1PORTABLECTL(1) portablectl PORTABLECTL(1)
2
6 portablectl - Attach, detach or inspect portable service images
7
9 portablectl [OPTIONS...] {COMMAND} [NAME...]
10
12 portablectl may be used to attach, detach or inspect portable service
13 images. It's primarily a command interfacing with systemd-
14 portabled.service(8).
15 Portable service images contain an OS file system tree along with
17 systemd(1) unit file information. A service image may be "attached" to
18 the local system. If attached, a set of unit files are copied from the
19 image to the host, and extended with RootDirectory= or RootImage=
20 assignments (in case of service units) pointing to the image file or
21 directory, ensuring the services will run within the file system
22 context of the image.
23 Portable service images are an efficient way to bundle multiple related
25 services and other units together, and transfer them as a whole between
26 systems. When these images are attached the local system the contained
27 units may run in most ways like regular system-provided units, either
28 with full privileges or inside strict sandboxing, depending on the
29 selected configuration.
30 Specifically portable service images may be of the following kind:
32 · Directory trees containing an OS, including the top-level
34 directories /usr/, /etc/, and so on.
35 · btrfs subvolumes containing OS trees, similar to normal directory
37 trees.
38 · Binary "raw" disk images containing MBR or GPT partition tables and
40 Linux file system partitions. (These must be regular files, with
41 the .raw suffix.)
42
44 The following commands are understood:
45 list
47 List available portable service images. This will list all portable
48 service images discovered in the portable image search paths (see
49 below), along with brief metadata and state information. Note that
50 many of the commands below may both operate on images inside and
51 outside of the search paths. This command is hence mostly a
52 convenience option, the commands are generally not restricted to
53 what this list shows.
54 attach IMAGE [PREFIX...]
56 Attach a portable service image to the host system. Expects a file
57 system path to a portable service image file or directory as first
58 argument. If the specified path contains no slash character ("/")
59 it is understood as image filename that is searched for in the
60 portable service image search paths (see below). To reference a
61 file in the current working directory prefix the filename with "./"
62 to avoid this search path logic.
63 When a portable service is attached four operations are executed:
65 1. All unit files of types .service, .socket, .target, .timer and
67 .path which match the indicated unit file name prefix are
68 copied from the image to the host's
69 /etc/systemd/system.attached/ directory (or
70 /run/systemd/system.attached/ — depending whether --runtime is
71 specified, see above), which is included in the built-in unit
72 search path of the system service manager.
73 2. For unit files of type .service a drop-in is added to these
75 copies that adds RootDirectory= or RootImage= settings (see
76 systemd.unit(5) for details), that ensures these services are
77 run within the file system of the originating portable service
78 image.
79 3. A second drop-in is created: the "profile" drop-in, that may
81 contain additional security settings (and other settings). A
82 number of profiles are available by default but administrators
83 may define their own ones. See below.
84 4. If the portable service image file is not already in the search
86 path (see below), a symbolic link to it is created in
87 /etc/portables/ or /run/portables/, to make sure it is included
88 in it.
89 By default all unit files whose names start with a prefix generated
91 from the image's file name are copied out. Specifically, the prefix
92 is determined from the image file name with any suffix such as .raw
93 removed, truncated at the first occurrence of an underscore
94 character ("_"), if there is one. The underscore logic is supposed
95 to be used to versioning so that the an image file foobar_47.11.raw
96 will result in a unit file matching prefix of foobar. This prefix
97 is then compared with all unit files names contained in the image
98 in the usual directories, but only unit file names where the prefix
99 is followed by "-", "." or "@" are considered. Example: if a
100 portable service image file is named foobar_47.11.raw then by
101 default all its unit files with names such as
102 foobar-quux-waldi.service, foobar.service or foobar@.service will
103 be considered. It's possible to override the matching prefix: all
104 strings listed on the command line after the image file name are
105 considered prefixes, overriding the implicit logic where the prefix
106 is derived from the image file name.
107 By default, after the unit files are attached the service manager's
109 configuration is reloaded, except when --no-reload is specified
110 (see above). This ensures that the new units made available to the
111 service manager are seen by it.
112 If --now and/or --enable are passed, the portable service(s) are
114 immediately started (blocking operation unless --no-block is
115 passed) and/or enabled after attaching the image.
