The source suite passed 431 tests. The final ISO passed 13 whole-disk checks and 23 preserved-partition/recovery checks. No acceptance check was skipped.

Hydra OS is a Gentoo host for concurrent virtual desktops, with a minimal labwc session and terminal controls. This release adds installation into selected partitions, signed runtime updates, offline Btrfs base recovery and read-only laptop diagnostics.

Verification

Item	Final result
Image and runtime source	`ebeebc7fb1aed07a5f50bc62374365d614953dad`
ISO	`hydra-os.iso`, 2,380,406,784 bytes
ISO SHA-256	`451e058228d7cbea87b5301ae6502b6be609cf7f52cc7c9e6fb477822501389b`
Signed runtime	Version `0.2.0`, sequence `1`
Complete source suite	`431` passed in `26.048` seconds
Whole-disk UEFI/KVM acceptance	13 passed; 0 skipped
Preserved-partition/recovery UEFI/KVM acceptance	23 passed; 0 skipped

Independent final integration review found no actionable issues and verified all 19 signed runtime payload files against source bytes/modes and the pinned key.

The final artifact record, whole-disk report and laptop report identify the exact ISO, firmware and harnesses. The image audit checks packaged files, including the independent updater and pinned key, against source hashes and required ownership and modes. The rootfs manifest records source inputs and package versions; Fastfetch captures the final installed guest.

Final acceptance uses fresh private virtual disks and the final ISO. Earlier diagnostic runs against an older ISO do not establish this release's acceptance. Both installed boot sequences remove ISO media. The laptop sequence checks GPT boundaries, foreign partition bytes and foreign/fallback EFI bytes across all boots. It checks BootOrder immediately around installation, checkpoint, restore and each deliberate boot-selection operation. OVMF may prune an empty DVD entry between boots; the report does not claim identical BootOrder across reboots.

Installation and recovery

Existing-partition installation formats only the selected root partition and retains the existing ESP. It supports ext4 or Btrfs; Btrfs uses @root, @home and @snapshots. From the live ISO's :shell, inspect the devices and request a plan:

sudo hydra-install --root-partition /dev/CHOSEN_ROOT \
  --esp-partition /dev/CHOSEN_ESP --user YOUR_USER --root-fs btrfs

These are placeholders; no physical target partition has been selected. Execution requires --execute --confirm-format /dev/CHOSEN_ROOT. The ESP needs room for EFI/HydraOS; select its grubx64.efi loader in firmware, or explicitly request --register-boot-entry to create an entry without changing BootOrder. See the installation guide.

Boot the trusted live ISO with the installed filesystems unmounted to create or restore a Btrfs checkpoint:

sudo hydra-system checkpoint --root-uuid ROOT_UUID --esp-partuuid ESP_PARTUUID \
  --name before-update --execute --confirm-root-uuid ROOT_UUID
sudo hydra-system list --root-uuid ROOT_UUID
sudo hydra-system restore --root-uuid ROOT_UUID --checkpoint CHECKPOINT_ID \
  --execute --confirm-root-uuid ROOT_UUID

Omit execution and confirmation options to inspect a plan first. Recovery restores the root, kernel, Portage state and owned EFI loader together. Current HOME and VM data stored there remain unchanged. An interrupted restore resumes with the same checkpoint ID. Acceptance upgrades a local Portage fixture, damages the actual kernel/owned loader, sends SIGKILL after a durable restore transition, resumes in a fresh process, then verifies exact restored base hashes and boots without ISO. This proves exact kernel restoration, not an upgrade between two kernel versions.

Checkpoints share the original disk and are not external backups. Restoring the root also restores runtime update receipts and their replay floor. See base recovery.

Updates and diagnostics

hydra update check
sudo hydra update apply
hydra update status
sudo hydra update rollback TRANSACTION
sudo hydra-update-recover
hydra doctor

The signed runtime manifest describes a passive payload verified against the image's independently pinned Ed25519 key. The public repository serves the release without a separate update server. The standalone recovery command works independently of a damaged normal CLI. Acceptance uses a disposable TEST key in its private guest, refuses a tampered archive, and verifies apply, rollback and fresh-process recovery after SIGKILL. The original pinned key is restored afterward.

The payload updates Hydra runtime and branding. Gentoo packages/kernel, networking, guest data, the updater engine and its trust key are outside its scope. Log out and in after applying or rolling back to load changed session code. Older images without the trusted updater need a verified new image or a separately verified bootstrap. See update scope and trust.

hydra doctor reports observations without changing settings. Physical ASUS FX517ZC checks remain pending: live boot, Wi-Fi/Ethernet, audio playback, touchpad and input capture, brightness, USB, suspend/resume and delivered display refresh. The first image requires Secure Boot disabled. No physical disk, existing NixOS installation or existing user VM disk was an installation target. VM acceptance does not establish physical graphics performance or audio playback.

See acceptance instructions to repeat both harnesses with the recorded source, ISO and firmware inputs. ISO files, test disks, private build records and raw logs remain outside Git; this directory contains the public verification record.