toolbox-init-container(1)   General Commands Manual  toolbox-init-container(1)

NAME
       toolbox-init-container - Initialize a running container


SYNOPSIS
       toolbox init-container --gid GID
                              --home HOME
                              --home-link
                              --media-link
                              --mnt-link
                              --shell SHELL
                              --uid UID
                              --user USER


DESCRIPTION
       Initializes a newly created container that's running. It is primarily
       meant to be used as the entry point for all toolbox containers, and
       must be run inside the container that's to be initialized. It is not
       expected to be directly invoked by humans, and cannot be used on the
       host.


       A key feature of toolbox containers is their entry point, the toolbox
       init-container command.


       OCI containers are inherently immutable. Configuration options passed
       through podman create are baked into the definition of the OCI
       container, and can't be changed later. This means that changes and
       improvements made in newer versions of Toolbox can't be applied to pre-
       existing toolbox containers created by older versions of Toolbox. This
       is avoided by using the entry point to configure the container at
       runtime.


       The entry point of a toolbox container customizes the container to fit
       the current user by ensuring that it has a user that matches the one on
       the host, and grants it sudo and root access.


       Crucial configuration files, such as /etc/host.conf, /etc/hosts,
       /etc/localtime, /etc/resolv.conf and /etc/timezone, inside the
       container are kept synchronized with the host. The entry point also
       bind mounts various subsets of the host's file system hierarchy to
       their corresponding locations inside the container to provide seamless
       integration with the host. This includes /run/libvirt,
       /run/systemd/journal, /run/udev/data, /var/lib/libvirt,
       /var/lib/systemd/coredump, /var/log/journal and others.


       On some host operating systems, important paths like /home, /media or
       /mnt are symbolic links to other locations. The entry point ensures
       that paths inside the container match those on the host, to avoid
       needless confusion.


OPTIONS
       The following options are understood:


       --gid GID


       Pass GID as the user's numerical group ID from the host to the toolbox
       container.


       --home HOME


       Create a user inside the toolbox container whose login directory is
       HOME. This option is required.


       --home-link


       Make /home a symbolic link to /var/home.


       --media-link


       Make /media a symbolic link to /run/media.


       --mnt-link


       Make /mnt a symbolic link to /var/mnt.


       --monitor-host


       Deprecated, does nothing.


       Crucial configuration files inside the toolbox container are always
       kept synchronized with their counterparts on the host, and various
       subsets of the host's file system hierarchy are always bind mounted to
       their corresponding locations inside the toolbox container.


       --shell SHELL


       Create a user inside the toolbox container whose login shell is SHELL.
       This option is required.


       --uid UID


       Create a user inside the toolbox container whose numerical user ID is
       UID. This option is required.


       --user USER


       Create a user inside the toolbox container whose login name is LOGIN.
       This option is required.


SEE ALSO
       toolbox(1), podman(1), podman-create(1), podman-start(1)

                                                     toolbox-init-container(1)