Terminus OS - Your Free, Self-Hosted Operating System Based on Kubernetes

Let people own their data again
Website · Documentation · Download TermiPass · Terminus Apps · Terminus Space

Table of Contents

• Terminus OS - Your Free, Self-Hosted Operating System Based on Kubernetes
  • Introduction
  • Motivation and Design
  • Features
    • Feature Comparison
  • Getting Started
  • Project Navigation
  • Contributing to Terminus OS
  • Community & Contact
  • Staying Ahead
  • Special Thanks

Introduction

Terminus OS is a free, self-hosted operating system built on Kubernetes. It is designed as a one-stop self-hosted solution for user-owned edge devices. Our goal is to enable users to securely store their most important data on their own hardware ad access services based on this private data from anywhere in the world. Typical use cases include：

• 💻 Self-hosted: Terminus OS serves as a one-stop self-hosted solution where users can host and manage their data, operations, and digital life effectively, with full data ownership.
• 🤖 Local AI: Build local AI agents with Terminus OS without writing code.
• 🤝 User-owned decentralized social media: Easily install decentralized social media apps such as Mastodon, Ghost, and WordPress on Terminus OS, allowing you to build a personal brand without the risk of being banned or paying platform commissions.

Motivation and Design

We believe the current state of the internet, where user data is centralized and exploited by monopolistic corporations, is deeply flawed. Our goal is to empower individuals with true data ownership and control.

This vision is rooted in what we call the "BEC" (Blockchain, Edge, Client) model, where applications and data reside at the edge, secrets are stored on clients, identities on blockchain. By distributing data across personal Edge nodes rather than centralized servers, Terminus OS aims to restore user sovereignty over their digital information, communications, and online activities.

As an instantiation of the BEC model, the Terminus ecosystem is composed of three integral components:

• Snowinning Protocol: A decentralized identity and reputation system that integrates decentralized identifiers (DIDs), verifiable credentials (VCs), and reputation data into blockchain smart contracts. Learn more in documentation.
• Terminus OS: An one-stop self-hosted OS running on edge devices.
  
• TermiPass: A comprehensive client software that operates across multiple platforms. It securely stores users' private keys and manages their identities and data across various Edge devices. Learn more in documentation.

Features

Terminus OS offers a wide array of features designed to enhance security, ease of use, and development flexibility:

• Enterprise-grade security: Simplified network configuration using Tailscale, Headscale, Cloudflare Tunnel, and FRP.
• Secure and permissionless application ecosystem: Sandboxing ensures application isolation and security.
• Unified filesystem and database: Automated scaling, backups, and high availability.
• Single sign-on: Log in once to access all applications within Terminus OS with a shared authentication service.
• AI capabilities: Comprehensive solution for GPU management, local AI model hosting, and private knowledge bases while maintaining data privacy.
• Built-in applications: Includes file manager, sync drive, vault, reader, app market, settings, and dashboard.
• Seamless anywhere access: Access your devices from anywhere using dedicated clients for mobile, desktop, and browsers.
• Development tools: Comprehensive development tools for effortless application development and porting.

Here are some screenshots from the UI for a sneak peek:

Desktop–AI-Powered Personal Desktop	Files–A Secure Home to Your Data
Vault–1Password for the Web3 Era	Market–App Ecosystem in Your Control
Wise–Your Digital Secret Garden	Settings–Managing Terminus Efficiently
Dashboard–Constant Terminus Monitoring	Profile–Customized Web3 Homepage
Devbox–Developing, Debugging, and Deploying	Controlhub–Managing Kubernetes Clusters Easily

Feature Comparison

To help you understand how Terminus OS stands out in the landscape, we've created a comparison table that highlights its features alongside those of other leading solutions in the market.

Note:

• 🚀: Auto, indicates that the system completes the task automatically.
• ✅: Yes, indicates that users without a developer background can complete the setup through the product's UI prompts.
• 🛠️: Manual Configuration, indicates that even users with an engineering background need to refer to tutorials to complete the setup.
• ❌: No, indicates that the feature is not supported.

