XCAT
Distributed computing management software
title: "XCAT" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["cluster-computing", "free-software-programmed-in-perl", "software-using-the-eclipse-public-license", "ibm-software"] description: "Distributed computing management software" topic_path: "technology/computing" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XCAT" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Distributed computing management software ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox software"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | XCAT |
| caption | xCAT offers complete management for HPC clusters, RenderFarms, Grids, WebFarms, Online Gaming Infrastructure, Clouds, Datacenters, and whatever tomorrow's buzzwords may be. It is agile, extensible, and based on years of system administration best practices and experience. |
| author | Egan Ford |
| developer | Egan Ford, Jarrod Johnson, Bruce Potter, Andy Wray |
| released | |
| latest release version | 2.17.0 |
| latest release date | {{cite web |
| url | https://github.com/xcat2/xcat-core/releases |
| title | Releases · xcat2/xcat-core |
| website | github.com |
| access-date | 2024-11-13 |
| repo | |
| programming language | Perl, Python, Bash |
| operating system | Linux, IBM AIX, Windows |
| platform | Cross-platform |
| size | 5 MB |
| language | English |
| genre | Distributed computing |
| license | Eclipse Public License |
| website | |
| :: |
|name = XCAT |logo = |screenshot = |caption = xCAT offers complete management for HPC clusters, RenderFarms, Grids, WebFarms, Online Gaming Infrastructure, Clouds, Datacenters, and whatever tomorrow's buzzwords may be. It is agile, extensible, and based on years of system administration best practices and experience. |collapsible = |author = Egan Ford |developer = Egan Ford, Jarrod Johnson, Bruce Potter, Andy Wray |released = |discontinued = |latest release version = 2.17.0 |latest release date = {{cite web | url = https://github.com/xcat2/xcat-core/releases | title = Releases · xcat2/xcat-core | website = github.com | access-date = 2024-11-13 |latest preview version = |latest preview date = |repo = |programming language = Perl, Python, Bash |operating system = Linux, IBM AIX, Windows |platform = Cross-platform |size = 5 MB |language = English |genre = Distributed computing |license = Eclipse Public License |website = xCAT (Extreme Cloud Administration Toolkit) is open-source distributed computing management software developed by IBM, used for the deployment and administration of Linux or AIX based clusters.
In September 2023 the primary developers of xCAT said that they moved onto other roles and could no longer work on it, asking the community if anyone would like to take over, as otherwise they planned to end-of-life the project on December 1, 2023. A consortium of companies organized to take over the development, later releasing version 2.17.
Toolkit
xCAT can:
- Create and manage diskless clusters
- Install and manage many Linux cluster machines (physical or virtual) in parallel
- Set up a high-performance computing software stack, including software for batch job submission, parallel libraries, and other software that is useful on a cluster
- Cloning and imaging Linux and Windows machines
xCAT has specific features designed to take advantage of IBM hardware including:
- Remote Power Control
- Remote POST/BIOS console
- Serial over LAN functions
- Hardware alerts and vitals provided via SNMP and email
- Inventory and hardware management
xCAT achieved recognition in June 2008 for having been used with the IBM Roadrunner, which set a computing speed record at that time. xCAT is the default systems management tool of the IBM Intelligent Cluster solution.
xCAT is sometimes used by Lenovo, along with their own deployment system, Confluent.
References
References
- Besaw, Nathan A. (2023-09-01). "Announcement: xCAT Project End-Of-Life planned for December 1, 2023".
- Hilger, Markus. (2023-12-11). "xCAT Consortium Update".
- (2024-11-13). "2.17 Release Notes".
- (2008-06-10). "US energy department reveals world's fastest computer". Wikinews.
- (2008-06-09). "U.S. Department of Energy's New Supercomputer is Fastest in the World". US Department of Energy.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::