source/about.md - libcloud-site - Git at Google

 ---
 layout: page_with_sidebar
 title: About
 description: Libcloud is a Python library for interacting with many of the popular cloud service providers using a uniform API
 ---

 # About

 Libcloud is a Python library for interacting with many of the popular cloud
 service providers using a unified API. It was created to make it easy for
 developers to build products that work between any of the services that it
 supports.

 Resource you can manage with Libcloud are divided in the following categories:

 * Cloud Servers and Block Storage - services such as Amazon EC2 and Rackspace
   CloudServers
 * Cloud Object Storage and CDN - services such as Amazon S3 and Rackspace
   CloudFiles
 * Load Balancers as a Service - services such as Amazon Elastic Load Balancer
   and GoGrid LoadBalancers
 * DNS as a Service - services such as Amazon Route 53 and Zerigo
 * Containers as a Service - services such as Amazon Elastic Containers (ECS)
   and Google Container Engine (GKE)

 For more information about the features and supported providers, please refer
 to the [documentation][9].

 ## History

 Libcloud was originally developed and open-sourced in 2009 by folks at
 [Cloudkick][4]. It was developed to solve a problem of talking to multiple
 different cloud provider APIs.

 Later that year, the project joined Apache Incubator. In May of 2011,
 the project graduated from the incubator to a top level project.

 For a full timeline of the events and other important dates, please see the
 "Important Milestones and Dates" section bellow.

 ## Supported Python Versions

 Libcloud supports the following Python version:

 * Python 3.5
 * Python 3.6
 * Python 3.7 (since 2.5.0)
 * Python 3.8 (since 2.7.0)
 * PyPy 3 (3.5.x, 3.6.x)

 First version which introduced Python 3 support was 0.7.1.

 Support for Python 2.7 and Python 3.4 has been dropped in
 **Libcloud 3.0.0**.

 Support for Python 2.4 has been dropped in **Libcloud 0.4.0**, Python 2.5 in
 2016 and Python 2.6 and 3.3 in **Libcloud 2.3.0**.

 ## Release Schedule

 We don't follow a regular releases schedule as you might know it from other
 projects such as Ubuntu.

 Here are the guidelines we follow when scheduling and preparing a release:

 1. Normal (stable) release - We prepare and get the release out as soon as
 enough changes accumulate in trunk.
 2. Bug fix release - It depends on the severity of a bug and how many users
 it affects. If it affects a lot of users or a big chunk of the code we try
 to prepare and get the release out as soon as possible.
 3. Security fix release - We prepare and get the release out as soon as
 possible.

 ## Similar Libraries in Other Languages

 As noted above, Libcloud is a Python library.

 If you are looking for a similar library for a different language, you should
 have a look at some of the libraries listed bellow:

 * [Apache Jclouds][10] - Java
 * [Apache Deltacloud][13] - Ruby, HTTP
 * [Fog][11] - Ruby
 * [pkgcloud][12] - Node.js
 * [elibloud][22] - Erlang (Erlang wrapper around Libcloud)

 If you feel adventures, you should also have a look at [Libcloud REST][20], a
 [Google Summer of Code 2012][21] project which exposes most of the Libcloud
 functionality over HTTP.

 ## Important Milestones and Dates

 * Summer 2009 - Libcloud development starts at Cloudkick
 * July 23, 2009 - [First open-source version of Libcloud is released by folks
 at Cloudkick][16]
 * November 11th, 2009 - [Project enters Apache Incubator][2]
 * March 22nd, 2011 - [Website has been ported to Apache CMS][15]
 * February 2nd, 2010 - First Apache release (0.2.0) is out
 * May 10th, 2011 - [Community voting for graduation to a Top Level Project has started][17]
 * May 19th, 2011 - [Project graduates to a top level project][3]
 * May 19th, 2011 - [Project gets a chair - Tomaz Muraus][3]
 * May 25, 2011 - [Libcloud 0.5.0 which moves away from compute only and includes
   support for object storage and load balancer API is released][5]
 * November 5th, 2011 - [Libcloud 0.6.0 which includes support for a new DNS
   API is released][6]
 * April 2012 - Libcloud participates in GSoC 2012. Student Ilgiz Islamgulov
   works on "Libcloud REST interface" project.
 * August 30th, 2012 - [Libcloud REST GSoC 2012 project has been successfully
   completed][18]
 * June 12th, 2011 - [Code repository has moved from SVN to git][19]
 * July 2013 - Work has started on a new and improved documentation which is
   now hosted on ReadTheDocs
 * April 2020 - [Libcloud 3.0.0 is released and we drop support for Python 2][23]

