Flatcar does not follow the traditional long-lived host customization model used by mutable Linux distributions. Instead, it promotes immutable hosts and containerized workloads.
- Image-style host management: The operating system is delivered and updated as a managed base image.
- Automatic OS updates: Host updates are performed by the Flatcar update mechanism.
- Minimal host drift: Avoid ad-hoc host package installation where possible.
- Run apps in containers (Docker/containerd/Kubernetes).
- Bake custom host images only when host-level changes are required.
- Use machine provisioning tools (for example cloud-init or Ignition-style workflows) for repeatable node setup.
- Treat host configuration as code.
- Prefer replacing nodes over hand-editing production hosts.
- Validate updates in lower environments before promoting channel changes.