# Linux Containers

Related articles

- LXD
- AirVPN
- Cgroups
- Docker
- OpenVPN
- OpenVPN in Linux containers
- PeerGuardian Linux
- systemd-nspawn

Linux Containers (LXC) is an operating-system-level virtualization method for running multiple isolated Linux systems (containers) on a single control host (LXC host). It does not provide a virtual machine, but rather provides a virtual environment that has its own CPU, memory, block I/O, network, etc. space and the resource control mechanism. This is provided by namespaces and cgroups features in Linux kernel on LXC host. It is similar to a chroot, but offers much more isolation.

Alternatives for using containers are systemd-nspawn and docker.

## Setup

### Required software

Install the lxc and arch-install-scripts packages.

Verify that the running kernel is properly configured to run a container:

    $ lxc-checkconfig

Due to security concerns, the default Arch kernel does not ship with the ability to run containers as an unprivileged user; therefore, it is normal to see a missing status for "User namespaces" when running the check. See FS#36969 for this feature request.

### Host network configuration

LXCs support different virtual network types and devices (see lxc.container.conf(5)). A bridge device on the host is required for most types of virtual networking. The examples of creating a bridge provided below are not meant to be limiting, but illustrative. Users may use other programs to achieve the same results. A wired and wireless example is provided below, but other setups are possible. Users are referred to the Network bridge article for additional options.

This article or section is a candidate for merging with Network bridge.

Notes: Duplication; this is not a guide on Linux networking. (Discuss in Talk:Linux Containers#)

#### Example for a wired network

This example uses netctl: a bridge template can be found in `/etc/netctl/examples` which needs to be edited to match the host network hardware specs and IP ranges of the host network. Below are two example bridge configs, one using a dhcp setup and the other using a static IP setup.

    /etc/netctl/lxcbridge

    Description="LXC bridge"
    Interface=br0
    Connection=bridge
    BindsToInterfaces=('eno1')
    IP=dhcp
    SkipForwardingDelay=yes

    /etc/netctl/lxcbridge

    Description="LXC bridge"
    Interface=br0
    Connection=bridge
    BindsToInterfaces=('eno1')
    IP=static
    Address=192.168.0.2/24
    Gateway='192.168.0.1'
    DNS=('192.168.0.1')

Before attempting to start the bridge, disable the running network interface on the host as the bridge will replace it; this depends on how the host network is configured, see Network configuration.

For users already using netctl to manage an adapter, simply switch-to it:

    # netctl switch-to lxcbridge
    # netctl enable lxcbridge

Verify network connectivity on the host before continuing. This can be accomplished with a simple ping:

    $ ping -c 1 www.google.com

#### Example for a wireless network

Wireless networks cannot be bridged directly; a different method must be used in this case. First, a bridge must be created similar to the previous examples, but it should not have any interface defined to it (other than the virtual interface of the container itself, which is done automatically). Assign a static IP address to the bridge, but do not assign a gateway.

The host must be configured to perform NAT using iptables:

    # iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o wlp3s0 -j MASQUERADE

where `wlp3s0` is the name of the wireless interface. Enable packet forwarding, which is disabled by default.

The remaining steps are similar, except for one thing: for the container, the gateway must be configured to be the IP address of the host (in this example, it was 192.168.0.2). This is specified in `/var/lib/lxc/container_name/config` (see the following sections).

### Container creation

Select a template from `/usr/share/lxc/templates` that matches the target distro to containerize. Users wishing to containerize non-Arch distros will need additional packages on the host depending on the target distro:

- Debian-based: debootstrap
- Fedora-based: yumAUR

Run `lxc-create` to create the container, which installs the root filesystem of the LXC to `/var/lib/lxc/CONTAINER_NAME/rootfs` by default. Example creating an Arch Linux LXC named "playtime":

    # lxc-create -n playtime -t /usr/share/lxc/templates/lxc-archlinux

Tip: Users may optionally install haveged and start `haveged.service` to avoid a perceived hang during the setup process while waiting for system entropy to be seeded. Without it, the generation of private/GPG keys can add a lengthy wait to the process.
Tip: Users of Btrfs can append `-B btrfs` to create a Btrfs subvolume for storing containerized rootfs. This comes in handy if cloning containers with the help of `lxc-clone` command. ZFS users may use `-B zfs`, correspondingly.
Tip: As of July 2015, creating an empty container using `-t none` does not work, see the bug report. As a workaround one can use `-t /bin/true`.

