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-<?xml version='1.0'?> <!--*- Mode: nxml; nxml-child-indent: 2; indent-tabs-mode: nil -*-->
-<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.2//EN"
- "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd">
-
-<!--
- This file is part of systemd.
-
- Copyright 2010 Lennart Poettering
-
- systemd is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
- under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
- the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the License, or
- (at your option) any later version.
-
- systemd is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
- WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
- MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
- Lesser General Public License for more details.
-
- You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
- along with systemd; If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
--->
-
-<refentry id="systemd-nspawn"
- xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude">
-
- <refentryinfo>
- <title>systemd-nspawn</title>
- <productname>systemd</productname>
-
- <authorgroup>
- <author>
- <contrib>Developer</contrib>
- <firstname>Lennart</firstname>
- <surname>Poettering</surname>
- <email>lennart@poettering.net</email>
- </author>
- </authorgroup>
- </refentryinfo>
-
- <refmeta>
- <refentrytitle>systemd-nspawn</refentrytitle>
- <manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
- </refmeta>
-
- <refnamediv>
- <refname>systemd-nspawn</refname>
- <refpurpose>Spawn a namespace container for debugging, testing and building</refpurpose>
- </refnamediv>
-
- <refsynopsisdiv>
- <cmdsynopsis>
- <command>systemd-nspawn</command>
- <arg choice="opt" rep="repeat">OPTIONS</arg>
- <arg choice="opt"><replaceable>COMMAND</replaceable>
- <arg choice="opt" rep="repeat">ARGS</arg>
- </arg>
- </cmdsynopsis>
- <cmdsynopsis>
- <command>systemd-nspawn</command>
- <arg choice="plain">--boot</arg>
- <arg choice="opt" rep="repeat">OPTIONS</arg>
- <arg choice="opt" rep="repeat">ARGS</arg>
- </cmdsynopsis>
- </refsynopsisdiv>
-
- <refsect1>
- <title>Description</title>
-
- <para><command>systemd-nspawn</command> may be used to run a command or OS in a light-weight namespace
- container. In many ways it is similar to <citerefentry
- project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>chroot</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>, but more powerful
- since it fully virtualizes the file system hierarchy, as well as the process tree, the various IPC subsystems and
- the host and domain name.</para>
-
- <para><command>systemd-nspawn</command> may be invoked on any directory tree containing an operating system tree,
- using the <option>--directory=</option> command line option. By using the <option>--machine=</option> option an OS
- tree is automatically searched for in a couple of locations, most importantly in
- <filename>/var/lib/machines</filename>, the suggested directory to place container images installed on the
- system.</para>
-
- <para>In contrast to <citerefentry
- project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>chroot</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> <command>systemd-nspawn</command>
- may be used to boot full Linux-based operating systems in a container.</para>
-
- <para><command>systemd-nspawn</command> limits access to various kernel interfaces in the container to read-only,
- such as <filename>/sys</filename>, <filename>/proc/sys</filename> or <filename>/sys/fs/selinux</filename>. The
- host's network interfaces and the system clock may not be changed from within the container. Device nodes may not
- be created. The host system cannot be rebooted and kernel modules may not be loaded from within the
- container.</para>
-
- <para>Use a tool like <citerefentry
- project='mankier'><refentrytitle>dnf</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>, <citerefentry
- project='die-net'><refentrytitle>debootstrap</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>, or
- <citerefentry project='archlinux'><refentrytitle>pacman</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry> to
- set up an OS directory tree suitable as file system hierarchy for <command>systemd-nspawn</command> containers. See
- the Examples section below for details on suitable invocation of these commands.</para>
-
- <para>As a safety check <command>systemd-nspawn</command> will verify the existence of
- <filename>/usr/lib/os-release</filename> or <filename>/etc/os-release</filename> in the container tree before
- starting the container (see
- <citerefentry><refentrytitle>os-release</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>). It might be
- necessary to add this file to the container tree manually if the OS of the container is too old to contain this
- file out-of-the-box.</para>
-
- <para><command>systemd-nspawn</command> may be invoked directly from the interactive command line or run as system
- service in the background. In this mode each container instance runs as its own service instance; a default
- template unit file <filename>systemd-nspawn@.service</filename> is provided to make this easy, taking the container
- name as instance identifier. Note that different default options apply when <command>systemd-nspawn</command> is
- invoked by the template unit file than interactively on the command line. Most importantly the template unit file
- makes use of the <option>--boot</option> which is not the default in case <command>systemd-nspawn</command> is
- invoked from the interactive command line. Further differences with the defaults are documented along with the
- various supported options below.</para>
-
- <para>The <citerefentry><refentrytitle>machinectl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> tool may
- be used to execute a number of operations on containers. In particular it provides easy-to-use commands to run
- containers as system services using the <filename>systemd-nspawn@.service</filename> template unit
- file.</para>
-
- <para>Along with each container a settings file with the <filename>.nspawn</filename> suffix may exist, containing
- additional settings to apply when running the container. See
- <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.nspawn</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> for
- details. Settings files override the default options used by the <filename>systemd-nspawn@.service</filename>
- template unit file, making it usually unnecessary to alter this template file directly.</para>
-
- <para>Note that <command>systemd-nspawn</command> will mount file systems private to the container to
