Sealos — Cloud Operating System for Kubernetes

Introduction

Sealos turns any set of Linux machines into a fully managed cloud platform powered by Kubernetes. It provides a browser-based desktop where teams deploy applications, provision databases, and run AI workloads without writing YAML or understanding Kubernetes internals.

What Sealos Does

• Bootstraps production-grade Kubernetes clusters with a single command
• Provides a graphical app store for one-click deployment of databases, middleware, and tools
• Offers built-in managed database support for MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, and Redis
• Includes a cloud-native IDE for developing directly inside the cluster
• Supports multi-tenant resource isolation with metering and billing

Architecture Overview

Sealos runs as a set of controllers and CRDs on top of a standard Kubernetes cluster. The desktop frontend communicates with a central API server that manages user namespaces, application lifecycle, and resource quotas. Cluster images (OCI-compatible archives containing Kubernetes distributions and add-ons) are pulled from a registry and applied declaratively to bootstrap or upgrade clusters.

Self-Hosting & Configuration

• Requires Linux nodes with systemd; supports x86_64 and ARM64
• Install the sealos CLI, then run sealos run with the desired cluster image
• Configure HA by specifying multiple master nodes via --masters flag
• Persistent storage is handled via local-path or CSI drivers included in cluster images
• Access the desktop UI on port 443 after deployment; configure TLS via Ingress or built-in gateway

Key Features

• Single-binary cluster bootstrap that packages Kubernetes, CNI, and CSI together
• Browser-based desktop experience with drag-and-drop app management
• Built-in database-as-a-service with automated backups and scaling
• Multi-tenant isolation with per-namespace resource metering
• OCI-based cluster image format for reproducible, versioned infrastructure

Comparison with Similar Tools

• Rancher — Full cluster management UI but does not provide a desktop-like app platform experience
• KubeSphere — Similar multi-tenant console; Sealos focuses more on the cloud OS abstraction
• k3s — Lightweight distribution only; Sealos adds the platform layer on top
• Portainer — Container management UI without Kubernetes-native database-as-a-service

FAQ

Q: Does Sealos require an existing Kubernetes cluster? A: No. Sealos bootstraps a complete cluster from bare Linux machines using its cluster image system.

Q: Can I run Sealos on a single node for development? A: Yes. A single-node setup works for testing; add nodes later with sealos add --nodes.

Q: What databases can Sealos manage out of the box? A: MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, and Redis are supported through built-in operators.

Q: Is Sealos free to self-host? A: Yes. The core platform is open source under Apache 2.0.

Sources

• https://github.com/labring/sealos
• https://sealos.io/docs