{{short description|Free software operating system based on Solaris}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}} {{Infobox OS | name = Illumos | logo = Illumos logo.svg | developer = Illumos Foundation | family = Unix (SVR4)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/register/xy.htm|title=Open Brand|website=www.opengroup.org}}</ref> | working state = Current | source model = Open source with binary blobs | released = {{Start date and age|2010}} | programmed in = C | language = English | supported platforms = IA-32, x86-64, SPARC, ARM (under development),<ref>{{cite web | url = http://wiki.illumos.org/display/illumos/Raspberry+Pi+Bring-Up | title = Raspberry Pi Bring-Up | access-date = 14 November 2013 | last = Clulow | first = Joshua | date = 25 October 2012 | publisher = illumos Foundation | archive-date = 13 July 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170713100822/https://wiki.illumos.org/display/illumos/Raspberry+Pi+Bring-Up | url-status = dead }}</ref> DEC Alpha | kernel type = Monolithic | license = CDDL, BSD, MIT | preceded by = OpenSolaris }}
'''Illumos''' (stylized as "'''illumos'''") is a partly free and open-source Unix operating system.<ref>{{cite web |title=Building illumos |url=https://illumos.org/docs/developers/build/#getting-the-closed-binaries |access-date=2023-08-31 |publisher=illumos.org}}</ref> It has been developed since 2010 and is based on OpenSolaris, after the discontinuation of that product by Oracle. It comprises a kernel, device drivers, system libraries, and utility software for system administration. Its core has become the base for many different open-sourced Illumos distributions,<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://illumos.org/docs/about/distro/|title=Distributions - illumos|website=illumos.org}}</ref> in a way similar to how the Linux kernel is used in different Linux distributions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-illumos-is-and-is-not/|title=What Illumos is and is not|first=Dana|last=Blankenhorn|website=ZDNet}}</ref>
== Name == The maintainers write ''illumos'' in lowercase,<ref>{{cite web |title=FAQ |url=https://illumos.org/docs/about/faq/ |website=illumos |access-date=2 May 2020}}</ref> since some computer fonts do not clearly distinguish a lowercase ''L'' from an uppercase ''i'': ''Il'' (see homoglyph).<ref name="Mustacchi2015">{{cite web|url=https://github.com/joyent/smartos-live/pull/217/files#r38812501|url-status=dead|last=Mustacchi|first=Robert|date=2015-09-05|access-date=2021-05-23|title=Linux to SmartOS cheatsheet, after smartos-discuss vetting, sans deritus [sic]. by cwvhogue - Pull Request #217|archive-date=23 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210523232214/https://github.com/joyent/smartos-live/pull/217/files#r38812501|website=GitHub}}</ref> The project name is a combination of words ''illuminare'' from the Latin for ''to light'', and ''OS'' for ''Operating System''.<ref>{{cite web| title= Announcement|url=https://illumos.org/docs/about/announcement| date=2018-06-15 |publisher=illumos.org}}</ref>
== History and development == [[File:OpenIndiana Hipster 2021.10 MATE desktop environment screenshot.png|thumb|The OpenIndiana operating system is one of many Illumos distributions.]] Illumos was announced via webinar on 3 August 2010,<ref name="webinarslides">{{cite web |first=Garrett |last=D'Amore |title=illumos - Hope and Light Springs Anew - Presented by Garrett D'Amore |date=3 August 2010 |url=http://www.illumos.org/attachments/download/3/illumos.pdf |publisher=illumos.org |access-date = 3 August 2010}}</ref> as a community effort of a group of core Solaris engineers to create a truly open source Solaris, by swapping closed source bits of OpenSolaris with open implementations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/76669.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926053916/http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/76669.html|title=Whither OpenSolaris? illumos Takes Up the Mantle|date=20 November 2012 |archive-date=26 September 2015}}</ref><ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/Ff3fCC6F2FU Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20160326212321/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff3fCC6F2FU Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff3fCC6F2FU| title = OpenIndiana, Illumos, and the OpenSolaris Community (Part 1) | date = 5 May 2011 | via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="newlogo">{{cite web |first=Garrett |last=D'Amore |date=27 October 2010 |title=New illumos logo |url=https://gdamore.blogspot.com/2010/10/new-illumos-logo.html |access-date=14 November 2013}}</ref> OpenSolaris itself is based on System V Release 4 (SVR4) and the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD).
