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Ralph
What it is
Ralph is a free, open-source asset management, DCIM, and CMDB system for data centers and back offices. It helps teams track hardware purchases and follow assets through flexible lifecycle flows, with built-in data center visualization. The project also lists ownership tracking, service mapping, and discovery imports. Ralph can be self-hosted on premises and exposes a REST-style web API for querying and populating its database. API resources support GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, and DELETE, with requests authenticated by an automatically generated personal token in the Authorization header. Cloud synchronization supports OpenStack Ocata, and documentation describes approaches for providers such as AWS. LDAP or Active Directory authentication can be enabled. Ralph is licensed under Apache 2.0. Production Debian packages are provided for Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic on AMD64; Docker Compose installation is described as experimental. The maintainers offer no guarantee of issue responses or pull request support and direct users seeking commercial support to the community forum.
For and against
For
- Tracks purchases and asset lifecycles
- Includes data center visualization
- REST-style API supports five resource operations
- Cloud synchronization supports OpenStack Ocata
- LDAP or Active Directory authentication can be enabled
Against
- Production Debian packages target Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic on AMD64
- Docker Compose installation is experimental
- Issue responses and pull request support are not guaranteed
The verdict
Ralph brings asset lifecycle management, visualization, and a REST-style API into a self-hosted system for data centers and back offices. Check its stated Ubuntu package target and experimental Docker Compose option against your deployment needs.
Who it suits
Ralph is suited to teams in data centers and back offices that manage hardware assets and want self-hosted lifecycle tracking, visualization, and API access.
Plans and prices
Ralph
Open-source software · Apache 2.0 license
Read 7 Oct 2026 · github.com
On the record
- API authentication
- API requests use an automatically generated personal token sent in the Authorization header.ralph-ng.readthedocs.io · read 7 Oct 2026
- API operations
- The API supports GET, POST, PUT, PATCH and DELETE operations on resources.ralph-ng.readthedocs.io · read 7 Oct 2026
- Asset lifecycle
- It tracks asset purchases and lifecycles with a flexible lifecycle flow system.github.com · read 7 Oct 2026
- Authentication integration
- The configuration documentation describes enabling authentication through LDAP or Active Directory systems.ralph-ng.readthedocs.io · read 7 Oct 2026
- Cloud integrations
- Cloud synchronization supports OpenStack Ocata; the documentation also describes syncing assets with providers such as AWS using an HTTP endpoint and, for some providers, an adapter.ralph-ng.readthedocs.io · read 7 Oct 2026
- Community help
- The README links to an online forum for the Ralph community.github.com · read 7 Oct 2026
- Data center visualization
- The project lists built-in data center visualization as a feature.github.com · read 7 Oct 2026
- Demo
- The README links to a live demo and lists the login and password as ralph.github.com · read 7 Oct 2026
- Deployment
- The installation guide provides Ubuntu packages for AMD64 and describes Docker installation as experimental.ralph-ng.readthedocs.io · read 7 Oct 2026
- Intended users
- The project describes its target environments as data centers and back offices managing hardware assets.github.com · read 7 Oct 2026
- License
- The project is open source under the Apache 2.0 license.github.com · read 7 Oct 2026
- Lifecycle workflows
- It includes a flexible flow system for asset life cycles.github.com · read 7 Oct 2026
- Open source
- Ralph is provided under the Apache 2.0 license.github.com · read 7 Oct 2026
- Platform requirement
- The guide says production Debian packages are provided for Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic on AMD64.ralph-ng.readthedocs.io · read 7 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- Ralph is an asset management, DCIM and CMDB system for data centers and back offices.github.com · read 7 Oct 2026
- REST API
- Ralph exposes a REST-style web API for querying and populating its database.ralph-ng.readthedocs.io · read 7 Oct 2026
- Security configuration
- The installation guide recommends using a separate database host with a non-default password and configuring SSL traffic termination.ralph-ng.readthedocs.io · read 7 Oct 2026
- Self-hosting
- The installation guide provides Ubuntu packages and an experimental Docker Compose installation.ralph-ng.readthedocs.io · read 7 Oct 2026
