Eclipse Ankaios is a workload and container orchestrator purpose-built for embedded and automotive platforms. Designed to meet the unique demands of resource-constrained environments and High-Performance Computing (HPC) systems in vehicles, Ankaios delivers reliable workload management where it matters most.
Ankaios supports both Podman and containerd runtimes, giving you the freedom to choose the container technology that best fits your architecture and security requirements. Other container runtimes and even native applications can be added. Built on a server-agent architecture, Ankaios manages multiple nodes and virtual machines through a single unified API to start, stop, configure, and update workloads. The setup consists of one server and multiple agents — typically one agent per node — with each agent connecting to one or more runtimes that execute your workloads. This design scales from simple single-node deployments to complex distributed systems.
- Declarative configuration - Define your entire system state in a single manifest. Ankaios ensures your workloads match your desired configuration, automatically reconciling any drift.
- Multi-runtime flexibility - Native support for Podman and containerd. Mix runtimes on the same node or run different runtimes on different nodes based on your specific requirements.
- Built for automotive constraints - Optimized for deterministic behavior and minimal resource overhead, while providing modern container orchestration capabilities.
- Distributed by design - Manage workloads across ECUs, HPCs, and edge devices from a central control point with consistent APIs.
- Dynamic workload management - Start, stop, update, and monitor containerized workloads in real-time. Ankaios handles dependencies, ensures proper startup sequences, and provides visibility into workload health.
- Programmable orchestration - Native SDKs allow workloads to communicate with Ankaios programmatically, to query the system state, trigger workload updates, and react to orchestration events.
- 📦 Installation - Get Ankaios up and running on your system
- 🚀 Quick start - Deploy your first workload in minutes
- 🏗️ Architecture - Understand how Ankaios works under the hood
- 📡 Vehicle signals - Send and receive vehicle signals with workloads
- ☁️ Fleet management - Manage vehicle fleets from the cloud
- 📚 API reference - Explore the complete API documentation
The full documentation is available at eclipse-ankaios.github.io/ankaios.
This project welcomes contributions and suggestions. Before contributing, make sure to read the contribution guideline.
Eclipse Ankaios is licensed using the Apache License Version 2.0.
Partly funded by
The publication was partly written within the Shift2SDV project (GA number 101194245) which is supported by the Chips Joint Undertaking and its members, including top-funding by the national authorities of Austria, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Finland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Turkey.
Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the Chips Joint Undertaking. Neither the European Union nor the granting authorities can be held responsible for them.
