Introduced in Rancher v2.6.1, Harvester is an open-source hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) software built on Kubernetes. Harvester installs on bare metal servers and provides integrated virtualization and distributed storage capabilities. Although Harvester operates using Kubernetes, it does not require users to know Kubernetes concepts, making it a more user-friendly application. Some notable features of Harvester include the following: 1. VM lifecycle management including SSH-Key injection, cloud-init, and graphic and serial port console 2. VM live migration support 3. Supported VM backup, snapshot and restore 4. Distributed block storage and storage tiering 5. Multiple network interface controllers (NICs) in the VM connecting to the management network or VLANs 6. Virtual Machine and cloud-init templates 7. Rancher integration with multi-cluster management and the Harvester node driver 8. PXE/iPXE boot support 9. Virtual IP and bond NIC support 10. Monitoring and logging integration