TL;DR
Containarium is an open-source platform that runs many isolated Linux development environments on a single cloud VM using LXC system containers, SSH jump hosts, ZFS storage and a small Go-based control plane. It aims to replace one-VM-per-developer setups with persistent, fast-provisioned containers, lowering infrastructure costs and preserving SSH-based workflows.
What happened
Footprint-AI published Containarium, an open-source project that consolidates many developer Linux environments onto a single cloud VM by using unprivileged LXC system containers, ZFS-backed persistent disks and an SSH jump host for access. Rather than provisioning a full VM per user, Containarium creates lightweight system containers that behave like small VMs — each with its own user account, SSH access and the ability to run Docker, build tools or ML workloads. The project provides a single Go CLI with optional gRPC for management and integrates with Terraform to provision underlying infrastructure. Containers persist across host reboots and spot/preemptible terminations by using persistent ZFS storage. The project is positioned as intentionally simple: it does not use Kubernetes and is designed for SSH-first developer workflows. Footprint-AI describes the codebase as early-stage open source and reports internal use in production-like deployments.
Why it matters
- Potentially large cost reduction versus provisioning a dedicated VM per developer by packing many environments onto one host.
- Faster onboarding and provisioning since containers start without a full VM boot and OS install.
- Preserves traditional SSH workflows while offering stronger multi-tenant isolation than process-level app containers.
- Persistent storage and ZFS snapshots keep developer state across host restarts and spot-instance interruptions.
Key facts
- Containarium uses LXC system containers (unprivileged) rather than Docker app containers.
- Access model uses an SSH bastion / ProxyJump that routes users into per-user containers.
- Storage is ZFS on persistent disks; containers survive VM restarts and spot instance termination.
- Management is a single Go CLI with optional gRPC; operations include create, delete, list, resize and export.
- Terraform is used to provision cloud infrastructure, configure ZFS, and install Incus/LXC on hosts.
- Project is licensed under Apache 2.0 and published by Footprint-AI as early-stage open source.
- Containarium is optimized for Linux hosts and cloud VMs; Terraform examples target GCE spot instances and persistent disks.
- Footprint-AI reports that in real deployments the approach can reduce infrastructure costs by up to 90%.
What to watch next
- External adoption and community contributions beyond Footprint-AI — not confirmed in the source.
- Security audits or third-party reviews of the multi-tenant LXC setup — not confirmed in the source.
- Scaling behavior and operational limits when running hundreds of containers on larger hosts — not confirmed in the source.
- Official support for non-Linux host platforms or managed cloud integrations — not confirmed in the source.
Quick glossary
- LXC (Linux Containers): A lightweight virtualization method that provides isolated Linux system environments sharing the host kernel but offering separate namespaces for processes, users and filesystems.
- System container: A container that runs a full Linux userland, allowing multiple services and SSH access, and behaving more like a lightweight virtual machine than an application container.
- ZFS: A combined file system and logical volume manager that supports features like snapshots, quotas and compression, commonly used for persistent container storage.
- SSH jump host (bastion): A hardened intermediary server that users connect to first, which then forwards SSH sessions into internal systems or containers to reduce direct exposure of hosts.
- gRPC: A high-performance RPC framework used to define APIs and enable communication between services and control planes.
Reader FAQ
Does Containarium use Kubernetes?
No. The project deliberately avoids Kubernetes and focuses on LXC system containers for SSH-first developer workflows.
Are containers persistent across host reboots or spot instance terminations?
Yes. The platform uses ZFS-backed persistent disks so containers and their state survive VM restarts and spot/preemptible instance termination.
How do developers authenticate?
Containarium relies on SSH key-based authentication routed through a jump host; password-based or other auth methods are not detailed in the source.
Is Containarium production-ready and widely deployed?
The repository says it is actively used internally and is early-stage open source; wider public deployment status is not confirmed in the source.
Containarium Run hundreds of isolated Linux development environments on a single VM. Built with LXC, SSH jump hosts, and cloud-native automation. 🚫 No Kubernetes 🚫 No VM-per-user ✅ Just fast,…
Sources
- Show HN: Hosting 100 Linux dev environments on one VM using LXC
- How do I create 100 virtual servers for testing?
- Running many virtual machines on a single host
- Multiple dev environments on single machine
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