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Kairos Operator

The Kairos operator is a Kubernetes operator for day-2 operations of Kairos clusters. It provides a set of Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs) that allow you to manage Kairos nodes, perform upgrades, build OS artifacts, and run arbitrary operations — all from within Kubernetes.

Custom Resources​

The operator provides three custom resources:

  • NodeOp: Run generic operations on Kubernetes nodes (Kairos or not). It allows mounting the host's root filesystem to perform operations or run scripts. Useful for firmware upgrades, configuration changes, resets, and more.

  • NodeOpUpgrade: A Kairos-specific custom resource for upgrading Kairos nodes. It automatically creates a NodeOp with the appropriate upgrade script and configuration. Supports canary deployments, concurrency control, and failure handling.

  • OSArtifact: Build Linux distribution artifacts (ISO images, cloud images, netboot artifacts, etc.) from container images directly in Kubernetes. This allows you to build Kairos OS images and other bootable artifacts as Kubernetes-native resources.

Getting Started​

  1. Install the operator on your Kubernetes cluster
  2. Explore the CRDs for your use case:
    • Need to upgrade your Kairos nodes? See NodeOpUpgrade
    • Need to run operations on nodes (firmware updates, config changes, resets)? See NodeOp
    • Need to build OS images (ISOs, cloud images, netboot)? See OSArtifact
  3. If you use private container registries, see Private Registries