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OpenStack Ironic

OpenStack Ironic manages physical machines from discovery and cataloging through provisioning, maintenance, and decommissioning.

Place
#21 of 28
Score
5.8
OpenStack Ironic's website

What OpenStack Ironic is

OpenStack Ironic manages physical machines from discovery and cataloging through provisioning, maintenance, and decommissioning. Its RESTful APIs provide a vendor-agnostic interface for machine lifecycle management, with generic Redfish and IPMI hardware types as well as vendor-specific types. Operators can view hardware and run extensible preparation actions before assigning workloads. Ironic supports ownership and leasing across separate hardware pools, with optional OpenStack Networking integration for workload network isolation. Its modular footprint is described for deployments from tens to thousands of machines. Bifrost, Metal3, and OpenStack Compute are listed as deployment options or adjacent projects. Ironic is free and collaboratively developed under the Apache 2 license, with API, Linux, and self-hosted options. Operators can configure TLS for outbound image downloads and Redfish BMC connections. The security guidance recommends turning off IPMI when modern out-of-band management is available. Bifrost setup requires knowledge of the network interface used for bare-metal communication and credentials for the hardware management controller.

Good

  • RESTful API manages machines through their lifecycle.
  • Supports Redfish and vendor-specific hardware types.
  • Supports ownership and leasing across hardware pools.
  • Free and open source under Apache 2.

Watch out

  • Security guidance recommends disabling IPMI when modern alternatives are available.
  • Bifrost setup requires network and controller details.

Who it suits

It suits operators managing bare-metal machines across provisioning and maintenance stages, including teams using separate hardware pools. Bifrost deployment requires network-interface and hardware-controller credential knowledge.

Verdict

Ironic provides lifecycle management for bare-metal infrastructure, with API-driven control and support for hardware pools. Operators should review its deployment requirements and the security guidance for IPMI before choosing an approach.

Plans and prices

From OpenStack Ironic's own pricing page, checked 8 Oct 2026.

All about pricing
PlanPriceWhat it gives you
Open source IronicFreeNo paid plans or usage limits stated on the official product page

The facts

Each one read from OpenStack Ironic's own pages, with the date it was checked.

What it does

API
Ironic provides RESTful APIs with a vendor-agnostic interface for managing machines through their lifecycle.checked 8 Oct 2026
Deployment requirements
Bifrost installation requires knowledge of the network interface for bare-metal communication and credentials for the hardware management controller.checked 8 Oct 2026
Hardware protocols
Generic hardware types include Redfish and IPMI, alongside vendor-specific types.checked 8 Oct 2026
Integrations
Ironic documentation identifies Bifrost, Metal3, and OpenStack Compute as deployment options or adjacent projects.checked 8 Oct 2026
License
Ironic is collaboratively developed under the Apache 2 license.checked 8 Oct 2026
Lifecycle management
Ironic provides operators a view of hardware and extensible preparation actions before workloads are assigned.checked 8 Oct 2026
Multi-tenancy
Ironic supports hardware ownership and leasing across non-overlapping hardware pools, and can optionally integrate with OpenStack Networking for workload network isolation.checked 8 Oct 2026
Operating systems
Bifrost lists CentOS Stream 10, Ubuntu 24.04, and Debian 12 and 13 as fully supported host operating systems.checked 8 Oct 2026
Purpose
Ironic manages bare-metal infrastructure across node discovery, cataloging, enrollment, provisioning, maintenance, and decommissioning.checked 8 Oct 2026
Scale
The product page describes a modular footprint for managing tens, hundreds, or thousands of physical machines.checked 8 Oct 2026
Security
The security guide recommends disabling IPMI when a modern out-of-band management technology is available because IPMI is not secure.checked 8 Oct 2026
Support
The project page says Ironic is supported by the OpenInfra Foundation and maintained collaboratively by vendors and contributors.checked 8 Oct 2026
TLS
Operators can configure TLS settings for outbound image downloads and Redfish BMC connections.checked 8 Oct 2026

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