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ZWRM can be self-hosted on any Linux server with KVM support. You run the control plane and optionally add host agents to scale across multiple machines.

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Components

ComponentBinaryRole
Control planezwrmdCentral server that manages apps, deployments, VMs, databases, sandboxes, secrets, and the reverse proxy. Runs Firecracker VMs on the local host.
Host agentzwrm-agentRuns on additional worker hosts. Receives gRPC commands from the control plane to start/stop VMs, pulls images, and reports resource usage via heartbeats.
CLIzwrmClient tool for developers. Talks to the control plane REST API.

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Architecture

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Single-host

The simplest setup: one server runs zwrmd, which handles everything — API, reverse proxy, TLS, image builds, and Firecracker VMs. 
Developer (zwrm CLI)
    │
    ▼
┌──────────────────────────┐
│  zwrmd (control plane)                   │
│  ├── REST API                          │
│  ├── Reverse proxy + TLS               │
│  ├── Build pipeline                    │
│  ├── VM manager                        │
│  └── PostgreSQL state DB               │
└──────────────────────────┘
    │
    ▼
  Firecracker VMs

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Multi-host

Add zwrm-agent on worker hosts to distribute VMs across machines. The control plane schedules workloads using spread or pack strategies. 
Developer (zwrm CLI)
		▼
┌──────────────────────────┐
│  zwrmd (control plane)                   │
│  ├── REST API                          │
│  ├── Reverse proxy + TLS               │
│  ├── gRPC server                       │
│  ├── Scheduler                         │
│  └── Image registry                    │
└────────┬─────────────────┘
             gRPC
     ┌─────┴─────┐
     ▼                 ▼
┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐
│ zwrm-agent	  │ │ zwrm-agent	  │
│ (host 1)		  │ │ (host 2)		  │
└────┬─────┘ └─────┬────┘
  	    ▼                   ▼
   		VMs            		 VMs

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Prerequisites

  • Linux (amd64 or arm64) with KVM support (/dev/kvm)
  • Docker daemon (for building app images)
  • PostgreSQL database (for control plane state)
  • Root access (required for TAP devices, Firecracker, iptables)

Installation

Install the control plane, agent, or CLI.

Quickstart

Go from bare server to running apps in minutes.