	Terminus OS	Synology	TrueNAS	CasaOS	Proxmox	Unraid
Source Code License	Terminus License	Closed	GPL 3.0	Apache 2.0	MIT	Closed
Built On	Kubernetes	Linux	Kubernetes	Docker	LXC/VM	Docker
Multi-Node	✅	❌	✅	❌	🛠️	❌
Build-in Apps	✅ (Rich desktop apps)	✅ (Rich desktop apps)	❌ (CLI)	✅ (Simple desktop apps)	✅ (Dashboard)	✅ (Dashboard)
Free Domain Name	✅	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Auto SSL Certificate	🚀	✅	🛠️	🛠️	🛠️	🛠️
Reverse Proxy	🚀	✅	🛠️	🛠️	🛠️	🛠️
VPN Management	🚀	🛠️	🛠️	🛠️	🛠️	🛠️
Graded App Entrance	🚀	🛠️	🛠️	🛠️	🛠️	🛠️
Multi-User Management	✅ User management 🚀 Resource isolation	✅ User management 🛠️ Resource isolation	✅ User management 🛠️ Resource isolation	❌	✅ User management 🛠️ Resource isolation	✅ User management 🛠️ Resource isolation
Single Login for All Apps	🚀	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌
Cross-Node Storage	🚀 (Juicefs+ MinIO)	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌
Database Solution	🚀 (Built-in cloud-native solution)	🛠️	🛠️	🛠️	🛠️	🛠️
Disaster Recovery	🚀 (MinIO's Erasure Coding)	✅ RAID	✅ RAID	✅ RAID	❌	✅ Unraid Storage
Backup	✅ App Data ✅ User Data	✅ User Data	✅ User Data	✅ User Data	✅ User Data	✅ User Data
App Sandboxing	✅	❌	❌ (K8S's namespace)	❌	❌	❌
App Ecosystem	✅ (Official + third-party)	✅ (Majorly official apps)	✅ (Official + third-party submissions)	✅ Majorly official apps	❌	✅ (Community app market)
Developer Friendly	✅ IDE ✅ CLI ✅ SDK ✅ Doc	✅ CLI ✅ SDK ✅ Doc	✅ CLI ✅ Doc	✅ CLI ✅ Doc	✅ SDK ✅ Doc	✅ Doc
Local LLM Hosting	🚀	🛠️	🛠️	🛠️	🛠️	🛠️
Local LLM app development	🚀 (Dify integrated)	🛠️	🛠️	🛠️	🛠️	🛠️
Client Platforms	✅ Android ✅ iOS ✅ Windows ✅ Mac ✅ Chrome Plugin	✅ Android ✅ iOS	❌	❌	❌	❌
Client Functionality	✅ (All-in-one client app)	✅ (14 separate client apps)	❌	❌	❌	❌

Getting Started

Before you get started, make sure your hardware meet the following minimum system requirements:

• Hardware configurations:

  • CPU >= 4 Core
  • RAM >= 8GB
  • Free Disk >= 100GB

• Supported systems:

  Linux Version	Architecture
  Ubuntu 24.04	x86-64, amd64
  Ubuntu 22.04	x86-64, amd64
  Ubuntu 20.04	x86-64, amd64
  Debian 12	amd64
  Debian 11	amd64

Take the following steps to install Terminus OS:

1. Apply for A Terminus Name.

2. Install Terminus OS in your machine with the following command:

   curl -fsSL https://terminus.sh |  bash -
   

   For more detailed instructions, see Install Terminus OS with commands.

3. Access the URL required for Terminus OS activation in the browser, and complete the initial setups and system activation following the on-screen instructions. For more detailed instructions, see the Activation Guide.

4. Log in with the password you reset during activation and complete two-step verification on TermiPass. For more detailed instructions, see the Login Doc.

