diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index 070366cb..bb0c1ee0 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -4,6 +4,20 @@ livecd-rootfs (2.267) UNRELEASED; urgency=low
     - system-image: do not install ubuntu-minimal
     - system-image: install KERNEL_FLAVOURS=virtual on i386/amd64
     - system-image: use "--linux-packages=linux-image"
+  * live-build/auto/build:
+    - system-image: collect the deivce.tar.gz
+  * live-build/ubuntu-core/hooks/09-move-kernel-to-device-tar.binary:
+    - create a device.tar.gz from the installed kernel/modules and
+      remove it from the rootfs
+  * live-build/ubuntu-core/hooks/10-remove-documentation.binary:
+    - strip documentation
+  * live-build/ubuntu-core/hooks/11-remove-extra-packages.chroot:
+    - remove extra packages like libicu52/libqt that are still on the 
+      image because vivid system-image has a dependency on u-d-m which
+      depends on libqt
+  * live-build/ubuntu-core/hooks/12-add-docker-user.chroot:
+    - add a docker user/group into the image (this can go once we have
+      a hook for this)
 
  -- Michael Vogt <michael.vogt@ubuntu.com>  Fri, 14 Nov 2014 08:25:14 +0100
 
diff --git a/live-build/auto/build b/live-build/auto/build
index 0d79b5c7..e75c2149 100755
--- a/live-build/auto/build
+++ b/live-build/auto/build
@@ -317,6 +317,16 @@ if [ -e "binary/$INITFS/filesystem.packages-remove" ]; then
 	fi
 fi
 
+# ubuntu-core splits kernel stuff into a "device" tarball so at this point
+# we reset it to "none" as all the work to extract it was done already
+# in a binary hook
+if [ "$PROJECT" = "ubuntu-core" ] && [ "$SUBPROJECT" = "system-image" ]; then
+    LB_LINUX_FLAVOURS=none
+
+    # rename to have the right prefix etc
+    mv device.tar.gz "$PREFIX.device.tar.gz"
+fi
+
 for FLAVOUR in $LB_LINUX_FLAVOURS; do
 	if [ -z "$LB_LINUX_FLAVOURS" ] || [ "$LB_LINUX_FLAVOURS" = "none" ]; then
 		continue
diff --git a/live-build/ubuntu-core/hooks/09-move-kernel-to-device-tar.binary b/live-build/ubuntu-core/hooks/09-move-kernel-to-device-tar.binary
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5b68561d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/live-build/ubuntu-core/hooks/09-move-kernel-to-device-tar.binary
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+set -e
+
+echo "Moving kernel into device tarball"
+
+# remove the kernel, its part of the bootimg
+HERE=$(pwd)
+(cd binary/boot/filesystem.dir && \
+    tar czf $HERE/device.tar.gz \
+    boot/vmlinu?-* \
+    boot/initrd.img-* \
+    vmlinu? \
+    initrd.img \
+    lib/modules/ )
+
+rm -f binary/boot/filesystem.dir/boot/vmlinu?-*
+rm -f binary/boot/filesystem.dir/boot/initrd.img-*
+rm -f binary/boot/filesystem.dir/initrd.img
+rm -f binary/boot/filesystem.dir/vmlinu?
+rm -rf binary/boot/filesystem.dir/lib/modules
diff --git a/live-build/ubuntu-core/hooks/10-remove-documentation.binary b/live-build/ubuntu-core/hooks/10-remove-documentation.binary
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7116002d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/live-build/ubuntu-core/hooks/10-remove-documentation.binary
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+#!/bin/sh -x
+
+echo "I: Remove unneeded files from /usr/share/doc "
+find binary/boot/filesystem.dir/usr/share/doc -depth -type f ! -name copyright|xargs rm -f || true
+find binary/boot/filesystem.dir/usr/share/doc -empty|xargs rmdir || true
+
+echo "I: Remove man/info pages"
+rm -rf binary/boot/filesystem.dir/usr/share/man \
+       binary/boot/filesystem.dir/usr/share/groff \
+       binary/boot/filesystem.dir/usr/share/info \
+       binary/boot/filesystem.dir/usr/share/lintian \
+       binary/boot/filesystem.dir/usr/share/linda \
+       binary/boot/filesystem.dir/var/cache/man
+    
+
+echo "I: Removing /var/lib/apt/lists/*"
+find binary/boot/filesystem.dir/var/lib/apt/lists/ -type f | xargs rm -f
+
+echo "I: Removing /var/cache/apt/*.bin"
+rm -f binary/boot/filesystem.dir/var/cache/apt/*.bin
+
diff --git a/live-build/ubuntu-core/hooks/11-remove-extra-packages.chroot b/live-build/ubuntu-core/hooks/11-remove-extra-packages.chroot
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..39614ac9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/live-build/ubuntu-core/hooks/11-remove-extra-packages.chroot
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+set -e
+
+# we want a really minimal image
+apt-get remove -y locales
+
+# this will also get rid of libqt
+apt-get remove -y libicu52
diff --git a/live-build/ubuntu-core/hooks/12-add-docker-user.chroot b/live-build/ubuntu-core/hooks/12-add-docker-user.chroot
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b6d6d134
--- /dev/null
+++ b/live-build/ubuntu-core/hooks/12-add-docker-user.chroot
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+#!/bin/sh -x
+
+# FIXME: add click hook for user creation
+
+USER=docker
+
+echo "I: creating docker user"
+
+addgroup --system --quiet $USER
+adduser --system \
+        --ingroup $USER \
+        --disabled-login \
+        --shell /bin/false \
+        --no-create-home \
+        $USER
+