- <filename>/dev</filename>, <filename>/run</filename> and similar. These will not be visible outside of the
- container, and their contents will be lost when the container exits.</para>
-
- <para>Note that running two <command>systemd-nspawn</command> containers from the same directory tree will not make
- processes in them see each other. The PID namespace separation of the two containers is complete and the containers
- will share very few runtime objects except for the underlying file system. Use
- <citerefentry><refentrytitle>machinectl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>'s
- <command>login</command> or <command>shell</command> commands to request an additional login session in a running
- container.</para>
-
- <para><command>systemd-nspawn</command> implements the <ulink
- url="http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/ContainerInterface">Container Interface</ulink>
- specification.</para>
-
- <para>While running, containers invoked with <command>systemd-nspawn</command> are registered with the
- <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-machined</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry> service that
- keeps track of running containers, and provides programming interfaces to interact with them.</para>
- </refsect1>
-
- <refsect1>
- <title>Options</title>
-
- <para>If option <option>-b</option> is specified, the arguments
- are used as arguments for the init binary. Otherwise,
- <replaceable>COMMAND</replaceable> specifies the program to launch
- in the container, and the remaining arguments are used as
- arguments for this program. If <option>--boot</option> is not used and
- no arguments are specified, a shell is launched in the
- container.</para>
-
- <para>The following options are understood:</para>
-
- <variablelist>
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>-D</option></term>
- <term><option>--directory=</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Directory to use as file system root for the
- container.</para>
-
- <para>If neither <option>--directory=</option>, nor
- <option>--image=</option> is specified the directory is
- determined by searching for a directory named the same as the
- machine name specified with <option>--machine=</option>. See
- <citerefentry><refentrytitle>machinectl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
- section "Files and Directories" for the precise search path.</para>
-
- <para>If neither <option>--directory=</option>,
- <option>--image=</option>, nor <option>--machine=</option>
- are specified, the current directory will
- be used. May not be specified together with
- <option>--image=</option>.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>--template=</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Directory or <literal>btrfs</literal>
- subvolume to use as template for the container's root
- directory. If this is specified and the container's root
- directory (as configured by <option>--directory=</option>)
- does not yet exist it is created as <literal>btrfs</literal>
- subvolume and populated from this template tree. Ideally, the
- specified template path refers to the root of a
- <literal>btrfs</literal> subvolume, in which case a simple
- copy-on-write snapshot is taken, and populating the root
- directory is instant. If the specified template path does not
- refer to the root of a <literal>btrfs</literal> subvolume (or
- not even to a <literal>btrfs</literal> file system at all),
- the tree is copied, which can be substantially more
- time-consuming. Note that if this option is used the
- container's root directory (in contrast to the template
- directory!) must be located on a <literal>btrfs</literal> file
- system, so that the <literal>btrfs</literal> subvolume may be
- created. May not be specified together with
- <option>--image=</option> or
- <option>--ephemeral</option>.</para>
-
- <para>Note that this switch leaves host name, machine ID and
- all other settings that could identify the instance
- unmodified.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>-x</option></term>
- <term><option>--ephemeral</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>If specified, the container is run with a
- temporary <literal>btrfs</literal> snapshot of its root
- directory (as configured with <option>--directory=</option>),
- that is removed immediately when the container terminates.
- This option is only supported if the root file system is
- <literal>btrfs</literal>. May not be specified together with
- <option>--image=</option> or
- <option>--template=</option>.</para>
- <para>Note that this switch leaves host name, machine ID and
- all other settings that could identify the instance
- unmodified.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>-i</option></term>
- <term><option>--image=</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Disk image to mount the root directory for the
- container from. Takes a path to a regular file or to a block
- device node. The file or block device must contain
- either:</para>
-
- <itemizedlist>
- <listitem><para>An MBR partition table with a single
- partition of type 0x83 that is marked
- bootable.</para></listitem>
-
- <listitem><para>A GUID partition table (GPT) with a single
- partition of type
- 0fc63daf-8483-4772-8e79-3d69d8477de4.</para></listitem>
-
- <listitem><para>A GUID partition table (GPT) with a marked
- root partition which is mounted as the root directory of the
- container. Optionally, GPT images may contain a home and/or
- a server data partition which are mounted to the appropriate
- places in the container. All these partitions must be
- identified by the partition types defined by the <ulink
- url="http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/DiscoverablePartitionsSpec/">Discoverable
- Partitions Specification</ulink>.</para></listitem>
- </itemizedlist>
-
- <para>Any other partitions, such as foreign partitions, swap
- partitions or EFI system partitions are not mounted. May not
- be specified together with <option>--directory=</option>,
- <option>--template=</option> or
- <option>--ephemeral</option>.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>-a</option></term>
- <term><option>--as-pid2</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Invoke the shell or specified program as process ID (PID) 2 instead of PID 1 (init). By
- default, if neither this option nor <option>--boot</option> is used, the selected binary is run as process with
- PID 1, a mode only suitable for programs that are aware of the special semantics that the process with PID 1
- has on UNIX. For example, it needs to reap all processes reparented to it, and should implement
