What is SmartOS?

Try the SmartOS Quick Start Guide! SmartOS is a specialized Type 1 Hypervisor platform based on illumos . It supports two types of virtualization:

Where can I find the source code for SmartOS?

SmartOS source is freely available and can be accessed on Github. For more information on SmartOS Development, please refer to the SmartOS Developers Guide

How do I install SmartOS?

SmartOS is typically “installed” by downloading and copying the OS image onto a USB key and then booting that key. On the first boot a configuration utility will configure your base networking, allow you to set the root password, and allow you to select which disks to use to create the ZFS Zpool which will provide persistent storage.

What are the benefits of SmartOS boot mechanisms?

One of the many benefits of employing this boot mechanism is that operating system upgrades are trivial, simply requiring a reboot from a newer SmartOS image version. SmartOS follows a strict local node storage architecture. This means that virtual machines are stored locally on each node and do not boot over the network from a central SAN or NAS.