Thanks to https://github.com/vmaction and https://anyvm.org/ I can now build the smolBSD builder image with NetBSD in GH's CI <3

From https://github.com/marketplace/actions/netbsd-vm Note: 11.0-microvm is a fast-boot VARIANT of 11.0 [...]: anyvm boots NetBSD's official MICROVM kernel directly on QEMU's microvm machine type (no BIOS/PCI/ACPI, virtio over MMIO), which cuts boot-to-ssh about 4x vs the pc machine (7.4s vs 29 […]

Hey @formorer great work on https://github.com/credativ/FrOSCon2026-microvm/ ! You might want to try NetBSD MICROVM / smolBSD kernel which boots in ~10ms https://smolbsd.org/ :) This guy even tried it on Proxmox https://github.com/rcarmo/pve-microvm/blob/main/docs/guests.md Thanks @dasga for the […]

https://www.theregister.com/os-platforms/2026/08/20/netbsd-11-lands-with-risc-v-support-and-lightning-fast-vm-boots/5289713 🥰

NetBSD 11 lands with RISC-V support and lightning-fast VM boots

Venerable Unix-like remains reassuringly old-school, if you're willing to put in the work

theregister.com

woo! 15ms on an Apple M4 https://gist.github.com/lbartoletti/f0ee95c025cad7369edc31036e3e1bb1 Thanks @lbartoletti for the test <3 cc @stefano

smolbsd_mac_mini_m4

smolbsd_mac_mini_m4. GitHub Gist: instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

gist.github.com

🎉 smolBSD has now its SMOL NetBSD kernel for aarch64 too! 🎉 https://smolbsd.org/assets/netbsd-SMOL-aarch64.img is live for use with any arm64/aarch64 host, like RPi's, Orange Pi's or Apple's M[0-9]'s and it's FAST git pull && bmake kernfetch and you're set!

This NetBSD kernel configuration works with smolBSD, MICROVM for aarch64! https://imil.net/NetBSD/MICROVM.aarch64

Need a secure ssh jumpbox and everything's closed except HTTPS? smol got your back https://github.com/NetBSDfr/smolBSD/tree/main/service/ttyd

For you people that wants news for nerds, stuff that matters©, https://gcu.info/gruik/ has been revamped

Thanks to this PR inspiration https://github.com/NetBSDfr/smolBSD/pull/75 smoler images are now automatically built (with the NetBSD builder image on qemu!) and pushed to ghcr.io when a SMOLerfile is pushed to the repository. Current image list: https://github.com/orgs/NetBSDfr/packages fetch […]

smolBSD images can now be built and run (unaccelerated) on FreeBSD thanks to @lbartoletti Notes: * Raw image creation, in particular sets extraction, is slow af * No (official) bhyve bindings exist for qemu so don't expect fast boot times nor snappy commands. * Docker-style images depend on […]

This is the kind of TV box Spanish operator Yoigo (and probably others) are saying people to trash because there's a new one; you can grab one for a couple of euros https://es.wallapop.com/item/decodificador-agile-tv-dv8955-t2-deco-agile-tv-1256841583

wadupwaduuup! NetBSD 11 booting on an ARM64 (Amlogic SC2 AH212) based TV tuner!

So far (and from what I'm aware of) smolBSD can boot on * QEMU/kvm (Linux/kvm, NetBSD/nvmm, macos/hvf) - smol kernel * Firecracker - smol kernel * Proxmox - smol kernel (https://github.com/rcarmo/pve-microvm) * bhyve - NetBSD GENERIC trimmed kernel * bare metal / USB / Whatever can boot - […]

I mean, docker is cool and all, but is it "build a 100MB bootable USB image using a Dockerfile" cool? $ smoler build -y BIOSBOOT=y BIOSCONSOLE=pc smolerfiles/Dockerfile.bsdshell $ sudo dd if=images/bsdshell-amd64:latest.img of=/dev/sde bs=1M

LUTINOS! le live d'hier est en ligne. * Au programme : microsoft pousse des PRs sur smolBSD 😱 * Le classique "c'est quoi une vm en 2026" * smolBSD boot sur FreeBSD ! https://youtu.be/yg0rSpucSbk

LUTINOS! Retour vers le passé du subjonctif. Rappelez-vous, il y a 3 ans (putain 3 ans...) on charcutait un pauvre petit kernel NetBSD avec des outils de précision. ON R'MET ÇA. Objecif: smol dans bhyve/FreeBSD!

