Jumpstarter v0.8.1 — Release notes

This release begins with version v0.8.1, as version v0.8.0 was accidentally released previously and cannot be undone.

What's new

• Operator-first installation: Helm-based service installs are now deprecated; operator installs are the recommended and supported path for production and new environments.
• OCI-based flashing improvements: Improved oci:// handling, private registry authentication, and more robust remote flashing behavior with retries and timeouts.
• Sparse and partition workflows: Improved sparse image support; through fls and fastboot, the flashers and ridesx4 drivers can now flash sparse images (simg) encapsulated in OCI artifacts, properly built .simg files can improve flashing times by x2-x10 by avoiding don't care areas in the images.
• Authentication and login UX: Continued improvements to simplified login flows and operator-managed endpoint behavior.
• Platform growth: Monorepo transition completed in this release cycle, featuring ongoing operator and driver refinements and more robust CI.
• Monorepo: Python packages, protocol, Kubernetes operator, and automation are now in a single repository (UV workspace under python/).
• CLI & auth: Simplified jmp login, default client selection after OIDC login, and various auth UX and configuration fixes.

Driver updates

The table below summarizes driver-level changes in v0.8.1.
Status = New driver indicates the package was added during the 0.8 release cycle.

| Driver | Status | Notable updates in 0.8 line |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| ble | New driver | Added BLE stream driver and fixed console behavior |
| ssh-mitm | New driver | Added SSH MITM driver; evolved architecture and compatibility |
| flashers | Updated | Added --no-power-off to flashers; chunk long credentials over serial |
| http | Updated | Tracked rename/delete/copy operations; removed created HTTP/TFTP files by default |
| iscsi | Updated | Addressed review fixes; added explicit requests dependency |
| network | Updated | noVNC updates (encrypt option, documentation, and coverage improvements) |
| opendal | Updated | Improved RideSX decompressed-file cleanup and remote hash behavior |
| probe-rs | Updated | Added speed configuration option |
| pyserial | Updated | Increased StreamReader limit; added disable_hupcl and --no-output support |
| qemu | Updated | Improved vsock availability check; added disk resize support |
| ridesx | Updated | Added OCI flashing support and reliability improvements |
| shell | Updated | Added per-method descriptions/timeouts and shared method infrastructure |
| ssh | Updated | stream_async now works as an async context manager; client refinements |
| tftp | Updated | Removed created files by default for cleanup consistency |
| tmt | Updated | Adjusted default reboot behavior and added --feeling-safe support |
| uboot | Updated | Improved error formatting and timeout forwarding in run_command() |
| vnc | Updated | New VNC driver line updates and noVNC encrypt support |

Installation

Installing the Jumpstarter service on Kubernetes or OpenShift should be done via the Jumpstarter Operator. The operator reconciles a Jumpstarter custom resource (operator.jumpstarter.dev/v1alpha1) and manages the controller, router, login endpoints, TLS integration with cert-manager, and related networking.

Documentation

• Install with Operator
• Production deployment

Example

kubectl apply -f https://github.com/jumpstarter-dev/jumpstarter/releases/download/v0.8.1/operator-installer.yaml

Contributors

We would like to thank all our contributors, with a special shout-out to our new contributors:

| Commits (in range) | Name | GitHub |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 33 | Evgeni Vakhonin | @evakhoni |
| 10 | Albert Esteve | @aesteve-rh |
| 5 | Mario Parra | @mparram |
| 2 | Andreas Karner | @whati001 |
| 2 | Christian Holl | @hochbit |
| 2 | Daniel Glaser | @the78mole |
| 2 | Jared Kangas | @rh-jkangas |
| 2 | Michael Kuehl | @mickume |
| 1 | Mohamad Abo Ras | @maboras-rh |

All contributors

• Albert Esteve (@aesteve-rh)
• Andreas Karner (@whati001)
• Bella Khizgiyaev (@bkhizgiy)
• Benny Zlotnik (@bennyz)
• Christian Holl (@hochbit)
• Daniel Glaser (@the78mole)
• Enric Balletbo i Serra (@eballetbo)
• Evgeni Vakhonin (@evakhoni)
• Jared Kangas (@rh-jkangas)
• Kirk Brauer (@kirkbrauer)
• Leonardo Rossetti (@odra)
• Michael Kuehl (@mickume)
• Michal Skrivanek (@michalskrivanek)
• Miguel Angel Ajo Pelayo (@mangelajo)
• Mohamad Abo Ras (@maboras-rh)
• Mario Parra (@mparram)
• Nick Cao (@NickCao)
• Paul Wallrabe (@raballew)