The original plan explicitly stated that Illumos would not be a distribution or a fork. However, after Oracle announced the discontinuation of OpenSolaris, plans were made to fork the final version of the Solaris ON kernel,{{efn|The "OS/Network" consolidation (project), considered the heart of the Solaris kernel}} allowing Illumos to evolve into a kernel of its own.<ref name="forking">{{cite web |url=https://gdamore.blogspot.com/2010/08/hand-may-be-forced.html |title=The Hand May Be Forced |first=Garrett |last=D'Amore |date=13 August 2010 |access-date=14 November 2013}}</ref> {{As of|2010}}, efforts focused on libc, the NFS lock manager, the crypto module, and many device drivers, to create a Solaris-like OS with no closed, proprietary code. {{As of|2012}}, development emphasis includes transitioning from the historical compiler, Studio, to GCC.<ref>https://www.openindiana.org/documentation/faq/#how-does-openindiana-differ-from-opensolaris {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513141744/https://www.openindiana.org/documentation/faq/#how-does-openindiana-differ-from-opensolaris |date=13 May 2021 }} "Oracle’s Sun Studio has been replaced with the open source GNU GCC compiler."</ref> The "userland" software is now built with GNU make,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://github.com/OpenIndiana/oi-userland|title=OpenIndiana/oi-userland|website=GitHub|date=28 October 2021}}</ref> and contains many GNU utilities such as GNU tar. At the time,{{clarify|date=December 2024|reason=at what time?}} Illumos had been lightly led by founder Garrett D'Amore and other community members/developers such as Bryan Cantrill and Adam Leventhal, via a Developers' Council.<ref name="illumos Dev Council">{{cite web |first=Deirdré |last=Straughan |date=16 May 2012 |title=illumos Developers' Council Meeting |url=http://wiki.illumos.org/display/illumos/illumos+Developers%27+Council+Meeting%2C+May+16%2C+2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160710123826/http://wiki.illumos.org/display/illumos/illumos+Developers%27+Council+Meeting%2C+May+16%2C+2012 |archive-date=10 July 2016 |access-date=13 August 2012 |publisher=illumos.org}}</ref>
As of 2019 its primary development project, illumos-gate, derives from OS/Net (aka ON),<ref>{{Cite web | url = https://bitbucket.org/gwr/os-net-skeleton/src/default/ | title = os-net-skeleton | website = bitbucket.org | access-date = 2019-07-29 | archive-date = 29 July 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190729164517/https://bitbucket.org/gwr/os-net-skeleton/src/default/ | url-status = dead }}</ref> which is a Solaris kernel with the bulk of the drivers, core libraries, and basic utilities, similar to what is delivered by a BSD "src" tree. It was originally dependent on OpenSolaris OS/Net, but a fork was made after Oracle silently decided to close the development of Solaris and unofficially killed the OpenSolaris project.<ref> {{Cite news | url = https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/04/oracle_layoffs_solaris_sparc_teams/ | title = Oracle staff report big layoffs across Solaris, SPARC teams | website = www.theregister.co.uk | access-date = 2019-07-29 }}</ref><ref> {{Cite news | url = https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/04/oracle_layoffs_solaris_sparc_teams/ | title = OpenSolaris axed by Ellison | website = www.theregister.co.uk | access-date = 2019-07-29 }}</ref><ref> {{Cite news | url = https://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/08/03/illumos_opensolaris_spork/ | title = illumos sporks OpenSolaris | website = www.theregister.co.uk | access-date = 2019-07-29 }}</ref>
== Features == * ZFS, a combined file system with integrated logical volume management, providing a high level of data integrity for very large storage capacities. * Solaris Containers (or Zones), a low overhead implementation of operating system-level virtualization technology for x86 and SPARC systems.{{Clarify|date=December 2024|reason=Are "x86 and SPARC" called out here specifically to exclude Arm and Alpha, or can that be deleted?}} * DTrace, a comprehensive dynamic tracing framework for troubleshooting kernel and application problems on production systems in real time. * Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM), a virtualization infrastructure. KVM supports native virtualization on processors with hardware virtualization extensions. * OpenSolaris Network Virtualization and Resource Control (or Crossbow), a set of features that provides an internal network virtualization and quality of service including: virtual NIC (VNIC) pseudo-network interface technology, exclusive ip zones, bandwidth management, and flow control on a per interface and per VNIC basis.
