Distrobox

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current logo credits David Lapshin}

Use any Linux distribution inside your terminal. Enable both backward and forward compatibility with software and freedom to use whatever distribution you’re more comfortable with. Distrobox uses podman, docker or lilipod to create containers using the Linux distribution of your choice. The created container will be tightly integrated with the host, allowing sharing of the HOME directory of the user, external storage, external USB devices and graphical apps (X11/Wayland), and audio.

Documentation - Matrix Room - Telegram Group

Warning

Documentation on GitHub strictly refers to the code in the main branch. For the official documentation Head over https://distrobox.it

What it does

Simply put it's a fancy wrapper around podman, docker, or lilipod to create and start containers which are highly integrated with the hosts.

The distrobox environment is based on an OCI image. This image is used to create a container that seamlessly integrates with the rest of the operating system by providing access to the user's home directory, the Wayland and X11 sockets, networking, removable devices (like USB sticks), systemd journal, SSH agent, D-Bus, ulimits, /dev and the udev database, etc...

It implements the same concepts introduced by https://github.com/containers/toolbox, keeping integration and broad host compatibility as primary goals.

All the props go to them as they had the great idea to implement this stuff.

distrobox is shipped as a single binary providing the following subcommands:

distrobox assemble – create and destroy containers based on a config file
distrobox create – create a container
distrobox enter – enter a container
distrobox ephemeral – create a temporary container, destroy it when exiting the shell
distrobox list (alias: ls) – list containers created with distrobox
distrobox rm – delete a container created with distrobox
distrobox stop – stop a running container created with distrobox
distrobox upgrade – upgrade one or more containers created with distrobox at once
distrobox generate-entry – create an entry of a created container in the applications list

Plus three helpers that run inside the container:

distrobox-init – container entrypoint (not meant to be invoked manually)
distrobox-export – export apps and services from the container to the host
distrobox-host-exec – run commands/programs from the host while inside the container

Please check the usage docs and see some handy tips on how to use it.

See it in action

Thanks to castrojo, you can see Distrobox in action in this explanatory video on his setup with Distrobox, Toolbx, Fedora Silverblue for the uBlue project (check it out!)

Why

Provide a mutable environment on an immutable OS, like ChromeOS, Endless OS, Fedora Atomic Desktops (e.g. Silverblue), OpenSUSE Aeon/Kalpa, Vanilla OS, or SteamOS3
Provide a locally privileged environment for sudoless setups (e.g. company-provided laptops, security reasons, etc...)
To mix and match a stable base system (e.g. Debian Stable, Ubuntu LTS, Red Hat) with a bleeding-edge environment for development or gaming (e.g. Arch, OpenSUSE Tumbleweed, or Fedora with the latest Mesa)
Leverage a high abundance of curated distro images for docker/podman to manage multiple environments.

Refer to the compatibility list for an overview of the supported host distros HERE and container's distro HERE.

Aims

This project aims to bring any distro userland to any other distro supporting podman, docker, or lilipod. It is implemented as a single statically-linked Go binary, while the in-container helpers remain POSIX shell so they keep working on any distro the binary can run.

Refer HERE for a list of supported container managers and minimum supported versions.

It also aims to enter the container as fast as possible, every millisecond adds up if you use the container as your default environment for your terminal:

These are some sample results of distrobox enter on the same container on my weak laptop:

~$ hyperfine --warmup 3 --runs 100 "distrobox enter bench -- whoami"
Benchmark 1: distrobox enter bench -- whoami
  Time (mean ± σ):     395.6 ms ±  10.5 ms    [User: 167.4 ms, System: 62.4 ms]
  Range (min … max):   297.3 ms … 408.9 ms    100 runs

Security implications

Isolation and sandboxing are not the main aims of the project, on the contrary it aims to tightly integrate the container with the host. The container will have complete access to your home, pen drive, and so on, so do not expect it to be highly sandboxed like a plain docker/podman container or a Flatpak.

⚠️ BE CAREFUL:⚠️ if you use docker, or you use podman/lilipod with the --root/-r flag, the containers will run as root, so root inside the rootful container can modify system stuff outside the container, Be also aware that In rootful mode, you'll be asked to set up the user's password, this will ensure at least that the container is not a passwordless gate to root, but if you have security concerns for this, use podman or lilipod that runs in rootless mode. Rootless docker is still not working as intended and will be included in the future when it will be complete.

That said, it is useful to read the discussion about decoupling with the host, available here: #28 Sandboxed mode.

