path: root/man/systemd.nspawn.xml

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<refentry id="systemd.nspawn">

  <refentryinfo>
    <title>systemd.nspawn</title>
    <productname>systemd</productname>
  </refentryinfo>

  <refmeta>
    <refentrytitle>systemd.nspawn</refentrytitle>
    <manvolnum>5</manvolnum>
  </refmeta>

  <refnamediv>
    <refname>systemd.nspawn</refname>
    <refpurpose>Container settings</refpurpose>
  </refnamediv>

  <refsynopsisdiv>
    <para><filename>/etc/systemd/nspawn/<replaceable>machine</replaceable>.nspawn</filename></para>
    <para><filename>/run/systemd/nspawn/<replaceable>machine</replaceable>.nspawn</filename></para>
    <para><filename>/var/lib/machines/<replaceable>machine</replaceable>.nspawn</filename></para>
  </refsynopsisdiv>

  <refsect1>
    <title>Description</title>

    <para>An nspawn container settings file (suffix <filename>.nspawn</filename>) contains runtime
    configuration for a local container, and is used used by
    <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-nspawn</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
    Files of this type are named after the containers they define settings for. They are optional, and only
    required for containers whose execution environment shall differ from the defaults. Files of this type
    mostly contain settings that may also be set on the <command>systemd-nspawn</command> command line, and
    make it easier to persistently attach specific settings to specific containers. The syntax of these files
    is inspired by <filename>.desktop</filename> files, similarly to other configuration files supported by
    the systemd project. See
    <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.syntax</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry> for an
    overview.</para>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1>
    <title><filename>.nspawn</filename> File Discovery</title>

    <para>Files are searched for by appending the <filename>.nspawn</filename> suffix to the machine name of
    the container, as specified with the <option>--machine=</option> switch of
    <command>systemd-nspawn</command>, or derived from the directory or image file name. This file is first
    searched for in <filename>/etc/systemd/nspawn/</filename> and
    <filename>/run/systemd/nspawn/</filename>. If found there, the settings are read and all of them take
    full effect (but may still be overridden by corresponding command line arguments). Otherwise, the file
    will then be searched for next to the image file or in the immediate parent of the root directory of the
    container. If the file is found there, only a subset of the settings will take effect however. All
    settings that possibly elevate privileges or grant additional access to resources of the host (such as
    files or directories) are ignored. To which options this applies is documented below.</para>

    <para>Persistent settings files created and maintained by the
    administrator (and thus trusted) should be placed in
    <filename>/etc/systemd/nspawn/</filename>, while automatically
    downloaded (and thus potentially untrusted) settings files are
    placed in <filename>/var/lib/machines/</filename> instead (next to
    the container images), where their security impact is limited. In
    order to add privileged settings to <filename>.nspawn</filename>
    files acquired from the image vendor, it is recommended to copy the
    settings files into <filename>/etc/systemd/nspawn/</filename> and
    edit them there, so that the privileged options become
    available. The precise algorithm for how the files are searched and
    interpreted may be configured with
    <command>systemd-nspawn</command>'s <option>--settings=</option>
    switch, see
    <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-nspawn</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
    for details.</para>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1>
    <title>[Exec] Section Options</title>

    <para>Settings files may include an [Exec]
    section, which carries various execution parameters:</para>

    <variablelist class='nspawn-directives'>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>Boot=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument, which defaults to off. If enabled, <command>systemd-nspawn</command>
        will automatically search for an <filename>init</filename> executable and invoke it. In this case, the
        specified parameters using <varname>Parameters=</varname> are passed as additional arguments to the
        <filename>init</filename> process. This setting corresponds to the <option>--boot</option> switch on the
        <command>systemd-nspawn</command> command line. This option may not be combined with
        <varname>ProcessTwo=yes</varname>. This option is specified by default in the
        <filename>systemd-nspawn@.service</filename> template unit.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>Ephemeral=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument, which defaults to off, If enabled, the container is run with
        a temporary snapshot of its file system that is removed immediately when the container terminates.
        This is equivalent to the <option>--ephemeral</option> command line switch. See
        <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-nspawn</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> for details
        about the specific options supported.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>ProcessTwo=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument, which defaults to off. If enabled, the specified program is run as
        PID 2. A stub init process is run as PID 1. This setting corresponds to the <option>--as-pid2</option> switch
        on the <command>systemd-nspawn</command> command line. This option may not be combined with
        <varname>Boot=yes</varname>.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>Parameters=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Takes a whitespace-separated list of arguments. Single (<literal>'</literal>) and
        double (<literal>"</literal>) quotes may be used around arguments with whitespace. This is either a
        command line, beginning with the binary name to execute, or – if <varname>Boot=</varname> is enabled
        – the list of arguments to pass to the init process. This setting corresponds to the command line
        parameters passed on the <command>systemd-nspawn</command> command line.</para>