### Container configuration

#### Basic config with networking

System resources to be virtualized/isolated when a process is using the container are defined in `/var/lib/lxc/CONTAINER_NAME/config`. By default, the creation process will make a minimum setup without networking support. Below is an example config with networking:

    /var/lib/lxc/playtime/config

    # Template used to create this container: /usr/share/lxc/templates/lxc-archlinux
    # Parameters passed to the template:
    # For additional config options, please look at lxc.container.conf(5)

    ## default values
    lxc.rootfs = /var/lib/lxc/playtime/rootfs
    lxc.utsname = playtime
    lxc.arch = x86_64
    lxc.include = /usr/share/lxc/config/archlinux.common.conf

    ## network
    lxc.network.type = veth
    lxc.network.link = br0
    lxc.network.flags = up
    lxc.network.ipv4 = 192.168.0.3/24
    lxc.network.ipv4.gateway = 192.168.0.1
    lxc.network.name = eth0

    ## mounts
    ## specify shared filesystem paths in the format below
    ## make sure that the mount point exists on the lxc
    #lxc.mount.entry = /mnt/data/share mnt/data none bind 0 0
    #
    # if running the same Arch linux on the same architecture it may be
    # adventitious to share the package cache directory
    #lxc.mount.entry = /var/cache/pacman/pkg var/cache/pacman/pkg none bind 0 0

#### Xorg program considerations (optional)

In order to run programs on the host's display, some bind mounts need to be defined so that the containerized programs can access the host's resources. Add the following section to `/var/lib/lxc/playtime/config`:

    ## for xorg
    ## fix overmounting see: https://github.com/lxc/lxc/issues/434
    lxc.mount.entry = tmpfs tmp tmpfs defaults
    lxc.mount.entry = /dev/dri dev/dri none bind,optional,create=dir
    lxc.mount.entry = /dev/snd dev/snd none bind,optional,create=dir
    lxc.mount.entry = /tmp/.X11-unix tmp/.X11-unix none bind,optional,create=dir
    lxc.mount.entry = /dev/video0 dev/video0 none bind,optional,create=file

If you still get a permission denied error in your LXC guest, then you may need to call `xhost +` in your host to allow the guest to connect to the host's display server. Take note of the security concerns of opening up your display server by doing this.

#### OpenVPN considerations

Users wishing to run OpenVPN within the container should read the OpenVPN in Linux containers article.

## Managing Containers

To list all installed LXC containers:

    # lxc-ls -f

Systemd can be used to start and to stop LXCs via `lxc@CONTAINER_NAME.service`. Enable `lxc@CONTAINER_NAME.service` to have it start when the host system boots.

Users can also start/stop LXCs without systemd. Start a container:

    # lxc-start -n CONTAINER_NAME

Stop a container:

    # lxc-stop -n CONTAINER_NAME

To login into a container:

    # lxc-console -n CONTAINER_NAME

Once logged, treat the container like any other linux system, set the root password, create users, install packages, etc.

To attach to a container:

    # lxc-attach -n CONTAINER_NAME

It works nearly the same as lxc-console, but you are automatically accessing root prompt inside the container, bypassing login.

## Running Xorg programs

Either attach to or SSH into the target container and prefix the call to the program with the DISPLAY ID of the host's X session. For most simple setups, the display is always 0.

An example of running Firefox from the container in the host's display:

    $ DISPLAY=:0 firefox

Alternatively, to avoid directly attaching to or connecting to the container, the following can be used on the host to automate the process:

    # lxc-attach -n playtime --clear-env -- sudo -u YOURUSER env DISPLAY=:0 firefox

## Troubleshooting

### root login fails

If you get the following error when you try to login using lxc-console:

    login: root
    Login incorrect

And the container's `journalctl` shows:

    pam_securetty(login:auth): access denied: tty 'pts/0' is not secure !

Add `pts/0` to the list of terminal names in `/etc/securetty` on the container filesystem, see [1]. You can also opt to delete `/etc/securetty` on the container to allow always root to login, see [2].

Alternatively, create a new user in lxc-attach and use it for logging in to the system, then switch to root.

    # lxc-attach -n playtime
    [root@playtime]# useradd -m -Gwheel newuser
    [root@playtime]# passwd newuser
    [root@playtime]# passwd root
    [root@playtime]# exit
    # lxc-console -n playtime
    [newuser@playtime]$ su

### no network-connection with veth in container config

If you can't access your LAN or WAN with a networking interface configured as veth and setup through `/etc/lxc/containername/config`. If the virtual interface gets the ip assigned and should be connected to the network correctly.

    ip addr show veth0
    inet 192.168.1.111/24

You may disable all the relevant static ip formulas and try setting the ip through the booted container-os like you would normaly do.

Example `container/config`

    ...
    lxc.network.type = veth
    lxc.network.name = veth0
    lxc.network.flags = up
    lxc.network.link = bridge
    ...

And then assign your IP through your preferred method inside the container, see also Network configuration#Configure the IP address.

## See also

- LXC 1.0 Blog Post Series
- LXC@developerWorks
- Docker Installation on ArchLinux

Categories:

- Security
- Virtualization

Hidden category:

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