Run the release builder on a host that can build the OpenEmbedded layer. The xcat-core checkout must be clean. --xcat-ref checks that the checkout points to the intended commit; it does not change the checkout for you.

./genesis-openembedded/build \
  --xcat-source /path/to/xcat-core \
  --xcat-ref <tag-or-commit> \
  --all \
  --output-dir /path/to/xcat-genesis-release

The default format is all, which produces RPM, SRPM, and DEB packages. Use --format rpm or --format deb when only one package family is needed. The supported image architectures are x86, x86_64, ppc64, ppc64le, armv7hf, aarch64, and riscv64.

Use --architecture for development builds. Repository publication requires a complete release built with --all.

Each package installs one exact-architecture export under /opt/xcat/share/xcat/netboot/genesis/<architecture>/. This includes the kernel, initramfs, manifests, checksums, and license evidence. The packages are noarch or all because they are installed on the management node, not run on the target node.

The release directory contains:

rpm/, srpm/, and deb/ package directories
release.manifest, including the xcat-core commit
SHA256SUMS

Validate the directory before publishing it:

./genesis-openembedded/verify-release /path/to/xcat-genesis-release

Pass that same directory to the repository builders:

perl ./mockbuild-all.pl \
  --genesis-release /path/to/xcat-genesis-release \
  [other build options]

./build-apt-repo.sh \
  --genesis-release /path/to/xcat-genesis-release \
  [DIST ...]

The RPM builder skips its old per-EL Genesis build when a release is supplied. The APT builder adds the DEB packages to every selected suite. Both consumers require all seven architectures and verify package identities and checksums before collecting packages. Every management-node repository receives every target image so it can provision nodes of another architecture.

Without --genesis-release, both builders keep their existing behavior. The option remains opt-in until xcat-core uses the exact package names on every platform. The current RPM naming already matches x86_64, but older mappings still use ppc64 for ppc64le, and the DEB packages use amd64. Those mappings belong in a separate xcat-core change. Generated images and packages belong in release storage, not in Git.

The DEB packages replace the old amd64 and ppc64el package spellings during an upgrade. They do not provide aliases for those names. This keeps the old workflow unchanged until the xcat-core package dependencies move to the exact architecture names.

Run the package tests on a Linux builder with RPM, DEB, and repository tools:

sudo prove -It/lib t