MirageOS is a library operating system that constructs unikernels for secure, high-performance network applications across a variety of cloud computing and mobile platforms. Code can be developed on a normal OS such as Linux or MacOS X, and then compiled into a fully-standalone, specialised unikernel that runs under the Xen hypervisor. Since Xen powers most public cloud computing infrastructure such as Amazon EC2 or Rackspace, this lets your servers run more cheaply, securely and with finer control than with a full software stack.
The most up-to-date documentation can be found at the homepage. The site is self-hosted and a useful example. Simpler skeleton applications are also available online.
This repository includes:
- a command-line tool to create and deploy applications with MirageOS; and
- in
types/, a library of type signatures that compliant applications use.
There are several diverse backends in MirageOS that require rather specialised build steps (from JavaScript to Xen unikernels), and this complexity is wrapped up in the tool.
To work with mirage, you'll need to either install prerequisites
locally or use the Docker image.
Local install
You will need the following:
- a working OCaml compiler (4.02.3 or higher).
- the OPAM source package manager (1.2.0 or higher).
- an x86_64 or armel Linux host to compile Xen kernels, or FreeBSD, OpenBSD or MacOS X for the userlevel version.
Docker image
There is a maintained Docker image at unikernel/mirage.
There are two stages to using mirage:
- a configure phase where OPAM package dependencies are satisfied.
- a build phase where the compiler and any support scripts are run.
You can find documentation, walkthroughs and tutorials over on the MirageOS website. The install instructions are a good place to begin!