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Container Minimalistic OS

  • Rancher OS (License: Apache-2.0)
    Rancher OS - github
    RancherOS is a minimalist Linux distribution perfect for running Docker containers. By running Docker directly on top of the kernel and delivering Linux services as containers, RancherOS delivers just what you need to build what you want. RancherOS is the smallest, easiest way to run containers at scale in production, and includes only the services needed to run Docker. By removing unneeded libraries, and running the latest version of Docker by default, RancherOS reduces the hassle with updating, patching, and maintaining your container host operating system. Containers on RancherOS boot in seconds, making it easy for teams to move and scale quickly.

  • Project Atomic
    Project Atomic - Introduction
    Project Atomic - Quickstart
    Project Atomic - Documentation
    Use immutable infrastructure to deploy and scale your containerized applications. Project Atomic provides the best platform for your Linux Docker Kubernetes (LDK) application stack.

    • RHEL Atomic Host
      RHEL Atomic Host - Documentation
      Red Hat Enterprise Linux Atomic Host is a secure, lightweight and minimized footprint operating system that is optimized to run Linux containers. A member of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux family, Red Hat Enterprise Linux Atomic Host couples the flexible, lightweight and modular capabilities of Linux Containers with the reliability and security of Red Hat Enterprise Linux in a reduced image size.

    • Fedora Atomic Host
      2016 - Fedora Cloud Documentation
      Fedora Atomic Host - Download
      Atomic Host from Project Atomic is a lightweight, immutable platform, designed with the sole purpose of running containerized applications. Fedora's version of Atomic Host uses the same package repositories as Fedora Server, and provides the latest versions of the Atomic.

  • CoreOS Container Linux
    CoreOS Container Linux - Download
    CoreOS Container Linux - Documentation
    CoreOS Container Linux is the leading container operating system, designed to be managed and run at massive scale, with minimal operational overhead. Applications with Container Linux run in containers, providing developer-friendly tools for deploying software. Container Linux runs on nearly any platform whether physical, virtual, or private/public cloud.

  • Alpine Linux (License: GPL-2.0)
    Alpine Linux - Download
    Alpine Linux - Wiki
    Alpine Linux is an independent, non-commercial, general purpose Linux distribution designed for power users who appreciate security, simplicity and resource efficiency. Alpine Linux is built around musl libc and busybox. This makes it smaller and more resource efficient than traditional GNU/Linux distributions. A container requires no more than 8 MB and a minimal installation to disk requires around 130 MB of storage. Not only do you get a fully-fledged Linux environment but a large selection of packages from the repository. Binary packages are thinned out and split, giving you even more control over what you install, which in turn keeps your environment as small and efficient as possible. Alpine Linux was designed with security in mind. The kernel is patched with an unofficial port of grsecurity/PaX, and all userland binaries are compiled as Position Independent Executables (PIE) with stack smashing protection. These proactive security features prevent exploitation of entire classes of zero-day and other vulnerabilities.

  • Intel Clear Linux
    Intel Clear Linux - github
    Intel Clear Linux - Download
    Intel Clear Linux - Getting Started
    Intel Clear Linux - Documentation
    Clear Linux OS for Intel Architecture is focused on the Cloud. Our aim was not to make yet another general-purpose Linux distribution; sometimes lean-and-fast is better than big-and-universal. While we do our best to describe marquee technologies on this website, there are many smaller optimizations and configurations to explore. We invite anyone with an interest in the Cloud to take a look and give it a spin.

  • Ubuntu Core
    Ubunto Core - github
    Ubuntu Core - Download
    Ubuntu Core - Documentation
    Ubuntu Core, a minimalist rendition of Ubuntu, is a lightweight, transactionally updated operating system designed for deployments on embedded and IoT devices, cloud and more. It runs a new breed of super-secure, remotely upgradeable Linux app packages known as snaps. The strict separation between kernel and device drivers, OS and applications means embedded engineers and application developers can easily work in parallel.

  • Boot2Docker (License: Apache-2.0)
    Boot2Docker - github
    boot2docker is a lightweight Linux distribution based on Tiny Core Linux made specifically to run Docker containers. It runs completely from RAM, weighs ~27MB and boots in ~5s (YMMV).

  • VMware Photon OS (License: VMware Photon OS™ EULA)
    VMware Photon OS - Download
    VMware Photon OS - Wiki
    Photon OS is a minimal Linux container host designed to have a small footprint and tuned for VMware platforms. Photon is intended to invite collaboration around running containerized applications in a virtualized environment.
    - Optimized for vSphere - Validated on and tuned for VMware product and provider platforms.
    - Container support - Supports Docker, rkt, and the Pivotal Garden container specifications.
    - Efficient lifecycle management - Contains a new, open-source, yum-compatible package manager that will help make the system as small as possible, but preserve the robust yum package management capabilities.

  • DC/OS (License: Apache-2.0)
    DC/OS - github
    DC/OS - Features
    DC/OS - Architecture
    DC/OS - Get Started
    DC/OS - Documentation
    DC/OS is a distributed operating system based on the Apache Mesos distributed systems kernel. It enables the management of multiple machines as if they were a single computer. It automates resource management, schedules process placement, facilitates inter-process communication, and simplifies the installation and management of distributed services. Its included web interface and available command-line interface (CLI) facilitate remote management and monitoring of the cluster and its services.