kldload 1.3.1 — Kernel-Loaded Workstation
June 2026 · BSD-3-Clause · Download ISO
The reproducible Linux substrate — one USB, ZFS-on-root, on any dnf / apt / pacman distro. 1.3.1 moves CentOS Stream and Rocky to EL10 to match RHEL 10, and adds per-tool desktop app windows and VM restore-on-reboot.
What’s new in 1.3.1
- CentOS Stream + Rocky now on EL10 — both moved to EL10 (kernel 6.12, OpenZFS 2.3) matching RHEL 10; retires the old EL9 (5.14) path that wedged dracut/NVIDIA on first boot.
- Any dnf / apt / pacman Linux — one USB, ZFS-on-root across Fedora 44 (primary) / RHEL 10 / Rocky 10 / CentOS Stream 10 / Debian 13 / Ubuntu / Arch; reproducible offline install (Fedora & RHEL fully air-gapped).
- Compose your own — capability toggles above Install: KVM, Kubernetes, klab, AI (Bob), observability, ZFS lab, WireGuard.
- Native-app dashboards — every web tool opens as its own standalone window with the correct dock icon (Chrome app-mode + Wayland app_id), not a browser tab.
- VM restore-on-reboot — running VMs come back automatically after a reboot; stopped VMs stay stopped.
- NVIDIA — signed akmod + first-boot healing net builds & loads the driver for native resolution.
- eBPF / CO-RE — libbpf-tools (BTF), bpftrace, Tetragon on the 7.0 kernel, in
sysdiag. - ZFS data lake — snapshots, boot environments, instant clones, NFS/iSCSI; substrate versionlocked so
dnf updatecan’t brick ZFS/NVIDIA. - Fail-loud install — critical-package verify gate (no silent
--skip-broken), firstboot healing nets, every pass verified against the rpm db.
1.3.1 is the first public release of the 1.3.x line, so it also includes everything from 1.3.0:
Workstation — the GUI layer (1.3.0)
- GUI-first RHEL 10 workstation: expert ops (ZFS / KVM / K8s / eBPF) as point-and-shoot desktop apps.
- Install-time Platform Options — NVIDIA / KVM / Kubernetes / eBPF / golden-image building, desktop-only, default-clean.
- Native per-tool app windows (chromeless GTK/WebKit), NVIDIA + Wayland render fixes (
GSK_RENDERER=nglpre-baked; firstboot reloads running sessions so the fix lands without a re-login). - Console (tmux cockpit) promoted to its own application, de-duplicated from every tool window.
- VM serial console embedded in the web UI via the ttyd-k9s session.
- RHEL 10 desktop package + TLS fixes (ptyxis, zenity, glib-networking).
- Steam (Flathub) + nvidia-settings + gvim as default workstation apps.
- Refined icon set, hotrodded RHEL 10 wallpaper, dock pinned to Files / Firefox / Konsole.
Full Stack Automation — the install-time layer (1.3.0)
- PetClinic Microservices + ArgoCD wired into autodeploy.
- sanoid / syncoid on by default with sensible policies.
- Web UI Demo Mode with deploy / disaster / recover buttons.
- State & reconciliation layer under
/var/lib/kldload/state/. - Deterministic install ordering (CP → workers → Cilium → observability → Tetragon → klab).
- Installer auto-generates + bakes an admin SSH key into every install — nodes are peer-reachable out of the box.
kldload 1.0.0 — Initial Release
March 2026 · BSD-3-Clause · Download ISO
A distro re-packer. One USB installs 10 operating systems with ZFS on root — offline, in 2 minutes. Choose your distro, choose your profile, export to any platform. The first operating system with a built-in AI assistant.
10 Operating Systems, One USB
| OS | Method | Offline |
|---|---|---|
| CentOS Stream 9 | dnf --installroot | Yes (RPM darksite) |
| Debian 13 (Trixie) | debootstrap | Yes (APT darksite) |
| Rocky Linux 9 | dnf --installroot | Yes (RPM darksite) |
| RHEL 9 | dnf --installroot | No (Red Hat CDN) |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | debootstrap | Planned |
| FreeBSD 14.4 | base.txz extraction | Yes (base sets) |
| OpenBSD 7.8 | base set extraction | Yes (base sets) |
| GhostBSD | FreeBSD base + desktop | Partial |
| illumos (OpenIndiana) | Chain-boot installer | Yes (ISO embedded) |
| Windows | WIM extraction via wimlib | User provides ISO |
4 Profiles
Desktop
GNOME workstation + ZFS + all kldload tools
Server
Headless SSH + ZFS + all kldload tools
Core
ZFS on root only, stock distro, nothing else
AI
Local LLM assistant + voice control + ZFS + WireGuard
AI Assistant
The first operating system with a built-in AI assistant
Ollama with llama3.1:8b, auto-installed on firstboot. kldload-ai custom model trained on 96 pages of kldload.com documentation.
kai-voice — voice control via whisper.cpp (local, no cloud, no API key)
kai-do — AI generates infrastructure commands, shows them, asks to confirm, executes
kai-remote — query and manage remote hosts over SSH
GPU-accelerated inference with NVIDIA (seconds instead of minutes). All local. All offline. No data leaves your machine.