5. Back up your mnemonic phrase to ensure account and data security.

Project Navigation

Terminus OS consists of numerous code repositories publicly available on GitHub. The current repository is responsible for the final compilation, packaging, installation, and upgrade of the OS, while specific changes mostly take place in their corresponding repositories.

The following table lists the project directories under Terminus OS and their corresponding repositories. Find the one that interests you:

Framework components

Directory	Repository	Description
frameworks/app-service	https://github.com/beclab/app-service	A system framework component that provides lifecycle management and various security controls for all apps in the system.
frameworks/backup-server	https://github.com/beclab/backup-server	A system framework component that provides scheduled full or incremental cluster backup services.
frameworks/bfl	https://github.com/beclab/bfl	Backend For Launcher (BFL), a system framework component serving as the user access point and aggregating and proxying interfaces of various backend services.
frameworks/GPU	https://github.com/grgalex/nvshare	GPU sharing mechanism that allows multiple processes (or containers running on Kubernetes) to securely run on the same physical GPU concurrently, each having the whole GPU memory available.
frameworks/l4-bfl-proxy	https://github.com/beclab/l4-bfl-proxy	Layer 4 network proxy for BFL. By prereading SNI, it provides a dynamic route to pass through into the user's Ingress.
frameworks/osnode-init	https://github.com/beclab/osnode-init	A system framework component that initializes node data when a new node joins the cluster.
frameworks/system-server	https://github.com/beclab/system-server	As a part of system runtime frameworks, it provides a mechanism for security calls between apps.
frameworks/tapr	https://github.com/beclab/tapr	Terminus Application Runtime components.

System-Level Applications and Services

Directory	Repository	Description
apps/agent	https://github.com/beclab/dify	The LLM app development platform ported from Dify.ai, with integrations of Terminus Accounts, local knowledge base, and local models.
apps/analytic	https://github.com/beclab/analytic	Developed based on Umami, Analytic is a simple, fast, privacy-focused alternative to Google Analytics.
apps/market	https://github.com/beclab/market	This repository deploys the front-end part of the application market in Terminus OS.
apps/market-server	https://github.com/beclab/market	This repository deploys the back-end part of the application market in Terminus OS.
apps/argo	https://github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows	A workflow engine for orchestrating container execution of local recommendation algorithms.
apps/desktop	https://github.com/beclab/desktop	The built-in desktop application of the system.
apps/devbox	https://github.com/beclab/devbox	An IDE for developers to port and develop Terminus applications.
apps/TermiPass	https://github.com/beclab/TermiPass	A free alternative to 1Password and Bitwarden for teams and enterprises of any size Developed based on Padloc. It serves as the client that helps you manage DID, Terminus Name, and Terminus devices.
apps/files	https://github.com/beclab/files	A built-in file manager modified from Filebrowser, providing management of files on Drive, Sync, and various Terminus physical nodes.
apps/knowledgebase	https://github.com/Above-Os/knowledgebase	A built-in application that stores articles, PDFs, and eBooks collected through RSS subscriptions, TermiPass, and recommendations by local algorithms.
apps/mynitro	https://github.com/beclab/mynitro	A wrapper of the official Nitro project that hosts LLMs locally, specifically, provides services to Dify's agents on Terminus OS.
apps/notifications	https://github.com/beclab/notifications	The notifications system of Terminus OS
apps/profile	https://github.com/beclab/profile	Alternative to Linkertree in Terminus OS to create Web3.0 profiles for users.
apps/rsshub	https://github.com/beclab/rsshub	A RSS subscription manager based on RssHub.
apps/dify-gateway	https://github.com/beclab/dify-gateway	A gateway service that establishes the connection between Dify and other services such as Files and Agent.
apps/settings	https://github.com/beclab/settings	Built-in system settings.
apps/system-apps	https://github.com/beclab/system-apps	Built based on the kubesphere/console project, system-service provides a self-hosted cloud platform that helps users understand and control the system's runtime status and resource usage through a visual Dashboard and feature-rich ControlHub.
apps/wise	https://github.com/Above-Os/knowledgebase	A reader for users to read articles stored by users from RSS subscriptions, collections, and recommendation algorithms.
apps/wizard	https://github.com/beclab/wizard	A wizard application to walk users through the system activation process.