 [1]: {{ page.url }}
 [2]: http://incubator.apache.org/projects/libcloud.html
 [3]: https://blogs.apache.org/foundation/entry/the_apache_software_foundation_announces12
 [4]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloudkick
 [5]: http://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/libcloud-dev/201105.mbox/%3CBANLkTi%3DLqBidHLHUwAJSAWSzd-qSpad%2BdA%40mail.gmail.com%3E
 [6]: http://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/libcloud-dev/201111.mbox/%3CCAJMHEmKkRPVeLjJ%2BCeTFU0wrW2QbyOz2bd3HVLi3Ydw283oDKQ%40mail.gmail.com%3E
 [7]: http://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/projects/list/google/gsoc2012
 [8]: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/LIBCLOUD-159
 [9]: https://libcloud.readthedocs.org/en/stable/
 [10]: http://jclouds.apache.org/
 [11]: http://fog.io/
 [12]: https://github.com/nodejitsu/pkgcloud
 [13]: http://deltacloud.apache.org/
 [14]: http://mail-archives.us.apache.org/mod_mbox/www-announce/201005.mbox/%3CAANLkTilX0aWMhmdZWm-vCF3XjNaOQHrv7MWuj0ogNhRf@mail.gmail.com%3E
 [15]: http://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/incubator-libcloud/201103.mbox/%3CAANLkTi=aYQQfcZRJW0yz4Fhm8WeHSzDFbGM5tdsOz4sd@mail.gmail.com%3E
 [16]: http://web.archive.org/web/20120517182502/https://www.cloudkick.com/blog/2009/jul/23/libcloud-announced/
 [17]: http://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/incubator-libcloud/201105.mbox/%3CBANLkTimouwpSUkw-BVPV_KnpbfFgU6yqeQ@mail.gmail.com%3E
 [18]: http://google-opensource.blogspot.com/2012/08/8th-year-of-google-summer-of-code-draws.html
 [19]: http://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/libcloud-dev/201306.mbox/%3CCAJMHEmLUxAri0Pkw8-sHHb5tF2tH-qxjU7GC1zwVaNbFT%3DrUMg%40mail.gmail.com%3EZ
 [20]: https://github.com/islamgulov/libcloud.rest
 [21]: /gsoc-2012.html
 [22]: https://github.com/esl/elibcloud
 [23]: https://libcloud.apache.org/blog/2020/04/15/libcloud-3-0-0-released.html
	---
	layout: page_with_sidebar
	title: About
	description: Libcloud is a Python library for interacting with many of the popular cloud service providers using a uniform API
	---

	# About

	Libcloud is a Python library for interacting with many of the popular cloud
	service providers using a unified API. It was created to make it easy for
	developers to build products that work between any of the services that it
	supports.

	Resource you can manage with Libcloud are divided in the following categories:

	* Cloud Servers and Block Storage - services such as Amazon EC2 and Rackspace
	CloudServers
	* Cloud Object Storage and CDN - services such as Amazon S3 and Rackspace
	CloudFiles
	* Load Balancers as a Service - services such as Amazon Elastic Load Balancer
	and GoGrid LoadBalancers
	* DNS as a Service - services such as Amazon Route 53 and Zerigo
	* Containers as a Service - services such as Amazon Elastic Containers (ECS)
	and Google Container Engine (GKE)

	For more information about the features and supported providers, please refer
	to the [documentation][9].

	## History

	Libcloud was originally developed and open-sourced in 2009 by folks at
	[Cloudkick][4]. It was developed to solve a problem of talking to multiple
	different cloud provider APIs.

	Later that year, the project joined Apache Incubator. In May of 2011,
	the project graduated from the incubator to a top level project.

	For a full timeline of the events and other important dates, please see the
	"Important Milestones and Dates" section bellow.

	## Supported Python Versions

	Libcloud supports the following Python version:

	* Python 3.5
	* Python 3.6
	* Python 3.7 (since 2.5.0)
	* Python 3.8 (since 2.7.0)
	* PyPy 3 (3.5.x, 3.6.x)

	First version which introduced Python 3 support was 0.7.1.

	Support for Python 2.7 and Python 3.4 has been dropped in
	Libcloud 3.0.0.

	Support for Python 2.4 has been dropped in Libcloud 0.4.0, Python 2.5 in
	2016 and Python 2.6 and 3.3 in Libcloud 2.3.0.

	## Release Schedule

	We don't follow a regular releases schedule as you might know it from other
	projects such as Ubuntu.

	Here are the guidelines we follow when scheduling and preparing a release:

	1. Normal (stable) release - We prepare and get the release out as soon as
	enough changes accumulate in trunk.
	2. Bug fix release - It depends on the severity of a bug and how many users
	it affects. If it affects a lot of users or a big chunk of the code we try
	to prepare and get the release out as soon as possible.
	3. Security fix release - We prepare and get the release out as soon as
	possible.

