in a container.</para>
<para>Use a tool like
+ <citerefentry project='mankier'><refentrytitle>dnf</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
<citerefentry project='die-net'><refentrytitle>yum</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
<citerefentry project='die-net'><refentrytitle>debootstrap</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
or
<term><option>--directory=</option></term>
<listitem><para>Directory to use as
- file system root for the container. If
- neither <option>--directory=</option>
- nor <option>--image=</option> are
+ file system root for the container.</para>
+
+ <para>If neither
+ <option>--directory=</option>, nor
+ <option>--image=</option> is specified
+ the directory is determined as
+ <filename>/var/lib/machines/</filename>
+ suffixed by the machine name as
+ specified with
+ <option>--machine=</option>. 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
+ 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></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></listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-i</option></term>
<term><option>--image=</option></term>
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 a GUID
- Partition Table with a root partition
- which is mounted as the root directory
- of the container. Optionally, it 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>. 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>.</para></listitem>
+ 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>
<listitem><para>Sets the machine name
for this container. This name may be
- 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>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
</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
of <literal>ve-</literal>.</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 ommitted, in which case
+ the same port as the host port is
+ implied. This option is only supported
+ if private networking is used, such as
+ <option>--network-veth</option> or
+ <option>--network-bridge=</option>.</para></listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
<term><option>-Z</option></term>
<term><option>--selinux-context=</option></term>
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
- persistant journalling enabled.
+ persistent journalling enabled.
If <literal>auto</literal> (the default),
and the right subdirectory of
<filename>/var/log/journal</filename>
<term><option>--volatile</option><replaceable>=MODE</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para>Boots the container in
- volatile (ephemeral) mode. When no
- mode parameter is passed or when mode
- is specified as <literal>yes</literal>
- full volatile mode is enabled. This
- means the root directory is mounted as
- mostly unpopulated
- <literal>tmpfs</literal> instance, and
+ volatile mode. When no mode parameter
+ is passed or when mode is specified as
+ <literal>yes</literal> full volatile
+ mode is enabled. This means the root
+ directory is mounted as mostly
+ unpopulated <literal>tmpfs</literal>
+ instance, and
<filename>/usr</filename> from the OS
tree is mounted into it, read-only
(the system thus starts up with
changes to the latter are lost on
shutdown). When the mode parameter is
specified as <literal>no</literal>
- (the default) the whole OS tree is made
- available writable.</para>
+ (the default) the whole OS tree is
+ made available writable.</para>
<para>Note that setting this to
<literal>yes</literal> or
<refsect1>
<title>Examples</title>
+
<example>
- <title>Boot a minimal Fedora distribution in a container</title>
+ <title>Download a Fedora image and start a shell in it</title>
- <programlisting># yum -y --releasever=19 --nogpg --installroot=/srv/mycontainer --disablerepo='*' --enablerepo=fedora install systemd passwd yum fedora-release vim-minimal
+ <programlisting># machinectl pull-raw --verify=no http://ftp.halifax.rwth-aachen.de/fedora/linux/releases/21/Cloud/Images/x86_64/Fedora-Cloud-Base-20141203-21.x86_64.raw.xz
+# systemd-nspawn -M Fedora-Cloud-Base-20141203-21</programlisting>
+
+<para>This downloads an image using <citerefentry><refentrytitle>machinectl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> and opens a shell in it.</para>
+ </example>
+
+ <example>
+ <title>Build and boot a minimal Fedora distribution in a container</title>
+
+ <programlisting># dnf -y --releasever=21 --nogpg --installroot=/srv/mycontainer --disablerepo='*' --enablerepo=fedora install systemd passwd dnf fedora-release vim-minimal
# systemd-nspawn -bD /srv/mycontainer</programlisting>
<para>This installs a minimal Fedora distribution into
</example>
<example>
- <title>Enable Arch Linux container on boot</title>
-
- <programlisting># mv ~/arch-tree /var/lib/container/arch
-# systemctl enable systemd-nspawn@arch.service
-# systemctl start systemd-nspawn@arch.service</programlisting>
-
- <para>This makes the Arch Linux container part of the
- <filename>multi-user.target</filename> on the host.
- </para>
- </example>
-
- <example>
- <title>Boot into a btrfs snapshot of the host system</title>
+ <title>Boot into an ephemeral <literal>btrfs</literal> snapshot of the host system</title>
- <programlisting># btrfs subvolume snapshot / /.tmp
-# systemd-nspawn --private-network -D /.tmp -b</programlisting>
+ <programlisting># systemd-nspawn -D / -xb</programlisting>
<para>This runs a copy of the host system in a
- btrfs snapshot.</para>
+ <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>
<para>
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</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>yum</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><refentrytitle>machinectl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
+ <citerefentry><refentrytitle>btrfs</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>
</para>
</refsect1>