DISTROBOX-ASSEMBLE(1)

NAME

        distrobox assemble
        distrobox-assemble

DESCRIPTION
distrobox-assemble takes care of creating or destroying containers in batches, based on a manifest file. The manifest file by default is ./distrobox.ini, but can be specified using the --file flag.

SYNOPSIS
distrobox assemble

        --file:         path or URL to the distrobox manifest/ini file
        --name/-n:      run against a single entry in the manifest/ini file
        --replace/-R:       replace already existing distroboxes with matching names
        --dry-run/-d:       only print the container manager command generated
        --verbose/-v:       show more verbosity
        --version/-V:       show version

EXAMPLES
This is an example manifest file to create two containers:

        [ubuntu]
        additional_packages="git vim tmux nodejs"
        image=ubuntu:latest
        init=false
        nvidia=false
        pull=true
        root=false
        replace=true
        start_now=false
        # You can add comments using this #
        [arch] # also inline comments are supported
        additional_packages="git vim tmux nodejs"
        home=/tmp/home
        image=archlinux:latest
        init=false
        start_now=true
        init_hooks="touch /init-normal"
        nvidia=true
        pre_init_hooks="touch /pre-init"
        pull=true
        root=false
        replace=false
        volume="/tmp/test:/run/a /tmp/test:/run/b"

Create

We can bring them up simply using

        distrobox assemble create

If the file is called distrobox.ini and is in the same directory you’re launching the command, no further arguments are needed. You can specify a custom path for the file using

        distrobox assemble create --file /my/custom/path.ini

Or even specify a remote file, by using an URL:

        distrobox-assemble create --file https://raw.githubusercontent.com/89luca89/dotfiles/master/distrobox.ini

Replace

By default, distrobox assemble will replace a container only if replace=true is specified in the manifest file.

In the example of the manifest above, the ubuntu container will always be replaced when running distrobox assemble create, while the arch container will not.

To force a replace for all containers in a manifest use the --replace flag

        distrobox assemble create --replace [--file my/custom/path.ini]

Remove

We can bring down all the containers in a manifest file by simply doing

        distrobox assemble rm

Or using a custom path for the ini file

        distrobox assemble rm --file my/custom/path.ini

Test

You can always test what distrobox would do by using the --dry-run flag. This command will only print what commands distrobox would do without actually running them.

Clone

Disclaimer: You need to start the container once to ensure it is fully initialized and created before cloning it. The container being copied must also be stopped before the cloning process can proceed.

Available options

This is a list of available options with the corresponding type:

Types legend:

•   bool: true or false

•   string: a single string, for example home="/home/luca-linux/dbox"

•   string_list: multiple strings, for example additional_packages="htop vim git". Note that string_list can be declared multiple times to be compounded:

            [ubuntu]
            image=ubuntu:latest
            additional_packages="git vim tmux nodejs"
            additional_packages="htop iftop iotop"
            additional_packages="zsh fish"

Flag Name | Type |
additional_flags | string_list | Additional flags to pass to the container manager
additional_packages | string_list | Additional packages to install inside the container
home | string | Which home directory should the container use
hostname | string | Set hostname of the container
image | string | Which image should the container use, look here for a list
clone | string | Name of the Distrobox container to use as the base for a new container (the container must be stopped).
include | string | Name of the entry in the manifest to include in the current definition.
init_hooks | string_list | Commands to run inside the container, after the packages setup
pre_init_hooks | string_list | Commands to run inside the container, before the packages setup
volume | string_list | Additional volumes to mount inside the containers
exported_apps | string_list | App names or desktopfile paths to export
exported_bins | string_list | Binaries to export
exported_bins_path | string | Optional path where to export binaries (default: $HOME/.local/bin)
entry | bool | Generate an entry for the container in the app list (default: false)
start_now | bool | Start the container immediately (default: false)
init | bool | Specify if this is an initful container (default: false)
nvidia | bool | Specify if you want to enable NVidia drivers integration (default: false)
pull | bool | Specify if you want to pull the image every time (default: false)
root | bool | Specify if the container is rootful (default: false)
unshare_groups | bool | Specify if the container should unshare users additional groups (default: false)
unshare_ipc | bool | Specify if the container should unshare the ipc namespace (default: false)
unshare_netns | bool | Specify if the container should unshare the network namespace (default: false)
unshare_process | bool | Specify if the container should unshare the process (pid) namespace (default: false)
unshare_devsys | bool | Specify if the container should unshare /dev (default: false)
unshare_all | bool | Specify if the container should unshare all the previous options (default: false)

The include option copies the attributes of a definition into another one. Recursive inclusions are allowed. It operates on the manifest file and the consequent distrobox containers have no relation of any kind. Please be aware that attributes in the including definition will not override nor shadow the ones in the included definition, they will simply duplicate.

