Glance-common-image-properties
Additional common image properties
We propose adding four properties to Glance images that identify operating system characteristics: `os_arch`, `os_distro`, `os_version`, `os_nick`. Descriptions of each follow. For more context, see the email thread on this topic [1].
Property: os_arch
JSONSchema of proposed property in Image Schema:
{ "os_arch": { "type": "string", "required": false, "default": null, "description": "Operating system architecture as specified in http://docs.openstack.org/developer/glance/image_properties/os_arch", } }
Example usage
"os_arch": "x86_64"
Discussion
Standardized values will aid in searching for an appropriate image. I propose that we keep a list of suggested values on a web page similar to the image statuses page [2]. This could be as loosely moderated as a wiki page or it could have some kind of clearly stated submission procedure for new os_arch values. I think usage would be self-policing, i.e., if you want your images to be found, you'd want to use the community's terms for the architecture.
Property: os_distro
JSONSchema of proposed property in Image Schema:
{ "os_distro": { "type": "string", "required": false, "default": null, "description": "Common name of operating system distribution as specified in http://docs.openstack.org/developer/glance/image_properties/os_distro", } }
Example usage
"os_distro": "debian"
Discussion
Standardized values will aid in searching for an appropriate image. Same idea as the `os_arch` proposal, though this would probably change much faster. The page would outline the basic rule (e.g., "Common nuame of the operating system distribution in all-lowercase") and provide a list of names to use. (If we want to be developer-friendly, we could have associated with each approved name a list of un-approved variants to make it easier to search for the proper value.)
Property: os_version
JSONSchema of proposed property in Image Schema
{ "os_version": { "type": "string", "required": false, "default": null, "description": "Operating system version as specified by the distributor", } }
Example usage
"os_version": "11.10"
Discussion
Previous discussion [3] mentioned standardizing this field, but the values are controlled by the operating system vendors. It makes sorting tricky, but this this would be a secondary sort field anyway.
Property: os_nick
JSONSchema of proposed property in Image Schema:
{ "os_nick": { "type": "string", "required": false, "default": null, "description": "Operating system release nickname as specified by the distributor", } }
Example usage
"os_nick": "Oneiric Oncelot"
Discussion
This could assist searching.