# nestybox/sysbox

An open-source, next-generation "runc" that empowers rootless containers to run workloads such as Systemd, Docker, Kubernetes, just like VMs.

Repository: https://github.com/nestybox/sysbox
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/sysbox
Language: Shell
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: containers, container-runtimes, container-runtime-security, docker, kubernetes, devops
Last push: 2026-08-25T21:36:30+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 89/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 71, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2222, "days_push": 8, "days_rel": 33, "gap_med": 92.0, "n_releases_24m": 5}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 3840, forks 226 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:23.938995+00:00)

## What it is
Sysbox is an open-source container runtime (a specialized runc) that improves container isolation via Linux user-namespaces and procfs/sysfs virtualization. It enables containers to run VM-like workloads such as systemd, Docker, and Kubernetes without privileged mode or nested virtualization.

## Use cases
- run docker inside a container without privileged mode
- run systemd inside containers securely
- run kubernetes or k3s inside rootless containers
- harden container isolation with user namespaces
- build multi-arch images inside containers
- replace VMs with secure VM-like containers in CI

## When to choose
- you need Docker-in-Docker or systemd in containers without privileged containers
- you want stronger isolation than default runc without nested virtualization
- you run multi-tenant container workloads on shared hosts

## When to avoid
- you need VM-grade isolation (use Kata or KubeVirt instead)
- you only run simple stateless microservices with default runc
- your host OS or kernel does not meet Sysbox requirements

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: container-runtime, security
- domain: security, cloud-computing
- platform: self-hosted
- tags: runc, rootless-containers, user-namespace, docker-in-docker, systemd-in-containers, kubernetes-in-docker, container-isolation, virtualization, containers, devops, linux, docker, kubernetes

## Member repositories
- nestybox/sysbox (main) score 89

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:23.938995+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 2026-08-29T18:26:14.071088+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/nestybox/sysbox (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:23.938995+00:00, sha 7610cbdd8de8)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.