News
Super effective with Zarf
From defense applications to edge environments in remote locations, more and more organizations are looking for ways to run and manage Kubernetes clusters without relying on an internet connection. As a result, the open-source project Zarf is rapidly gaining relevance. During Edgecase 2026, Merijn Keppel, Principal Consultant at TrueFullstaq, shared an update on the latest developments around Zarf. He also reflected on his spectacular demo at KubeCon Europe earlier this year, where he demonstrated live how a Talos Kubernetes cluster could be deployed and updated entirely in isolation.
"It's Super Effective! The Automation Behind Immutable Edge Kubernetes with Talos + Zarf" is the title of Merijn Keppel's presentation. But what exactly is Zarf? While some might compare it to the Droste effect, Keppel sees a stronger resemblance to Christopher Nolan's film Inception.
"Zarf is an OCI package that contains OCI packages, which can in turn contain OCI packages, and so on," Keppel explains. "The great thing is that you can package an entire operating system inside it. That's exactly what I did on stage at KubeCon. Zarf is an incredibly cool tool."
He describes Zarf as highly user-friendly, particularly for organizations working with air-gapped environments and edge computing.
Experimenting
In these kinds of environments, traditional out-of-band management solutions are not an option, the TrueFullstaq consultant continues. So what does work?
Experimenting is something Merijn Keppel enjoys. He used a Talos command-line tool to create an in-band management approach. Zarf supplied the image, which was still missing at the time.
Recently, he discovered that he did not need to build this functionality himself. A tool already exists: Tupper (not to be confused with Tupperware). However, Keppel is still determining whether it fully meets his requirements. If it does, he intends to continue working with it.
"Why build the same thing twice? I already have ideas about how to make this work well with Talos, especially since the project is already moving in that direction."
Edgecase 2026: Gotta read 'em all
All the speakers, sessions, and insights from Edgecase 2026 in one place.
Security
Back to Zarf, because it enables clusters to be managed on a submarine, a spacecraft, or virtually any location with limited or no connectivity at all.
"You can transfer Zarf packages using almost any medium," says Keppel. "A sneakernet, for example, or even a carrier pigeon. That means you don't need to worry about running Kubernetes in an isolated environment. The only thing you really need to worry about is securing your supply chain. And that's something Zarf can help with as well."
Secrets
When it comes to applying these technologies in customer projects, Merijn Keppel prefers not to reveal too much.
"It could involve areas such as security, defencedefenseerhaps even space exploration or extraterrestrial phenomena," he says with a smile. "But what interests me most is solving problems for which no solution exists yet. These customers don't share their secrets, so you have to dive in yourself, analyze the challenge, and figure it out. In the end, you have a satisfied customer who can fully harness the power of Kubernetes."
