Introducing Armbian’s New Cloud Images: Optimized for x86 and aarch64 Cloud Deployments

Armbian is taking a significant step forward in cloud computing support with the introduction of dedicated cloud images tailored for cloud environments. The latest enhancement brings a new ‘cloud’ image set specifically designed to optimize generic x86 and aarch64 deployments, ensuring better performance, security, and compatibility in cloud infrastructures.

Why Dedicated Cloud Images?

As more enterprises and developers deploy lightweight Linux images in cloud environments, the need for a streamlined, cloud-optimized configuration has grown. The new ‘cloud’ images aim to address this by focusing on:

  • Very Fast Boot Time: Optimized configurations enable boot times as fast as 1-2 seconds, ensuring rapid deployment and responsiveness.
  • No Firmware Package: By eliminating unnecessary firmware packages, the cloud images remain lightweight and focused on essential cloud functionality.
  • Optimized Performance: Stripped of unnecessary hardware drivers, the cloud images are leaner, allowing faster boot times and improved efficiency.
  • Enhanced Compatibility: Fine-tuned configurations ensure that Armbian-based cloud instances run seamlessly across major cloud providers, including AWS and Azure.
  • Security-Focused Design: With a minimal attack surface, the cloud images reduce exposure to vulnerabilities while maintaining essential features.
  • Lightweight Image Size: The uncompressed QCOW2 image is approximately 700MB, ensuring minimal resource usage while maintaining full functionality.
  • Docker Support Enabled by Default: The cloud images come preconfigured with Docker support out of the box, allowing seamless deployment of containerized applications.
  • Lean Debian Bookworm or Ubuntu Noble User Space: Provided images come with a minimal yet powerful user space based on Debian Bookworm or Ubuntu Noble, ensuring stability and efficiency.
  • ZRAM Management: Built-in ZRAM management optimizes memory usage, improving performance in resource-constrained environments.
  • Armbian-Config System Configuration Utility: The powerful armbian-config tool provides an easy way to configure and manage system settings, enhancing user experience and customization.

Customize and Brand Your Cloud Image

Armbian makes it incredibly simple to create custom, cloud-optimized images tailored to your needs. Whether you’re an enterprise or an individual developer, you can brand and configure your Armbian cloud images to match your identity and requirements. Have always fresh Armbian OS with your brand!

By leveraging the Armbian build framework, you can easily build your own cloud images with custom configurations, packages, and branding. Get started today by visiting the official Armbian build repository.

Build command example:

./compile.sh \
BETA=no \
BOARD=uefi-x86 \
BRANCH=cloud \
BUILD_DESKTOP=no \
BUILD_MINIMAL=yes \
ENABLE_EXTENSIONS=image-output-qcow2 \
IMAGE_VERSION=25.2.3 \
RELEASE=noble \
VENDOR="Company" \
VENDORCOLOR="5;100;115" \
KERNEL_CONFIGURE=no \
KERNEL_BTF=yes

login-prompt

Download links

You can find download links at https://www.armbian.com/download/, or use the direct links below.

For the QEMU disk image (QCOW2) format:

https://dl.armbian.com/uefi-x86/Bookworm_cloud_minimal-qcow2
https://dl.armbian.com/uefi-x86/Noble_cloud_minimal-qcow2
https://dl.armbian.com/uefi-arm64/Bookworm_cloud_minimal-qcow2
https://dl.armbian.com/uefi-arm64/Noble_cloud_minimal-qcow2

and Microsoft Azure image format:

https://dl.armbian.com/uefi-x86/Bookworm_cloud_minimal-hyperv
https://dl.armbian.com/uefi-x86/Noble_cloud_minimal-hyperv
https://dl.armbian.com/uefi-arm64/Bookworm_cloud_minimal-hyperv
https://dl.armbian.com/uefi-arm64/Noble_cloud_minimal-hyperv

How This Benefits Cloud Deployments

This update makes it easier for developers and businesses to deploy Armbian-based instances in the cloud without unnecessary bloat. Whether running on AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, or smaller providers and Qemu KVM / Proxmox, users can expect:

  • Reduced overhead and better resource utilization
  • Improved stability with cloud-centric optimizations
  • A more agile and lightweight system for containerized applications
  • Faster provisioning and deployment due to the ultra-fast boot times
  • Seamless container orchestration with pre-enabled Docker support
  • Optimized memory management with built-in ZRAM support
  • Customizable and user-friendly system configuration via armbian-config
  • The ability to build fully customized, branded cloud images with ease

What’s Next?

Armbian continues to evolve, ensuring that users benefit from its embedded Linux roots, embracing a philosophy of minimalism and efficiency that ensures optimal use of system resources. Community feedback is crucial in refining the cloud images, and we encourage users to test them out and contribute.

For more details, visit the official Armbian GitHub repository and join the discussion!

Stay connected and experience the next generation of Armbian cloud support today!