How vCluster and vMetal fit together
vClustervClusterAn open-source software product that creates and manages tenant clusters within Kubernetes infrastructure. vCluster provides tenant isolation capabilities while reducing infrastructure costs. helps AI cloud providers deliver highly scalable, resilient compute clusters as self-service tenant products, including managed Kubernetes, Slurm, inference, Ray, and other cluster types. Tenant clustersTenant clusterA fully isolated Kubernetes environment provisioned for a single tenant. Each tenant cluster has its own API server, controller manager, and resource namespace, backed by a virtualized control plane hosted on a control plane cluster. From the tenant's perspective it behaves exactly like a standard Kubernetes cluster. provide the compute experience, while vCluster Platform manages tenants, capacity, templates, access, multi-tenant observability, and lifecycle operations.
vMetal connects vCluster to physical and virtual infrastructure. It presents a stable Machine API to the layers above it and translates Machine requests through infrastructure-specific compute and network drivers. This page maps these responsibilities and routes you to the canonical guide for each product.
This is a routing page, not an implementation guide. For setup and configuration, follow the links in each section.
How the layers connect​
vCluster turns physical and virtual infrastructure into self-service compute cluster products, with vMetal providing a stable Machine API across infrastructure drivers.
From product offering to infrastructure​
When the products are used together, a provider publishes cluster templates, access rules, and capacity policies through vCluster Platform. A tenant selects a managed Kubernetes, Slurm, inference, or other compute offering, and the platform applies the appropriate configuration and capacity.
When a cluster needs infrastructure, demand becomes a Machine request through the stable Machine API. vMetal sends that request to the selected compute driver, which provisions a physical or virtual Machine. Network drivers and integrations provide the required connectivity during that process.
Products and what they own​
vCluster Platform manages tenants and capacity​
Platform is the self-service management plane for tenant clusters. It manages projects, templates, capacity policy, access control, multi-tenant observability, and billing across connected control plane clustersControl plane clusterThe Kubernetes cluster that hosts the virtualized control planes for tenant clusters. The control plane cluster is operated by the platform provider and is completely invisible to tenants. There are no shared control plane nodes, no in-cluster agent pods, and no lateral path between tenant environments. With shared nodes, this cluster also runs tenant workloads alongside the control plane pods — the same node pool is used for both.. Platform is where a provider defines which cluster products tenants can create and what capacity those products can consume.
Start with What is vCluster Platform?
vCluster powers tenant clusters​
vCluster powers managed Kubernetes, Slurm, inference, Ray, and other compute cluster products. Each tenant receives an isolated cluster experience based on the selected offering. For managed Kubernetes, workloads can use shared or private nodes, and Auto Nodes can request Machines through the stable Machine API as demand changes.
Start with What is vCluster?
vMetal provisions and manages Machines​
vMetal exposes a stable Machine API independent of the infrastructure underneath it. Each Machine is a claim on one physical or virtual server that moves through a driver-neutral lifecycle from request to deletion. Compute drivers translate those requests into infrastructure-specific operations, including bare metal provisioning with Metal3 and virtual-machine provisioning with KubeVirt. Network drivers and integrations support connectivity during provisioning. Naming a driver here describes its role in the architecture, not its shipping or support status. Check the vMetal docs for what's available today.
Auto Nodes is one way vCluster requests Machines from vMetal, not the definition of Machine provisioning.
Start with the vMetal overview and the Machine and server concepts.
Where to go next​
| If you want to | Go to |
|---|---|
| Match your use case, inference, AI cloud, CI/CD, and more, to a build and operate path | Production guide |
| Design a tenant-cluster platform on infrastructure you already run | vCluster architecture |
| Offer self-service clusters and manage tenants, capacity, access, and observability | vCluster Platform |
| Provision physical or virtual Machines for tenant clusters | vMetal overview |
| Understand the Machine and server model before choosing a driver | Machine and server concepts |
| Create an isolated Kubernetes cluster for local development or CI | Docker (vind) quick start |