Microsoft recently opened an internal Linux distribution CBL-Mariner on GitHub. This release is developed by the WSL 2 team and is mainly used on the server-side rather than on the desktop side. According to Microsoft’s official introduction, CBL-Mariner aims to provide a consistent platform for cloud infrastructure and edge products and services.
The plan is part of Microsoft’s increasing investment in various Linux technologies, such as SONiC, Azure Sphere OS, and Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). In addition, CBL-Mariner will not change its attitude or commitment to any existing third-party Linux distributions.
The design concept of CBL-Mariner is that a set of small common core packages can meet the general needs of first-party cloud and edge services while allowing each team to layer additional packages on top of the common core. The workload is mirrored. This is achieved through a simple build system that supports:
- Package generation: Generate a set of RPM packages required from SPEC files and source files.
- Image generation: Generate the required image from a given set of packages, such as ISO or VHD.
When a security breach occurs, CBL-Mariner supports a package-based update model and an image-based update model. Utilizing the universal RPM package manager system, CBL-Mariner provides the latest security patches and fixes to achieve the goal of fast turnaround time.
Microsoft did not provide an ISO image of CBL-Mariner. You need to build it yourself. You can click here to view the tutorial.
CBL-Mariner’s GitHub page: Click here to view