	## Similar Libraries in Other Languages

	As noted above, Libcloud is a Python library.

	If you are looking for a similar library for a different language, you should
	have a look at some of the libraries listed bellow:

	* [Apache Jclouds][10] - Java
	* [Apache Deltacloud][13] - Ruby, HTTP
	* [Fog][11] - Ruby
	* [pkgcloud][12] - Node.js
	* [elibloud][22] - Erlang (Erlang wrapper around Libcloud)

	If you feel adventures, you should also have a look at [Libcloud REST][20], a
	[Google Summer of Code 2012][21] project which exposes most of the Libcloud
	functionality over HTTP.

	## Important Milestones and Dates

	* Summer 2009 - Libcloud development starts at Cloudkick
	* July 23, 2009 - [First open-source version of Libcloud is released by folks
	at Cloudkick][16]
	* November 11th, 2009 - [Project enters Apache Incubator][2]
	* March 22nd, 2011 - [Website has been ported to Apache CMS][15]
	* February 2nd, 2010 - First Apache release (0.2.0) is out
	* May 10th, 2011 - [Community voting for graduation to a Top Level Project has started][17]
	* May 19th, 2011 - [Project graduates to a top level project][3]
	* May 19th, 2011 - [Project gets a chair - Tomaz Muraus][3]
	* May 25, 2011 - [Libcloud 0.5.0 which moves away from compute only and includes
	support for object storage and load balancer API is released][5]
	* November 5th, 2011 - [Libcloud 0.6.0 which includes support for a new DNS
	API is released][6]
	* April 2012 - Libcloud participates in GSoC 2012. Student Ilgiz Islamgulov
	works on "Libcloud REST interface" project.
	* August 30th, 2012 - [Libcloud REST GSoC 2012 project has been successfully
	completed][18]
	* June 12th, 2011 - [Code repository has moved from SVN to git][19]
	* July 2013 - Work has started on a new and improved documentation which is
	now hosted on ReadTheDocs
	* April 2020 - [Libcloud 3.0.0 is released and we drop support for Python 2][23]

	[1]: {{ page.url }}
	[2]: http://incubator.apache.org/projects/libcloud.html
	[3]: https://blogs.apache.org/foundation/entry/the_apache_software_foundation_announces12
	[4]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloudkick
	[5]: http://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/libcloud-dev/201105.mbox/%3CBANLkTi%3DLqBidHLHUwAJSAWSzd-qSpad%2BdA%40mail.gmail.com%3E
	[6]: http://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/libcloud-dev/201111.mbox/%3CCAJMHEmKkRPVeLjJ%2BCeTFU0wrW2QbyOz2bd3HVLi3Ydw283oDKQ%40mail.gmail.com%3E
	[7]: http://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/projects/list/google/gsoc2012
	[8]: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/LIBCLOUD-159
	[9]: https://libcloud.readthedocs.org/en/stable/
	[10]: http://jclouds.apache.org/
	[11]: http://fog.io/
	[12]: https://github.com/nodejitsu/pkgcloud
	[13]: http://deltacloud.apache.org/
	[14]: http://mail-archives.us.apache.org/mod_mbox/www-announce/201005.mbox/%3CAANLkTilX0aWMhmdZWm-vCF3XjNaOQHrv7MWuj0ogNhRf@mail.gmail.com%3E
	[15]: http://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/incubator-libcloud/201103.mbox/%3CAANLkTi=aYQQfcZRJW0yz4Fhm8WeHSzDFbGM5tdsOz4sd@mail.gmail.com%3E
	[16]: http://web.archive.org/web/20120517182502/https://www.cloudkick.com/blog/2009/jul/23/libcloud-announced/
	[17]: http://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/incubator-libcloud/201105.mbox/%3CBANLkTimouwpSUkw-BVPV_KnpbfFgU6yqeQ@mail.gmail.com%3E
	[18]: http://google-opensource.blogspot.com/2012/08/8th-year-of-google-summer-of-code-draws.html
	[19]: http://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/libcloud-dev/201306.mbox/%3CCAJMHEmLUxAri0Pkw8-sHHb5tF2tH-qxjU7GC1zwVaNbFT%3DrUMg%40mail.gmail.com%3EZ
	[20]: https://github.com/islamgulov/libcloud.rest
	[21]: /gsoc-2012.html
	[22]: https://github.com/esl/elibcloud
	[23]: https://libcloud.apache.org/blog/2020/04/15/libcloud-3-0-0-released.html