5 ms·

I'm surprised nobody is mentioning LXC[1]. I'm by no means a containers expert, but they claim to be more secure since they default to running as non-root. Unli

I'm surprised nobody is mentioning LXC[1]. I'm by no means a containers expert, but they claim to be more secure since they default to running as non-root. Unlike docker, I had no trouble installing LXC with apt, while with docker I often got an outdated version. I'm now using LXC for all of my basic container applications (self hosting a wiki and a few other sites). [1]: https://linuxcontainers.org/ https://linuxcontainers.org/

judge2020 7y ago
Docker isn't up to date on the official Ubuntu (and debian too?) repos for some odd reason. A better way is either snap (snapcraft) or adding docker's own apt repository.
- FreeHugs 7y ago
  Aren't those images provided by Ubuntu and Debian? Then it would not be under the control of Docker which versions are provided. docker.io provides Debian 10 as far as I can tell.
- e12e 7y ago
  Docker (the daemon and tooling) is generally upstream-supplied (ie: docker provides apt repos etc). Not uncommon for rapidly moving upstream. I wouldn't recommend running distro-supplied docker in general (and neither do docker). Curated apt repos is nicer than snaps, IMNHO.
- fiatjaf 7y ago
  snap never works.
dbleyl 7y ago
lxc is awesome, wondering the same thing. Also has some niches in the kubernetes space. Using lxc for development DBs and private servers.
dvfjsdhgfv 7y ago
Because LXC has no marketing money like Docker. For me it's just one of these cool tools I use every day without giving it a second thought.
- jsilence 7y ago
  How is the tooling compared to Docker? Genuinely interested. Are there platforms like Portainer available? Is something like docker-compose possible?
  - zaarn 7y ago
    LXC is a bit more simple than that; the modus-operandi is to unpack the rootfs of your favorite distro (ie, ubuntu, alpine) into the container and it runs /bin/init in that container. It essentially behaves like a full VM without the virtualization part. Tooling would be things like Ansible to setup the container as if you would a normal linux system. Though to be honest, not many people invested in good tooling around LXC, it should be possible without problem to run a docker rootfs in LXC.
FreeHugs 7y ago
How do you create an image for LXC? With docker, they have the docker.io service with all types of distros you can chose from.
- StreamBright 7y ago
  You can use the following: lxc image import metadata.tar.gz rootfs.tar.gz --alias hello Not sure which part of the process are you referring to though.
- rlpb 7y ago
  The project provides prebuilt images for all the common distros: https://us.images.linuxcontainers.org/ https://us.images.linuxcontainers.org/ Use them in one command. For example: lxc launch images:debian/sid/amd64 Ubuntu, which I believe is the most popular image base in Docker, ships official cloud images, and you can also use these in one command: lxc launch ubuntu:bionic
  - FreeHugs 7y ago
    That sounds dangerous: All images available on this server are generated using community supported, upstream LXC image templates And: Note that the images found on this image server are unofficial images. Whenever possible, you should try to use official images from your Linux distribution of choice
    - rlpb 7y ago
      That's no different from Docker's community images, is it? And as I pointed out, Ubuntu ships official images, which was demonstrated in my second command.
      - FreeHugs 7y ago
        Don't know about Ubuntu because I use Debian. docker.io calls their Debian images "official" and says they are maintained by two Debian developers.
jeff_vader 7y ago
One reason it's not very popular (from my experience): Docker Desktop for macs, which makes Docker experience on mac os feel somewhat close to native. Meanwhile, to use LXC you'd have to work inside VM (Virtualbox or similar). Last 3 companies I worked for (in London) were almost 100% mac os (which is a little sad).
- MrBuddyCasino 7y ago
  If you use "kind" to create a K8S cluster on MAC, using LXC is totally transparent. You can just load regular Docker images via "kind load docker-image". It even takes less RAM than minikube, because the running Docker VM is re-used.
aitchnyu 7y ago
How cross-platform is LXC containers? Somehow I still use Vagrant in my pet project, since I want Windows and Mac users to have a dev environment in a few steps.

judge2020 7y ago

Docker isn't up to date on the official Ubuntu (and debian too?) repos for some odd reason. A better way is either snap (snapcraft) or adding docker's own apt repository.

FreeHugs 7y ago
Aren't those images provided by Ubuntu and Debian? Then it would not be under the control of Docker which versions are provided. docker.io provides Debian 10 as far as I can tell.
e12e 7y ago
Docker (the daemon and tooling) is generally upstream-supplied (ie: docker provides apt repos etc). Not uncommon for rapidly moving upstream. I wouldn't recommend running distro-supplied docker in general (and neither do docker). Curated apt repos is nicer than snaps, IMNHO.
fiatjaf 7y ago
snap never works.

dbleyl 7y ago

lxc is awesome, wondering the same thing. Also has some niches in the kubernetes space. Using lxc for development DBs and private servers.

dvfjsdhgfv 7y ago

Because LXC has no marketing money like Docker. For me it's just one of these cool tools I use every day without giving it a second thought.

jsilence 7y ago
How is the tooling compared to Docker? Genuinely interested. Are there platforms like Portainer available? Is something like docker-compose possible?
- zaarn 7y ago
  LXC is a bit more simple than that; the modus-operandi is to unpack the rootfs of your favorite distro (ie, ubuntu, alpine) into the container and it runs /bin/init in that container. It essentially behaves like a full VM without the virtualization part. Tooling would be things like Ansible to setup the container as if you would a normal linux system. Though to be honest, not many people invested in good tooling around LXC, it should be possible without problem to run a docker rootfs in LXC.

FreeHugs 7y ago

How do you create an image for LXC? With docker, they have the docker.io service with all types of distros you can chose from.

StreamBright 7y ago
You can use the following: lxc image import metadata.tar.gz rootfs.tar.gz --alias hello Not sure which part of the process are you referring to though.
rlpb 7y ago
The project provides prebuilt images for all the common distros: https://us.images.linuxcontainers.org/ https://us.images.linuxcontainers.org/ Use them in one command. For example: lxc launch images:debian/sid/amd64 Ubuntu, which I believe is the most popular image base in Docker, ships official cloud images, and you can also use these in one command: lxc launch ubuntu:bionic
- FreeHugs 7y ago
  That sounds dangerous: All images available on this server are generated using community supported, upstream LXC image templates And: Note that the images found on this image server are unofficial images. Whenever possible, you should try to use official images from your Linux distribution of choice
  - rlpb 7y ago
    That's no different from Docker's community images, is it? And as I pointed out, Ubuntu ships official images, which was demonstrated in my second command.
    - FreeHugs 7y ago
      Don't know about Ubuntu because I use Debian. docker.io calls their Debian images "official" and says they are maintained by two Debian developers.

jeff_vader 7y ago

One reason it's not very popular (from my experience): Docker Desktop for macs, which makes Docker experience on mac os feel somewhat close to native. Meanwhile, to use LXC you'd have to work inside VM (Virtualbox or similar). Last 3 companies I worked for (in London) were almost 100% mac os (which is a little sad).

MrBuddyCasino 7y ago
If you use "kind" to create a K8S cluster on MAC, using LXC is totally transparent. You can just load regular Docker images via "kind load docker-image". It even takes less RAM than minikube, because the running Docker VM is re-used.

aitchnyu 7y ago

How cross-platform is LXC containers? Somehow I still use Vagrant in my pet project, since I want Windows and Mac users to have a dev environment in a few steps.