# just-containers/s6-overlay

s6 overlay for containers (includes execline, s6-linux-utils & a custom init)

Repository: https://github.com/just-containers/s6-overlay
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/s6-overlay
Language: Shell
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Topics: docker, containers
Last push: 2026-07-16T10:15:33+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 90/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 92, release rhythm 81, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4204, "days_push": 48, "days_rel": 48, "gap_med": 65, "n_releases_24m": 8}
- flags: no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 4569, forks 238 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:53.553344+00:00)

## What it is
s6-overlay is a set of scripts and binaries that installs the s6 process supervisor as PID 1 inside Docker containers, along with execline and s6-linux-utils. It lets existing Docker images run multiple supervised services with proper init semantics, logging, and privilege dropping.

## Use cases
- run multiple processes in a single docker container
- proper init system and zombie reaping for containers
- supervise and restart services inside a container
- drop privileges for services in docker images
- capture and route container service logs
- run initialization and finalization tasks at container startup and shutdown

## When to choose
- your Docker image needs to run more than one process reliably
- you want proper signal handling and PID 1 behavior in containers
- you need per-service supervision, logging, and restart policies inside a container

## When to avoid
- you follow the one-process-per-container pattern strictly
- you want a minimal image and can use a simpler init like tini
- you only need Kubernetes-managed multi-process pods

## Facets
- artifact type: infra-config
- maturity: stable
- function: container-runtime, deployment, developer-tools, logging
- domain: self-hosted, infrastructure-as-code
- platform: cross-platform
- tags: s6, pid1, init-system, process-supervision, docker-images, execline, container-init, containers, devops, docker, linux

## Member repositories
- just-containers/s6-overlay (main) score 90

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:53.553344+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 2026-08-29T18:19:57.553126+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/just-containers/s6-overlay (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:53.553344+00:00, sha 4a0f829eb783)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.