- <command>sysvinit</command> compatible signal handling (specifically: it needs to reboot on SIGINT, reexecute
- on SIGTERM, reload configuration on SIGHUP, and so on). With <option>--as-pid2</option> a minimal stub init
- process is run as PID 1 and the selected binary is executed as PID 2 (and hence does not need to implement any
- special semantics). The stub init process will reap processes as necessary and react appropriately to
- signals. It is recommended to use this mode to invoke arbitrary commands in containers, unless they have been
- modified to run correctly as PID 1. Or in other words: this switch should be used for pretty much all commands,
- except when the command refers to an init or shell implementation, as these are generally capable of running
- correctly as PID 1. This option may not be combined with <option>--boot</option>.</para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>-b</option></term>
- <term><option>--boot</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Automatically search for an init binary and invoke it as PID 1, instead of a shell or a user
- supplied program. If this option is used, arguments specified on the command line are used as arguments for the
- init binary. This option may not be combined with <option>--as-pid2</option>.</para>
-
- <para>The following table explains the different modes of invocation and relationship to
- <option>--as-pid2</option> (see above):</para>
-
- <table>
- <title>Invocation Mode</title>
- <tgroup cols='2' align='left' colsep='1' rowsep='1'>
- <colspec colname="switch" />
- <colspec colname="explanation" />
- <thead>
- <row>
- <entry>Switch</entry>
- <entry>Explanation</entry>
- </row>
- </thead>
- <tbody>
- <row>
- <entry>Neither <option>--as-pid2</option> nor <option>--boot</option> specified</entry>
- <entry>The passed parameters are interpreted as the command line, which is executed as PID 1 in the container.</entry>
- </row>
-
- <row>
- <entry><option>--as-pid2</option> specified</entry>
- <entry>The passed parameters are interpreted as the command line, which is executed as PID 2 in the container. A stub init process is run as PID 1.</entry>
- </row>
-
- <row>
- <entry><option>--boot</option> specified</entry>
- <entry>An init binary as automatically searched and run as PID 1 in the container. The passed parameters are used as invocation parameters for this process.</entry>
- </row>
-
- </tbody>
- </tgroup>
- </table>
-
- <para>Note that <option>--boot</option> is the default mode of operation if the
- <filename>systemd-nspawn@.service</filename> template unit file is used.</para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>--chdir=</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Change to the specified working directory before invoking the process in the container. Expects
- an absolute path in the container's file system namespace.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>-u</option></term>
- <term><option>--user=</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>After transitioning into the container, change
- to the specified user-defined in the container's user
- database. Like all other systemd-nspawn features, this is not
- a security feature and provides protection against accidental
- destructive operations only.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>-M</option></term>
- <term><option>--machine=</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Sets the machine name for this container. This
- name may be used to identify this container during its runtime
- (for example in tools like
- <citerefentry><refentrytitle>machinectl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
- and similar), and is used to initialize the container's
- hostname (which the container can choose to override,
- however). If not specified, the last component of the root
- directory path of the container is used, possibly suffixed
- with a random identifier in case <option>--ephemeral</option>
- mode is selected. If the root directory selected is the host's
- root directory the host's hostname is used as default
- instead.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>--uuid=</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Set the specified UUID for the container. The
- init system will initialize
- <filename>/etc/machine-id</filename> from this if this file is
- not set yet. Note that this option takes effect only if
- <filename>/etc/machine-id</filename> in the container is
- unpopulated.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>--slice=</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Make the container part of the specified
- slice, instead of the default
- <filename>machine.slice</filename>. This is only applies if
- the machine is run in its own scope unit, i.e. if
- <option>--keep-unit</option> is not used.</para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>--property=</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Set a unit property on the scope unit to
- register for the machine. This only applies if the machine is
- run in its own scope unit, i.e. if
- <option>--keep-unit</option> is not used. Takes unit property
- assignments in the same format as <command>systemctl
- set-property</command>. This is useful to set memory limits
- and similar for machines.</para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>--private-users=</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Controls user namespacing. If enabled, the container will run with its own private set of UNIX
- user and group ids (UIDs and GIDs). This involves mapping the private UIDs/GIDs used in the container (starting
- with the container's root user 0 and up) to a range of UIDs/GIDs on the host that are not used for other
- purposes (usually in the range beyond the host's UID/GID 65536). The parameter may be specified as follows:</para>
-
- <orderedlist>
- <listitem><para>If one or two colon-separated numbers are specified, user namespacing is turned on. The first
- parameter specifies the first host UID/GID to assign to the container, the second parameter specifies the
- number of host UIDs/GIDs to assign to the container. If the second parameter is omitted, 65536 UIDs/GIDs are
- assigned.</para></listitem>
-
- <listitem><para>If the parameter is omitted, or true, user namespacing is turned on. The UID/GID range to
- use is determined automatically from the file ownership of the root directory of the container's directory
- tree. To use this option, make sure to prepare the directory tree in advance, and ensure that all files and
- directories in it are owned by UIDs/GIDs in the range you'd like to use. Also, make sure that used file ACLs
