:latest | jq -r '.Labels."dev.hhd.rechunk.info" | fromjson.packages' | sort > blatest ``` I use Meld to compare these graphically. ---
**Author:** ![j0rge](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/universal-blue.discourse.group/j0rge/32/8_2.png) [@j0rge](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/u/j0rge)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2025, 10:50pm UTC](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/call-for-testing-bluefin-lts-alpha/5841/45 "2025-03-08T22:50:16Z")
Hello from the show floor at SCaLE! Here’s Bluefin GDX on a Thelio Astra. 128 delicious Ampere cores. 😃 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/univeral_blue/original/2X/b/b9abac848ed53fb2f55a4a0d16ec9eac2d7b49ce.jpeg) TONS of great conversations with the CentOS folks, specifically in the Hyperscale SIG. We are pretty much set to start consuming newer kernels in the optional hwe images and there are plans for backporting GNOME back to CentOS 10. All in all I think we’ve checked every box. We’re going to go ahead and call this our beta. 😃 Keep the bug reports coming! ---
**Author:** ![akarypid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5a626/32.png) [@akarypid](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/u/akarypid)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 12:03am UTC](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/call-for-testing-bluefin-lts-alpha/5841/46 "2025-03-09T00:03:18Z")
Is this at the point we can give it a spin on real hardware instead of a VM? I’m looking to try `bluefin-gdx-nvidia` and see how things go on my laptop… ---
**Author:** ![j0rge](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/universal-blue.discourse.group/j0rge/32/8_2.png) [@j0rge](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/u/j0rge)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 2:42am UTC](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/call-for-testing-bluefin-lts-alpha/5841/47 "2025-03-09T02:42:29Z")
I’ve been dogfooding on bare metal just fine, we still don’t offer secureboot yet though. ---
**Author:** ![tulilirockz](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/universal-blue.discourse.group/tulilirockz/32/6812_2.png) [@tulilirockz](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/u/tulilirockz)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 2:52pm UTC](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/call-for-testing-bluefin-lts-alpha/5841/48 "2025-03-10T14:52:28Z")
`bluefin-gdx` already has nvidia 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![akarypid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5a626/32.png) [@akarypid](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/u/akarypid)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2025, 6:54pm UTC](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/call-for-testing-bluefin-lts-alpha/5841/49 "2025-03-22T18:54:07Z")
For some reason the [Determinate Nix Installer](https://github.com/DeterminateSystems/nix-installer) does not work even though it runs fine on a pure CentOS 10 stream VM. In the Bluefin-gdx it seems that mounting on / is prohibited so: ```auto ░░ The unit nix-directory.service has entered the 'failed' state with result 'exit-code'. Mar 22 18:49:49 localhost systemd[1]: Failed to start nix-directory.service - Enable mount points in / for ostree. ░░ Subject: A start job for unit nix-directory.service has failed ░░ Defined-By: systemd ░░ Support: https://access.redhat.com/support ░░ ░░ A start job for unit nix-directory.service has finished with a failure. ░░ ░░ The job identifier is 5382 and the job result is failed. Mar 22 18:49:49 localhost systemd[1]: Dependency failed for nix.mount - Mount `/var/home/nix` on `/nix`. ░░ Subject: A start job for unit nix.mount has failed ░░ Defined-By: systemd ░░ Support: https://access.redhat.com/support ░░ ░░ A start job for unit nix.mount has finished with a failure. ``` This currently works on Silverblue/Bluefin-dx Is it possible to allow mounts in / or is there some reason this was changed in bluefin-gdx? I think for a developer OS allowing Nix would be a great feature. ---
**Author:** ![j0rge](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/universal-blue.discourse.group/j0rge/32/8_2.png) [@j0rge](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/u/j0rge)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2025, 7:43pm UTC](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/call-for-testing-bluefin-lts-alpha/5841/50 "2025-03-22T19:43:15Z")
No, lts is using composefs so that’s not possible, it’ll probably stop working in F42 in the other Bluefins too. ---
**Author:** ![akarypid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5a626/32.png) [@akarypid](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/u/akarypid)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2025, 8:18pm UTC](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/call-for-testing-bluefin-lts-alpha/5841/51 "2025-03-22T20:18:47Z")
Ok I have found the relevant issue: [Ostree installation breaks with composefs changes in Fedora 42 · Issue #1445 · DeterminateSystems/nix-installer · GitHub](https://github.com/DeterminateSystems/nix-installer/issues/1445) Seems like there are discussions here: [Arbitrary top level mount points and composefs (#26) · Issues · fedora / bootc / Issue Tracker · GitLab](https://gitlab.com/fedora/bootc/tracker/-/issues/26#note_2406712783) Just flagging in case anyone comes across… Hope they fix it soon… ---
**Author:** ![akarypid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5a626/32.png) [@akarypid](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/u/akarypid)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2025, 8:23am UTC](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/call-for-testing-bluefin-lts-alpha/5841/52 "2025-03-24T08:23:21Z")
I think the combo of an atomic Linux with Nix is quite powerful. I know and love Homebrew, but nothing beats the ability to install a Bluefin image on a laptop, then activate your Nix profile to pull in your development toolchain(s) and be good to go… Since the discussions I see in the links above may take a while to resolve, I’m thinking of creating a customized flavour of bluefin-gdx which has Nix pre-installed as an add-on, but I’ve no idea how to go about this… How would one go about creating a custom `bluefin-gdx-nix` image, which is just the base image but with the Nix installed (i.e. the root contains the `/nix` mount point and the determinate nix installer is present so that the build users and systemd service are present). ---
