Verify the installer
Download the current UEFI x86-64 image and detached signature. Verify the signature on a machine you already trust before writing the image.
See the release details →First-use path
Start with a machine.
End with a workload.
Follow the shortest useful path through Cix: verify the installer, boot a host, make one API request, and create a container. Every workload is containerised; the host provides the API, Linux isolation, networking, storage, and hardware boundaries.
The path
Four steps to useful.
You can stop after any step. Each one leaves you with a concrete result and a clear next move.
Install and connect
Boot the verified ISO, complete the documented install, set the management address, and confirm the daemon is reachable.
Read installation guide ↗Make the first request
Use the CLI or a direct REST client to check health. This confirms the host, API boundary, and network path are all in place.
$ cixctl health
okRun a workload
Define an image, declare its service, attach the network and storage it needs, then inspect readiness through the same API.
Open administration guide ↗Before you begin
Know the current target.
Cix is an active engineering project. Check the exact source guide before choosing hardware or treating the host as production infrastructure.
UEFI x86-64
The current installer targets UEFI x86-64. Proxmox users should use OVMF with Q35.
Reachable API
The first-use path needs a management address and a client that can reach the REST daemon.
Console access
Keep video or serial console access available for installation, recovery, and authentication bootstrap.
Offline first use
Without a network or a prebuilt cache entry, a seed is needed for the first container; an online fresh install starts healthy but its default image has no C library yet.
Fresh-install defaults
Ready to fetch on first boot.
A fresh host with no saved package or schedule configuration starts with the public Cix recipe catalogue and Cix Cache. It creates an ordinary recipe-sync schedule that syncs the catalogue at first boot and every six hours, so a new host can find current recipes without hand-entering service URLs.
The defaults are pull-only: publishing is disabled. Operators can replace, clear, change, or remove the sources and schedule through the API or CLI. If the first sync runs before DNS or outbound networking is ready, check cixctl pkg sync-status and run cixctl pkg sync --wait after connectivity is available.
After the first workload
Keep going where it matters.
Cix is broad, so choose the next surface that matches your goal instead of reading everything at once.
Understand the system
See how API intent becomes host state, Linux primitives, providers, and workloads.
Explore architecture →Operate services
Configure DNS, LDAP, DHCP, NTP, and syslog as API-owned intent projected into ordinary containers.
Explore services →Build from source
Follow recipes, verified inputs, package builds, immutable images, artefacts, and host delivery.
Explore the build path →Review project boundaries
Use the current status page to separate shipped capability, verification evidence, and deliberate boundaries.
Read project status →