s6 ☆
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Description:
Small & secure supervision software suite
Type: Formula  |  Latest Version: 2.13.2.0@0  |  Tracked Since: Dec 24, 2025
Links: Homepage  |  formulae.brew.sh
Category: System utilities
Tags: supervision init-system daemon service-management process-monitoring
Install: brew install s6
About:
s6 is a suite of low-level utilities for process supervision and service management, designed as a secure and lightweight alternative to traditional init systems. It provides tools to start, monitor, and reliably stop services, as well as manage system-wide and per-user service directories. Its core philosophy emphasizes process supervision, logging, and clean process hierarchy management.
Key Features:
  • Process supervision with automatic restarts
  • Service dependency management and ordering
  • Lightweight and secure design with minimal dependencies
  • Logging infrastructure for supervised processes
  • Works both as a complete init system and as a standalone supervisor
Use Cases:
  • Managing long-running services and daemons in production
  • Building minimal container images with reliable process supervision
  • Replacing or augmenting traditional init systems like sysvinit or systemd
Alternatives:
  • systemd – s6 is significantly smaller and more modular, focusing only on supervision rather than being a full system management suite.
  • runit – s6 provides similar process supervision but with better handling of service dependencies and more flexible logging options.
  • supervisord – s6 is written in C and has no Python dependency, making it more suitable for minimal systems and embedded environments.
Version History
Detected Version Rev Change Commit
Dec 24, 2025 7:10pm 2.13.2.0 0 VERSION_BUMP 44538af5
Sep 11, 2025 5:29am 0 VERSION_BUMP 56a911ce
Oct 10, 2024 12:15am 0 VERSION_BUMP f74eec99
Oct 9, 2024 5:10pm 0 VERSION_BUMP 89270fcf
Sep 14, 2024 4:09pm 0 VERSION_BUMP b46edc18
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