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daemonless

The native container platform for FreeBSD. Run 146+ modern apps with standard OCI tooling.

Production-grade images, automated builds, native performance.

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What is Daemonless?

Daemonless is a collection of FreeBSD-native OCI images that run directly on the FreeBSD kernel. It combines the power and security of Jails with the modern container ecosystem—compatible with Podman, AppJail, fjord, Sylve, FreeCORE, or any OCI-compliant runtime. No Linux virtual machines or overhead required.

Positioning & Comparison

How Daemonless compares to traditional virtualization and manual jail administration.

Feature Docker on Linux/VM Traditional Jails Daemonless
OCI Images Yes (Native) No (Manual packages) Yes (Standard OCI compliance)
Native FreeBSD No (Requires Linux VM) Yes (Native Jails) Yes (Native Jails)
App-Store Deploy (Compose) Yes (Docker Compose) No (Custom shell/jails) Yes (Podman/AppJail Compose)
VM Required Yes (On non-Linux hosts) No No (Zero VM overhead)
ZFS Volume Integration No (Virtual disk overhead) Yes (Native datasets) Yes (Native datasets)
In-Container Privilege Varies by image Manual (admin-configured) Unprivileged by default (UID:GID 1000:1000)

Host root is required to manage jails (same as Docker's own daemon on Linux) — that's independent of what runs inside one. See the security model breakdown for the full picture.

Architecture: How it Works

Run standard, unmodified container commands. Podman translates them natively to FreeBSD Jails.

flowchart TD
    host["FreeBSD Host Kernel"] --> runtime["Podman / ocijail / runj"]
    subgraph isolation["Native Jail Isolation (Zero VM Overhead)"]
        runtime --> base["Base Image (/init, rcd for appliances)"]
        base --> apps["Image Fleet (Plex, Radarr, Nextcloud...)"]
    end

    style host fill:#ab2b28,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff
    style runtime fill:#2980b9,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff
    style base fill:#d35400,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px,color:#fff
    style apps fill:#27ae60,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px,color:#fff

  • Reliable Foundation

    Built on FreeBSD and native jails. The app is the container's process, so Podman, AppJail or Kubernetes restart, stop and log it like any other container. Appliances that bundle several services run them under rcd(8).

  • Minimal Footprint

    Ultra-lightweight images with cleaned package caches and minimal overhead.

  • Secure by Default

    Run as any user with PUID/PGID support. True isolation with Jails.

  • Networking

    Full port forwarding support and seamless integration with pf firewall.

  • Automated Updates

    Automated CI/CD pipelines ensure images are built against the latest upstream releases and FreeBSD packages.

  • Transparent & Open

    100% open source. Every image is built from a visible Containerfile.

Quick Example

Launch your first container in seconds with a familiar syntax.

pkg install podman-suite
podman run -d --name plex \
  -p 32400:32400 \
  -e PUID=1000 -e PGID=1000 \
  -v /containers/plex:/config \
  -v /data/movies:/movies \
  -v /data/tv:/tv \
  ghcr.io/daemonless/plex:latest

PUID/PGID make Plex run as your own user, so its files on the host are yours. The host needs a few lines of pf first: see the Quick Start.

Ecosystem & Platforms

Run Daemonless images from the command line or through a FreeBSD management platform:

  • Podman & AppJail

    Deploy directly with podman-compose or appjail-director on any FreeBSD 15 host.

    Quick Start

  • fjord

    Lightweight web app store and Compose stack manager for FreeBSD (Podman & AppJail).

    fjord.daemonless.io

  • Sylve

    Modern FreeBSD virtualization and system management platform for Bhyve VMs, Jails, ZFS, and Daemonless OCI containers.

    sylve.io

  • FreeCORE

    Community-driven FreeBSD and OpenZFS storage appliance carrying TrueNAS CORE forward, with native Daemonless container support.

    freecore.org

Guides & How-Tos

  • Quick Start

    Host setup, pf firewall, and your first container — with Podman or AppJail.

    Get deployed

  • ZFS Storage

    Map OCI volumes to native ZFS datasets for snapshots, quotas, and replication.

    Storage guide

  • Networking

    Port forwarding, bridges, and routing traffic behind a reverse proxy.

    Networking guide

  • Operations & Updates

    Keep services current with podman pull and CI-rebuilt images — no manual jails.

    Operations guide

Why Daemonless?

  • Philosophy

    We believe in the power of FreeBSD Jails and the convenience of OCI containers. Daemonless is about bridging that gap for the community.

    Our Mission

  • Architecture

    Deep dive into how Podman, ocijail, and the FreeBSD kernel work together to provide native performance.

    How it Works

  • Join the Lab

    Daemonless is more than a tool—it's a community of FreeBSD enthusiasts. Help us build the next generation of images.

    Start Contributing