116 detach IMAGE [PREFIX...]
118 Detaches a portable service image from the host. This undoes the
119 operations executed by the attach command above, and removes the
120 unit file copies, drop-ins and image symlink again. This command
121 expects an image name or path as parameter. Note that if a path is
122 specified only the last component of it (i.e. the file or directory
123 name itself, not the path to it) is used for finding matching unit
124 files. This is a convencience feature to allow all arguments passed
125 as attach also to detach.
126 If --now and/or --enable are passed, the portable service(s) are
128 immediately stopped (blocking operation) and/or disabled before
129 detaching the image. Prefix(es) are also accepted, to be used in
130 case the unit names do not match the image name as described in the
131 attach.
132 inspect IMAGE [PREFIX...]
134 Extracts various metadata from a portable service image and
135 presents it to the caller. Specifically, the os-release(5) file of
136 the image is retrieved as well as all matching unit files. By
137 default a short summary showing the most relevant metadata in
138 combination with a list of matching unit files is shown (that is
139 the unit files attach would install to the host system). If
140 combined with --cat (see above), the os-release data and the units
141 files' contents is displayed unprocessed. This command is useful to
142 determine whether an image qualifies as portable service image, and
143 which unit files are included. This command expects the path to the
144 image as parameter, optionally followed by a list of unit file
145 prefixes to consider, similar to the attach command described
146 above.
147 is-attached IMAGE
149 Determines whether the specified image is currently attached or
150 not. Unless combined with the --quiet switch this will show a short
151 state identifier for the image. Specifically:
152 Table 1. Image attachment states
154 ┌─────────────────┬────────────────────────────┐
155 │State │ Description │
156 ├─────────────────┼────────────────────────────┤
157 │detached │ The image is currently not │
158 │ │ attached. │
159 ├─────────────────┼────────────────────────────┤
160 │attached │ The image is currently │
161 │ │ attached, i.e. its unit │
162 │ │ files have been made │
163 │ │ available to the host │
164 │ │ system. │
165 ├─────────────────┼────────────────────────────┤
166 │attached-runtime │ Like attached, but the │
167 │ │ unit files have been made │
168 │ │ available transiently │
169 │ │ only, i.e. the attach │
170 │ │ command has been invoked │
171 │ │ with the --runtime option. │
172 ├─────────────────┼────────────────────────────┤
173 │enabled │ The image is currently │
174 │ │ attached, and at least one │
175 │ │ unit file associated with │
176 │ │ it has been enabled. │
177 ├─────────────────┼────────────────────────────┤
178 │enabled-runtime │ Like enabled, but the unit │
179 │ │ files have been made │
180 │ │ available transiently │
181 │ │ only, i.e. the attach │
182 │ │ command has been invoked │
183 │ │ with the --runtime option. │
184 ├─────────────────┼────────────────────────────┤
185 │running │ The image is currently │
186 │ │ attached, and at least one │
187 │ │ unit file associated with │
188 │ │ it is running. │
189 ├─────────────────┼────────────────────────────┤
190 │running-runtime │ The image is currently │
191 │ │ attached transiently, and │
192 │ │ at least one unit file │
193 │ │ associated with it is │
194 │ │ running. │
195 └─────────────────┴────────────────────────────┘
196 read-only IMAGE [BOOL]
198 Marks or (unmarks) a portable service image read-only. Takes an
199 image name, followed by a boolean as arguments. If the boolean is
200 omitted, positive is implied, i.e. the image is marked read-only.
201 remove IMAGE...
203 Removes one or more portable service images. Note that this command
204 will only remove the specified image path itself — it refers to a
205 symbolic link then the symbolic link is removed and not the image
206 it points to.
207 set-limit [IMAGE] BYTES
209 Sets the maximum size in bytes that a specific portable service
210 image, or all images, may grow up to on disk (disk quota). Takes
211 either one or two parameters. The first, optional parameter refers
212 to a portable service image name. If specified, the size limit of
213 the specified image is changed. If omitted, the overall size limit
214 of the sum of all images stored locally is changed. The final
215 argument specifies the size limit in bytes, possibly suffixed by
216 the usual K, M, G, T units. If the size limit shall be disabled,
217 specify "-" as size.
