Kata Containers
An open-source container runtime that runs each container inside a lightweight virtual machine for stronger isolation.
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About Kata Containers
Kata Containers is a container runtime that starts workloads in lightweight virtual machines instead of sharing the host kernel. Each workload runs in a dedicated kernel, so hardware virtualization acts as a second layer of defence while the containers still behave like ordinary containers.
It works with several hypervisors, including QEMU, Cloud-Hypervisor and Firecracker, and integrates with containerd. It supports AMD64, ARM, IBM p-series and IBM z-series. The project began in 2017 by merging Intel Clear Containers with Hyper.sh RunV, and the Open Infrastructure Foundation stewards it.
Strengths
- VM-level isolation with a dedicated kernel per workload
- Supports QEMU, Cloud-Hypervisor and Firecracker
- Plugs into containerd and existing container tooling
- Runs on several CPU architectures
Limitations
- Infrastructure component for operators, with no desktop interface
- Needs hardware virtualization support on the host
Details
- Pricing
- FreeFree and open source under the Apache 2 license.
- License
- Apache-2.0
- Developer
- The Kata Containers contributors
- Platforms
- Linux
- How it runs
- Downloadable app
- Account
- Not required
- Best suited for
- Operators who want VM-grade isolation for container workloads
- Categories
- Virtual machines, Container tools
- Last verified
- Added
- Provenance
- Facts checked against the developer's own pages and store listings, 1 sources on file.
Alternatives to Kata Containers
Compare allSoftware that can replace Kata Containers for an important use case, and what changes if you switch.
Sysbox
A container runtime that lets rootless containers run systemd, Docker and Kubernetes like virtual machines.
Sysbox is an open source container runtime that runs systemd, Docker and Kubernetes inside rootless containers without privileged mode, isolating workloads without a dedicated kernel per container.
Firecracker
Run isolated workloads inside lightweight Linux microVMs.
Firecracker runs isolated workloads in lightweight Linux microVMs directly, and Kata can also use it as a backend, but it lacks Kata's containerd integration.
Kata Containers as an alternative
Listings that name Kata Containers as an alternative.
krunvm
A command-line tool that creates lightweight microVMs from OCI container images using libkrun.
Kata Containers runs each container in a lightweight VM through containerd and existing container tooling, is open source, and targets Linux operators rather than individual developers.
Similar software
Related functionality, not necessarily a direct replacement.
Cloud Hypervisor
An open source virtual machine monitor written in Rust for running modern cloud workloads on KVM.
QEMU
The machine emulator and virtualiser that most of the Linux virtualisation stack is built on.
KubeVirt
A Kubernetes add-on that runs and manages traditional virtual machines alongside containers.
KVM
The Linux kernel's built-in hypervisor for hardware-accelerated virtual machines.
Harvester
Hyper-converged infrastructure that runs virtual machines on top of Kubernetes.
