liken

liken is a small operating system. It boots a machine directly into Kubernetes.

A machine runs the Linux kernel, k3s, and one small init process. There is no systemd, no shell, and no package manager. The whole system ships as one image of about 400 MB, and a machine with 1 GB of memory can run it.

You manage the machines with kubectl, the same way you manage the workloads. A five-machine cluster, 14 hours after a rolling upgrade:

$ kubectl get clusters
NAME      STATUS   MACHINES   VERSION          NEWEST           AVAILABLE        AGE
homelab   Ready    5/5        2026.08.12-001   2026.08.12-001   2026.08.12-001   18d

$ kubectl get machines
NAME     ROLE       STATUS   UPTIME   ADDRESS        LIKEN            KERNEL                 AGE
node-1   leader     Ready    14h      10.10.0.1/24   2026.08.12-001   7.1.5-070105-generic   18d
node-2   leader     Ready    14h      10.10.0.2/24   2026.08.12-001   7.1.5-070105-generic   18d
node-3   leader     Ready    13h      10.10.0.3/24   2026.08.12-001   7.1.5-070105-generic   18d
node-4   follower   Ready    13h      10.10.0.4/24   2026.08.12-001   7.1.5-070105-generic   18d
node-5   follower   Ready    13h      10.10.0.5/24   2026.08.12-001   7.1.5-070105-generic   18d

Each machine also reports the hardware it found, in its status. Ask with the same tools you already use:

$ kubectl get machine node-4 -o json \
    | jq '.status.hardware | {cpus, memoryBytes, disks: [.blockDevices[].model]}'
{
  "cpus": 4,
  "memoryBytes": 16512733184,
  "disks": [
    "Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus 500GB",
    "WDC WD40EFRX-68N32N0"
  ]
}

The project is one repository . It contains a Go init written for this project, the Linux kernel and k3s from their upstream releases, and the build that assembles them into a bootable image. Read the repository to see what your machine runs.

Releases are published at releases.liken.sh . To upgrade, you add the release to your Cluster and set the version. The machines download it, and each one reboots into it when its turn comes, one machine at a time by default, after you approve the reboot or on its own if its rebootPolicy is Auto.

Extension operators add more to the cluster: screens, speakers, and game controllers for your pods, git repositories as volumes, a home theater, and a telescope. You install only the ones you need. Extension operators describes them all.

The manual tells you how to run your own cluster. How liken works explains the model, and Install a cluster gives the steps from a downloaded release to kubectl get nodes.

Why liken?

The name comes from Linux + Kubernetes. It also sounds like lichen: a very small thing that grows on bare rock, as liken grows on bare metal. The mark is a patch of lichen, drawn as the hexagonal plates that a lichen cracks into as it grows.