Configure package registries

An AOS registry is a package catalog, signed history, and one or more binary caches. A registry tells APM which package and system-image realizations are authorized; a cache or AOS Hub transports their bytes.

This guide is for people configuring registries on an AOS host. Registry maintainers should use Operate an AOS package registry. Package runtime confinement is a separate control described in Understand the package sandbox.

#Start with the built-in registry

AOS images seed the public andyl registry at https://cdn.aos.andyl.org/. Its URL, stable channel, priority, bootstrap cache endpoints, and Ed25519 trust anchor are part of the read-only image under /etc/apm.

On Secure Boot plus dm-verity images, the firmware verifies the signed UKI, the UKI authenticates the dm-verity root hash, and dm-verity authenticates the root containing that registry key. This makes the baked key an authenticated first- contact anchor rather than trust obtained from the registry itself. See Use Secure Boot and verify package trust for the complete chain.

Inspect the configured registries before installing packages:

apm registry list
apm update --system --registry andyl
apm search curl --system --registry andyl
apm show curl --system --registry andyl

The public golden image remains an early preview. Verify the registry URL and key fingerprint against the release record for the exact image being used.

#Distinguish access from trust

Several controls protect different boundaries:

Control	What it establishes
HTTPS and certificate validation	The client reached the expected transport endpoint without an ordinary network interception
Hub token or registry credential	The caller may read or administer a private service
Registry signing key	The selected registry history and catalog were authorized by that registry owner
TUF metadata	Role separation, signed release metadata, and freshness for moving release selections
Store realization graph	The exact NAR identity and closure relationships authorized by the signed release
Narinfo signature	Authorization for stock Nix substitution through the cache protocol
Package sandbox	What an activated exposed service may do after installation

A valid TLS connection or bearer token does not make package content trusted. A valid registry signature authenticates an owner and exact bytes; it does not prove that the program is benign. Keep signature verification and package policy enabled even for an internal HTTPS service.

In the current preview, the implemented TUF path assigns its top-level roles to the active registry keys. Canonical production publication remains gated on a separately bootstrapped, threshold-authenticated TUF root and role-separated online and offline keys. Do not infer production TUF role isolation merely because tuf/ metadata is present.

#Add another public registry

Obtain the registry's public trust line through a channel independent of the registry endpoint. Confirm its fingerprint with the registry owner before the first synchronization:

apm registry --system add https://packages.example.com/acme/ \
  --name acme \
  --priority 100 \
  --trust-key 'acme:Ed25519:BASE64_KEY'

apm update --system --registry acme
apm show acme-agent --system --registry acme

Do not download the key from an unauthenticated registry URL and then use it to authenticate that same response. That is circular trust. Suitable independent channels include a signed organizational configuration, an image release record, an authenticated administrator channel, or an in-person fingerprint exchange.

Signature verification fails closed by default. --no-verify exists for an isolated local development registry and must not appear in an installation, upgrade, or fleet configuration.

#Configure an internal registry

For a fleet, declare the internal registry in the image or in authenticated host.nix rather than configuring every machine interactively:

{
  aos.apm.registries.acme = {
    url = "https://packages.acme.example/production/";
    channel = "stable";
    priority = 900;
    required = true;
    trustKeys = [
      "acme:Ed25519:BASE64_CURRENT_KEY"
      "acme:Ed25519:BASE64_NEXT_KEY"
    ];
    caches = [
      {
        url = "https://cache.acme.example/";
        priority = 100;
      }
    ];
  };
}

An image definition writes this seed under /etc/apm. Authenticated runtime configuration can place the corresponding effective policy in the writable system overlay. Multiple keys support a planned rotation overlap; they are public material, not signing secrets.

An internal AOS Hub can serve the registry and cache. The preferred production boundary keeps registry, cache, TUF, and Secure Boot private signing keys outside it. Hub-hosted signing is an explicit lower-assurance choice that makes the Hub part of the signing boundary. See Trust an internal AOS Hub deployment.