218 Note that per-image size limits are only supported on btrfs file
220 systems. Also, depending on BindPaths= settings in the portable
221 service's unit files directories from the host might be visible in
222 the image environment during runtime which are not affected by this
223 setting, as only the image itself is counted against this limit.
224
226 The following options are understood:
227 -q, --quiet
229 Suppresses additional informational output while running.
230 -p PROFILE, --profile=PROFILE
232 When attaching an image, select the profile to use. By default the
233 "default" profile is used. For details about profiles, see below.
234 --copy=
236 When attaching an image, select whether to prefer copying or
237 symlinking of files installed into the host system. Takes one of
238 "copy" (to prefer copying of files), "symlink" (to prefer creation
239 of symbolic links) or "auto" for an intermediary mode where
240 security profile drop-ins are symlinked while unit files are
241 copied. Note that this option expresses a preference only, in cases
242 where symbolic links cannot be created — for example when the image
243 operated on is a raw disk image, and hence not directly
244 referentiable from the host file system — copying of files is used
245 unconditionally.
246 --runtime
248 When specified the unit and drop-in files are placed in
249 /run/systemd/system.attached/ instead of
250 /etc/systemd/system.attached/. Images attached with this option set
251 hence remain attached only until the next reboot, while they are
252 normally attached persistently.
253 --no-reload
255 Don't reload the service manager after attaching or detaching a
256 portable service image. Normally the service manager is reloaded to
257 ensure it is aware of added or removed unit files.
258 --cat
260 When inspecting portable service images, show the (unprocessed)
261 contents of the metadata files pulled from the image, instead of
262 brief summaries. Specifically, this will show the os-release(5) and
263 unit file contents of the image.
264 --enable
266 Immediately enable/disable the portable service after
267 attaching/detaching.
268 --now
270 Immediately start/stop the portable service after attaching/before
271 detaching.
272 --no-block
274 Don't block waiting for attach --now to complete.
275 -H, --host=
277 Execute the operation remotely. Specify a hostname, or a username
278 and hostname separated by "@", to connect to. The hostname may
279 optionally be suffixed by a port ssh is listening on, separated by
280 ":", and then a container name, separated by "/", which connects
281 directly to a specific container on the specified host. This will
282 use SSH to talk to the remote machine manager instance. Container
283 names may be enumerated with machinectl -H HOST. Put IPv6 addresses
284 in brackets.
285 -M, --machine=
287 Execute operation on a local container. Specify a container name to
288 connect to.
289 --no-pager
291 Do not pipe output into a pager.
292 --no-legend
294 Do not print the legend, i.e. column headers and the footer with
295 hints.
296 --no-ask-password
298 Do not query the user for authentication for privileged operations.
299 -h, --help
301 Print a short help text and exit.
302 --version
304 Print a short version string and exit.
305
307 Portable service images are preferably stored in /var/lib/portables/,
308 but are also searched for in /etc/portables/, /run/systemd/portables/,
309 /usr/local/lib/portables/ and /usr/lib/portables/. It's recommended not
310 to place image files directly in /etc/portables/ or
311 /run/systemd/portables/ (as these are generally not suitable for
312 storing large or non-textual data), but use these directories only for
313 linking images located elsewhere into the image search path.
314 When a portable service image is attached, matching unit files are
316 copied onto the host into the /etc/systemd/system.attached/ and
317 /run/systemd/system.attached/ directories. When an image is detached,
318 the unit files are removed again from these directories.
319
321 When portable service images are attached a "profile" drop-in is linked
322 in, which may be used to enforce additional security (and other)
323 restrictions locally. Four profile drop-ins are defined by default, and
324 shipped in /usr/lib/systemd/portable/profile/. Additional, local
325 profiles may be defined by placing them in
326 /etc/systemd/portable/profile/. The default profiles are:
327 Table 2. Profiles
329 ┌──────────┬────────────────────────────┐
330 │Name │ Description │
331 ├──────────┼────────────────────────────┤
332 │default │ This is the default │
333 │ │ profile if no other │
334 │ │ profile name is set via │
335 │ │ the --profile= (see │
336 │ │ above). It's fairly │
337 │ │ restrictive, but should be │
338 │ │ useful for common, │
339 │ │ unprivileged system │
340 │ │ workloads. This includes │
341 │ │ write access to the │
342 │ │ logging framework, as well │
343 │ │ as IPC access to the D-Bus │
344 │ │ system. │
345 ├──────────┼────────────────────────────┤
346 │nonetwork │ Very similar to default, │
347 │ │ but networking is turned │
348 │ │ off for any services of │
349 │ │ the portable service │
350 │ │ image. │
351 ├──────────┼────────────────────────────┤
352 │strict │ A profile with very strict │
353 │ │ settings. This profile │
354 │ │ excludes IPC (D-Bus) and │
355 │ │ network access. │
356 ├──────────┼────────────────────────────┤
357 │trusted │ A profile with very │
358 │ │ relaxed settings. In this │
359 │ │ profile the services run │
360 │ │ with full privileges. │
361 └──────────┴────────────────────────────┘
362 For details on these profiles and their effects see their precise
364 definitions, e.g.
