Introduction
Klarity ImageFactory provides a centralized platform for creating, managing, and distributing golden images across multiple cloud environments. Developed by Nordcloud, an IBM company, it automates the entire lifecycle of machine images, ensuring they remain secure, compliant, and up to date.
Modern infrastructure requires consistent base images to maintain security and operational efficiency. ImageFactory addresses this by offering a unified interface to build images for AWS, Azure, GCP, and other major providers. It removes the manual effort involved in patching, hardening, and distributing images to various accounts and regions.
Core Value Propositions
ImageFactory focuses on several key areas to help organizations manage their cloud infrastructure effectively.
Golden Image Management
A golden image serves as a pre-configured template for virtual machines. It contains the operating system and necessary software, security patches, and configuration settings. ImageFactory allows you to define these images once and build them for any supported cloud provider.
CIS Hardening
Security is a primary concern for any cloud deployment. ImageFactory includes built-in support for Center for Internet Security (CIS) hardening. This process applies industry-standard security configurations to your images, reducing the attack surface and improving your overall security posture.
Multi-Cloud Support
Organizations often use multiple cloud providers to avoid vendor lock-in or to take advantage of specific services. ImageFactory supports a wide range of platforms, allowing you to maintain consistency across your entire cloud estate.
Automated Rebuilds
Software vulnerabilities and operating system updates appear frequently. ImageFactory can automatically trigger new builds when source images change or when security checks identify new requirements. This ensures your golden images always include the latest patches.
Compliance and Reporting
Every build generates detailed reports, including package inventories and Software Bill of Materials (SBOM). These artifacts help you meet regulatory requirements and provide transparency into what each image contains.
High-Level Architecture
The following diagram illustrates how ImageFactory interacts with various components to produce and distribute images.
Supported Cloud Providers
ImageFactory integrates with the following cloud platforms:
| Provider | Description |
|---|---|
| AWS | Amazon Web Services, including support for standard and China regions. |
| Azure | Microsoft Azure, including support for standard and China regions. |
| GCP | Google Cloud Platform. |
| Exoscale | European cloud provider focused on simplicity and performance. |
| IBM Cloud | IBM's enterprise cloud platform. |
| VMware | Support for ESXi and vCloud Director (VCD) environments. |
Supported Operating Systems
You can build images for a variety of Linux distributions and Windows versions.
- Amazon Linux: Optimized for AWS environments.
- CentOS: Popular community-supported enterprise OS.
- Oracle Linux: Binary-compatible with RHEL, optimized for Oracle workloads.
- RHEL: Red Hat Enterprise Linux for mission-critical applications.
- Rocky Linux: Community-led enterprise OS designed to be 100% bug-for-bug compatible with RHEL.
- SUSE: SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for enterprise environments.
- Ubuntu: Widely used Debian-based distribution.
- Windows: Various versions of Windows Server.
Quick Start Overview
Getting started with ImageFactory involves a few essential steps.
- Onboard Cloud Accounts: Connect your target cloud environments to ImageFactory by providing the necessary credentials and permissions.
- Select a Distribution: Choose a base operating system from the list of supported distributions provided by cloud marketplaces.
- Create a Template: Define your image configuration, including the base distribution and any components you want to install.
- Add Components: Select or create scripts to customize your image during the build and test phases.
- Run a Build: Trigger the build process. ImageFactory will create a temporary instance, apply your configurations, and capture the final image.
- Distribute: Once the build succeeds, ImageFactory automatically distributes the resulting image to your configured cloud accounts.
By following this workflow, you can establish a reliable pipeline for your organization's golden images.