Documentation

Try Zainium OS from the live ISO, install it, and take the first steps.

An enterprise-grade, independent operating system built from scratch, with a base that cannot break.

Install, remove, update and audit software with zex.

Zainium OS is a rolling release — how updates work and how base upgrades are applied at boot.

Root access on Zainium OS — elevate replaces sudo and protects the base even from root.

Why Zainium OS has two C libraries, how glibc is installed next to musl, and the conflicts the layout prevents.

Why the base of Zainium OS is not changed by software, updates or mistakes — and how to recover when something else goes wrong.

How Zainium OS is put together — the layers, how the system view is built at boot, and how libraries are found.

Zainium OS implements the Dualayer Hierarchy Standard — where every file lives, and where FHS paths went.

How programs written for /usr, /etc and /bin keep working on Zainium OS.

Which kernel Zainium OS runs, what Zainium changes in it, and why OverlayFS is patched.

The library that lets software built for /usr, /etc and /bin run on Zainium OS, starts foreign binaries with the right loader, and switches the toolchain between musl and glibc.

The initramfs of Zainium OS — what it does before systemd starts, how it seals the system with fs-verity, and its boot options.

From zero: what immutable means on Zainium OS, how the layers, the sealed overlay and fs-verity work together, and what they do not protect against.

Write a recipe — ZEXBUILD and manifest.toml — and let CI build and publish the package.

How to report problems, send changes and help build Zainium OS.

Boot without your installed software, stop the boot in a shell, and check the system with zex doctor.

Short answers to common questions about Zainium OS.

What Zainium OS and this website collect, which is almost nothing, and the terms under which they are provided.

What we are working on next for Zainium OS, and what is not ready yet.