Bitnami's Free Images Discontinued: RapidFort, ActiveState, Chainguard Step In
Bitnami, a well-known source for pre-compiled application images and Helm charts, has discontinued its free images. This move has left a gap that companies like RapidFort, ActiveState, and Chainguard have swiftly filled with their own secure container images. Meanwhile, administrators must adapt their strategies, and users of cloud native open source projects seek alternative sources for their images and charts.
The Cloud Native Computing Foundation has assured users that Helm, the package manager for Kubernetes applications, remains unaffected and fully open source. However, Helm charts will no longer be updated on Docker Hub. Broadcom's new commercial model offers a set of 280 secure images through the Bitnami Secure Images service, managed by Arrow Electronics.
The discontinuation of Bitnami images and charts may cause issues such as Kubernetes ImagePullBackOff errors, stale/unpatched images, and chart drift. Administrators who have integrated Bitnami images and Helm charts into their deployment strategies will need to find replacements. RapidFort provides curated, near-zero CVE images compatible with Bitnami Helm charts. ActiveState offers fully managed, customizable secure containers rebuilt daily. Chainguard focuses on minimalist, signed, frequently updated images based on Wolfi Linux. Prequel is another vendor stepping in to offer alternative images and services.
Bitnami, founded in 2007 by Daniel López and Erica Brescia, served up to 500 million images each month and supported Helm charts. Its discontinuation has led to a shift in the landscape of pre-compiled application images and Helm charts. While Broadcom's new model offers paid images, users will need to adapt to new sources for their production-ready images and charts. Companies like RapidFort, ActiveState, Chainguard, and Prequel have emerged to fill this gap, providing secure and reliable alternatives.
