Rockcraft documentation

Rockcraft is a tool to create rocks – a new generation of secure, stable and OCI-compliant container images, based on Ubuntu.

Rockcraft offers a truly declarative way for building efficient container images. By making use of existing Ubuntu tools like LXD and Multipass, Rockcraft is able to compartmentalise typical container image builds into multiple parts, each one being comprised of several independent lifecycle steps, allowing complex operations to be declared at build time.

Rockcraft enables users to create automatically secure container images in sync with Ubuntu releases, whilst ensuring the smallest footprint possible.

Rockcraft is for anyone who wants to build production-grade container images, regardless of their experience as a software developer – from independent software vendors to cloud-native developers and occasional container users. Rockcraft handles all the repetitive and boilerplate steps of a build, directing your focus to what really matters: the image’s content.

In this documentation

Tutorial	Build your first rock
Installation and setup	Quickstart guide
Vocabulary and syntax	Commands • rockcraft.yaml
Platform compatibility	Bases • Specify a base • Build remotely using Launchpad
Software integration	Parts • Rockcraft plugins • Override a plugin’s build • Extensions
12-factor apps	Build a rock for a Django app • Build a rock for an Express app • Build a rock for a FastAPI app • Build a rock for a Flask app • Build a rock for a Go app • Set-up 12-Factor rocks • Use rocks for 12-Factor apps
Process manager	Pebble as entrypoint • Convert an entrypoint to a Pebble layer
Hardening	Chisel • Chisel rocks • Migrate Docker images to chiseled rocks • Install a custom slice • Define a non root user
Distribution	Publish a rock to a registry • Use the Rockcraft pack GitHub Action

How this documentation is organized

This documentation uses the Diátaxis documentation structure.

• The Tutorial takes you step-by-step through building your first rock.

• How-to guides assume you have basic familiarity with Rockcraft. These include crafting rocks, building rocks for different apps and hardening.

• Reference provides a guide to the .yaml files, commands and components.

• Explanation includes topic overviews, background and context and detailed discussion.

Project and community

Rockcraft is a member of the Ubuntu family. It’s an open source project that warmly welcomes community contributions.

Get involved

• Ubuntu Rocks Discourse

• Rocks Community on Matrix

• Contribute to the project

• Contribute to the documentation

Releases

• Release notes

Governance and policies

• Code of conduct

• Security policy

Commercial support

Thinking about using Rocks for your next project? Get in touch!