Zarhus Developers Meetup #2
Welcome to Zarhus Developers Meetup. Here we would like to welcome all our guests to this small non-public meetup, where we will present the results of the Zarhus Team's recent work. We would like to reiterate on Zarhus: Trustworthy Embedded Linux Distro presentation and give you a heads up about the vision and mission we would like to follow. It is not only about marketing but also about honest openness, authenticity, and accountability, which should be the foundation of every project focusing on trustworthiness.
BMC stands for Baseboard Management Controller. These are integrated circuits (ICs) that, generally speaking, provide a wide range of features that allow you to remotely set up, manage, and troubleshoot your server platform.
The issue with most BMC implementations, however, is that they run outdated and unauditable code.
This is where OpenBMC, an open source BMC firmware, comes in. We've already started working on bringing OpenBMC to the Supermicro X11SSH platform. In this talk, we’ll share what we’ve learned and achieved since last time, the challenges we’re currently facing, and for the demo...
We’ll play archaeologists and explore what kind of mysteries (or not) the stock firmware might be hiding.
Link to the previous session: https://cfp.3mdeb.com/zarhus-developers-meetup-0x1-2025/talk/WQC7LP/
This talk will present overview of security features implemented or planned to be implemented in meta-zarhus (currently for x86-64 platforms). Some of those features are:
- Creating UKI capable of being booted directly from BIOS with Secure Boot enabled
- Encrypting rootfs in initramfs and using TPM2 for decryption
- A/B OTA updates with overlay filesystem mounted over rootfs
I'll talk about problems encountered during development, especially when combining those features into one image, and solutions to those problems. At the end there will be short demo showcasing some of those features.
Have you ever heard about running a hypervisor on MCUs? No? I have not, either. This talk will introduce virtualization on the ARMv8-M architecture by running a real-world Zephyr RTOS demo on the CROSSCON Hypervisor.
This session will provide a comprehensive status update on the Dasharo Tools Suite (DTS) as of Q3 and Q4 2025. We will highlight key developments, including newly supported hardware platforms, enhancements in user experience, and expanded test coverage aimed at improving system stability. The session will conclude with an outline of the upcoming DTS roadmap.
Whether you're a DTS user, contributor, or simply interested in firmware tooling and open-source platform enablement, this talk offers insights into the evolution of DTS and how to get involved.
Join us for closing remarks where the Zarhus Team will share our vision for the future and how you can get involved! We’ll discuss our efforts to engage with you and our community and explore the projects we can tackle together. Zarhus is a Yocto-based distribution for embedded devices that draws inspiration from OpenXT and Qubes OS, focusing on maximizing synergy with open-source firmware like Dasharo. We prioritize building a strong Root of Trust and Chain of Trust while leveraging various Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs). Don’t miss this opportunity to learn more and discover how you can contribute to our mission. Your input is essential; together, we can shape Zarhus' future!