For further explanation of each of the other options in the list, take a look at the distrobox create usage, each option corresponds to one of the create flags.

Advanced example

        [tumbleweed_distrobox]
        image=registry.opensuse.org/opensuse/distrobox
        pull=true
        additional_packages="acpi bash-completion findutils iproute iputils sensors inotify-tools unzip"
        additional_packages="net-tools nmap openssl procps psmisc rsync man tig tmux tree vim htop xclip yt-dlp"
        additional_packages="git git-credential-libsecret"
        additional_packages="patterns-devel-base-devel_basis"
        additional_packages="ShellCheck ansible-lint clang clang-tools codespell ctags desktop-file-utils gcc golang jq python3"
        additional_packages="python3-bashate python3-flake8 python3-mypy python3-pipx python3-pycodestyle python3-pyflakes python3-pylint python3-python-lsp-server python3-rstcheck python3-yapf python3-yamllint rustup shfmt"
        additional_packages="kubernetes-client helm"
        init_hooks=GOPATH="${HOME}/.local/share/system-go" GOBIN=/usr/local/bin go install github.com/golangci/golangci-lint/cmd/golangci-lint@latest;
        init_hooks=GOPATH="${HOME}/.local/share/system-go" GOBIN=/usr/local/bin go install github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2/ginkgo@latest;
        init_hooks=GOPATH="${HOME}/.local/share/system-go" GOBIN=/usr/local/bin go install golang.org/x/tools/cmd/goimports@latest;
        init_hooks=GOPATH="${HOME}/.local/share/system-go" GOBIN=/usr/local/bin go install golang.org/x/tools/gopls@latest;
        init_hooks=GOPATH="${HOME}/.local/share/system-go" GOBIN=/usr/local/bin go install sigs.k8s.io/kind@latest;
        init_hooks=ln -sf /usr/bin/distrobox-host-exec /usr/local/bin/conmon;
        init_hooks=ln -sf /usr/bin/distrobox-host-exec /usr/local/bin/crun;
        init_hooks=ln -sf /usr/bin/distrobox-host-exec /usr/local/bin/docker;
        init_hooks=ln -sf /usr/bin/distrobox-host-exec /usr/local/bin/docker-compose;
        init_hooks=ln -sf /usr/bin/distrobox-host-exec /usr/local/bin/flatpak;
        init_hooks=ln -sf /usr/bin/distrobox-host-exec /usr/local/bin/podman;
        init_hooks=ln -sf /usr/bin/distrobox-host-exec /usr/local/bin/xdg-open;
        exported_apps="htop"
        exported_bins="/usr/bin/htop /usr/bin/git"
        exported_bins_path="~/.local/bin"

Clone example

        [ubuntu]
        additional_packages="git vim tmux"
        image=ubuntu:latest
        init=false
        nvidia=false
        pull=true
        root=false
        replace=true
        start_now=true
        [deno_ubuntu]
        clone=ubuntu
        init=false
        nvidia=false
        pull=true
        root=false
        replace=true
        start_now=true
        pre_init_hooks=curl -fsSL https://deno.land/install.sh | sh;
        [bun_ubuntu]
        clone=ubuntu
        init=false
        nvidia=false
        pull=true
        root=false
        replace=true
        start_now=true
        pre_init_hooks=curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash;

Custom login shell example

        [ubuntu]
        image=ubuntu:latest
        pre_init_hooks="export SHELL=/bin/bash;"

Include example (inherit fields from another distrobox)

        [ubuntu]
        image=ubuntu:latest
        additional_packages="git vim tmux nodejs"
        additional_packages="htop iftop iotop"
        additional_packages="zsh fish"
        [ubuntu-nvidia]
        include=ubuntu
        nvidia=true