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Obsidian

The Obsidian extension adds the Obsidian note-taking app to a Frostyard desktop image. Use it when you want Obsidian on a desktop. Every image carries the extension’s definition, switched off. The extension itself is not in the image: Updex turns it on and downloads it.

Before you start

Section titled “Before you start”

You need:

  • A Frostyard desktop bootc image: Snow, Snowfield, or Sundog, not Floe.
  • Root access to enable, update, and remove the extension.
  • Network access to https://repository.frostyard.org/ext/obsidian/.
  • Free space in /var for the download and the installed image.

The Obsidian extension has no published test results on Frostyard images yet. Try it on a machine you can spare first.

Enable Obsidian

Section titled “Enable Obsidian”

See what Updex found, then enable the feature and download it now:

Terminal window
updex features list --component=obsidian
sudo updex features enable obsidian --now

obsidian appears as a component, with its feature disabled. The enable command downloads the image, checks its checksum and signature, links it, and refreshes the merge.

Check the merge and the files that the extension adds:

Terminal window
systemd-sysext status
command -v obsidian
ls /usr/share/applications/md.obsidian.Obsidian.desktop

systemd-sysext status lists obsidian. command -v prints a path, and ls prints the launcher file.

If enable --now exits with a refresh error (refresh_error in JSON), the download worked, but the activation did not. If the output says activation did not finish, the extension is merged, but users and groups can be missing: reboot. Otherwise the merge state is unknown: reboot. A sudo systemd-sysext refresh by hand does not create users and groups. Then run the checks above again.

Use Obsidian

Section titled “Use Obsidian”

Start Obsidian from your applications, or run obsidian. The extension ships no service and adds nothing to /etc.

Update, roll back, and remove

Section titled “Update, roll back, and remove”

See whether a newer image exists, then update:

Terminal window
updex features check --component=obsidian
sudo updex features update --component=obsidian

The update downloads the newest image and links it. A refresh replaces /usr under a running app, and a running app can fail. Close Obsidian before you run updex features update, or update with --no-refresh and reboot. See Manage system extensions for the check output and the update timer.

Roll back with sudo updex features rollback obsidian. It takes effect at the next boot. See Roll back.

Remove Obsidian now:

Terminal window
sudo updex features disable obsidian --now --force

Updex unmerges all extensions on the host, deletes the Obsidian image, and merges the rest again. Your vaults and Obsidian settings stay in your home directory. Reboot when the command finishes. Without --force, Updex refuses while the image is merged.

What ships

Section titled “What ships”
Item What you get
Package requests The Obsidian .deb (a pinned download), plus libxss1 and xdg-utils
Version The image file name carries the obsidian version
Command and launcher /usr/bin/obsidian and /usr/share/applications/md.obsidian.Obsidian.desktop; the app lives in /usr/lib/Obsidian
Services None
Image file obsidian_<version>_<os>_<arch>.raw.zst; .raw.xz, .raw.gz, and .raw also work
Download From https://repository.frostyard.org/ext/obsidian/, signature required (Verify=true), into /var/lib/extensions.d/

Each build checks that these paths are present: the Obsidian binary, the sandbox helper, the /usr/bin/obsidian link, the launcher, and the icon. A build that is missing one fails.

See also

Section titled “See also”

Sources

Section titled “Sources”

Reviewed 2026-10-27; Updex facts reviewed 2026-10-30. snosi commit b2858ca0222814c395cf8248db98f3e096d57dc9; Updex v2.1.3 commit 2661e987faac986f2594d1d9bbbadf1bf3053f5b.