Gentoo Linux Announces Official QCOW2 Images For Cloud VMs
One of the Linux distributions we hear very little about in the industry for cloud/VM usage is Gentoo Linux. But that could change with the Gentoo project now putting out official QCOW2 disk images to make it easier deploying this source-based Linux distribution within virtual machines.
Gentoo Linux now offers official QCOW2 bootable disk images for both x86_64 and AArch64. This allows quickly booting Gentoo within QEMU's native QCOW2 format and will be updated on a weekly basis with a "fully functional" Gentoo installation.
While right now these Gentoo QCOW2 images are only for x86_64 and AArch64, moving forward they do plan to eventually support EFI-based RISC-V 64-bit and LoongArch 64-bit bootable images. Only EFI support is planned and no legacy support. With these QCOW2 images, the XFS file-system is their preferred choice used for its copy-on-write, reflinks, and other features.
Those interested in these bootable Gentoo Linux QCOW2 images can find more information via the Gentoo.org announcement.
Gentoo Linux now offers official QCOW2 bootable disk images for both x86_64 and AArch64. This allows quickly booting Gentoo within QEMU's native QCOW2 format and will be updated on a weekly basis with a "fully functional" Gentoo installation.
While right now these Gentoo QCOW2 images are only for x86_64 and AArch64, moving forward they do plan to eventually support EFI-based RISC-V 64-bit and LoongArch 64-bit bootable images. Only EFI support is planned and no legacy support. With these QCOW2 images, the XFS file-system is their preferred choice used for its copy-on-write, reflinks, and other features.
Those interested in these bootable Gentoo Linux QCOW2 images can find more information via the Gentoo.org announcement.