- exclusively reference UIDs/GIDs in the appropriate range. If this mode is used the number of UIDs/GIDs
- assigned to the container for use is 65536, and the UID/GID of the root directory must be a multiple of
- 65536.</para></listitem>
-
- <listitem><para>If the parameter is false, user namespacing is turned off. This is the default.</para>
- </listitem>
-
- <listitem><para>The special value <literal>pick</literal> turns on user namespacing. In this case the UID/GID
- range is automatically chosen. As first step, the file owner of the root directory of the container's
- directory tree is read, and it is checked that it is currently not used by the system otherwise (in
- particular, that no other container is using it). If this check is successful, the UID/GID range determined
- this way is used, similar to the behavior if "yes" is specified. If the check is not successful (and thus
- the UID/GID range indicated in the root directory's file owner is already used elsewhere) a new – currently
- unused – UID/GID range of 65536 UIDs/GIDs is randomly chosen between the host UID/GIDs of 524288 and
- 1878982656, always starting at a multiple of 65536. This setting implies
- <option>--private-users-chown</option> (see below), which has the effect that the files and directories in
- the container's directory tree will be owned by the appropriate users of the range picked. Using this option
- makes user namespace behavior fully automatic. Note that the first invocation of a previously unused
- container image might result in picking a new UID/GID range for it, and thus in the (possibly expensive) file
- ownership adjustment operation. However, subsequent invocations of the container will be cheap (unless of
- course the picked UID/GID range is assigned to a different use by then).</para></listitem>
- </orderedlist>
-
- <para>It is recommended to assign at least 65536 UIDs/GIDs to each container, so that the usable UID/GID range in the
- container covers 16 bit. For best security, do not assign overlapping UID/GID ranges to multiple containers. It is
- hence a good idea to use the upper 16 bit of the host 32-bit UIDs/GIDs as container identifier, while the lower 16
- bit encode the container UID/GID used. This is in fact the behavior enforced by the
- <option>--private-users=pick</option> option.</para>
-
- <para>When user namespaces are used, the GID range assigned to each container is always chosen identical to the
- UID range.</para>
-
- <para>In most cases, using <option>--private-users=pick</option> is the recommended option as it enhances
- container security massively and operates fully automatically in most cases.</para>
-
- <para>Note that the picked UID/GID range is not written to <filename>/etc/passwd</filename> or
- <filename>/etc/group</filename>. In fact, the allocation of the range is not stored persistently anywhere,
- except in the file ownership of the files and directories of the container.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>--private-users-chown</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>If specified, all files and directories in the container's directory tree will adjusted so that
- they are owned to the appropriate UIDs/GIDs selected for the container (see above). This operation is
- potentially expensive, as it involves descending and iterating through the full directory tree of the
- container. Besides actual file ownership, file ACLs are adjusted as well.</para>
-
- <para>This option is implied if <option>--private-users=pick</option> is used. This option has no effect if
- user namespacing is not used.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>-U</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>If the kernel supports the user namespaces feature, equivalent to
- <option>--private-users=pick --private-users-chown</option>, otherwise equivalent to
- <option>--private-users=no</option>.</para>
-
- <para>Note that <option>-U</option> is the default if the
- <filename>systemd-nspawn@.service</filename> template unit file is used.</para>
-
- <para>Note: it is possible to undo the effect of <option>--private-users-chown</option> (or
- <option>-U</option>) on the file system by redoing the operation with the first UID of 0:</para>
-
- <programlisting>systemd-nspawn … --private-users=0 --private-users-chown</programlisting>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>--private-network</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Disconnect networking of the container from
- the host. This makes all network interfaces unavailable in the
- container, with the exception of the loopback device and those
- specified with <option>--network-interface=</option> and
- configured with <option>--network-veth</option>. If this
- option is specified, the CAP_NET_ADMIN capability will be
- added to the set of capabilities the container retains. The
- latter may be disabled by using
- <option>--drop-capability=</option>.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>--network-interface=</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Assign the specified network interface to the
- container. This will remove the specified interface from the
- calling namespace and place it in the container. When the
- container terminates, it is moved back to the host namespace.
- Note that <option>--network-interface=</option> implies
- <option>--private-network</option>. This option may be used
- more than once to add multiple network interfaces to the
- container.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>--network-macvlan=</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Create a <literal>macvlan</literal> interface
- of the specified Ethernet network interface and add it to the
- container. A <literal>macvlan</literal> interface is a virtual
- interface that adds a second MAC address to an existing
- physical Ethernet link. The interface in the container will be
- named after the interface on the host, prefixed with
- <literal>mv-</literal>. Note that
- <option>--network-macvlan=</option> implies
- <option>--private-network</option>. This option may be used
- more than once to add multiple network interfaces to the
- container.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>--network-ipvlan=</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Create an <literal>ipvlan</literal> interface
- of the specified Ethernet network interface and add it to the
- container. An <literal>ipvlan</literal> interface is a virtual
- interface, similar to a <literal>macvlan</literal> interface,
- which uses the same MAC address as the underlying interface.
