• Hoster Core Project: Fully OpenSource and hosted on GitHub at HosterCore GitHub. In active development with breaking changes; each GitHub release includes a changelog and steps for system administrators. Has been operational since 2021 with some VMs.
• Brief Introduction: Hoster is a VM management framework using modern technologies like Go, FreeBSD, bhyve, ZFS, and PF. It offers features like individual VM firewalls, ZFS dataset level encryption, instant VM deployments, and built-in replication. Designed for both small and large-scale environments.
• The why?: Inspired by FreeBSD and bhyve, creator wanted a better virtualization solution. Existing solutions didn't meet expectations, so Hoster was created to integrate these technologies. It can be deployed on any hardware with low RAM and CPU usage.
• Leveraging modern SD-WAN and VPN technologies: Supports various overlay network technologies. VMs and Jails are connected via bridge adapters, and as long as VPN/SD-WAN supports bridge mode, it works.
• Cheatsheet - VM Status Icons: Different icons represent VM status (running, stopped, production, encrypted, backup). Only production VMs are included in certain operations.
• WebUI Plans: Part of the roadmap includes developing a WebUI for user-friendly interaction and controlling multiple hoster nodes. Paying customers have early access. The WebUI will do basic tasks like managing and deploying VMs, displaying monitoring info, and managing snapshots. Configuration and management still happen on the CLI.
• OS Support: Lists supported OSes and their states. Debian 11, 12, AlmaLinux 8, RockyLinux 8, Ubuntu 20.04, and 22.04 are ready with downloadable VM images. Windows 10, Server 19, and 22 are compatible but need to be built manually due to licensing. FreeBSD 13 (ZFS and UFS), Fedora (latest), OpenSUSE Leap, and Tumbleweed are not ready yet. Windows 11 and OpenBSD are not compatible.
• Stargazers over time: Shows the stargazer count over time using Starchart.cc.