Install a containerized Linux with Distrobox
One for All

© Photo by Rawpixel on Unsplash
Distrobox uses Docker, Podman, or Lilipod to bundle several distributions in a single container.
Testing distributions is part and parcel of everyday life for many developers, and some people even enjoy distro hopping as a hobby. The easiest approach to living life with multiple distributions is virtualization. There are various ways of running distributions in virtual environments. Options include hypervisors such as VMware, VirtualBox, KVM/Qemu, Gnome boxes, and Proxmox. Network-Attached Storage (NAS) systems such as Unraid and TrueNAS can also function as virtualization platforms for operating virtual machines (VMs) via a web interface.
Distrobox [1] is yet another option that lets you use any Linux distribution from inside your terminal. Introduced in 2021 and maintained by Luca Di Maio, Distrobox uses Fedora's toolbx
utility [2] as a template. You can even use Distrobox with BoxBuddy [3] if you prefer working with a graphical user interface (GUI).
Distrobox styles itself as the Swiss Army knife of the distribution scene. Developers and package maintainers can use Distrobox containers to quickly test their applications on various distributions. Assuming you use Debian as your host system and have installed Arch Linux in Distrobox, you can test your packages not only against Arch Linux, but also against Debian, Fedora, SUSE, and many other distributions.
[...]
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 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.
-
Wayland 1.24 Released with Fixes and New Features
Wayland continues to move forward, while X11 slowly vanishes into the shadows, and the latest release includes plenty of improvements.
-
Bugs Found in sudo
Two critical flaws allow users to gain access to root privileges.
-
Fedora Continues 32-Bit Support
In a move that should come as a relief to some portions of the Linux community, Fedora will continue supporting 32-bit architecture.
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 Drops bcachefs
After a clash over some late fixes and disagreements between bcachefs's lead developer and Linus Torvalds, bachefs is out.
-
ONLYOFFICE v9 Embraces AI
Like nearly all office suites on the market (except LibreOffice), ONLYOFFICE has decided to go the AI route.
-
Two Local Privilege Escalation Flaws Discovered in Linux
Qualys researchers have discovered two local privilege escalation vulnerabilities that allow hackers to gain root privileges on major Linux distributions.
-
New TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro Powered by AMD Ryzen AI 300
The TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen10 offers serious power that is ready for your business, development, or entertainment needs.