- The interface in the container will be named after the
- interface on the host, prefixed with <literal>iv-</literal>.
- Note that <option>--network-ipvlan=</option> implies
- <option>--private-network</option>. This option may be used
- more than once to add multiple network interfaces to the
- container.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>-n</option></term>
- <term><option>--network-veth</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Create a virtual Ethernet link (<literal>veth</literal>) between host and container. The host
- side of the Ethernet link will be available as a network interface named after the container's name (as
- specified with <option>--machine=</option>), prefixed with <literal>ve-</literal>. The container side of the
- Ethernet link will be named <literal>host0</literal>. The <option>--network-veth</option> option implies
- <option>--private-network</option>.</para>
-
- <para>Note that
- <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-networkd.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>
- includes by default a network file <filename>/usr/lib/systemd/network/80-container-ve.network</filename>
- matching the host-side interfaces created this way, which contains settings to enable automatic address
- provisioning on the created virtual link via DHCP, as well as automatic IP routing onto the host's external
- network interfaces. It also contains <filename>/usr/lib/systemd/network/80-container-host0.network</filename>
- matching the container-side interface created this way, containing settings to enable client side address
- assignment via DHCP. In case <filename>systemd-networkd</filename> is running on both the host and inside the
- container, automatic IP communication from the container to the host is thus available, with further
- connectivity to the external network.</para>
-
- <para>Note that <option>--network-veth</option> is the default if the
- <filename>systemd-nspawn@.service</filename> template unit file is used.</para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>--network-veth-extra=</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Adds an additional virtual Ethernet link
- between host and container. Takes a colon-separated pair of
- host interface name and container interface name. The latter
- may be omitted in which case the container and host sides will
- be assigned the same name. This switch is independent of
- <option>--network-veth</option>, and — in contrast — may be
- used multiple times, and allows configuration of the network
- interface names. Note that <option>--network-bridge=</option>
- has no effect on interfaces created with
- <option>--network-veth-extra=</option>.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>--network-bridge=</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Adds the host side of the Ethernet link created with <option>--network-veth</option> to the
- specified Ethernet bridge interface. Expects a valid network interface name of a bridge device as
- argument. Note that <option>--network-bridge=</option> implies <option>--network-veth</option>. If this option
- is used, the host side of the Ethernet link will use the <literal>vb-</literal> prefix instead of
- <literal>ve-</literal>.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>--network-zone=</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Creates a virtual Ethernet link (<literal>veth</literal>) to the container and adds it to an
- automatically managed Ethernet bridge interface. The bridge interface is named after the passed argument,
- prefixed with <literal>vz-</literal>. The bridge interface is automatically created when the first container
- configured for its name is started, and is automatically removed when the last container configured for its
- name exits. Hence, each bridge interface configured this way exists only as long as there's at least one
- container referencing it running. This option is very similar to <option>--network-bridge=</option>, besides
- this automatic creation/removal of the bridge device.</para>
-
- <para>This setting makes it easy to place multiple related containers on a common, virtual Ethernet-based
- broadcast domain, here called a "zone". Each container may only be part of one zone, but each zone may contain
- any number of containers. Each zone is referenced by its name. Names may be chosen freely (as long as they form
- valid network interface names when prefixed with <literal>vz-</literal>), and it is sufficient to pass the same
- name to the <option>--network-zones=</option> switch of the various concurrently running containers to join
- them in one zone.</para>
-
- <para>Note that
- <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-networkd.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>
- includes by default a network file <filename>/usr/lib/systemd/network/80-container-vz.network</filename>
- matching the bridge interfaces created this way, which contains settings to enable automatic address
- provisioning on the created virtual network via DHCP, as well as automatic IP routing onto the host's external
- network interfaces. Using <option>--network-zone=</option> is hence in most cases fully automatic and
- sufficient to connect multiple local containers in a joined broadcast domain to the host, with further
- connectivity to the external network.</para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>-p</option></term>
- <term><option>--port=</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>If private networking is enabled, maps an IP
- port on the host onto an IP port on the container. Takes a
- protocol specifier (either <literal>tcp</literal> or
- <literal>udp</literal>), separated by a colon from a host port
- number in the range 1 to 65535, separated by a colon from a
- container port number in the range from 1 to 65535. The
- protocol specifier and its separating colon may be omitted, in
- which case <literal>tcp</literal> is assumed. The container
- port number and its colon may be omitted, in which case the
- same port as the host port is implied. This option is only
- supported if private networking is used, such as with
- <option>--network-veth</option>, <option>--network-zone=</option>
- <option>--network-bridge=</option>.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>-Z</option></term>
- <term><option>--selinux-context=</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Sets the SELinux security context to be used
- to label processes in the container.</para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>-L</option></term>
- <term><option>--selinux-apifs-context=</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Sets the SELinux security context to be used
- to label files in the virtual API file systems in the
- container.</para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>--capability=</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>List one or more additional capabilities to
- grant the container. Takes a comma-separated list of
- capability names, see
- <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>capabilities</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>
- for more information. Note that the following capabilities
- will be granted in any way: CAP_CHOWN, CAP_DAC_OVERRIDE,
- CAP_DAC_READ_SEARCH, CAP_FOWNER, CAP_FSETID, CAP_IPC_OWNER,
- CAP_KILL, CAP_LEASE, CAP_LINUX_IMMUTABLE,
- CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE, CAP_NET_BROADCAST, CAP_NET_RAW,
- CAP_SETGID, CAP_SETFCAP, CAP_SETPCAP, CAP_SETUID,
- CAP_SYS_ADMIN, CAP_SYS_CHROOT, CAP_SYS_NICE, CAP_SYS_PTRACE,
- CAP_SYS_TTY_CONFIG, CAP_SYS_RESOURCE, CAP_SYS_BOOT,
- CAP_AUDIT_WRITE, CAP_AUDIT_CONTROL. Also CAP_NET_ADMIN is
- retained if <option>--private-network</option> is specified.
