# rootless-containers/rootlesskit

Linux-native "fake root" for implementing rootless containers

Repository: https://github.com/rootless-containers/rootlesskit
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/rootlesskit
Language: Go
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: rootless-containers
Last push: 2026-08-26T02:17:04+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 94/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 84, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3016, "days_push": 8, "days_rel": 29, "gap_med": 47.5, "n_releases_24m": 9}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1299, forks 126 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:17.389129+00:00)

## What it is
RootlessKit is a Linux-native 'fake root' tool that uses user and mount namespaces to let unprivileged users run container engines like Docker and Kubernetes in rootless mode. It also provides network namespace isolation with userspace NAT (slirp) to protect the host's real root from container-breakout attacks.

## Use cases
- run docker as an unprivileged user
- run kubernetes without root
- implement rootless containers
- fake root on linux without sudo
- isolate container networking with slirp
- protect host root from container breakouts

## When to choose
- you need to run Docker, Podman, or Kubernetes rootless on Linux
- you want user-namespace-based fakeroot with network isolation support
- you need better security isolation than LD_PRELOAD or ptrace-based tools like fakeroot or proot

## When to avoid
- you are not on Linux, since it depends on user_namespaces
- you only need simple fakeroot for package builds, where classic fakeroot suffices
- your kernel or environment does not support unprivileged user namespaces or subuid/subgid setup

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: security, container-runtime, networking, cli
- domain: security, self-hosted
- platform: cli
- tags: rootless-containers, user-namespaces, fakeroot, container-security, slirp, containers, devops, linux, docker, kubernetes

## Member repositories
- rootless-containers/rootlesskit (main) score 94

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:17.389129+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 2026-08-30T04:53:27.717639+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/rootless-containers/rootlesskit (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:17.389129+00:00, sha a2eb497329e3)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.