ZFS on Root
Pool & Boot Environments
Automatic pool creation, dataset hierarchy, boot environments. ZFSBootMenu for 30-second OS rollback.
Snapshots & Replication
Sanoid/syncoid for automated snapshots and replication. Per-dataset AES-256-GCM encryption with independent keys.
Compression
lz4 compression — improves performance, not just saves space.
Self-Healing
Every block checksummed. Corruption detected and repaired automatically.
Image Factory
Export any installed disk to any platform. cloud-init baked in for Terraform/Packer integration. 4 distros × 3 profiles × 6 formats = 72 deployable configurations from one USB.
| Format | Target Platforms |
|---|---|
| qcow2 | KVM, Proxmox, OpenStack |
| VMDK | VMware ESXi, vSphere |
| VHD | Azure, Hyper-V |
| OVA | VMware, VirtualBox |
| raw | dd to bare metal, AWS AMI |
Built-in Stack
WireGuard
Kernel-level encrypted mesh networking
eBPF
execsnoop, tcplife, opensnoop, biolatency (optional)
NVIDIA
GPU drivers + CUDA + container GPU sharing (optional)
Docker on ZFS
Each container layer is a ZFS dataset
Firecracker
MicroVM support on KVM profile
Grafana / Prometheus
Monitoring stack tutorials
Salt
Configuration management (standalone mode)
Modern CLI
fzf
Fuzzy Ctrl-R history, file finder
btop
System monitor (replaces htop)
eza
Modern ls with git status
ripgrep
Fast grep
fd
Fast find
zoxide
Smart cd
fastfetch
System info banner on login
tmux
Available with kldload theme (not forced)
30+ kldload Tools
| Tool | Purpose |
|---|---|
kst | System health dashboard (pool, snapshots, services, IP) |
kst-dashboard | 4-pane tmux monitoring |
ksnap | ZFS snapshot manager |
kclone | Instant CoW clone |
kdf | ZFS-aware disk usage |
kdir | Create ZFS datasets (not directories) |
kpkg | Universal package manager (auto-detects apt/dnf) |
kexport | Disk image export |
kldload-help | Command reference with examples |
kbe | Boot environment manager |
krecovery | Emergency pool repair |
kupgrade | Upgrade with auto-snapshot |
kai | AI assistant (text) |
kai-voice | AI assistant (voice) |
kai-do | AI command execution on remote hosts |
kai-remote | AI remote host query |
Web UI Installer
Browser-based installer on localhost:8080
10 distro selector with icons · 4 profile cards (Desktop, Server, Core, AI) · RHEL authentication (username/password or activation key) · Windows edition picker · NVIDIA, WireGuard, eBPF, ZFS dedup checkboxes · Export format dropdown · Real-time install log streaming via WebSocket
Offline / Air-Gap
3,600+
Debian packages baked in
900+
RPM packages baked in
0
Internet required for Linux/BSD install
FreeBSD/OpenBSD base sets embedded. ZFSBootMenu EFI binary included. No internet required for any Linux or BSD install.
Documentation
96 pages at kldload.com
Tutorials: ZFS, WireGuard, eBPF, NVIDIA, Docker, KVM, Kubernetes, networking, export formats, secure boot, unattended install
Build guides: edge server, CI runner, workstation, security appliance, classroom, DR, serverless/Firecracker, Grafana, databases, containers, VDI
AI: getting started, train on your infra, AI for ZFS/eBPF/WireGuard/Docker/KVM/Kubernetes, voice & vision
Appliance recipes: IoT gateway, ham radio, live TV streaming, Plex on ZFS, game servers
ZFS wiki: 14 reference pages
The Bridge: BSD/Linux crossover document
Architecture
Live Environment
CentOS Stream 9
Build Pipeline
Containerized (podman/docker)
Installer
Bash, top to bottom. One Python file for the web UI.
Philosophy
Zero compiled binaries. cat any file. BSD-3-Clause.
Known Limitations (1.0)
Shipped with these known issues
• FreeBSD/OpenBSD bootstrap untested — base sets are embedded but install path needs QC
• Windows WIM extraction untested — wimlib is included but needs real hardware testing
• illumos chain-boots its own installer (not a native kldload install)
• Ubuntu darksite not in default ISO (available as separate build)
• eBPF optional packages on CentOS require checkbox selection
• AI profile requires internet on firstboot (Ollama + model download)
• AI profile requires 16GB+ RAM for 8B model inference
• kldload-webui service may fail on some CentOS installs (WorkingDirectory issue)
What’s Next (1.1)
FreeBSD / OpenBSD
Install QC and fixes
ARM64
ARM64 build pipeline
AI + FreeBSD Jails
AI-controlled FreeBSD jails
Smaller Models
Smaller model option for 8GB systems
Voice Auto-Execute
Voice command auto-execute mode (no confirmation prompt)
Ubuntu + Windows
Ubuntu darksite in default ISO. Windows install QC.
Built by one person who just knows the primitives.
Learn the primitives — they’ll outlast any product.