- If the special value <literal>all</literal> is passed, all
- capabilities are retained.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>--drop-capability=</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Specify one or more additional capabilities to
- drop for the container. This allows running the container with
- fewer capabilities than the default (see
- above).</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>--kill-signal=</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Specify the process signal to send to the
- container's PID 1 when nspawn itself receives SIGTERM, in
- order to trigger an orderly shutdown of the
- container. Defaults to SIGRTMIN+3 if <option>--boot</option>
- is used (on systemd-compatible init systems SIGRTMIN+3
- triggers an orderly shutdown). For a list of valid signals, see
- <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>signal</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>--link-journal=</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Control whether the container's journal shall
- be made visible to the host system. If enabled, allows viewing
- the container's journal files from the host (but not vice
- versa). Takes one of <literal>no</literal>,
- <literal>host</literal>, <literal>try-host</literal>,
- <literal>guest</literal>, <literal>try-guest</literal>,
- <literal>auto</literal>. If <literal>no</literal>, the journal
- is not linked. If <literal>host</literal>, the journal files
- are stored on the host file system (beneath
- <filename>/var/log/journal/<replaceable>machine-id</replaceable></filename>)
- and the subdirectory is bind-mounted into the container at the
- same location. If <literal>guest</literal>, the journal files
- are stored on the guest file system (beneath
- <filename>/var/log/journal/<replaceable>machine-id</replaceable></filename>)
- and the subdirectory is symlinked into the host at the same
- location. <literal>try-host</literal> and
- <literal>try-guest</literal> do the same but do not fail if
- the host does not have persistent journaling enabled. If
- <literal>auto</literal> (the default), and the right
- subdirectory of <filename>/var/log/journal</filename> exists,
- it will be bind mounted into the container. If the
- subdirectory does not exist, no linking is performed.
- Effectively, booting a container once with
- <literal>guest</literal> or <literal>host</literal> will link
- the journal persistently if further on the default of
- <literal>auto</literal> is used.</para>
-
- <para>Note that <option>--link-journal=try-guest</option> is the default if the
- <filename>systemd-nspawn@.service</filename> template unit file is used.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>-j</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Equivalent to
- <option>--link-journal=try-guest</option>.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>--read-only</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Mount the root file system read-only for the
- container.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>--bind=</option></term>
- <term><option>--bind-ro=</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Bind mount a file or directory from the host
- into the container. Takes one of: a path argument — in which
- case the specified path will be mounted from the host to the
- same path in the container —, or a colon-separated pair of
- paths — in which case the first specified path is the source
- in the host, and the second path is the destination in the
- container —, or a colon-separated triple of source path,
- destination path and mount options. Mount options are
- comma-separated and currently, only "rbind" and "norbind"
- are allowed. Defaults to "rbind". Backslash escapes are interpreted, so
- <literal>\:</literal> may be used to embed colons in either path.
- This option may be specified multiple times for
- creating multiple independent bind mount points. The
- <option>--bind-ro=</option> option creates read-only bind
- mounts.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>--tmpfs=</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Mount a tmpfs file system into the container.
- Takes a single absolute path argument that specifies where to
- mount the tmpfs instance to (in which case the directory
- access mode will be chosen as 0755, owned by root/root), or
- optionally a colon-separated pair of path and mount option
- string that is used for mounting (in which case the kernel
- default for access mode and owner will be chosen, unless
- otherwise specified). This option is particularly useful for
- mounting directories such as <filename>/var</filename> as
- tmpfs, to allow state-less systems, in particular when
- combined with <option>--read-only</option>.
- Backslash escapes are interpreted in the path, so
- <literal>\:</literal> may be used to embed colons in the path.
- </para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>--overlay=</option></term>
- <term><option>--overlay-ro=</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Combine multiple directory trees into one
- overlay file system and mount it into the container. Takes a
- list of colon-separated paths to the directory trees to
- combine and the destination mount point.</para>
-
- <para>Backslash escapes are interpreted in the paths, so
- <literal>\:</literal> may be used to embed colons in the paths.