365 /usr/lib/systemd/portable/profile/default/service.conf and similar.
366
368 On success, 0 is returned, a non-zero failure code otherwise.
369
371 $SYSTEMD_PAGER
372 Pager to use when --no-pager is not given; overrides $PAGER. If
373 neither $SYSTEMD_PAGER nor $PAGER are set, a set of well-known
374 pager implementations are tried in turn, including less(1) and
375 more(1), until one is found. If no pager implementation is
376 discovered no pager is invoked. Setting this environment variable
377 to an empty string or the value "cat" is equivalent to passing
378 --no-pager.
379 $SYSTEMD_LESS
381 Override the options passed to less (by default "FRSXMK").
382 Users might want to change two options in particular:
384 K
386 This option instructs the pager to exit immediately when Ctrl+C
387 is pressed. To allow less to handle Ctrl+C itself to switch
388 back to the pager command prompt, unset this option.
389 If the value of $SYSTEMD_LESS does not include "K", and the
391 pager that is invoked is less, Ctrl+C will be ignored by the
392 executable, and needs to be handled by the pager.
393 X
395 This option instructs the pager to not send termcap
396 initialization and deinitialization strings to the terminal. It
397 is set by default to allow command output to remain visible in
398 the terminal even after the pager exits. Nevertheless, this
399 prevents some pager functionality from working, in particular
400 paged output cannot be scrolled with the mouse.
401 See less(1) for more discussion.
403 $SYSTEMD_LESSCHARSET
405 Override the charset passed to less (by default "utf-8", if the
406 invoking terminal is determined to be UTF-8 compatible).
407 $SYSTEMD_PAGERSECURE
409 Takes a boolean argument. When true, the "secure" mode of the pager
410 is enabled; if false, disabled. If $SYSTEMD_PAGERSECURE is not set
411 at all, secure mode is enabled if the effective UID is not the same
412 as the owner of the login session, see geteuid(2) and
413 sd_pid_get_owner_uid(3). In secure mode, LESSSECURE=1 will be set
414 when invoking the pager, and the pager shall disable commands that
415 open or create new files or start new subprocesses. When
416 $SYSTEMD_PAGERSECURE is not set at all, pagers which are not known
417 to implement secure mode will not be used. (Currently only less(1)
418 implements secure mode.)
419 Note: when commands are invoked with elevated privileges, for
421 example under sudo(8) or pkexec(1), care must be taken to ensure
422 that unintended interactive features are not enabled. "Secure" mode
423 for the pager may be enabled automatically as describe above.
424 Setting SYSTEMD_PAGERSECURE=0 or not removing it from the inherited
425 environment allows the user to invoke arbitrary commands. Note that
426 if the $SYSTEMD_PAGER or $PAGER variables are to be honoured,
427 $SYSTEMD_PAGERSECURE must be set too. It might be reasonable to
428 completly disable the pager using --no-pager instead.
429 $SYSTEMD_COLORS
431 The value must be a boolean. Controls whether colorized output
432 should be generated. This can be specified to override the decision
433 that systemd makes based on $TERM and what the console is connected
434 to.
435 $SYSTEMD_URLIFY
437 The value must be a boolean. Controls whether clickable links
438 should be generated in the output for terminal emulators supporting
439 this. This can be specified to override the decision that systemd
440 makes based on $TERM and other conditions.
441
443 systemd(1), systemd-portabled.service(8)
444systemd 246 PORTABLECTL(1)