HaLVM is a Haskell-based unikernel system that lets you write entire virtual machines in Haskell and run them directly on a hypervisor, traditionally Xen. Instead of deploying a full operating system, you compile a Haskell program into a tiny image that boots as its own VM, which reduces the attack surface and startup time. The project adapts GHC and the Haskell runtime to a minimal environment, providing the I/O, networking, and memory facilities necessary for standalone services. Its design encourages highly isolated services—each VM does one job—making it attractive for security-sensitive components and research on microservice-style architectures. Developers get to keep Haskell’s strong typing, concurrency abstractions, and functional style while targeting bare virtual hardware. Although device support is intentionally narrow compared to general-purpose OSes, the trade-off is predictability and very small, auditable deployments.

Features

  • Execution of Haskell programs directly on Xen hypervisor (no host OS)
  • Integration with GHC toolchain and Cabal for library use
  • Lightweight Xen domains optimized for single-purpose workloads
  • Support for network, I/O, and system services in Haskell
  • Examples and sample projects bundled with the distribution
  • Ability to run pure Haskell libraries with minimal adaptation

Project Samples

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Categories

Virtual Machine

License

BSD License

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Additional Project Details

Programming Language

Haskell

Related Categories

Haskell Virtual Machine Software

Registered

2025-09-26