Quick Start

This guide is intended for running Apptainer on a computer where you will install Apptainer yourself.

If you need to request an installation on your shared resource, see the requesting an installation section for information to send to your system administrator.

For any additional help or support contact the Apptainer Community: https://apptainer.org/help

Quick Installation

You will need a Linux system to run Apptainer natively and it’s easiest to install if you have root access.

To install from source, follow the instructions in the INSTALL.md on github. Other installation options, including installing from a pre-built RPM, building an RPM or Debian package, installing Apptainer without root privileges, and using Apptainer on Mac and Windows machines are discussed in the installation section of the admin guide.

Overview of the Apptainer Interface

Apptainer’s command line interface allows you to build and interact with containers transparently. You can run programs inside a container as if they were running on your host system. You can easily redirect IO, use pipes, pass arguments, and access files, sockets, and ports on the host system from within a container.

The help command gives an overview of Apptainer options and subcommands as follows:

$ apptainer help

Linux container platform optimized for High Performance Computing (HPC) and
Enterprise Performance Computing (EPC)

Usage:
  apptainer [global options...]

Description:
  Apptainer containers provide an application virtualization layer enabling
  mobility of compute via both application and environment portability. With
  Apptainer one is capable of building a root file system that runs on any
  other Linux system where Apptainer is installed.

Options:
  -d, --debug     print debugging information (highest verbosity)
  -h, --help      help for apptainer
      --nocolor   print without color output (default False)
  -q, --quiet     suppress normal output
  -s, --silent    only print errors
  -v, --verbose   print additional information

Available Commands:
  build       Build an Apptainer image
  cache       Manage the local cache
  capability  Manage Linux capabilities for users and groups
  exec        Run a command within a container
  help        Help about any command
  inspect     Show metadata for an image
  instance    Manage containers running as services
  key         Manage OpenPGP keys
  oci         Manage OCI containers
  plugin      Manage apptainer plugins
  pull        Pull an image from a URI
  push        Upload image to the provided URI
  remote      Manage apptainer remote endpoints
  run         Run the user-defined default command within a container
  run-help    Show the user-defined help for an image
  search      Search a Container Library for images
  shell       Run a shell within a container
  sif         siftool is a program for Singularity Image Format (SIF) file manipulation
  sign        Attach a cryptographic signature to an image
  test        Run the user-defined tests within a container
  verify      Verify cryptographic signatures attached to an image
  version     Show the version for Apptainer

Examples:
  $ apptainer help <command> [<subcommand>]
  $ apptainer help build
  $ apptainer help instance start


For additional help or support, please visit https://www.apptainer.org/docs/

Information about subcommand can also be viewed with the help command.

$ apptainer help verify
Verify cryptographic signatures attached to an image

Usage:
  apptainer verify [verify options...] <image path>

Description:
  The verify command allows a user to verify cryptographic signatures on SIF
  container files. There may be multiple signatures for data objects and
  multiple data objects signed. By default the command searches for the primary
  partition signature. If found, a list of all verification blocks applied on
  the primary partition is gathered so that data integrity (hashing) and
  signature verification is done for all those blocks.

Options:
  -a, --all               verify all objects
  -g, --group-id uint32   verify objects with the specified group ID
  -h, --help              help for verify
  -j, --json              output json
      --legacy-insecure   enable verification of (insecure) legacy signatures
  -l, --local             only verify with local keys
  -i, --sif-id uint32     verify object with the specified ID
  -u, --url string        key server URL (default "https://keys.openpgp.org")


Examples:
  $ apptainer verify container.sif


For additional help or support, please visit https://www.apptainer.org/docs/

Apptainer uses positional syntax (i.e. the order of commands and options matters). Global options affecting the behavior of all commands follow the main apptainer command. Then sub commands are followed by their options and arguments.

For example, to pass the --debug option to the main apptainer command and run Apptainer with debugging messages on:

$ apptainer --debug run docker://alpine

To pass the --containall option to the run command and run a Apptainer image in an isolated manner:

$ apptainer run --containall docker://alpine

Apptainer has the concept of command groups. For instance, to list Linux capabilities for a particular user, you would use the list command in the capability command group like so:

$ apptainer capability list dave

Container authors might also write help docs specific to a container or for an internal module called an app. If those help docs exist for a particular container, you can view them like so.

$ apptainer inspect --helpfile container.sif  # See the container's help, if provided

$ apptainer inspect --helpfile --app=foo foo.sif  # See the help for foo, if provided

Downloading images

You can use the pull and build commands to download images from an external resource like an OCI registry.

You can use pull with the docker:// uri to reference OCI images served from an OCI registry. In this case pull does not just download an image file. OCI images are stored in layers, so pull must also combine those layers into a usable Apptainer file.

