[!WARNING]
Early preview. JenerOS boots, shows a live dashboard, updates itself and rolls back bad updates. Most apps are still on the way. There is no login yet, so anyone on your home network can open the dashboard. Keep it off the internet, and don't trust it with your only copy of anything.
What is it?
Running your own home server usually means a pile of separate tools: one for photos, one for files, one for movies, one for the smart home, one for blocking ads. Each has its own install, its own login and its own updates.
JenerOS puts all of that into one operating system. You install it once. You get one dashboard, one app store and one update button. It feels a bit like iCloud, except the box sits on your shelf and your stuff never leaves the house.
JenerOS is made by Jener, Inc. and is free software.
What's inside
How updates stay safe
JenerOS keeps two copies of the system, slot A and slot B. You always run one. Updates go into the other.
flowchart LR
A["Running version<br>(slot A)"] -->|You press Update| B["New version is written<br>to slot B"]
B --> C["Restart into slot B"]
C --> D{"Health check<br>passes?"}
D -->|Yes| E["Keep the new version"]
D -->|"No, 3 tries"| F["Go back to slot A<br>by itself"]
- The box checks for new versions every few hours. Nothing installs until you say so.
- The system files are read-only and checked against a fingerprint (dm-verity) on every read. If something changes them, the box notices.
- Your settings and data live on a separate partition, so updates and rollbacks never touch them.
Install
You need: a 64-bit PC with UEFI (most PCs from 2012 on), 4 GB of RAM, and a drive of 32 GB or more.
[!CAUTION]
Installing erases the whole drive you flash. Pick it carefully.
- Download
jeneros_<version>.img.xz from the Releases page. If no release is listed yet, one is on the way.
- Flash it onto the drive the PC will boot from. Any of these work:
- In the PC's firmware settings, turn Secure Boot off, then boot from that drive.
A USB SSD works too. An .iso installer that copies JenerOS onto an internal disk is planned.
Unpack the image and convert it for your hypervisor:
xz -d jeneros_<version>.img.xz
qemu-img convert -f raw -O vmdk jeneros_<version>.img jeneros.vmdk # VMware
qemu-img convert -f raw -O qcow2 jeneros_<version>.img jeneros.qcow2 # Proxmox / QEMU
Create the VM with UEFI firmware (Secure Boot off), 2 CPUs and 4 GB of RAM. Grow the disk to 32 GB or more before the first boot. JenerOS fills the extra space by itself.
First boot
Today: when the box starts, its screen shows a line like Dashboard: http://192.168.x.x. Type that address into any phone or computer on the same Wi-Fi and you're in.
Coming soon: the setup wizard. You'll set up your box on its own screen, or from your phone: scan the QR code on the screen and type the 6-digit code it shows. The wizard will help you create your owner account, name your box, set the time zone and choose your disks. Then it gets out of the way and never shows up again.
Build from source
JenerOS is Debian 13 "trixie", built into a disk image with mkosi. The dashboard is served by jenerd, a small Go service that uses only the standard library.
Builds run inside a Debian 13 VM. Set it up once with BUILD-VM.md, then:
./[OS]/setup-build-vm.sh # once: mkosi, Go, qemu-utils
RELEASE=1 VERSION=<version> ./[OS]/build.sh # image + update files
More reading: ARCHITECTURE.md · STORAGE.md · RELEASING.md · App manifest format
| Folder | What's in it |
|---|
[OS]/ | Image build: mkosi config, partitions, update rules, boot splash |
[CORE]/ | jenerd, the Go service behind the dashboard |
[DASHBOARD]/ | The web dashboard |
[STORE]/ | App store catalog |
[BRAND]/ | Logo files |
[DOCS]/ | Plans, research and the work log |
Roadmap
The full plan lives in ROADMAP.md.
Contributing
JenerOS is young, and help is welcome.
- Found a bug or have an idea? Open an issue.
- Want to send code? Read ARCHITECTURE.md first. It explains how the project is put together.
- Keep pull requests small and say how you tested them.
License
JenerOS is free software under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later. It builds on Debian, systemd, mkosi and many other open-source projects, each under its own license. The apps in the store keep their own licenses too.
