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Glossary

Short definitions for terms used across the docs, logs, and code. When the same word could mean many things, we pick one meaning and stick to it.

aether-ops​

The long-running management service this project bootstraps. It owns the cellular layer: deploying SD-Core and RAN workloads, managing SSH keys, adding nodes. This repository does not implement aether-ops; it installs it.

aether-ops-bootstrap​

The one-shot installer in this repository. Also the name of the launcher binary that implements it.

Airgap​

A deployment environment with no reachable internet — no apt mirrors, no container registries, no GitHub. In this project, "airgap" is also a behavioral rule: the launcher makes zero network requests at install time, ever. See concepts / airgap.

Bundle​

bundle.tar.zst. The offline payload. Contains every .deb, RKE2 artifact, Helm binary, aether-ops binary, and template the launcher needs, plus manifest.json. Versioned with calver.

Calver​

"Calendar versioning." The bundle uses YYYY.MM.N (e.g. 2026.04.1) because a bundle is a snapshot of the world at a point in time — a calendar date is the meaningful unit.

Component​

One unit of installation logic inside the launcher. The initial set is debs, ssh, sudoers, service_account, rke2, helm, onramp, aether_ops. Each component implements the same interface (DesiredVersion, CurrentVersion, Plan, Apply) — see bootstrap guide / components.

Config hash​

Reserved field in the 0.1.x state schema. The current launcher does not populate it or use it for upgrade decisions.

Depot​

A staging area on the management node (/var/lib/aether-ops/depot/) where role-specific sub-bundles and a copy of the launcher live, so aether-ops can push them to other nodes. Roadmap, not in 0.1.x. See roadmap.

Drift​

A difference between the launcher's recorded state and the host's on-disk state — a sshd drop-in edited by hand, a manually tweaked RKE2 config, etc. Use repair to re-apply component actions when you suspect drift.

Launcher​

aether-ops-bootstrap, the statically linked Go binary. Contains all install logic. Versioned with semver.

Lockfile​

bundle.lock.json. Generated by the builder on first run and committed to the repo. Pins resolved .deb package versions and SHA256 hashes.

Management plane​

The aether-ops service plus everything it needs to run (RKE2, Helm, prerequisite .debs, service account, SSH/sudo config). What the bootstrap installs.

Manifest​

manifest.json, inside the bundle. Records bundle contents with component versions, file paths, SHA256 hashes, and a schema version. The contract between launcher and bundle.

Onramp user​

An OS user (default aether) with SSH password authentication and passwordless sudo, used by aether-ops as the identity for Ansible-driven node deployments. Distinct from the service account. See bootstrap guide / components.

Platform layer​

RKE2 + aether-ops + their OS-level prerequisites. The layer this project installs. See concepts / three layers.

Preflight​

The checks the launcher runs before touching the host: Ubuntu version, root privileges, systemd presence, architecture, disk, RAM, state conflicts. Fails fast before anything is installed.

RKE2​

Rancher's Kubernetes distribution. Installed by the rke2 component from airgap tarballs fetched at build time, not from get.rke2.io.

Role​

A named subset of components (mgmt, core, ran) selected with the launcher's --roles flag. A transitional multi-node mechanism; per-role bundles will replace it. See roadmap.

Semver​

"Semantic versioning." The launcher uses MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH (e.g. 0.1.43) because it has a stable interface — the flags it accepts, the manifest schema it speaks, the state file schema it reads.

Service account​

An OS user (default aether-ops) that the aether-ops daemon runs as. Distinct from the onramp user. Has group membership that allows it to read RKE2's kubeconfig without being root.

State file​

/var/lib/aether-ops-bootstrap/state.json. Records the launcher version, bundle version + hash, per-component version, and an append-only history of every action taken. Source of truth for upgrades and repairs. See state file.