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<refentry id="systemd.nspawn">
<refentryinfo>
<title>systemd.nspawn</title>
<productname>systemd</productname>
<authorgroup>
<author>
<contrib>Developer</contrib>
<firstname>Lennart</firstname>
<surname>Poettering</surname>
<email>lennart@poettering.net</email>
</author>
</authorgroup>
</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>) encodes additional runtime
information about a local container, and is searched, read and
used by
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-nspawn</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
when starting a container. 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 following the <ulink
url="http://standards.freedesktop.org/desktop-entry-spec/latest/">XDG
Desktop Entry Specification</ulink>, which in turn are inspired by
Microsoft Windows <filename>.ini</filename> files.</para>
<para>Boolean arguments used in these settings files can be
written in various formats. For positive settings, the strings
<option>1</option>, <option>yes</option>, <option>true</option>
and <option>on</option> are equivalent. For negative settings, the
strings <option>0</option>, <option>no</option>,
<option>false</option> and <option>off</option> are
equivalent.</para>
<para>Empty lines and lines starting with # or ; are
ignored. This may be used for commenting. Lines ending
in a backslash are concatenated with the following
line while reading and the backslash is replaced by a
space character. This may be used to wrap long lines.</para>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title><filename>.nspawn</filename> File Discovery</title>
<para>Files are searched 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 in
<filename>/etc/systemd/nspawn/</filename> and
<filename>/run/systemd/nspawn/</filename>. If found in these
directories, its settings are read and all of them take full effect
(but are possibly overridden by corresponding command line
arguments). If not found, the file will then be searched 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 <literal>[Exec]</literal>
section, which carries various execution parameters:</para>
<variablelist>
<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. </para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><varname>Parameters=</varname></term>
<listitem><para>Takes a space-separated list of
arguments. 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></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>Capability=</varname></term>
<term><varname>DropCapability=</varname></term>
<listitem><para>Takes a space-separated list of Linux process
capabilities (see
<citerefentry><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.</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>
</variablelist>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>[Files] Section Options</title>
<para>Settings files may include a <literal>[Files]</literal>
section, which carries various parameters configuring the file
system of the container:</para>
<variablelist>
<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>
</variablelist>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>[Network] Section Options</title>
<para>Settings files may include a <literal>[Network]</literal>
section, which carries various parameters configuring the network
connectivity of the container:</para>
<variablelist>
<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).</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>. 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>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>