Third-party Components and Services

Directory	Repository	Description
third-party/authelia	https://github.com/beclab/authelia	An open-source authentication and authorization server providing two-factor authentication and single sign-on (SSO) for your applications via a web portal.
third-party/headscale	https://github.com/beclab/headscale	An open source, self-hosted implementation of the Tailscale control server in Terminus to manage Tailscale in TermiPass across different devices.
third-party/infisical	https://github.com/beclab/infisical	An open-source secret management platform that syncs secrets across your teams/infrastructure and prevents secret leaks.
third-party/juicefs	https://github.com/beclab/juicefs-ext	A distributed POSIX file system built on top of Redis and S3, allowing apps on different nodes to access the same data via POSIX interface.
third-party/ks-console	https://github.com/kubesphere/console	Kubesphere console that allows for cluster management via a Web GUI.
third-party/ks-installer	https://github.com/beclab/ks-installer-ext	Kubesphere installer component that automatically creates Kubesphere clusters based on cluster resource definitions.
third-party/kube-state-metrics	https://github.com/beclab/kube-state-metrics	kube-state-metrics (KSM) is a simple service that listens to the Kubernetes API server and generates metrics about the state of the objects.
third-party/notification-mananger	https://github.com/beclab/notification-manager-ext	Kubesphere's notification management component for unified management of multiple notification channels and custom aggregation of notification content.
third-party/predixy	https://github.com/beclab/predixy	Redis cluster proxy service that automatically identifies available nodes and adds namespace isolation.
third-party/redis-cluster-operator	https://github.com/beclab/redis-cluster-operator	A cloud-native tool for creating and managing Redis clusters based on Kubernetes.
third-party/seafile-server	https://github.com/beclab/seafile-server	The backend service of Seafile (Sync Drive) for handling data storage.
third-party/seahub	https://github.com/beclab/seahub	The front-end and middleware service of Seafile (Sync Drive) for handling file sharing, data synchronization, etc.
third-party/tailscale	https://github.com/tailscale/tailscale	Tailscale has been integrated in TermiPass of all platforms.

Additional Libraries and Components

Directory	Repository	Description
build/installer		The template for generating the installer build.
build/manifest		Installation build image list template.
libs/fs-lib	https://github.com/beclab/fs-lib	The SDK library for the iNotify-compatible interface implemented based on JuiceFS.
scripts		Assisting scripts for generating the installer build.

Contributing to Terminus OS

We are welcoming anyways of contributions:

• If you want to develop your own applications on Terminus OS, refer to:
  https://docs.jointerminus.com/developer/develop/

• If you want to help improve Terminus OS, refer to:
  https://docs.jointerminus.com/developer/contribute/terminus-os.html

Community & Contact

• Github Discussion. Best for sharing feedback and asking questions.
• GitHub Issues. Best for filing bugs you encounter using Terminus and submitting feature proposals.
• Discord. Best for sharing anything Terminus.

Staying Ahead

Star the Terminus OS project to receive instant notifications about new releases and updates.

Special Thanks

The Terminus OS project has incorporated numerous third-party open source projects, including: Kubernetes, Kubesphere, Padloc, K3S, JuiceFS, MinIO, Envoy, Authelia, Infisical, Dify, Seafile,HeadScale, tailscale, Redis Operator, Nitro, RssHub, predixy, nvshare, LangChain, Quasar, TrustWallet, Restic, ZincSearch, filebrowser, lego, Velero, s3rver, Citusdata.