(kinda)smolBSD on FreeBSD's bhyve ladies and gents

holy f... someone had smolBSD running on... windows! https://github.com/NetBSDfr/smolBSD/issues/81

smolBSD now boots in Proxmox! https://github.com/rcarmo/pve-microvm/issues/3 Thanks a lot @dasga for the heads up <3

SmolBSD · Issue #3 · rcarmo/pve-microvm

Hello o/ Could you add SmolBSD to the test matrix? https://github.com/NetBSDfr/smolBSD It is a minimal NetBSD system with very fast boot times (~10ms in best conditions). It could be an interesting...

github.com

This morning's commit allows for "partial" (as in tar xfp foo.tar.xz -C bar partial) set extraction in smolBSD images. Why? I just needed `/usr/bin/strip` from `comp.tar.xz` :) Example usage: $ cat dockerfiles/Dockerfile.basic FROM base,comp:/usr/bin/strip,etc LABEL smolbsd.service="basic" […]

viocon(4) in smolBSD lets you pipe commands to your microVM, service example https://github.com/NetBSDfr/smolBSD/tree/main/service/pipe

A life-long bug has been fixed in smolBSD; console always behave strangely with "complex" tools like vim or curses TUI, I finally figured it out: the QEMU emulated console! redirecting stdio to a pty and connecting to it via picocom (cu works too) makes it fully functional <3 Just add […]

LUTINOS : smoler time ! Il y a eu pas mal de mouvement dans le repo de smolBSD ces derniers mois, et je vous propose de découvrir de quoi il en retourne ce soir à partir de 20h sur twitch.tv/imilnb

bob v0.9.0 now available! https://mail-index.netbsd.org/pkgsrc-users/2026/03/25/msg042765.html I'm really proud of this one. Dynamic MAKE_JOBS and WRKOBJDIR in particular will save me a significant amount of time, and ensure my builds automatically stay optimal. As always please let me know […]

For those with more acquaintance with docker, smolBSD now brings a closer experience, with most of useful Dockerfile verbs supported, image push and pull, and now microvm run: https://github.com/NetBSDfr/smolBSD?tab=readme-ov-file#dockerfile smolBSD Dockerfile's (to be soon renamed […]

Need a BSD shell real quick? git clone https://github.com/NetBSDfr/smolBSD cd smolBSD ./smoler.sh pull bsdshell-amd64:latest ./startnb.sh -i bsdshell-amd64:latest

GitHub - NetBSDfr/smolBSD: smolBSD is a tiny BSD UNIX (NetBSD) system creation tool, primarily aimed at building modern, lightweight, fast micro VMs

smolBSD is a tiny BSD UNIX (NetBSD) system creation tool, primarily aimed at building modern, lightweight, fast micro VMs - NetBSDfr/smolBSD

github.com

Now that the systemd bros showed (once again) how much they don't care about their users, let me remind you about this amazing modern init(8) system led by a great person https://github.com/leahneukirchen/nitro and actually architecturally well put and portable.

smolBSD OCI images push/pull baby! https://github.com/NetBSDfr/smolBSD/blob/main/README.md#pushing-and-pulling-images-from-an-oci-repository

smolBSD: introducing `smoler.sh <push|pull>`, smolBSD images can now be pushed/pulled to/from ghcr.io! i.e. $ ./smoler.sh pull rescue-amd64:latest $ ./startnb.sh images/rescue-amd64.img https://github.com/NetBSDfr/smolBSD

GitHub - NetBSDfr/smolBSD: smolBSD is a tiny BSD UNIX (NetBSD) system creation tool, primarily aimed at building modern, lightweight, fast micro VMs

smolBSD is a tiny BSD UNIX (NetBSD) system creation tool, primarily aimed at building modern, lightweight, fast micro VMs - NetBSDfr/smolBSD

github.com