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RFC: ARM64 (aarch64) Architecture Support for Cloud Foundry#1530

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vighes:rfc-arm64-support
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RFC: ARM64 (aarch64) Architecture Support for Cloud Foundry#1530
vighes wants to merge 2 commits into
cloudfoundry:mainfrom
vighes:rfc-arm64-support

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@vighes

@vighes vighes commented Jun 24, 2026

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This RFC proposes adding ARM64 architecture support to Cloud Foundry,
enabling deployments on ARM64-based infrastructure (AWS Graviton, Ampere
Altra, etc.) with 20-40% better price/performance.

A proof-of-concept validated all major CF components (Diego, Garden-runC,
Gorouter, Loggregator, Cloud Controller, UAA, BOSH) compile and execute
on ARM64 with zero source code changes.

Looking forward to community feedback on the proposed workstreams and
open questions.

cc @beyhan

@linux-foundation-easycla

linux-foundation-easycla Bot commented Jun 24, 2026

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CLA Not Signed

@beyhan beyhan requested review from a team, Gerg, beyhan, cweibel, rkoster and stephanme and removed request for a team June 25, 2026 06:17
@beyhan beyhan added toc rfc CFF community RFC labels Jun 25, 2026
Comment thread toc/rfc/rfc-draft-arm64-support.md Outdated

### Phase 1: ARM64 Stemcell

Publish an ARM64 BOSH stemcell based on the current CF Linux operating system (Ubuntu Jammy, and subsequently Noble/Resolute). The stemcell MUST include:

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According to the Ubuntu release plan Jammy EOL is scheduled for May 2027. Giving that and the fact that we introduced many stemcell changes from Jammy to Noble (like switching from cgroup v1 to cgroup v2) I would suggest to take Jammy out of scope and focus on Noble and Resolute Raccoon.

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Agreed. Updated to focus on Noble and Resolute Raccoon, removing Jammy given its May 2027 EOL and the cgroup v2 changes already introduced.

Comment thread toc/rfc/rfc-draft-arm64-support.md Outdated
Comment on lines +189 to +197
## Paketo WG

The Paketo Working Group owns buildpacks. Work includes:

- Produce ARM64 variants of all CF buildpack dependencies (JDK, Node.js, Python, Ruby, Go, .NET, PHP, nginx, R runtimes)
- Produce an ARM64 variant of the `cflinuxfs4` root filesystem
- Validate buildpack `detect` and `compile` phases on ARM64 cells
- Update buildpack CI to produce and test ARM64 artifacts

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The Paketo WG is responsible for the Cloud Native Buildpacks which are known as the v3 buildpacks or the current generation of buildpacks. They are supported by CF and CNBs already worked on introducing ARM64 support. See https://buildpacks.io/docs/for-app-developers/how-to/special-cases/build-for-arm/ and https://www.cloudfoundry.org/blog/arm64-paketo-buildpacks/.

The classical buildpacks have higher adoption in the CF world at the moment and they are owned by the ARI WG. My impression is that the classical buildpacks are meant here.

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Good catch. Removed Paketo WG as a separate workstream since CNB ARM64 support is already in progress. Focused the RFC on classical buildpacks under ARI WG, with a note acknowledging the existing Paketo effort.

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