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On the recordRead 10 Oct 202624 facts
Tinkerbell
On the record
- BMC management
- Rufio manages baseboard management controllers and can execute one-off actions to bring physical machines to a desired state.tinkerbell.org · read 5 Oct 2026
- Cluster API integration
- Tinkerbell provides a Cluster API infrastructure provider that lets it serve as a bare-metal provider for Cluster API.tinkerbell.org · read 10 Oct 2026
- Community support
- The project directs users to its documentation, GitHub organization, and the #tinkerbell channel in the CNCF Slack workspace for help and participation.tinkerbell.org · read 5 Oct 2026
- Core stack
- The core stack consists of Smee, Tootles, Hook, and Tink.tinkerbell.org · read 10 Oct 2026
- Custom actions
- Actions can use any container image available to the worker.tinkerbell.org · read 5 Oct 2026
- Deployment options
- The installation guide documents Kubernetes, a standalone binary, and Docker Compose; Kubernetes is recommended for production use.tinkerbell.org · read 10 Oct 2026
- Kubernetes integration
- The Cluster API provider lets Tinkerbell act as a bare metal provider for Kubernetes cluster creation and management.tinkerbell.org · read 5 Oct 2026
- Metadata
- Tootles exposes hardware metadata over HTTP and can provide it in an AWS EC2 compatible format.tinkerbell.org · read 5 Oct 2026
- Minimum resources
- The architecture page lists minimum stack resources of 2 vCPUs, 4 GB RAM, and 300 MB disk.tinkerbell.org · read 10 Oct 2026
- Network boot
- Smee provides DHCP and TFTP services and serves iPXE and the initial installation image.tinkerbell.org · read 5 Oct 2026
- Network requirement
- The stack requires Layer 2 networking for its DHCP server, or a DHCP relay configured to forward traffic to the stack.tinkerbell.org · read 10 Oct 2026
- Optional hardware management
- Optional PBnJ and Rufio services communicate with baseboard management controllers.tinkerbell.org · read 10 Oct 2026
- Production setup
- The documentation recommends Kubernetes for production and specifies Kubernetes 1.26 or later as a prerequisite.tinkerbell.org · read 5 Oct 2026
- Provisioning model
- It uses an API-centric, declarative configuration and automation approach inspired by the Kubernetes community.tinkerbell.org · read 10 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- Tinkerbell is a bare-metal provisioning engine maintained by the Tinkerbell Community.tinkerbell.org · read 10 Oct 2026
- Resource requirements
- The documented minimum stack resources are 2 vCPUs, 4 GB RAM, and 300 MB disk, and target worker machines must support iPXE network boot.tinkerbell.org · read 5 Oct 2026
- Setup limitation
- The quick-start guide says its Vagrant and Libvirt path requires public internet and does not support air-gapped or proxied environments.tinkerbell.org · read 10 Oct 2026
- Stack components
- The core stack includes Tink, Smee, Tootles, and Hook, with optional power and boot services and a Cluster API provider.tinkerbell.org · read 5 Oct 2026
