User-mode Linux
| Written in | C |
|---|---|
| Type | Virtualization |
| License | GNU General Public License |
| Website | user-mode-linux |
User-mode Linux (UML) enables multiple virtual Linux kernel-based operating systems (known as guests) to run as an application within a normal Linux system (known as the host). As each guest is just a normal application running as a process in user space, this approach provides the user with a way of running multiple virtual Linux machines on a single piece of hardware, offering some isolation, generally without affecting the host environment's configuration or stability.
Numerous things become possible through the use of UML. One can run network services from a UML environment and remain totally sequestered from the main Linux system in which the UML environment runs. Administrators can use UML to set up honeypots, which allow one to test the security of one's computers or network. UML can serve to test and debug new software without adversely affecting the host system. UML can also be used for teaching and research, providing a realistic Linux networked environment with a high degree of safety.
In UML environments, host and guest kernel versions don't need to match, so it is entirely possible to test a "bleeding edge" version of Linux in User-mode on a system running a much older kernel. UML also allows kernel debugging to be performed on one machine, where other kernel debugging tools (such as kgdb) require two machines connected with a null modem cable.
Some web hosting providers offer UML-powered virtual servers for lower prices than true dedicated servers. Each customer has root access on what appears to be their own system, while in reality one physical computer is shared between many people.
libguestfs has supported a UML backend since version 1.24 as an alternative to using QEMU or KVM.
The UML guest application (a Linux binary ELF) was originally available as a patch for some Kernel versions above 2.2.x, and the host with any kernel version above 2.2.x supported it easily in the thread mode (i.e., non-SKAS3).
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