Kuryr

More About Kuryr

Kuryr is an OpenStack project that addresses the problem of providing a unified networking and storage model for containers and virtual machines by reusing existing OpenStack infrastructure services such as Neutron (cloud networking) and Cinder (block storage). It targets environments where containers run on top of OpenStack clouds and where operators want to apply the same networking, security, and quota policies across both Virtual Machine (VM) and container workloads.

The project focuses on integrating container orchestrators with OpenStack networking and storage APIs. Kuryr provides components that map container networking primitives such as pods, services, and network policies to Neutron networks, subnets, ports, and security groups (cloud networking). For storage, it can expose OpenStack Cinder volumes (block storage) to containerized applications through orchestration-specific integrations, so that stateful workloads use the same storage backends as virtual machines.

Kuryr includes drivers and controllers for Kubernetes (container orchestration) and other container platforms referenced in OpenStack documentation. These components watch container resources and translate them into corresponding OpenStack resources, ensuring that container network interfaces, IP addressing, and security group rules are backed by Neutron. In many deployments, it works together with Open Virtual Switch (vSwitch) or other Neutron backends (virtual networking) already present in the OpenStack cloud.

In enterprise and institutional environments, Kuryr is used to align container infrastructure with existing OpenStack operational practices, governance, and tooling. Cloud operators can apply familiar Neutron constructs such as networks, subnets, routers, floating IPS, load balancers, and security groups (cloud networking and security) to Kubernetes or other container clusters. This allows centralized management of network policy, quota, and isolation across tenants and projects, while containers consume OpenStack resources through their native orchestration interfaces.

Kuryr participates in the broader OpenInfra ecosystem managed by the OpenInfra Foundation, and it is designed to interoperate with core OpenStack services such as Nova (compute), Neutron (networking), Cinder (block storage), Keystone (identity), and others where relevant (cloud infrastructure). Its extensible driver-based approach allows it to target different container runtimes and networking configurations, while still presenting a consistent OpenStack-backed control plane for container networking and storage.

From a directory and taxonomy perspective, Kuryr falls into the categories of container networking integration, OpenStack cloud integration, and infrastructure orchestration glue for hybrid VM–container environments. It is relevant for teams that run Kubernetes or similar platforms on OpenStack and require Neutron-backed multi-tenant networking and Cinder-backed storage for containerized workloads.