KIWI Image System

The KIWI Image System offers an all-in-one solution for creating operating system images on Linux-supported hardware platforms and virtualization systems like Xen Qemu or VMware. Its architecture is divided into two levels. The first level takes a software package source and creates a physical extend based on the provided image description. The second level uses the physical extend to create an operating system image, known as a logical extend.

Unlike a normal installation process, which requires manual user intervention, an operating system image is a pre-built installation that can be encapsulated as a file and includes configurations for specific tasks. Once the image is brought to a system storage device, whether it is volatile or non-volatile, the operating system will start functioning immediately. The process of creating an image is entirely automated and does not require user interaction.

To ensure that all requirements of the encapsulated system are met before it is created, the image description tree holds all the necessary information for creating an image. Overall, the KIWI Image System provides a streamlined and efficient method for creating complete operating system images.