What is VelaOS?

Endpoint management for VDI thin clients, browser kiosks, and digital signage. AlmaLinux 10.1 bootc on UEFI x86-64-v2 and aarch64.

In one paragraph

VelaOS ships a hardened, bootc-managed AlmaLinux 10.1base OS for UEFI x86-64 thin clients, mini-PCs, and POS terminals, plus a cloud console IT teams use to enroll, configure, and monitor thousands of devices at once. VelaOS is a direct replacement for IGEL OS 12, HP ThinPro, Dell ThinOS, Stratodesk, and Emteria, with an open, auditable supply chain that's Cloud-Act-free.

Supported hardware

● Primary

UEFI x86-64-v2

Any UEFI x86-64-v2 device with ≥4 GB RAM and ≥32 GB storage. Single image, policy-switched profile (kiosk / thin / desktop). Intel, AMD, NVIDIA GPUs supported by the mainline kernel shipped in AlmaLinux 10.x.

● Secondary

aarch64

Same AlmaLinux 10.1 bootc image, arm64 build. For SKUs where ARM thin clients are the target. Same policy model, same console, same update pipeline.

What can you do with it?

Run VDI clients — Citrix Workspace, VMware Horizon, Azure Virtual Desktop, Windows RDP, browser-based (Guacamole, Kasm)
Lock a device to a single URL for signage or a customer-facing dashboard
Deploy signed apps across a fleet with staged rollouts and auto-rollback (cosign-keyless, OCI 1.1 referrers, SBOM + VEX attestations)
Push OS updates over the air with bootc A/B switching and Greenboot health checks
Enforce security policy — SELinux, fapolicyd, firewalld, usbguard baseline; per-tenant overrides via the console
Manage 802.1X networks with EAP-TLS certificate enrollment per device
Monitor hardware health — thermal zones, CPU governor, storage wear, driver + firmware inventory

Architecture (60-second version)

Four pieces talk to each other:

VelaOS base image — ghcr.io/vela-hq/velaos-linux:stable, an AlmaLinux 10.1 bootc image built and cosign-signed in CI. Boots any UEFI x86-64-v2 device with ≥4 GB RAM and ≥32 GB storage.
VelaOS Agent — a Go service. Subscribes to MQTT for commands, verifies every app signature before install, and publishes telemetry every 60 seconds.
VelaOS Cloud — a Go API + Supabase Postgres + EMQX MQTT broker. All devices in a tenant report here.
VelaOS Console — the Next.js web app admins use daily.

Read Architecture for the full picture with a diagram of every data flow.

Who is it for?

Healthcare IT — EHR kiosks, patient check-in terminals
Retail & hospitality — POS, drive-thru signage, kitchen displays
Field offices — VDI thin clients that replace $600+ Dell Wyse units
Education — computer labs, library reservation kiosks
Manufacturing — shop-floor HMI, quality-control stations

Beta status

VelaOS is currently v2.x beta. The cloud platform is production-deployed; the base image is targeting v3.0.0 general availability. See the changelog for the latest.

How it differs from the alternatives

We wrote a full comparison matrix at vs IGEL & Emteria. The short version:

vs IGEL OS 12 — we're 60% cheaper, have modern web UI, better docs, open auditable supply chain
vs Emteria — we have compliance engine, ring deployment, smart groups, policy inheritance, AI-ready API, 80+ cloud-controllable settings they don't offer
vs ChromeOS — runs any Linux workload and signed VelaApps; not locked to a single browser vendor

Next steps

Quickstart — flash your first thin client and enroll it (10 minutes)
Architecture deep-dive — how the pieces fit together
Console walkthrough — every page explained