November 14, 2025
Hypervisor or hype?
Incus-OS: Immutable Linux OS to run Incus as a hypervisor
VMware escape hatch or container pretender? IncusOS sparks a Proxmox vs Incus showdown
TLDR: IncusOS is a locked‑down, auto‑updating Linux built to run Incus containers, pitched as a slick, identical‑across‑servers platform with easy rollbacks. The community’s split between fans hyped for VMware migration and homelab perks, and skeptics arguing it’s not a “real” hypervisor and weighing it against Proxmox.
IncusOS just dropped as a locked‑down, auto‑updating Linux built purely to run Incus containers — think “tiny, read‑only host that refuses to break,” with full‑disk encryption, secure boot, and one‑click rollbacks. The devs brag all servers run the exact same bits, and updates land atomically, so rollbacks are drama‑free. It’s API‑only control (no local shell!), lots of ZFS storage goodies, and slick networking — plus a GitHub repo and open‑source license.
But the comments turned the launch into a definition fight. One camp is swooning over an escape route from VMware: kouskoush framed it as private‑cloud software that can “convert your legacy VMWare,” and homelab hero k_bx can’t wait for live migrations without downtime and easy backups, calling IncusOS the homelab sweet spot while keeping Proxmox for “fat servers.” Another camp slammed the “hypervisor” label: seabrookmx says it’s not technically a hypervisor, since it runs Linux containers (like Docker) rather than full virtual machines — still “neat,” but words matter.
Meanwhile, the Proxmox vs Incus rivalry lit up. leoedin poked the bear asking for a head‑to‑head, and genshii dropped a mic: they replaced a big Proxmox homelab with Incus and found “so much easier,” especially around tricky permission setups. The vibe? Team Incus loves the simplicity and speed; Team Pedant insists we stop calling containers a hypervisor. The popcorn’s hot, and the homelab crowd is hungry.
Key Points
- •IncusOS is an immutable Linux OS built to run Incus with secure boot and TPM-backed full disk encryption.
- •Updates use an atomic A/B partition scheme, with API-only management and identical bit-for-bit deployments across servers.
- •Comprehensive storage support includes ZFS, Fiber Channel, NVME-over-TCP, iSCSI, clustered LVM, and Ceph (Linstor coming soon).
- •Networking features cover VLAN-aware bridging, link aggregation, LLDP, enterprise proxies with Kerberos, NTP, syslog, OVS/OVN, and Tailscale (NetBird coming soon).
- •Built on Debian 13 using systemd and mkosi, IncusOS offers stable/testing update channels, auto-checks every 6 hours, and is open source under Apache 2.0.