Terminology¶
Quick reference for terms used across the documentation.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Offline Lab OS | The offline-first operating system built with Buildroot |
| Package | A set of five files per app: .squashfs, .squashfs.roothash, .squashfs.roothash.p7s, .squashfs.verity, .json. Distributed as a .zip archive. The distributable unit |
| Service | A running instance of an installed package on a device |
| Framework | The Bash utility library and boxctl CLI bundled with Offline Lab OS |
| Node | A single device (e.g. Raspberry Pi Zero 2W) running Offline Lab OS |
| Disco | The service discovery and name resolution daemon |
| Slot | One of two root filesystem partitions (A/B) used for atomic updates |
| Boot partition | The FAT32 partition holding firmware, U-Boot, kernel, initramfs, and bootconf.yaml |
| Overlay partition | Holds per-slot overlayfs upper/work directories |
| /data | The persistent read-write partition for user data and package state |
| bootconf | Boot-time configuration tool: reads /data/config/bootconf.yaml at every boot and provisions SSH keys, WiFi, hostname, and user config |
| boxctl | On-device CLI for managing Offline Lab OS (status, updates, network, diagnostics) |
| appctl | On-device CLI for installing and managing app packages |
| buildctl | Developer-side CLI for building, signing, and publishing app packages |
| sysext | systemd system extension: a squashfs image that extends /usr/ or /opt/ at runtime without modifying the read-only rootfs |
| confext | systemd configuration extension: a squashfs image that layers additional config under /etc/ at runtime |