mm is a machinectl/systemd-nspawn manager
mmbuild is a container creator for nspawn using debootstrap (tested with debian and ubuntu, others may work too)
install mm and mmbuild to /usr/local/bin
git clone https://github.com/badrelmers/mm
bash ./mm/install.shall containers need to be saved somewhere, so I choosed to create a config file /etc/_mm.conf where we will save the path to the folders we want to use as a repository for the containers, I could have used the default machinectl folder /var/lib/machines but I prefer my method because like this I can format any time without problems, because mm will create a symlink from my defined repository to /var/lib/machines, like this you do not have to take care of moving the containers before formating the disks. another benefit is that we can use diferent disks to save the containers.
that is why I created the command mm register ContainerName which will create a symlink of the container inside /var/lib/machines
by default the created container will run with full privileges using the host networking. to run the container unprivileged or with more privileges or with a different network mode, then you have to read the content of mm edit ContainerName , understand it and edit it as needed. you can choose between priviliged (default), unprivileged or super privileged mode, and between bridged, NAT or host network (default).
TODO: add commands to change between privileged/unprivilged, and to change between host/nat/bridge network
# create a folder which will be used as the repository for nspawn containers and
# add it to /etc/_mm.conf so it can be controlled by mm (you can create multiple
# folders in diferent disks to be as repository)
repository=/media/ssd2/_MyNspawnStore
grep -Fq "${repository}" /etc/_mm.conf || { echo "${repository}" | sudo tee -a /etc/_mm.conf ; }
# build an nspawn container
mmbuild buster20210225124857 buster20210225124857 debian buster bbbbbbnn
# run the container and open a shell inside it
mm run buster20210225124857
# to exit do
ctrl-c
# list running containers
mm
# list registred containers with machinectl
mm ls
# list all containers (registred and not registred with machinectl)
mm lsa# clone, rename, register a container, then delete it
mm clone buster20210225124857
mm rename buster20210225124857-clone... mybustercontainer
mm register mybustercontainer
mm run mybustercontainer
# delete it
mm stop mybustercontainer
mm delete mybustercontainermm help
mmbuild help run NAME Start container as a service and connect to it
start NAMEs... Start container as a service (start)
sh NAME Invoke a shell in a container (shell)
exec NAME "command" Run a command inside container
reboot NAMEs... Reboot one or more containers (reboot)
stop NAMEs... Power off one or more containers (poweroff)
kill NAMEs... Terminate one or more VMs/containers (terminate)
status NAMEs... Show VM/container details (status)
info [NAMEs...] Show properties of one or more VMs/containers (show)
edit NAME Edit my container service override file
editrepo Edit /etc/_mm.conf repositories
enable NAMEs... Enable automatic container start at boot (enable)
disable NAMEs... Disable automatic container start at boot (disable)
listautorun List all autorun services of containers
Image Commands:
ls List registred containers in /var/lib/machines (list-images)
lsa list all containers in all repositories of /etc/_mm.conf
lsaq list all containers in all repositories of /etc/_mm.conf (quicker, no dir space is showen)
register NAMEs... Create a symlink of the container in /var/lib/machines & a clean service override
unregister NAMEs... delete symlink of the container in /var/lib/machines & DELETE its service override/autorun too
iinfo [NAMEs...] Show properties of image (show-image)
istatus [NAMEs...] Show image details (image-status)
clone NAME Clone a CT (CT dir & symlink, service override if they exist , but not autorun file; & hostname)
rename NAME NewName Rename a CT (CT dir & symlink, service override and autorun files if they exist; & hostname)
delete NAME Delete CT completly (CT dir, symlink, service override and autorun files)
getpath NAME print container path
correct NAME Correct effect of -U (uses --private-users=0 --private-users-chown)
help,h Show help
mmbuild imagename Hostname(aZ09-) OS OS release pass [optional debootstrap args]
examples:
mmbuild buster20210225175246 buster20210225175246 debian buster bbbbbbnn
mmbuild bullseye20210225175246 bullseye20210225175246 debian bullseye bbbbbbnn
mmbuild testing20210225175246 testing20210225175246 debian testing bbbbbbnn
mmbuild unstable20210225175246 unstable20210225175246 debian unstable bbbbbbnn
mmbuild xenial20210225175246 xenial20210225175246 ubuntu xenial bbbbbbnn
mmbuild bionic20210225175246 bionic20210225175246 ubuntu bionic bbbbbbnn
mmbuild focal20210225175246 focal20210225175246 ubuntu focal bbbbbbnn
it works fine and I use it for my daily use, but need some cleaning. for example comments inside code are a mix of spanish english.