Wiki: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/BtrfsBootForCloud
Discussion Thread: https://discussion.fedoraproject.org/t/169002
**This is a proposed Change for Fedora Linux.** This document represents a proposed Change. As part of the Changes process, proposals are publicly announced in order to receive community feedback. This proposal will only be implemented if approved by the Fedora Engineering Steering Committee.
== Summary == Eliminate the separate /boot partition on Fedora Cloud images
== Owner == * Name: [[User:ngompa|Neal Gompa]], [[User:davdunc|David Duncan]] * Email: ngompa13@gmail.com, davdunc@amazon.com
== Detailed Description == The images produced by Fedora Cloud for Cloud platforms and Vagrant will drop the separate <code>/boot</code> in favor of a Btrfs subvolume. This will not apply to UEFI-UKI and s390x Cloud images due to limitations of those platforms.
== Feedback ==
== Benefit to Fedora == Fedora Cloud Edition is typically deployed as images of fixed sizes and grown on deployment, so it is attractive for us to minimize the footprint of the image up-front. Since Fedora Cloud images do not rely on grubenv features like the [[Changes/HiddenGrubMenu|GRUB Hidden Menu]] feature (which requires resolving [https://bugzilla.redhat.com/2372973 rhbz#2372973] first), we can easily consolidate the bootloader data on the Btrfs volume. By using a Btrfs subvolume, it can be trivially omitted from any snapshot mechanisms used on the deployment while avoiding space contention for boot data and the rest of the operating environment data.
== Scope == * Proposal owners: Merge [ https://pagure.io/fedora-kiwi-descriptions/pull-request/228 fedora-kiwi-descriptions#228]
* Other developers: N/A
* Trademark approval: N/A (not needed for this Change)
* Alignment with the Fedora Strategy: N/A (not needed for this Change)
== Upgrade/compatibility impact == There are no compatibility impacts, as this only affects new Cloud deployments with Fedora 44 or higher.
== How To Test == Once the kiwi-descriptions PR is merged, images should be available in the new configuration. Just boot them in the platform of your choice to test.
== User Experience == This should be transparent to users.
== Contingency Plan ==
* Contingency mechanism: Revert the pull request to go back to separate <code>/boot</code> volume. * Contingency deadline: Final Freeze * Blocks release? Yes
== Documentation ==
N/A (not a System Wide Change)
== Release Notes == Fedora Cloud images (except the UEFI-UKI images) on all architectures except IBM Z systems no longer have a separate <code>/boot</code> partition, and instead now ship <code>/boot</code> as a subvolume in the main Btrfs operating system volume. This allows for much better space utilization and smaller images.