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RouterKit#

About#

The RouterKit mission is to provide a plattform to deploy software defined routers and firewalls. This goal is supported by providing…

  • …an OS for routers & firewalls

    Based on Alpine Linux with a curated software stack for IP routing. It is independent from Alpine Linux project.

    ⇒ Software

  • …a place for related software projects

    To improve the Linux network ecosystem, maintained by the RouterKit community.

    ⇒ Projects

Project Status

This project is in the early state of development and is subject to many (breaking-)changes. Pre-release versions should generally work, but may still be incompletely implemented and bugs are to be expected.

Get Involved#

Vision and Commitment#

Our vision is to provide a software collection for Linux-based software-defined routers and firewalls. This is based on stable releases of Alpine Linux with some RouterKit specific add-ons and backports.

The RouterKit project would not be possible without the work of other community and free software projects. We are committing to:

  • contribute patches to upstream projects whenever possible
  • contribute software packaging to Alpine Linux for missing network related projects
  • provide RouterKit resources according to the Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG)

Features and Objectives#

RouterKit already provides the following features:

  • coherent selection of network-related packages (see Software)
  • self-contained ISO image for operating IP routers and firewalls
  • runs from tmpfs using Alpine's diskless mode
  • can be deployed in air-gapped environments

Future work will address the following topics:

  • RouterKit specific setup scripts
  • safe remote upgrades based on a dual partition scheme
  • evaluate and support high-performance routing
    • based on XDP
    • in user space (VPP)