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Rancher Labs announced the general availability of RancherOS,
 a simplified Linux distribution built from containers, for containers. 
RancherOS eliminates any unnecessary libraries and services, resulting 
in a footprint three times smaller than that of other container 
operating systems. The simplified container environment reduces 
container boot time, increases efficiency and improves security by 
reducing the number of components that can be exploited.
“At
 BRCloud Services, we strive to deliver the best solutions to address 
our customers’ needs,” said Helvio Lima, CEO at BRCloud Services. 
“RancherOS epitomizes what modern infrastructure should look like. We’re
 thrilled to integrate the container operating system into our 
portfolio.”
RancherOS
 makes it simple to run containers at scale in development, test and 
production. By containerizing system services and leveraging Docker for 
management, the operating system provides an incredibly reliable and 
simple to manage container-ready environment. System services are 
defined by Docker Compose and automatically configured using cloud-init,
 reducing administrative burden. Unneeded libraries and services are 
eliminated, significantly reducing the OS footprint and minimizing the 
hassle of updating, patching and maintaining a container host operating 
system. Containers running on RancherOS boot in seconds, making the 
operating system ideal for running microservices or auto-scaling. Teams 
can use the Rancher container management platform to easily manage 
RancherOS at large scale in production.
Key features of RancherOS include:
- Minimalist OS: Eliminates the need for unnecessary libraries and services
- Automatic configuration: Simplifies OS configuration by using cloud-init to parse the cloud-config files from multiple data sources
- Simple setup: Runs
 services inside containers orchestrated using Docker Compose service
 files, making setup as simple as running a Docker container
- Reduced footprint: Decreases
 resource requirements with a footprint three times smaller than that of
 other container operating systems in the market
- Extensive platform support: Supports
 Amazon EC2, bare metal, Digital Ocean, Docker Machine, GCE, KVM,
 OpenStack, Packet, Vagrant, VMware (experimental) and VirtualBox
“RancherOS
 is a minimalist Linux distribution that is perfect for running Docker 
containers,” said Sheng Liang, co-founder and CEO of Rancher Labs. “By 
running Docker directly on top of the kernel and delivering Linux 
services as containers, RancherOS delivers just what you need to build a
 containerized application environment.”
For
 additional information on Rancher software and to learn more about 
Rancher Labs and the company’s open source products, please visit www.rancher.com.