        <para>Note: <option>Boot=no</option>, <option>Parameters=a b "c c"</option> is the same as
        <command>systemd-nspawn a b "c c"</command>, and <option>Boot=yes</option>, <option>Parameters=b 'c c'</option>
        is the same as <command>systemd-nspawn --boot b 'c c'</command>.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>Environment=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Takes an environment variable assignment
        consisting of key and value, separated by
        <literal>=</literal>. Sets an environment variable for the
        main process invoked in the container. This setting may be
        used multiple times to set multiple environment variables. It
        corresponds to the <option>--setenv=</option> command line
        switch.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>User=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Takes a UNIX user name. Specifies the user
        name to invoke the main process of the container as. This user
        must be known in the container's user database. This
        corresponds to the <option>--user=</option> command line
        switch.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>WorkingDirectory=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Selects the working directory for the process invoked in the container. Expects an absolute
        path in the container's file system namespace. This corresponds to the <option>--chdir=</option> command line
        switch.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>PivotRoot=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Selects a directory to pivot to <filename>/</filename> inside the container when starting up.
        Takes a single path, or a pair of two paths separated by a colon. Both paths must be absolute, and are resolved
        in the container's file system namespace. This corresponds to the <option>--pivot-root=</option> command line
        switch.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>Capability=</varname></term>
        <term><varname>DropCapability=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Takes a space-separated list of Linux process
        capabilities (see
        <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>capabilities</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>
        for details). The <varname>Capability=</varname> setting
        specifies additional capabilities to pass on top of the
        default set of capabilities. The
        <varname>DropCapability=</varname> setting specifies
        capabilities to drop from the default set. These settings
        correspond to the <option>--capability=</option> and
        <option>--drop-capability=</option> command line
        switches. Note that <varname>Capability=</varname> is a
        privileged setting, and only takes effect in
        <filename>.nspawn</filename> files in
        <filename>/etc/systemd/nspawn/</filename> and
        <filename>/run/system/nspawn/</filename> (see above). On the
        other hand, <varname>DropCapability=</varname> takes effect in
        all cases. If the special value <literal>all</literal> is passed, all
        capabilities are retained (or dropped).</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>NoNewPrivileges=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument that controls the <constant>PR_SET_NO_NEW_PRIVS</constant> flag for
        the container payload. This is equivalent to the
        <option>--no-new-privileges=</option> command line switch. See
        <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-nspawn</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> for
        details.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>KillSignal=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Specify the process signal to send to the
        container's PID 1 when nspawn itself receives SIGTERM, in
        order to trigger an orderly shutdown of the container.
        Defaults to SIGRTMIN+3 if <option>Boot=</option> is used
        (on systemd-compatible init systems SIGRTMIN+3 triggers an
        orderly shutdown). For a list of valid signals, see
        <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>signal</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>Personality=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Configures the kernel personality for the
        container. This is equivalent to the
        <option>--personality=</option> switch.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>MachineID=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Configures the 128-bit machine ID (UUID) to pass to
        the container. This is equivalent to the
        <option>--uuid=</option> command line switch. This option is
        privileged (see above). </para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>PrivateUsers=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Configures support for usernamespacing. This is equivalent to the
        <option>--private-users=</option> command line switch, and takes the same options. This option is privileged
        (see above). This option is the default if the <filename>systemd-nspawn@.service</filename> template unit file
        is used.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>NotifyReady=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Configures support for notifications from the container's init process.  This is equivalent to
        the <option>--notify-ready=</option> command line switch, and takes the same parameters. See
        <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-nspawn</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> for details
        about the specific options supported.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>SystemCallFilter=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Configures the system call filter applied to containers. This is equivalent to the
        <option>--system-call-filter=</option> command line switch, and takes the same list parameter. See
        <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-nspawn</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> for
        details.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>LimitCPU=</varname></term>
        <term><varname>LimitFSIZE=</varname></term>
        <term><varname>LimitDATA=</varname></term>
        <term><varname>LimitSTACK=</varname></term>
        <term><varname>LimitCORE=</varname></term>
        <term><varname>LimitRSS=</varname></term>
        <term><varname>LimitNOFILE=</varname></term>
        <term><varname>LimitAS=</varname></term>
        <term><varname>LimitNPROC=</varname></term>
        <term><varname>LimitMEMLOCK=</varname></term>
        <term><varname>LimitLOCKS=</varname></term>
        <term><varname>LimitSIGPENDING=</varname></term>
        <term><varname>LimitMSGQUEUE=</varname></term>
        <term><varname>LimitNICE=</varname></term>
        <term><varname>LimitRTPRIO=</varname></term>
        <term><varname>LimitRTTIME=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Configures various types of resource limits applied to containers. This is equivalent to the
        <option>--rlimit=</option> command line switch, and takes the same arguments. See
        <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-nspawn</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> for
        details.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>OOMScoreAdjust=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Configures the OOM score adjustment value. This is equivalent to the
        <option>--oom-score-adjust=</option> command line switch, and takes the same argument. See
        <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-nspawn</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> for
        details.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>CPUAffinity=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Configures the CPU affinity. This is equivalent to the <option>--cpu-affinity=</option> command
        line switch, and takes the same argument. See
        <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-nspawn</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> for
        details.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>Hostname=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Configures the kernel hostname set for the container. This is equivalent to the
        <option>--hostname=</option> command line switch, and takes the same argument. See
        <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-nspawn</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> for
        details.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>ResolvConf=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Configures how <filename>/etc/resolv.conf</filename> in the container shall be handled. This is
        equivalent to the <option>--resolv-conf=</option> command line switch, and takes the same argument. See
        <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-nspawn</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> for
        details.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>Timezone=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Configures how <filename>/etc/localtime</filename> in the container shall be handled. This is
        equivalent to the <option>--timezone=</option> command line switch, and takes the same argument. See
        <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-nspawn</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> for
        details.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>LinkJournal=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Configures how to link host and container journal setups. This is equivalent to the
        <option>--link-journal=</option> command line switch, and takes the same parameter. See
        <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-nspawn</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> for
        details.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