$ apptainer pull docker://alpine

You can also use the build command to download pre-built images from an external resource. When using build you must specify a name for your container like so:

$ apptainer build alpine.sif docker://alpine

Unlike pull, build will convert your image to the latest Apptainer image format after downloading it. build is like a “Swiss Army knife” for container creation. In addition to downloading images, you can use build to create images from other images or from scratch using a definition file. You can also use build to convert an image between the container formats supported by Apptainer. To see a comparison of Apptainer definition file with Dockerfile, please see: this section.

Interact with images

You can interact with images in several ways, each of which can accept image URIs in addition to a local image path.

For demonstration, we will use a lolcow_latest.sif image that can be pulled from ghcr.io:

$ apptainer pull docker://ghcr.io/apptainer/lolcow

Shell

The shell command allows you to spawn a new shell within your container and interact with it as though it were a small virtual machine.

$ apptainer shell lolcow_latest.sif

Apptainer lolcow_latest.sif:~>

The change in prompt indicates that you have entered the container (though you should not rely on that to determine whether you are in container or not).

Once inside of an Apptainer container, you are the same user as you are on the host system.

Apptainer lolcow_latest.sif:~> whoami
david

Apptainer lolcow_latest.sif:~> id
uid=1000(david) gid=1000(david) groups=1000(david),65534(nfsnobody)

shell also works with the docker://, oras://, library://, and shub:// URIs. This creates an ephemeral container that disappears when the shell is exited.

$ apptainer shell docker://ghcr.io/apptainer/lolcow

Executing Commands

The exec command allows you to execute a custom command within a container by specifying the image file. For instance, to execute the cowsay program within the lolcow_latest.sif container:

$ apptainer exec lolcow_latest.sif cowsay moo
 _____
< moo >
 -----
        \   ^__^
         \  (oo)\_______
            (__)\       )\/\
                ||----w |
                ||     ||

exec also works with the docker://, oras://, library://, and shub:// URIs. This creates an ephemeral container that executes a command and disappears.

$ apptainer exec docker://ghcr.io/apptainer/lolcow cowsay "Fresh from the internet"
 _________________________
< Fresh from the internet >
 -------------------------
        \   ^__^
         \  (oo)\_______
            (__)\       )\/\
                ||----w |
                ||     ||

Running a container

Apptainer containers contain runscripts. These are user defined scripts that define the actions a container should perform when someone runs it. The runscript can be triggered with the run command, or simply by calling the container as though it were an executable.

$ apptainer run lolcow_latest.sif
______________________________
< Mon Aug 16 13:01:55 CDT 2021 >
 ------------------------------
        \   ^__^
         \  (oo)\_______
            (__)\       )\/\
                ||----w |
                ||     ||

$ ./lolcow_latest.sif
______________________________
< Mon Aug 16 13:12:50 CDT 2021 >
 ------------------------------
        \   ^__^
         \  (oo)\_______
            (__)\       )\/\
                ||----w |
                ||     ||

run also works with the docker://, oras://, library://, and shub:// URIs. This creates an ephemeral container that runs and then disappears.

$ apptainer run docker://ghcr.io/apptainer/lolcow
______________________________
< Mon Aug 16 13:12:33 CDT 2021 >
 ------------------------------
        \   ^__^
         \  (oo)\_______
            (__)\       )\/\
                ||----w |
                ||     ||

Arguments to run

You can pass arguments to the runscript of a container, if it accepts them. For example, the default runscript of the docker://alpine container passes any arguments to a shell. We can ask the container to run echo command in this shell:

$ apptainer run docker://alpine echo "hello"

hello

Because Apptainer runscripts are evaluated shell scripts arguments can behave slightly differently than in Docker/OCI runtimes, if they contain shell code that may be evaluated. To replicate Docker/OCI behaviour you may need additional escaping or quoting of arguments.

$ docker run -it --rm alpine echo "\$HOSTNAME"
$HOSTNAME

$ apptainer run docker://alpine echo "\$HOSTNAME"
p700

$ apptainer run docker://alpine echo "\\\$HOSTNAME"
$HOSTNAME

The exec command replicates the Docker/OCI behavior as it calls the specified executable directly.

Working with Files

Files on the host are reachable from within the container.

$ echo "Hello from inside the container" > $HOME/hostfile.txt

$ apptainer exec lolcow_latest.sif cat $HOME/hostfile.txt

Hello from inside the container

This example works because hostfile.txt exists in the user’s home directory. By default Apptainer bind mounts /home/$USER, /tmp, and $PWD into your container at runtime.

You can specify additional directories to bind mount into your container with the --bind option. In this example, the data directory on the host system is bind mounted to the /mnt directory inside the container.

$ echo "Drink milk (and never eat hamburgers)." > /data/cow_advice.txt

$ apptainer exec --bind /data:/mnt lolcow_latest.sif cat /mnt/cow_advice.txt
Drink milk (and never eat hamburgers).

