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https://github.com/parke/lxroot
A lightweight, flexible, and safer alternative to chroot and/or Docker.
https://github.com/parke/lxroot
chroot chroot-environment cli lightweight linux namespace userland virtualization
Last synced: about 1 month ago
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A lightweight, flexible, and safer alternative to chroot and/or Docker.
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/parke/lxroot
- Owner: parke
- License: gpl-3.0
- Created: 2020-02-02T01:52:32.000Z (almost 5 years ago)
- Default Branch: master
- Last Pushed: 2023-10-08T03:28:21.000Z (about 1 year ago)
- Last Synced: 2024-08-04T00:03:28.201Z (5 months ago)
- Topics: chroot, chroot-environment, cli, lightweight, linux, namespace, userland, virtualization
- Language: C++
- Homepage:
- Size: 188 KB
- Stars: 97
- Watchers: 9
- Forks: 9
- Open Issues: 2
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: readme.md
- Changelog: changelog.txt
- License: LICENSE
Awesome Lists containing this project
- awesome-linux-containers - Lxroot
README
# Lxroot - a software virtualization tool
### About Lxroot
`lxroot` is a lightweight and safe alternative to `chroot`, Docker, and other software virtualization tools.
`lxroot` allows a non-root user to easily and safely create a "chroot-style" virtual software environment (via Linux namespaces), and then run one or more programs inside that environment.
### Project Status
As of September 2023, Lxroot is still under intermittent development.
I seem to work on Lxroot several times per year. Typically, when I
work on Lxroot, I spend several days either adding new features or
refactoring existing features to make Lxroot easier to use.
I personally run software inside Lxroot every hour of every day, all year long.
As time passes, I am increasing the quantity and variety of programs that I run inside of Lxroot.
To the best of my knowledge, I am the only person who uses Lxroot
regularly. Therefore, I have been investing my energy in improving
Lxroot, rather than documenting the improvements and publishing
updates. **Therefore, if you are interested in using Lxroot, please let
me know so that I can provide you with the updated and improved source
code.**
### Lxroot Worlds
As of September 2023, I now call an Lxroot-based chroot-style-environment a "world".
To manually create Apline Linux world named `alpine`, I could
(for example), do the following:
```
$ mkdir -p alpine/newroot # this directory is required.
$ tar xzf alpine-minirootfs.tar.gz -C alpine/newroot
$ mkdir alpine/home # this directory is optional.
$ mkdir alpine/tmp # this directory is optional.
$ lxroot alpine # use Lxroot to enter the world.
```
When Lxroot runs, the following directories will be bind-mounted into
`alpine/newroot`:
```
source target
alpine/home -> alpine/newroot/home
alpine/tmp -> alpine/newroot/tmp
```
Then Lxroot will chroot into `alpine/newroot`.
Any of `newroot`, `home`, and `tmp` can be symbolic links. This
allows directories to be shared across multiple worlds. (Lxroot can
bind-mount any subdirectory into `newroot`, not just the two examples shown above.)
On a Linux kernel version 5.11 and later,
Lxroot can also create and chroot into a kernel-level overlay
filesystem. An Lxroot-world can simultaneously use both an overlay filesystem
and one or more bind-mounted subdirectories.
I have written custom scripts that create Lxroot-worlds based on
various Linux distributions. The below table summaries the types of
Lxroot-worlds that I regularly create and/or use. The distros are
ordered from most commonly used (by me) to least commonly used.
| Base distro | Create world with | Install binary packages with | Can build packages? |
| :-- | :-: | :-: | :-: |
| Debian, Ubuntu, Mint | [`mk-deb.sh`](https://github.com/parke/lxroot/blob/master/aux/mk-deb.sh) | `fakeroot` and `apt` | Probably? |
| Alpine | `mk-alpine.sh` (1) | `apk` | Probably? |
| Flatpak | `mk-alpine.sh` (1) | `flatpak` | Probably? |
| Arch | `mk-arch.sh` (1) | `pacman` | Probably? |
| Arch AUR | `mk-arch.sh` (1) | (n/a) | Probably? |
| Void | Create by hand? (2) | `xbps-install`? (2) | Probably? |
Notes: (1) I have not yet published `mk-alpine.sh` and `mk-arch.sh`. (2) It has been a long time since I used Void Linux inside Lxroot, but there is a good chance that XBPS will "just work" inside Lxroot.
(Aside: Previously, I used a separate tool called `vland` to create and
work with Lxroot environments. However, `vland` is now obsolete and
unsupported. `vland`'s functionality was either (a) moved into Lxroot
itself, or (b) moved into smaller, stand-alone scripts.)
### Videos
- Lxroot presentation at PackagingCon 2021: [**abstract**](https://pretalx.com/packagingcon-2021/talk/PMPUSW/) | [**slides**](https://pretalx.com/media/packagingcon-2021/submissions/PMPUSW/resources/20211110_Lxroot_7ILURuB.pdf) | [**video**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rw7ww0k_mk)