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.TH "DISTROBOX\-ENTER" "1" "Jan 2025" "Distrobox" "User Manual"
.SH NAME
.IP
.EX
distrobox enter
distrobox\-enter
.EE
.SH DESCRIPTION
distrobox\-enter takes care of entering the container with the name
specified.
Default command executed is your SHELL, but you can specify different
shells or entire commands to execute.
If using it inside a script, an application, or a service, you can
specify the \[en]headless mode to disable tty and interactivity.
.SH SYNOPSIS
\f[B]distrobox enter\f[R]
.IP
.EX
\-\-name/\-n:      name for the distrobox                      default: my\-distrobox
\-\-/\-e:          end arguments execute the rest as command to execute at login   default: default ${USER}\[aq]s shell
\-\-no\-tty/\-T:        do not instantiate a tty
\-\-no\-workdir/\-nw:   always start the container from container\[aq]s home directory
\-\-additional\-flags/\-a:  additional flags to pass to the container manager command
\-\-help/\-h:      show this message
\-\-root/\-r:      launch podman/docker/lilipod with root privileges. Note that if you need root this is the preferred
            way over \[dq]sudo distrobox\[dq] (note: if using a program other than \[aq]sudo\[aq] for root privileges is necessary,
            specify it through the DBX_SUDO_PROGRAM env variable, or \[aq]distrobox_sudo_program\[aq] config variable)
\-\-dry\-run/\-d:       only print the container manager command generated
\-\-verbose/\-v:       show more verbosity
\-\-version/\-V:       show version
.EE
.SH EXAMPLES
Enter a distrobox named \[lq]example\[rq]
.IP
.EX
distrobox\-enter example
.EE
.PP
Enter a distrobox specifying a command
.IP
.EX
distrobox\-enter \-\-name fedora\-toolbox\-35 \-\- bash \-l
distrobox\-enter my\-alpine\-container \-\- sh \-l
.EE
.PP
Use additional podman/docker/lilipod flags while entering a distrobox
.IP
.EX
distrobox\-enter \-\-additional\-flags \[dq]\-\-preserve\-fds\[dq] \-\-name test \-\- bash \-l
.EE
.PP
Specify additional environment variables while entering a distrobox
.IP
.EX
distrobox\-enter \-\-additional\-flags \[dq]\-\-env MY_VAR=value\[dq] \-\-name test \-\- bash \-l
MY_VAR=value distrobox\-enter \-\-additional\-flags \[dq]\-\-preserve\-fds\[dq] \-\-name test \-\- bash \-l
.EE
.PP
You can also use environment variables to specify container manager and
container name:
.IP
.EX
DBX_CONTAINER_MANAGER=\[dq]docker\[dq] DBX_CONTAINER_NAME=test\-alpine distrobox\-enter
.EE
.SH ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
.IP
.EX
DBX_CONTAINER_NAME
DBX_CONTAINER_MANAGER
DBX_SKIP_WORKDIR
DBX_SUDO_PROGRAM
.EE
.SH EXTRA
This command is used to enter the distrobox itself.
Personally, I just create multiple profiles in my
\f[CR]gnome\-terminal\f[R] to have multiple distros accessible.
.PP
The \f[CR]\-\-additional\-flags\f[R] or \f[CR]\-a\f[R] is useful to
modify default command when executing in the container.
For example:
.IP
.EX
distrobox enter \-n dev\-arch \-\-additional\-flags \[dq]\-\-env my_var=test\[dq] \-\- printenv &| grep my_var
my_var=test
.EE
.PP
This is possible also using normal env variables:
.IP
.EX
my_var=test distrobox enter \-n dev\-arch \-\-additional\-flags \-\- printenv &| grep my_var
my_var=test
.EE
.PP
If you\[cq]d like to enter a rootful container having distrobox use a
program other than `sudo' to run podman/docker/lilipod as root, such as
`pkexec' or `doas', you may specify it with the
\f[CR]DBX_SUDO_PROGRAM\f[R] environment variable.
For example, to use `doas' to enter a rootful container:
.IP
.EX
DBX_SUDO_PROGRAM=\[dq]doas\[dq] distrobox enter \-n container \-\-root
.EE
.PP
Additionally, in one of the config file paths that distrobox supports,
such as \f[CR]\[ti]/.distroboxrc\f[R], you can also append the line
\f[CR]distrobox_sudo_program=\[dq]doas\[dq]\f[R] (for example) to always
run distrobox commands involving rootful containers using `doas'.