If you are looking for something similar to Distrobox but with sandboxing capabilities, there are other options to consider which do prioritise isolation such as Litterbox.

Quick Start

Create a new distrobox:

distrobox create -n test

Create a new distrobox with Systemd (acts similar to an LXC):

distrobox create --name test --init --image debian:latest --additional-packages "systemd libpam-systemd pipewire-audio-client-libraries"

Enter created distrobox:

distrobox enter test

Add one with a different distribution, e.g. Ubuntu 20.04:

distrobox create -i ubuntu:20.04

Execute a command in a distrobox:

distrobox enter test -- command-to-execute

List running distroboxes:

distrobox list

Stop a running distrobox:

distrobox stop test

Remove a distrobox:

distrobox rm test

You can check HERE for more advanced usage and check a comprehensive list of useful tips HERE.

Assemble Distrobox

Manifest files can be used to declare a set of distroboxes and use distrobox assemble to create/destroy them in batch.

Head over the usage docs of distrobox assemble for a more detailed guide.

Configure Distrobox

Configuration files can be placed in the following paths, from the least important to the most important:

/usr/share/distrobox/distrobox.conf
/usr/etc/distrobox/distrobox.conf
/etc/distrobox/distrobox.conf
${HOME}/.config/distrobox/distrobox.conf
${HOME}/.distroboxrc

You can specify inside distrobox configurations and distrobox-specific Environment variables.

Example configuration file:

container_always_pull="1"
container_generate_entry=0
container_manager="docker"
container_image_default="registry.opensuse.org/opensuse/toolbox:latest"
container_name_default="test-name-1"
container_user_custom_home="$HOME/.local/share/container-home-test"
container_init_hook="~/.local/distrobox/a_custom_default_init_hook.sh"
container_pre_init_hook="~/a_custom_default_pre_init_hook.sh"
container_manager_additional_flags="--env-file /path/to/file --custom-flag"
container_additional_volumes="/example:/example1 /example2:/example3:ro"
non_interactive="1"
skip_workdir="0"
PATH="$PATH:/path/to/custom/podman"

Note — configuration files are parsed as INI, not sourced as shell. The original shell distrobox sourced distrobox.conf and ${HOME}/.distroboxrc, so they could contain arbitrary shell (variable expansion, command substitution, conditionals, export, etc.). The new Go implementation instead reads them as plain key=value (INI) files. As a consequence:

Values are taken literally: container_user_custom_home="$HOME/..." and PATH="$PATH:..." are not expanded — use absolute paths. The $HOME/$PATH entries in the example above illustrate the old sourcing behavior and will not be expanded here.

Arbitrary shell logic in .distroboxrc is not executed; only recognized key=value settings take effect.

The reference key distrobox_sudo_program is accepted (mapped onto sudo_program).

Alternatively, it is possible to specify preferences using ENV variables:

DBX_CONTAINER_ALWAYS_PULL
DBX_CONTAINER_CUSTOM_HOME
DBX_CONTAINER_IMAGE
DBX_CONTAINER_MANAGER
DBX_CONTAINER_NAME
DBX_CONTAINER_ENTRY
DBX_NON_INTERACTIVE
DBX_SKIP_WORKDIR

Installation

Distrobox is packaged in the following distributions, if your distribution is on this list, you can refer to your repos for installation:

Thanks to the maintainers for their work: M0Rf30, alcir, dfaggioli, AtilaSaraiva, michel-slm

Building from source

To build distrobox from source, you need Go >= 1.25 and make.

Clone the repository and build:

git clone https://github.com/89luca89/distrobox.git
cd distrobox
make build

Then install:

sudo make install

This installs the distrobox binary to /usr/local/bin by default. For a local install without sudo:

make install PREFIX=~/.local

Warning

Make sure the destination directory is in your PATH.

To uninstall, run make uninstall with the same PREFIX used during installation.

Check the Host Distros compatibility list for distro-specific instructions.

Dependencies

Distrobox depends on a container manager to work, you can choose to install either podman, docker or lilipod.

Please look in the Compatibility Table for your distribution notes.

There are ways to install Podman without root privileges and in home. Or Lilipod without root privileges and in home. This should play well with completely sudoless setups and with devices like the Steam Deck (SteamOS).

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Distrobox

What it does

See it in action

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Aims

Security implications

Quick Start

Assemble Distrobox

Configure Distrobox

Installation

Building from source

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Distrobox

What it does

See it in action

Why

Aims

Security implications

Quick Start

Assemble Distrobox

Configure Distrobox

Installation

Building from source

Dependencies