Pipes and redirects also work with Apptainer commands just like they do with normal Linux commands.

$ cat /data/cow_advice.txt | apptainer exec lolcow_latest.sif cowsay
 ________________________________________
< Drink milk (and never eat hamburgers). >
 ----------------------------------------
        \   ^__^
         \  (oo)\_______
            (__)\       )\/\
                ||----w |
                ||     ||

Build images from scratch

Apptainer produces immutable images in the Singularity Image File (SIF) format. This ensures reproducible and verifiable images and allows for many extra benefits such as the ability to sign and verify your containers.

However, during testing and debugging you may want an image format that is writable. This way you can shell into the image and install software and dependencies until you are satisfied that your container will fulfill your needs. For these scenarios, Apptainer also supports the sandbox format (which is really just a directory).

Sandbox Directories

To build into a sandbox (container in a directory) use the build --sandbox command and option:

$ apptainer build --sandbox ubuntu/ docker://ubuntu

This command creates a directory called ubuntu/ with an entire Ubuntu Operating System and some Apptainer metadata in your current working directory.

You can use commands like shell, exec , and run with this directory just as you would with an Apptainer image. If you pass the --writable option when you use your container you can also write files within the sandbox directory (provided you have the permissions to do so).

$ apptainer exec --writable ubuntu touch /foo

$ apptainer exec ubuntu/ ls /foo
/foo

Converting images from one format to another

The build command allows you to build a container from an existing container. This means that you can use it to convert a container from one format to another. For instance, if you have already created a sandbox (directory) and want to convert it to the default immutable image format (squashfs) you can do so:

$ apptainer build new-sif sandbox

Doing so may break reproducibility if you have altered your sandbox outside of the context of a definition file, so you are advised to exercise care.

Apptainer Definition Files

For a reproducible, verifiable and production-quality container you should build a SIF file using an Apptainer definition file. This also makes it easy to add files, environment variables, and install custom software. You can start with base images from Docker Hub and use images directly from official repositories such as Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, Arch, and BusyBox.

A definition file has a header and a body. The header determines the base container to begin with, and the body is further divided into sections that perform things like software installation, environment setup, and copying files into the container from host system, etc.

Here is an example of a definition file:

BootStrap: docker
From: ubuntu:20.04

%post
    apt-get -y update
    apt-get -y install cowsay lolcat

%environment
    export LC_ALL=C
    export PATH=/usr/games:$PATH

%runscript
    date | cowsay | lolcat

%labels
    Author Alice

To build a container from this definition file (assuming it is a file named lolcow.def), you would call build like so:

$ apptainer build lolcow.sif lolcow.def

In this example, the header tells Apptainer to use a base Ubuntu 16.04 image from the default OCI registry.

  • The %post section executes within the container at build time after the base OS has been installed. The %post section is therefore the place to perform installations of new applications.

  • The %environment section defines some environment variables that will be available to the container at runtime.

  • The %runscript section defines actions for the container to take when it is executed.

  • And finally, the %labels section allows for custom metadata to be added to the container.

This is a very small example of the things that you can do with a definition file. You can also use an existing container on your host system as a base.

This quickstart document just scratches the surface of all of the things you can do with Apptainer!

If you need additional help or support, see https://apptainer.org/help.

Apptainer on a shared resource

Perhaps you are a user who wants a few talking points and background to share with your administrator. Or maybe you are an administrator who needs to decide whether to install Apptainer.

This document, and the accompanying administrator documentation provides answers to many common questions.

If you need to request an installation you may decide to draft a message similar to this:

Dear shared resource administrator,

We are interested in having Apptainer (https://apptainer.org)
installed on our shared resource. Apptainer containers will allow us to
build encapsulated environments, meaning that our work is reproducible and
we are empowered to choose all dependencies including libraries, operating
system, and custom software. Apptainer is already in use on many of the
top HPC centers around the world. Examples include:

    Texas Advanced Computing Center
    GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research
    Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility
    Purdue University
    National Institutes of Health HPC
    UFIT Research Computing at the University of Florida
    San Diego Supercomputing Center
    Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
    University of Chicago
    McGill HPC Centre/Calcul Québec
    Barcelona Supercomputing Center
    Sandia National Lab
    Argonne National Lab

Importantly, it has a vibrant team of developers, scientists, and HPC
administrators that invest heavily in the security and development of the
software, and are quick to respond to the needs of the community. To help
learn more about Apptainer, I thought these items might be of interest:

    - Security: A discussion of security concerns is discussed at
    https://apptainer.org/docs/admin/1.1/admin_quickstart.html

    - Installation:
    https://apptainer.org/docs/admin/1.1/installation.html

If you have questions about any of the above, you can contact one of the
sources listed at https://apptainer.org/help. I can do my best
to facilitate this interaction if help is needed.

Thank you kindly for considering this request!

Best,

User