# openelb/openelb

Load Balancer Implementation for Kubernetes in Bare-Metal, Edge, and Virtualization

Repository: https://github.com/openelb/openelb
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/openelb
Homepage: https://openelb.io
Language: Go
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: kubernetes, load-balancer, lb, baremetal, bare-metal, k3s, edge
Last push: 2025-05-26T13:37:27+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 33/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:39:23.370411+00:00)
- activity 23, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2771, "days_push": 464, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1774, forks 210 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:34.354722+00:00)

## What it is
OpenELB is an open-source load balancer implementation for exposing Kubernetes LoadBalancer-type Services in bare-metal, edge, and virtualization environments. It supports BGP and Layer 2 modes, ECMP routing, IP address pool management, and BGP configuration via CRDs, and is a CNCF Sandbox project originally created by KubeSphere.

## Use cases
- expose kubernetes loadbalancer services on bare metal
- run load balancer for k3s cluster without cloud provider
- announce kubernetes service IPs via BGP to border routers
- manage external IP address pools for kubernetes services
- replace metallb for loadbalancer services on-premise
- provide external access to services in edge or virtualized clusters

## When to choose
- you run Kubernetes or K3s on bare metal, edge, or virtualization where cloud load balancers are unavailable
- you want BGP or Layer 2 announcement of Service IPs with ECMP support
- you want CRD-based BGP configuration and IP pool management
- you use KubeSphere and want seamless LoadBalancer integration

## When to avoid
- your cluster runs in a cloud with a native cloud load balancer provider
- you need a general-purpose reverse proxy or ingress controller rather than LoadBalancer Services
- you require a fully mature, graduated CNCF project with long-term commercial support

## Facets
- artifact type: service
- maturity: active
- function: networking, deployment, cloud, container-orchestration
- domain: networking, cloud-computing, infrastructure-as-code, self-hosted
- platform: go, self-hosted
- tags: load-balancer, bgp, bare-metal, kubernetes, edge, k3s, cncf, ecmp, ipam, containers, linux, docker

## Member repositories
- openelb/openelb (main) score 33

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:34.354722+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T03:25:23.924452+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/openelb/openelb (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:34.354722+00:00, sha e9d7f736771a)
  - homepage: https://openelb.io (fetched 2026-08-29T11:03:58.481558+00:00, sha e93a4d8de24b)
  - site_page: https://openelb.io/about (fetched 2026-08-29T11:03:58.483870+00:00, sha 0e44aa7c0503)
  - site_page: https://openelb.io/docs (fetched 2026-08-29T11:03:58.485534+00:00, sha 8ef598067711)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.