Amazon announced the release of Linux platform support in the Finch tools, which were previously only available for Windows and MacOS. Finch was originally developed to streamline work with Linux containers not dependent on the Linux kernel. It enables users to build, publish, and run Linux containers in OCI (Open Container Initiative) format. Written in Go, the Finch code is licensed under Apache 2.0.
The Command line interface in Finch is powered by the nerdctl project, offering commands for building, running, publishing, and loading Docker containers with added features like non-root mode, image encryption, P2P image distribution via IPFS, and image signing. Containerd is used as the container runtime, while Buildkit is employed for building OCI-formatted images.
In the Windows and MacOS versions of Finch, which support launching Linux VMs and enabling file sharing and port forwarding, the Lima framework is used. Lima utilizes VF virtualization in MacOS and WSL2 in Windows to implement Linux isolation primitives. However, in the Linux version of Finch, direct access to Linux kernel capabilities like namespaces and cgroups is employed instead of Lima.
Finch integrates Nerdctl, Containerd, and Buildkit into a cohesive tool, eliminating the need to configure these components separately. A utility is provided within Finch that abstracts the interaction with each component, simplifying the process for users. Users can quickly create and run containers after installing a single package that includes all the necessary components.
The Linux version of Finch offers the same capabilities as the MacOS and Windows versions, including DockerFiles-based container builds, local container launching, and management of networks and disk volumes. Users can also use the “Finch Compose” command to create multi-component applications.