#Understand configuration scope and precedence

Registry configuration is layered:

Path	Scope
/etc/apm	Read-only definitions and trust seeds supplied by the image
/var/lib/apm/config	Writable machine-wide overlay
~/.config/apm	Writable configuration for the current user

Use apm registry --system ... for machine-wide packages, configuration generations, and image upgrades. A user-scope registry does not configure those operations. Stock images do not yet provision all storage needed for unprivileged user-profile mutation; see AOS support status.

A higher-precedence definition can disable a registry baked into /etc/apm. Removing the seed itself requires an image rebuild, while authenticated host.nix can deliberately render an empty or disabled system overlay. Treat such a change as a trust-policy mutation and retain a recovery path.

#Use priorities deliberately

Higher numeric priority wins. Resolution chooses the highest-priority registry containing a package name before comparing versions in lower-priority registries. Therefore an internal registry containing openssl overrides the built-in registry's openssl, even when the public catalog has a newer version.

Inspect resolution before relying on an override:

apm registry list
apm policy openssl --system
apm show openssl --system --registry acme
apm show openssl --system --registry andyl

Use unique names for unrelated internal packages. Reuse a public package name only when the internal catalog intentionally owns the override and its ABI and update policy are compatible with all consumers.

An explicit selection is stronger than priority and keeps dependency resolution within the selected registry:

apm search acme-agent --system --registry acme
apm install acme-agent --registry acme --dry-run

For machine-wide ordinary packages, use the desired-state workflow in Manage packages with APM. The direct apm install PACKAGE --system --registry ... form is reserved for a package marked as the system sysroot.

#Understand registry verification

On synchronization, APM starts from the pinned key set, verifies the selected signed history, enforces name binding and continuity, and accepts in-band key roster changes only after the old trust has authenticated them. Moving release selection also uses signed TUF metadata where present, plus stored freshness and anti-rollback state.

After selecting a package, APM walks the signed store/ realization graph. Every Nix closure member must match the blessed NAR hash and size before import. The Hub and cache may choose where bytes are served from, but they cannot choose different accepted bytes without detection.

A narinfo may also carry a cache-role Ed25519 signature. Stock Nix uses that signature as its substitution authority. APM's normal package admission remains rooted in the registry release and complete realization graph; do not weaken that validation merely because a cache is signed.

#Inspect a package before activation

Registry verification establishes origin and exact content. Inspect the service privilege contract separately:

apm show acme-agent --system --registry acme
apm info acme-agent --system --permissions
apm policy acme-agent --system

Review the selected registry as well as the computed confinement label. A trusted internal registry can publish a package whose declared privileges make it unconfined; cryptographic trust does not override local package policy.

#Handle private registries

Private registries add access control but use the same content-verification model. Supply the documented Hub or transport credential without placing it in the image, repository, Nix store, registry metadata, or shell history. Prefer short-lived, registry-scoped tokens delivered through the deployment's secret manager.

Use HTTPS whenever a bearer token is present. A token should identify the registry and permitted operation; a credential for one internal registry should not authorize another registry or production administration.

#Rotate and revoke trust

A planned registry-key rotation begins with a release authenticated by an old trusted key whose signed roster contains both old and new public keys. After that overlap has reached the fleet, a surviving key can authenticate retirement of the old key. Image-baked anchors may retain the old public key temporarily; the verified in-band roster masks a retired key until a later image removes it.

If the only trusted registry key is compromised, no safe in-band self- revocation exists. Stop synchronization and package rollout, obtain a new anchor independently, and distribute it through a newly trusted image or an authenticated operator procedure. Do not accept rewritten history or disable verification to recover connectivity.

Disable a registry without deleting its cached state:

apm registry --system disable acme
apm registry --system enable acme

Removing an internal override can immediately change which registry owns a package name. Review apm policy, ABI compatibility, active generations, and the sysroot lock before making that transition.

#Diagnose verification failures

When synchronization fails, preserve the current accepted state and check:

apm registry list
apm update --system --registry acme

Then determine whether the failure is transport authentication, TLS, an unknown or retired registry key, non-fast-forward history, stale TUF metadata, a missing store-graph member, or a NAR mismatch. Do not use --no-verify to turn an unexplained production failure into a successful update.

See Troubleshoot an AOS host and, for registry-owner actions, Manage registry trust and incidents.