- used to identify this container on the
- host, 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 of the
- container is used.</para></listitem>
+ 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>