    </variablelist>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1>
    <title>[Files] Section Options</title>

    <para>Settings files may include a [Files]
    section, which carries various parameters configuring the file
    system of the container:</para>

    <variablelist class='nspawn-directives'>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>ReadOnly=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument, which defaults to off. If
        specified, the container will be run with a read-only file
        system. This setting corresponds to the
        <option>--read-only</option> command line
        switch.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>Volatile=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument, or the special value
        <literal>state</literal>. This configures whether to run the
        container with volatile state and/or configuration. This
        option is equivalent to <option>--volatile=</option>, see
        <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-nspawn</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
        for details about the specific options
        supported.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>Bind=</varname></term>
        <term><varname>BindReadOnly=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Adds a bind mount from the host into the
        container. Takes a single path, a pair of two paths separated
        by a colon, or a triplet of two paths plus an option string
        separated by colons. This option may be used multiple times to
        configure multiple bind mounts. This option is equivalent to
        the command line switches <option>--bind=</option> and
        <option>--bind-ro=</option>, see
        <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-nspawn</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
        for details about the specific options supported. This setting
        is privileged (see above).</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>TemporaryFileSystem=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Adds a <literal>tmpfs</literal> mount to the
        container. Takes a path or a pair of path and option string,
        separated by a colon. This option may be used multiple times to
        configure multiple <literal>tmpfs</literal> mounts. This
        option is equivalent to the command line switch
        <option>--tmpfs=</option>, see
        <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-nspawn</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
        for details about the specific options supported. This setting
        is privileged (see above).</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>Inaccessible=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Masks the specified file or directory in the container, by over-mounting it with an empty file
        node of the same type with the most restrictive access mode. Takes a file system path as argument. This option
        may be used multiple times to mask multiple files or directories. This option is equivalent to the command line
        switch <option>--inaccessible=</option>, see
        <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-nspawn</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> for details
        about the specific options supported. This setting is privileged (see above).</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>Overlay=</varname></term>
        <term><varname>OverlayReadOnly=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Adds an overlay mount point. Takes a colon-separated list of paths.  This option may be used
        multiple times to configure multiple overlay mounts. This option is equivalent to the command line switches
        <option>--overlay=</option> and <option>--overlay-ro=</option>, see
        <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-nspawn</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> for details
        about the specific options supported. This setting is privileged (see above).</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>PrivateUsersChown=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Configures whether the ownership of the files and directories in the container tree shall be
        adjusted to the UID/GID range used, if necessary and user namespacing is enabled. This is equivalent to the
        <option>--private-users-chown</option> command line switch. This option is privileged (see
        above). </para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

