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Metal3.io Becomes a CNCF Incubating Project

By Honza Pokorný

We are pleased to share some incredible news with our community! The CNCF Technical Oversight Committee has officially voted to accept Metal3 as an incubating project. This milestone represents years of hard work, collaboration, and innovation, and we couldn’t be more excited about what lies ahead!

Our Journey from Sandbox to Incubation

What started as a collaboration between Red Hat and Ericsson in 2019 has blossomed into something truly special. When we joined the CNCF sandbox in September 2020, we knew we had something powerful: a way to make bare metal infrastructure as Kubernetes-native as any cloud platform. Today, that vision has grown far beyond our initial dreams.

The Numbers Tell Our Story

We’re incredibly proud of what our community has accomplished together:

  • 57 active contributing organizations from around the globe
  • 186 amazing contributors who’ve shaped our project
  • 8,368 merged pull requests representing countless hours of collaboration
  • 1,523 GitHub stars from supporters worldwide
  • 187 releases of continuous improvement

But beyond the numbers, what makes us truly happy is seeing organizations like Fujitsu, Ikea, SUSE, Ericsson, and Red Hat successfully deploying Metal3 in production environments.

What Makes Us Proud

Metal3 has evolved into so much more than a bare metal provisioning tool. We’ve built a comprehensive platform that:

  • Seamlessly integrates with Cluster API for Kubernetes lifecycle management
  • Provides robust IP address management through our IPAM component
  • Offers enterprise-grade security with automated vulnerability scanning
  • Supports firmware management and day-2 operations
  • Runs entirely on Kubernetes using native APIs

Our new Ironic Standalone Operator has revolutionized deployment simplicity, making it easier than ever for teams to get started with Metal3.

Looking Forward with Excitement

The roadmap ahead fills us with anticipation! In 2025, we’re planning:

  • Enhanced multi-tenancy support
  • ARM architecture support beyond x86_64
  • Improved DHCP-less provisioning capabilities
  • New API revisions across our components
  • Continued simplification of the user experience

The Adventure Continues

Joining CNCF incubation isn’t the end of our journey – it’s an exciting new chapter! With the foundation’s support and our amazing community behind us, we’re more energized than ever to push the boundaries of what’s possible with bare metal Kubernetes infrastructure.

Thank you for being part of this incredible adventure. Here’s to making bare metal as cloud-native as the clouds themselves!