**Author:** ![fenglengshun](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/universal-blue.discourse.group/fenglengshun/32/367_2.png) [@fenglengshun](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/u/fenglengshun)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2025, 9:17am UTC](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/call-for-testing-bluefin-lts-alpha/5841/53 "2025-03-24T09:17:33Z")
Why not just use Home-Manager? Personally, I use a github repo to build my image, with all the custom packages and /etc files I want, and a separate github repo for my Home-Manager ---
**Author:** ![akarypid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5a626/32.png) [@akarypid](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/u/akarypid)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2025, 9:34am UTC](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/call-for-testing-bluefin-lts-alpha/5841/54 "2025-03-24T09:34:13Z")
I am currently using home manager in bluefin-dx (F41). I want to keep using it when F42 rolls out, but as per the posts above the `/nix` mount stops working. I was hoping to extend the image build with an extra step that runs the DNI mentioned above in [Call for Testing: Bluefin LTS (Alpha) - #49 by akarypid](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/call-for-testing-bluefin-lts-alpha/5841/49) so that I can keep using Nix as I am currently… Can you point me to your repo for building your own image? Is there some wiki on how to create your own image? ---
**Author:** ![JohnAtl](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/universal-blue.discourse.group/johnatl/32/3485_2.png) [@JohnAtl](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/u/JohnAtl)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2025, 9:57am UTC](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/call-for-testing-bluefin-lts-alpha/5841/55 "2025-03-24T09:57:43Z")
This might be a good place to start: > **[The easiest way to build your own desktop Linux images.](https://blue-build.org/)** > > The BlueBuild project creates accessible tools for you to create, configure & build custom images of atomic Fedora distributions. ---
**Author:** ![fenglengshun](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/universal-blue.discourse.group/fenglengshun/32/367_2.png) [@fenglengshun](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/u/fenglengshun)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 1:04pm UTC](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/call-for-testing-bluefin-lts-alpha/5841/56 "2025-03-29T13:04:50Z")
Any idea why it is borked? I just finished installing Bazzite on my ROG Ally. I usually setup everything via Home Manager, but if `/nix` is borked then I’d just wait until it is confirmed fixed before continuing with my setup. ---
**Author:** ![akarypid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5a626/32.png) [@akarypid](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/u/akarypid)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 6:50pm UTC](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/call-for-testing-bluefin-lts-alpha/5841/57 "2025-03-29T18:50:25Z")
See the links in my comment above: [Call for Testing: Bluefin LTS (Alpha) - #51 by akarypid](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/call-for-testing-bluefin-lts-alpha/5841/51) ---
**Author:** ![fenglengshun](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/universal-blue.discourse.group/fenglengshun/32/367_2.png) [@fenglengshun](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/u/fenglengshun)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2025, 4:45am UTC](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/call-for-testing-bluefin-lts-alpha/5841/58 "2025-03-30T04:45:19Z")
Hm, I do have my own image builder on Github… is there a way I can generate an empty `/nix` top directory there? ---
**Author:** ![akarypid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5a626/32.png) [@akarypid](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/u/akarypid)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2025, 6:40pm UTC](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/call-for-testing-bluefin-lts-alpha/5841/59 "2025-04-08T18:40:37Z")
Did you manage to get this working? I’m going to stay on gts (when it becomes 41-based) because of this issue… ---
**Author:** ![fenglengshun](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/universal-blue.discourse.group/fenglengshun/32/367_2.png) [@fenglengshun](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/u/fenglengshun)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 3:45pm UTC](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/call-for-testing-bluefin-lts-alpha/5841/60 "2025-04-09T15:45:12Z")
Tried adding an [mk-nix script](https://github.com/bayazidbh/ublue-whitesur/blob/1a714e5e4825df99880d96a559341692f1bfc8dc/scripts/pre/mk-nix.sh) to my image builder, whether I put it in pre or post, it doesn’t seem to be automatically generating a `/nix` folder on my device. I remember that there was an `/opt` oflloading script that basically creates an `/opt` folder in the image and then symlinks it to /var/opt` but I don’t know how it works exactly. ---
**Author:** ![j0rge](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/universal-blue.discourse.group/j0rge/32/8_2.png) [@j0rge](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/u/j0rge)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 3:46pm UTC](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/call-for-testing-bluefin-lts-alpha/5841/61 "2025-04-09T15:46:55Z")
Just a heads up that we’re planning on dropping the vanilla kernel and just going with the backported SIG hyperscale kernels by default. This will simplify everything and no one on the team’s going to want to stay on 6.12 forever. So there won’t be an LTS and LTS hwe, it’s just be LTS with the backported kernels and other parts. I’ll post more of the mantra/thoughts around this after F42. [Previous page](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/call-for-testing-bluefin-lts-alpha/5841.md?page=2) [Next page](https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/call-for-testing-bluefin-lts-alpha/5841.md?page=4)