    </variablelist>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1>
    <title>[Network] Section Options</title>

    <para>Settings files may include a [Network]
    section, which carries various parameters configuring the network
    connectivity of the container:</para>

    <variablelist class='nspawn-directives'>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>Private=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument, which defaults to off. If
        enabled, the container will run in its own network namespace
        and not share network interfaces and configuration with the
        host. This setting corresponds to the
        <option>--private-network</option> command line
        switch.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>VirtualEthernet=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument. Configures whether to create a virtual Ethernet connection
        (<literal>veth</literal>) between host and the container. This setting implies
        <varname>Private=yes</varname>. This setting corresponds to the <option>--network-veth</option> command line
        switch. This option is privileged (see above). This option is the default if the
        <filename>systemd-nspawn@.service</filename> template unit file is used.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>VirtualEthernetExtra=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Takes a colon-separated pair of interface names. Configures an additional virtual
        Ethernet connection (<literal>veth</literal>) between host and the container. The first specified
        name is the interface name on the host, the second the interface name in the container. The latter
        may be omitted in which case it is set to the same name as the host side interface. This setting
        implies <varname>Private=yes</varname>. This setting corresponds to the
        <option>--network-veth-extra=</option> command line switch, and maybe be used multiple times. It is
        independent of <varname>VirtualEthernet=</varname>. Note that this option is unrelated to the
        <varname>Bridge=</varname> setting below, and thus any connections created this way are not
        automatically added to any bridge device on the host side. This option is privileged (see
        above).</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>Interface=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Takes a space-separated list of interfaces to
        add to the container. This option corresponds to the
        <option>--network-interface=</option> command line switch and
        implies <varname>Private=yes</varname>. This option is
        privileged (see above).</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>MACVLAN=</varname></term>
        <term><varname>IPVLAN=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Takes a space-separated list of interfaces to
        add MACLVAN or IPVLAN interfaces to, which are then added to
        the container. These options correspond to the
        <option>--network-macvlan=</option> and
        <option>--network-ipvlan=</option> command line switches and
        imply <varname>Private=yes</varname>. These options are
        privileged (see above).</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>Bridge=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Takes an interface name. This setting implies
        <varname>VirtualEthernet=yes</varname> and
        <varname>Private=yes</varname> and has the effect that the
        host side of the created virtual Ethernet link is connected to
        the specified bridge interface. This option corresponds to the
        <option>--network-bridge=</option> command line switch. This
        option is privileged (see above).</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>Zone=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Takes a network zone name. This setting implies <varname>VirtualEthernet=yes</varname> and
        <varname>Private=yes</varname> and has the effect that the host side of the created virtual Ethernet link is
        connected to an automatically managed bridge interface named after the passed argument, prefixed with
        <literal>vz-</literal>. This option corresponds to the <option>--network-zone=</option> command line
        switch. This option is privileged (see above).</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><varname>Port=</varname></term>

        <listitem><para>Exposes a TCP or UDP port of the container on
        the host. This option corresponds to the
        <option>--port=</option> command line switch, see
        <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-nspawn</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
        for the precise syntax of the argument this option takes. This
        option is privileged (see above).</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1>
    <title>See Also</title>
    <para>
      <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
      <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-nspawn</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
      <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.directives</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>
    </para>
  </refsect1>

</refentry>