rancher/os
Tiny Linux distro that runs the entire OS as Docker containers observed · 2026-08-28
Health v2 · maintenance only
10/100
- Activity 0
- Release rhythm 8
- Longevity 100
Flags: archived
How is this computed?
round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10) — computed 2026-09-02. Adoption (stars, forks) is never an input.
- gap_med: n/a
- age_days: 4258
- days_rel: n/a
- days_push: 817
- n_releases_24m: 0
Adoption not part of the score
6455 stars · 650 forks observed · 2026-08-28
What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-29, confidence not recorded
RancherOS is a tiny Linux distribution in which the entire operating system, including system services, runs as Docker containers managed by a system Docker daemon. It is designed as a minimal host for running containerized workloads in production, but its 1.x line is no longer actively maintained.
Use cases
- run a minimal Linux OS where everything is a Docker container
- lightweight container host for edge or IoT devices
- boot a tiny OS image to run Docker in production
- dedicated OS for a single containerized appliance
- run Docker on bare metal or cloud VMs with minimal overhead
When to choose
- you need a very small, container-only OS for a purpose-built appliance and accept no active development
- you are maintaining an existing RancherOS 1.x deployment and only need security fixes
When to avoid
- you need a general-purpose Linux OS with ISV-certified software support
- you want a container OS supporting containerd or CRI-O rather than Docker-only
- you are starting a new project and need actively maintained software
- you need long-term vendor support or a modern Kubernetes-oriented host
Facets
application · maturity maintenance
container-runtime deployment self-hosted developer-tools operating-systems cloud-computing iot cloud self-hosted container-os docker minimal-linux-distro immutable-os edge-computing discontinued containers devops linux
7 sources
- readme: https://github.com/rancher/os · fetched 2026-08-28 · 7837e38713c8
- homepage: https://rancher.com/docs/os/v1.x/en/ · fetched 2026-08-29 · b46834fafa33
- site_page: https://www.rancher.com/docs · fetched 2026-08-29 · 9b1019da1869
- site_page: https://rancher.com/docs/rke/latest/en · fetched 2026-08-29 · 1bd96fab3f75
- site_page: https://www.rancher.com/pricing · fetched 2026-08-29 · 06f1ef7b1600
- site_page: https://www.rancher.com/why-rancher/rancher-difference · fetched 2026-08-29 · 060d66033dec
- site_page: https://www.rancher.com/support · fetched 2026-08-29 · d579cda97486
Member repositories
| Repository | Role | Health v2 |
|---|---|---|
| rancher/os | main | 10 |
For agents
Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00 · Report a problem