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https://github.com/Solo5/solo5

A sandboxed execution environment for unikernels
https://github.com/Solo5/solo5

freebsd hypervisor kvm mirageos openbsd unikernel

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A sandboxed execution environment for unikernels

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README 

        
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# About Solo5



Solo5 originally started as a project by Dan Williams at IBM Research to port

MirageOS to run on the Linux/KVM hypervisor. Since then, it has grown into a

more general sandboxed execution environment, suitable for running applications

built using various unikernels (a.k.a. library operating systems), targeting

different sandboxing technologies on diverse host operating systems and

hypervisors.



Some of the unique features of Solo5:



- a public ("guest-facing") [API](include/solo5.h) designed for ease of

  porting existing and future unikernel-native applications,

- this aforementioned API facilitates the implementation of ("host-facing")

  _bindings_ and _tenders_ designed with isolation, a _minimal attack surface_

  and ease of porting to different sandboxing technologies or

  [host systems](docs/building.md#supported-targets) in mind,

- support for live and post-mortem [debugging](docs/debugging.md) of unikernels,

- fast "boot" times (comparable to loading a standard user process), suitable

  for "function as a service" use-cases.



_Looking for the "ukvm monitor"?_ Since Solo5 0.4.0, our terminology has

changed to better reflect the intended [architecture](docs/architecture.md) and

long-term goals of the project.  What used to be referred to as a _monitor_ is

now referred to as a _tender_. As part of this change, the _ukvm_ target and

_monitor_ have been renamed to _hvt_ ("hardware virtualized _tender_") to

reflect that they are no longer specific to the KVM hypervisor, and to allow

for development of further _tenders_ such as _spt_.



# Getting started



As Solo5 is essentially a piece of "middleware" interfacing unikernel-style

applications with their host systems, it is not an end-developer product as

such.



To get started as a developer with Solo5, please refer primarily to the

instructions provided by the unikernel project you intend to develop

applications with:



- MirageOS: https://mirage.io/docs/install

- IncludeOS: https://www.includeos.org/



That said, we provide the following documentation, not specific to any

unikernel in particular:



- [Building Solo5 and running Solo5-based unikernels](docs/building.md)

- [Debugging Solo5-based unikernels](docs/debugging.md)

- [Technical overview, goals and limitations, and architecture of Solo5](docs/architecture.md)



# Contributing and community



Solo5 is developed on GitHub and licensed under a liberal ISC license. We

accept contributions via GitHub pull requests. When submitting a contribution,

please add your details to the `AUTHORS` file, and if your contribution adds

new source files copy the copyright header from an existing source file.



The coding style for the project is "as for the Linux kernel, but with 4

spaces instead of tabs". When in doubt, please follow style in existing source

files.



We operate a mailing list for general Solo5 development discussion, at

[email protected]. To subscribe to the list, send an empty email to

[email protected]. Archives are available at [The Mail

Archive](https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/).



If you are considering a substantial contribution to Solo5, would like to port

a new unikernel to Solo5, or have general questions unrelated to a specific

unikernel, please get in touch via the mailing list.