The project smolbsd is focused on developing tools for creating NETBSD micro-assemblies that contain only the essential components needed for a specific application and can be loaded in under a second. With Smolbsd, users can generate lightweight virtualized environments to isolate and run individual services. The size of the basic environment created by the project is approximately 10 MB. The project’s code can be accessed on GitLab under the BSD license.
To set up these environments, users can utilize the MKSMOLNB tools, which are compatible with both NetBSD and GNU/Linux. When assembling in NetBSD, the FFS file system is used in the systemic image, while the EXT2 file system is employed for assembly in Linux. The tools also offer sample scripts for launching the created environment in QEMU and the Firecracker virtualization system. Firecracker implements the Microvm concept, which aims to deliver performance comparable to traditional containers by utilizing hardware virtualization through the KVM hypervisor.