Container management with LXC
Worlds Apart

© Lead Image © Kheng Ho Toh, 123RF.com
Chroot lets you run a largely autonomous guest system on a computer, without the need to emulate hardware. The LXC container management tool refines this technique with a comprehensive range of additional functions.
Chroot seals off parts of a directory tree against a break-out, thus isolating users, groups, or special services in an area that is harmless for the rest of the system. FreeBSD refined the concept with "Jails," Solaris with "Zones," and Linux with container services such as LXC [1]. LXC does not use virtual machines, like VMware, but creates a virtual environment with its own processes, but using a shared kernel on the host system.
Getting Started
The following exercise uses Debian 8.0 "jessie" as the host, but it can also be transferred to other systems like openSUSE or Ubuntu with minor changes.
To begin, you need to install the lxc, lxctl, and libvirt-bin packages, including the dependencies required by the package manager (e.g., debootstrap). If you have a custom kernel, you need to enable control groups (cgroups), which you can check with the command:
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
Linux Mint 22.2 Beta Available for Testing
Some interesting new additions and improvements are coming to Linux Mint. Check out the Linux Mint 22.2 Beta to give it a test run.
-
Debian 13.0 Officially Released
After two years of development, the latest iteration of Debian is now available with plenty of under-the-hood improvements.
-
Upcoming Changes for MXLinux
MXLinux 25 has plenty in store to please all types of users.
-
A New Linux AI Assistant in Town
Newelle, a Linux AI assistant, works with different LLMs and includes document parsing and profiles.
-
Linux Kernel 6.16 Released with Minor Fixes
The latest Linux kernel doesn't really include any big-ticket features, just a lot of lines of code.
-
EU Sovereign Tech Fund Gains Traction
OpenForum Europe recently released a report regarding a sovereign tech fund with backing from several significant entities.
-
FreeBSD Promises a Full Desktop Installer
FreeBSD has lacked an option to include a full desktop environment during installation.
-
Linux Hits an Important Milestone
If you pay attention to the news in the Linux-sphere, you've probably heard that the open source operating system recently crashed through a ceiling no one thought possible.
-
Plasma Bigscreen Returns
A developer discovered that the Plasma Bigscreen feature had been sitting untouched, so he decided to do something about it.
-
CachyOS Now Lets Users Choose Their Shell
Imagine getting the opportunity to select which shell you want during the installation of your favorite Linux distribution. That's now a thing.