- </para>
-
- <para>If three or more paths are specified, then the last
- specified path is the destination mount point in the
- container, all paths specified before refer to directory trees
- on the host and are combined in the specified order into one
- overlay file system. The left-most path is hence the lowest
- directory tree, the second-to-last path the highest directory
- tree in the stacking order. If <option>--overlay-ro=</option>
- is used instead of <option>--overlay=</option>, a read-only
- overlay file system is created. If a writable overlay file
- system is created, all changes made to it are written to the
- highest directory tree in the stacking order, i.e. the
- second-to-last specified.</para>
-
- <para>If only two paths are specified, then the second
- specified path is used both as the top-level directory tree in
- the stacking order as seen from the host, as well as the mount
- point for the overlay file system in the container. At least
- two paths have to be specified.</para>
-
- <para>For details about overlay file systems, see <ulink
- url="https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/filesystems/overlayfs.txt">overlayfs.txt</ulink>. Note
- that the semantics of overlay file systems are substantially
- different from normal file systems, in particular regarding
- reported device and inode information. Device and inode
- information may change for a file while it is being written
- to, and processes might see out-of-date versions of files at
- times. Note that this switch automatically derives the
- <literal>workdir=</literal> mount option for the overlay file
- system from the top-level directory tree, making it a sibling
- of it. It is hence essential that the top-level directory tree
- is not a mount point itself (since the working directory must
- be on the same file system as the top-most directory
- tree). Also note that the <literal>lowerdir=</literal> mount
- option receives the paths to stack in the opposite order of
- this switch.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>-E <replaceable>NAME</replaceable>=<replaceable>VALUE</replaceable></option></term>
- <term><option>--setenv=<replaceable>NAME</replaceable>=<replaceable>VALUE</replaceable></option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Specifies an environment variable assignment
- to pass to the init process in the container, in the format
- <literal>NAME=VALUE</literal>. This may be used to override
- the default variables or to set additional variables. This
- parameter may be used more than once.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>--register=</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Controls whether the container is registered
- with
- <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-machined</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
- Takes a boolean argument, which defaults to <literal>yes</literal>.
- This option should be enabled when the container runs a full
- Operating System (more specifically: an init system), and is
- useful to ensure that the container is accessible via
- <citerefentry><refentrytitle>machinectl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
- and shown by tools such as
- <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>ps</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
- If the container does not run an init system, it is
- recommended to set this option to <literal>no</literal>.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>--keep-unit</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Instead of creating a transient scope unit to
- run the container in, simply register the service or scope
- unit <command>systemd-nspawn</command> has been invoked in
- with
- <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-machined</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
- This has no effect if <option>--register=no</option> is used.
- This switch should be used if
- <command>systemd-nspawn</command> is invoked from within a
- service unit, and the service unit's sole purpose is to run a
- single <command>systemd-nspawn</command> container. This
- option is not available if run from a user
- session.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>--personality=</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Control the architecture ("personality")
- reported by
- <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>uname</refentrytitle><manvolnum>2</manvolnum></citerefentry>
- in the container. Currently, only <literal>x86</literal> and
- <literal>x86-64</literal> are supported. This is useful when
- running a 32-bit container on a 64-bit host. If this setting
- is not used, the personality reported in the container is the
- same as the one reported on the host.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>-q</option></term>
- <term><option>--quiet</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Turns off any status output by the tool
- itself. When this switch is used, the only output from nspawn
- will be the console output of the container OS
- itself.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>--volatile</option></term>
- <term><option>--volatile=</option><replaceable>MODE</replaceable></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Boots the container in volatile mode. When no
- mode parameter is passed or when mode is specified as
- <option>yes</option>, full volatile mode is enabled. This
- means the root directory is mounted as a mostly unpopulated
- <literal>tmpfs</literal> instance, and
- <filename>/usr</filename> from the OS tree is mounted into it
- in read-only mode (the system thus starts up with read-only OS
- image, but pristine state and configuration, any changes
- are lost on shutdown). When the mode parameter
- is specified as <option>state</option>, the OS tree is
- mounted read-only, but <filename>/var</filename> is mounted as
- a <literal>tmpfs</literal> instance into it (the system thus
- starts up with read-only OS resources and configuration, but
- pristine state, and any changes to the latter are lost on
- shutdown). When the mode parameter is specified as
- <option>no</option> (the default), the whole OS tree is made
- available writable.</para>
-
- <para>Note that setting this to <option>yes</option> or
- <option>state</option> will only work correctly with
- operating systems in the container that can boot up with only
- <filename>/usr</filename> mounted, and are able to populate
- <filename>/var</filename> automatically, as
- needed.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>--settings=</option><replaceable>MODE</replaceable></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Controls whether
- <command>systemd-nspawn</command> shall search for and use
- additional per-container settings from
- <filename>.nspawn</filename> files. Takes a boolean or the
- special values <option>override</option> or
- <option>trusted</option>.</para>
-
- <para>If enabled (the default), a settings file named after the
- machine (as specified with the <option>--machine=</option>
- setting, or derived from the directory or image file name)
- with the suffix <filename>.nspawn</filename> is searched in
- <filename>/etc/systemd/nspawn/</filename> and
- <filename>/run/systemd/nspawn/</filename>. If it is found
- there, its settings are read and used. If it is not found
- there, it is subsequently searched in the same directory as the
- image file or in the immediate parent of the root directory of
- the container. In this case, if the file is found, its settings
- will be also read and used, but potentially unsafe settings
- are ignored. Note that in both these cases, settings on the
- command line take precedence over the corresponding settings
- from loaded <filename>.nspawn</filename> files, if both are
- specified. Unsafe settings are considered all settings that
- elevate the container's privileges or grant access to
- additional resources such as files or directories of the
- host. For details about the format and contents of
- <filename>.nspawn</filename> files, consult
- <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.nspawn</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.</para>
-
- <para>If this option is set to <option>override</option>, the
- file is searched, read and used the same way, however, the order of
- precedence is reversed: settings read from the
- <filename>.nspawn</filename> file will take precedence over
- the corresponding command line options, if both are
- specified.</para>
-
- <para>If this option is set to <option>trusted</option>, the
- file is searched, read and used the same way, but regardless
- of being found in <filename>/etc/systemd/nspawn/</filename>,
- <filename>/run/systemd/nspawn/</filename> or next to the image
- file or container root directory, all settings will take
- effect, however, command line arguments still take precedence
- over corresponding settings.</para>
-
- <para>If disabled, no <filename>.nspawn</filename> file is read
- and no settings except the ones on the command line are in
- effect.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term><option>--notify-ready=</option></term>
-
- <listitem><para>Configures support for notifications from the container's init process.