== Distributions == {{See also|OpenSolaris#Derivatives|Solaris (operating system)#Open source derivatives|Comparison of OpenSolaris distributions}}
Distributions, at illumos.org<ref name="auto"/> * DilOS, with Debian package manager (dpkg + apt) and virtualization support, available for x86-64 and SPARC.<ref>{{Cite web | url = http://www.dilos.org/ | title = DilOS | website = www.dilos.org | access-date = 2016-02-26 | archive-date = 21 February 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160221173315/http://www.dilos.org/ | url-status = dead }}</ref> * NexentaStor, distribution optimized for virtualization, storage area networks, network-attached storage, and iSCSI or Fibre Channel applications employing the ZFS file system. * OmniOS Community Edition, takes a minimalist approach suitable for server use.<ref>{{Cite web | url = http://www.omniosce.org | title = OmniOS CE | website = omniosce.org | access-date = 2017-09-10 }}</ref> * OpenIndiana, a distribution that is a continuation and fork in the spirit of the OpenSolaris operating system. * SmartOS, a distribution for cloud computing with Kernel-based Virtual Machine integration. * Helios, a distribution powering the Oxide Computer Rack.<ref> {{Cite web | url = https://github.com/oxidecomputer/helios | title = Helios | website = github.com/oxidecomputer/helios | access-date = 2025-04-14 }}</ref> * Tribblix, retro style distribution with modern components, available for x86-64 and SPARC.<ref>{{Cite web | url = http://www.tribblix.org/ | title = Tribblix | website = www.tribblix.org | access-date = 2016-02-26 }}</ref> * v9os, a server-only, IPS-based minimal SPARC distribution.<ref>{{Cite web | url = http://www.milax.fi/v9os.html | title = v9os | website = milax.fi | access-date = 2017-12-13 }}</ref> * XStreamOS, a distribution for infrastructure, cloud, and web development.<ref>{{Cite web | url = http://www.sonicle.com/xstreamos/ | title = XStreamOS | website = Sonicle | access-date = 2021-03-04 }}</ref> Discontinued: * Dyson, derived from Debian using libc, and SMF init system. * OpenSXCE, distribution for developers and system administrators for IA-32/x86-64 x86 platforms and SPARC.<ref>{{Cite web | url = http://www.opensxce.org | title = OpenSXCE | website = www.opensxce.org | access-date = 26 February 2016 }}</ref>
== Illumos Foundation == The '''Illumos Foundation''' was incorporated in the State of California in 2012 as a 501(c)6 trade association, with founding board members Jason Hoffman (formerly at Joyent), Evan Powell (Nexenta), and Garrett D'Amore.
As of 2024, its status in California is "dissolved".<ref>State of California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General. [https://rct.doj.ca.gov/Verification/Web/Search.aspx?facility=Y Registry of Charities and Fundraisers]. Accessed December 17, 2024.</ref>
== Notes == {{notelist}}
== References == {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{Official website}} * [https://napp-it.org/index_en.html napp-it], a ZFS web interface for Illumos-based NAS or SAN appliances.
<!-- a subcategory of operating systems --> {{Solaris}} {{Unix-like}} {{Operating system}} {{FOSS}}
Category:Free software programmed in C Category:OpenSolaris Category:Software forks Category:Solaris software Category:X86-64 operating systems