Globular

A self-hosted platform for running, operating, and evolving distributed services

Website • Organization • Core Services • Installer • Quickstart • Admin Console

🎧 Audio presentation: Listen to the Globular presentation

What is Globular?

Globular is a self-hosted distributed platform for running native services with explicit workflows, observable convergence, strong identity and security, and dynamic routing.

It is not a library you embed into an application. It is an operating environment for services and distributed applications that need lifecycle management, discovery, routing, storage, policy, and day-0 to day-2 operational tooling.

Globular is built around a few core ideas:

• Native services first: run services as native binaries under systemd
• etcd as the single source of truth: cluster state lives in one authoritative place
• Workflow-driven convergence: orchestration is explicit and inspectable
• 4-layer state model: Repository → Desired → Installed → Runtime
• Strong identity everywhere: TLS, mTLS, RBAC, and resource ownership are part of the platform, not bolted on later

In practice, Globular gives you a platform to bootstrap a cluster, publish and install packages, route traffic through Envoy/xDS, operate services across nodes, and manage the system through workflows and admin tools.

Repository Map

Globular is split across several repositories, each with a clear role:

If you are new to the project:

• Start here to understand what Globular is
• Go to services to explore the core platform implementation
• Use services releases to download installable release artifacts
• Use globular-quickstart to simulate and validate cluster behavior
• Use globular-admin to manage and operate the platform from the UI

Why Globular?

Modern distributed systems often force you into one of two awkward worlds:

• a pile of independent services with ad hoc scripts, scattered state, and fragile operations
• or a large orchestration stack that hides too much behavior behind implicit control loops

Globular takes a different path.

It is designed for people who want:

• self-hosted infrastructure without heavy platform dependency
• distributed services with first-class identity, routing, and lifecycle management
• explicit operational models instead of invisible automation
• auditability and debuggability when something drifts, fails, or needs repair
• local-first development with a path to clustered deployment

What makes it different

Globular is especially relevant when you want a platform for native services on bare metal or VMs and do not want container orchestration to be the only story in town.

High-Level Architecture

External Traffic
    ↓
Envoy Gateway / Ingress
    ↓
Gateway + xDS-Controlled Routing
    ↓
Core Platform Services
    ├── Cluster Controller
    ├── Node Agent
    ├── Workflow Service
    ├── Repository
    ├── Authentication
    ├── RBAC
    ├── Resource
    ├── DNS
    ├── Monitoring
    └── Additional platform and application services
    ↓
Infrastructure Layer
    ├── etcd        (source of truth)
    ├── MinIO       (artifacts / objects / backups)
    ├── ScyllaDB    (high-throughput data)
    └── systemd     (native service execution)

Core ideas behind the architecture

1. Explicit workflows

Operational changes are represented as workflows instead of being buried inside opaque automation. This makes rollouts, repair, recovery, and convergence easier to inspect and reason about.

2. 4-layer state model

Globular distinguishes between:

• Repository: what artifacts exist
• Desired: what the cluster wants
• Installed: what nodes have actually installed
• Runtime: what is currently healthy and running

That separation is a major part of how the platform stays understandable.

3. Dynamic routing with Envoy and xDS

Traffic enters through Envoy and is routed dynamically based on platform state, rather than static host files and manual port wiring.

4. Native service platform

Globular manages services as native binaries under systemd. It is designed for environments where that model is a feature, not a compromise.

What Globular Does

Globular provides a platform layer across the full lifecycle of distributed services.

Day-0: Bootstrap

• install the minimum infrastructure and control plane
• initialize identity and certificates
• establish the initial state foundation

Day-1: Publish and deploy

• build and package services
• publish artifacts to the repository
• install and activate services on nodes
• route traffic dynamically through xDS and gateway components

Day-2: Operate and evolve

• inspect workflows and state transitions
• detect drift and health issues
• run repair or reseed flows
• observe service/runtime status through admin tools and simulations

Main Building Blocks

Platform shell and routing

This repository contains the gateway/xDS-facing project shell and serves as the umbrella entry point for the platform.

Core services

The services repository contains the backend and control-plane implementation, including:

• cluster controller
• node agent
• workflow engine
• repository service
• authentication and RBAC
• DNS and resource services
• monitoring, backup, and AI-assisted operational services

Install

Installable releases are published from the services releases page.

Example install flow on Linux:

VERSION="1.0.56"

curl -LO "https://github.com/globulario/services/releases/download/v${VERSION}/globular-${VERSION}-linux-amd64.tar.gz"
curl -LO "https://github.com/globulario/services/releases/download/v${VERSION}/globular-${VERSION}-linux-amd64.tar.gz.sha256"
/usr/bin/sha256sum -c "globular-${VERSION}-linux-amd64.tar.gz.sha256"

tar xzf "globular-${VERSION}-linux-amd64.tar.gz"
cd "globular-${VERSION}-linux-amd64"
sudo bash install.sh

The release archive is the user-facing install entry point. The install.sh script uses the logic from globular-installer behind the scenes, but most end users should start from the published release artifacts, not from the installer repository directly.

Quickstart and simulation

The globular-quickstart repository provides a Docker-based simulation environment for validating platform behavior with production-style binaries and realistic scenarios.

Admin console

The globular-admin repository contains the official management UI, along with frontend building blocks, TypeScript SDK/components, and the web admin application. It can later be wrapped as a Tauri desktop app.

Start Here

Understand the platform

• Read this README for the big picture
• Explore the docs in services/docs

Explore the core implementation

• Open services
• Review proto/, golang/, and the architecture/operator docs

Install a cluster

• Download an installable release from services releases
• Extract the archive and run sudo bash install.sh

Simulate and test

• Use globular-quickstart to run scenario-based simulations and validate behavior before or alongside real deployments

Operate through the UI

• Use globular-admin for administration, management, and the official operator experience

Work on installer internals

• Use globular-installer only if you are contributing to the bootstrap/install pipeline itself

Who Globular Is For

Globular is aimed at people who want to operate distributed systems with more control and less fog.

It is a strong fit for:

• self-hosters and infrastructure builders
• operators who want explicit workflows and visible state transitions
• teams deploying native services on bare metal or VMs
• projects that need identity, routing, storage, and lifecycle management in one platform layer
• developers building local-first systems that can grow into clustered deployments

Philosophy

Globular is about owning your infrastructure.

We favor:

• Explicit systems over hidden magic
• Observable operations over black-box orchestration
• Identity over ad hoc trust
• Clear state boundaries over collapsed abstractions
• Self-hosting over SaaS dependency
• Evolution over rewrite culture

The goal is not to hide distributed systems behind a curtain.

The goal is to make them operable, understandable, and yours.

Project Status

Globular is an actively evolving platform. The project now spans multiple repositories with a clearer separation between platform shell, core services, installer, simulation environment, and admin tooling.

The center of gravity for the core backend implementation and documentation is currently the services repository.

Community and Links

• Website: globular.io
• Organization: github.com/globulario
• Main Platform Entry: Globular
• Core Services: services
• Installer: globular-installer
• Quickstart: globular-quickstart
• Admin Console: globular-admin
• Medium Article: Meet Globular

License

MIT License. See LICENSE.

Self-hosted. Explicit. Operable.
_{Globular is a platform for running distributed services on your terms.}