- <option>--notify-ready=</option> takes a boolean (<option>no</option> and <option>yes</option>).
- With option <option>no</option> systemd-nspawn notifies systemd
- with a <literal>READY=1</literal> message when the init process is created.
- With option <option>yes</option> systemd-nspawn waits for the
- <literal>READY=1</literal> message from the init process in the container
- before sending its own to systemd. For more details about notifications
- see <citerefentry><refentrytitle>sd_notify</refentrytitle><manvolnum>3</manvolnum></citerefentry>).</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <xi:include href="standard-options.xml" xpointer="help" />
- <xi:include href="standard-options.xml" xpointer="version" />
- </variablelist>
-
- </refsect1>
-
- <refsect1>
- <title>Examples</title>
-
- <example>
- <title>Build and boot a minimal BLAG distribution in a container</title>
-
- <programlisting># dnf -y --releasever=210k --installroot=/srv/mycontainer --disablerepo='*' --enablerepo=blag --enablerepo=updates install systemd passwd dnf blag-release vim-minimal
-# systemd-nspawn -bD /srv/mycontainer</programlisting>
-
- <para>This installs a minimal BLAG distribution into the
- directory <filename noindex='true'>/srv/mycontainer/</filename>
- and then boots an OS in a namespace container in it.</para>
- </example>
-
- <example>
- <title>Spawn a shell in a container of a minimal gNewSense Ucclia distribution</title>
-
- <programlisting># debootstrap --arch=amd64 ucclia ~/gnewsense-tree/
-# systemd-nspawn -D ~/gnewsense-tree/</programlisting>
-
- <para>This installs a minimal gNewSense unstable distribution into
- the directory <filename>~/gnewsense-tree/</filename> and then
- spawns a shell in a namespace container in it.</para>
- </example>
-
- <example>
- <title>Boot a minimal Parabola distribution in a container</title>
-
- <programlisting># pacstrap -c -d ~/parabola-tree/ base
-# systemd-nspawn -bD ~/parabola-tree/</programlisting>
-
- <para>This installs a minimal Parabola distribution into the
- directory <filename>~/parabola-tree/</filename> and then boots an OS
- in a namespace container in it.</para>
- </example>
-
- <example>
- <title>Boot into an ephemeral <literal>btrfs</literal> snapshot of the host system</title>
-
- <programlisting># systemd-nspawn -D / -xb</programlisting>
-
- <para>This runs a copy of the host system in a
- <literal>btrfs</literal> snapshot which is removed immediately
- when the container exits. All file system changes made during
- runtime will be lost on shutdown, hence.</para>
- </example>
-
- <example>
- <title>Run a container with SELinux sandbox security contexts</title>
-
- <programlisting># chcon system_u:object_r:svirt_sandbox_file_t:s0:c0,c1 -R /srv/container
-# systemd-nspawn -L system_u:object_r:svirt_sandbox_file_t:s0:c0,c1 -Z system_u:system_r:svirt_lxc_net_t:s0:c0,c1 -D /srv/container /bin/sh</programlisting>
- </example>
- </refsect1>
-
- <refsect1>
- <title>Exit status</title>
-
- <para>The exit code of the program executed in the container is
- returned.</para>
- </refsect1>
-
- <refsect1>
- <title>See Also</title>
- <para>
- <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
- <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.nspawn</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
- <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>chroot</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
- <citerefentry project='mankier'><refentrytitle>dnf</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
- <citerefentry project='die-net'><refentrytitle>debootstrap</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
- <citerefentry project='archlinux'><refentrytitle>pacman</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
- <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.slice</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
- <citerefentry><refentrytitle>machinectl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
- <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>btrfs</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>
- </para>
- </refsect1>
-
-</refentry>