xCAT

Spec sheet

Purpose

xCAT automates deployment, scaling, and management of bare metal servers and virtual machines.Read 10 Oct 2026 · xcat.org

Platforms

The download page provides Linux RPM and Ubuntu Debian packages, with Ubuntu repositories serving amd64, ppc64el, and riscv64.Read 10 Oct 2026 · xcat.org

API

xCAT provides a REST API for integration with third-party software.Read 10 Oct 2026 · xcat-docs.readthedocs.io

Integrations

The documentation lists OpenStack and SoftLayer cloud integration and mentions configuring HPC applications including GPFS, Parallel Environment, and LSF.Read 10 Oct 2026 · xcat-docs.readthedocs.io

Security

The security documentation covers TLS configuration, transmission channels, command access control, auditing, password management, secure zones, and IP-based access control.Read 10 Oct 2026 · xcat-docs.readthedocs.io

Support

The project encourages GitHub issues for support and also lists an older user email list.Read 10 Oct 2026 · xcat-docs.readthedocs.io

Current release

The download page identifies version 2.19.1 as the stable release and offers stable and development builds.Read 10 Oct 2026 · xcat.org

Hardware discovery

Discovery methods include manual definition, MTMS-based, switch-based, and sequential discovery.Read 10 Oct 2026 · xcat-docs.readthedocs.io

Notable guidance

The documentation says the xCAT Consortium recommends Confluent as xCAT’s long-term successor and migration path.Read 10 Oct 2026 · xcat-docs.readthedocs.io

Parallel operations

Administrators can run parallel shell commands, copy files, and ping nodes.Read 10 Oct 2026 · xcat-docs.readthedocs.io

Provisioning

xCAT provisions operating systems on physical or virtual machines using diskful, stateless, or cloned installation methods.Read 10 Oct 2026 · xcat-docs.readthedocs.io

Remote management

Remote management features include power control, console access, inventory and vitals queries, and event log queries.Read 10 Oct 2026 · xcat-docs.readthedocs.io

Scale

The documentation says xCAT can scale to hundreds of thousands of nodes with a distributed architecture.Read 10 Oct 2026 · xcat-docs.readthedocs.io

Security notices

The security notices page lists xCAT vulnerability notices dated March 8, 2023, and earlier OpenSSL and TLS notices.Read 10 Oct 2026 · xcat-docs.readthedocs.io

Use cases

The project describes use across HPC clusters, render farms, grids, web farms, online gaming infrastructure, clouds, and datacenters.Read 10 Oct 2026 · xcat.org

Plans and prices

Every xCAT plan and price →

Where Specifiction places it

• IT Automation Software#51 of 777.3
• OS Imaging & Deployment Software#16 of 247.3
• Data Center Automation#15 of 227.3
• OS Deployment Software#20 of 297.3
• Bare Metal Provisioning Software#23 of 287.3
• Bare Metal as a Service (BMaaS) Software#10 of 127.3