About

About

Infix is a free, Linux-based, immutable1 operating system built on Buildroot and fully modeled in YANG using sysrepo. This enables complete remote control and monitoring via NETCONF or RESTCONF. Originally designed for switches and routers, Infix now serves a broad range of use cases, including edge devices and security-critical applications.

An immutable operating system significantly enhances security by design. Configuration and application data, including containers, are stored on separate partitions to ensure complete isolation from system files and enable seamless backup, restore, and provisioning operations.

Core Features

  • Boots from a squashfs image on a read-only partition
  • Full system modeling in YANG for standardized management
  • Single configuration file stored on a separate partition
  • Linux switchdev (DSA) provides open switch APIs
  • Atomic upgrades using proven A/B partitioning
  • Security-focused architecture — always LTS kernel and Buildroot
  • Native Docker container support for workload isolation

YANG, NETCONF, and RESTCONF Integration

The entire system is modeled using YANG, incorporating both standard IETF models and custom models designed to fully leverage Linux capabilities. This means not only system configuration but also system state and operations (RPC/actions) such as upgrades are all derived from YANG models.

The wire protocols for interacting with Infix devices are NETCONF (XML over SSH) and RESTCONF (JSON over HTTPS). RESTCONF is particularly well-suited for scripting and demonstration purposes, while NETCONF benefits from extensive tooling support, including Clixon Controller, a dedicated NETCONF controller.

Extensibility Through Containerization

While Infix excels at dedicated networking tasks, its native Docker container support creates a versatile platform that adapts to diverse customer requirements. Whether deploying legacy applications, implementing custom network protocols, performing process monitoring, or conducting edge data analysis, workloads can run close to end equipment. This can be achieved either through direct connection via dedicated Ethernet ports or indirectly using virtual network interfaces to participate in the same LAN as other connected equipment.

Summary

Infix’s streamlined design provides comprehensive control over both system and data layers while minimizing operational complexity. This makes it exceptionally easy to deploy and manage in production environments.

  1. An immutable operating system features read-only file systems, atomic updates, rollbacks, declarative configuration, and workload isolation—all designed to improve reliability, scalability, and security. For more information, see https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-3386/paper9.pdf and https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-immutable-linux-heres-why-youd-run-an-immutable-linux-distro/. ↩︎