Appendix

Apptainer’s environment variables

Apptainer comes with some environment variables you can set or modify depending on your needs. You can see them listed alphabetically below with their respective functionality.

`A`

APPTAINER_ADD_CAPS: To specify a list (comma separated string) of capabilities to be added. Default is an empty string.
APPTAINER_ALL: List all the users and groups capabilities.
APPTAINER_ALLOW_SETUID: To specify that setuid binaries should or not be allowed in the container. (root only) Default is set to false.
APPTAINER_ALLOW_UNSIGNED: Set to true to allow pushing unsigned SIF images to a library:// destination. Default is false.
APPTAINER_APP and APPTAINER_APPNAME: Sets the name of an application to be run inside a container.
APPTAINER_APPLY_CGROUPS: Used to apply cgroups from an input file for container processes. (it requires root privileges)
APPTAINER_PULL_ARCH: Set the architecture (e.g. arm64) of an image to pull from a library:// or OCI source. Defaults to the host architecture.

`B`

APPTAINER_BIND and APPTAINER_BINDPATH: Comma separated string source:<dest> list of paths to bind between the host and the container, applied in that order. Note that APPTAINER_BIND is also automatically set inside a container to list all the paths bound to it, so that by default all the same binds will be applied to nested apptainer commands.
APPTAINER_BLKIO_WEIGHT: Specify a relative weight for block device access during contention. Range 10-1000. Default is 0 (disabled).
APPTAINER_BLKIO_WEIGHT_DEVICE: Specify a relative weight for block device access during contention on a specific device. Must be supplied in <device path>:weight format. Default is unset.
APPTAINER_BOOT: Set to false by default, considers if executing /sbin/init when container boots (root only).

`C`

APPTAINER_CACHEDIR: Specifies the directory for image downloads to be cached in. See Cache Folders.
APPTAINER_CAP_GROUP: Specify a group to modify when managing permitted capabilities with the capability command.
APPTAINER_CAP_USER: Specify a user to modify when managing permitted capabilities with the capability command.
APPTAINER_CLEANENV: Specifies if the environment should be cleaned or not before running the container. Default is set to false.
APPTAINER_COMPAT: Set to true to enable Docker/OCI compatibility mode. Equivalent to setting --containall --no-eval --no-init --no-umask --writable-tmpfs. Default is false.
APPTAINER_CONFIG_FILE: Use a custom apptainer.conf configuration file. Only supported for non-root users in non-setuid mode.
APPTAINER_CONFIGDIR: Specifies the directory to use for per-user configuration. The default is $HOME/.apptainer.
APPTAINER_CONTAIN: To use minimal /dev and empty other directories (e.g. /tmp and $HOME) instead of sharing filesystems from your host. Default is set to false.
APPTAINER_CONTAINALL: To contain not only file systems, but also PID, IPC, and environment. Default is set to false.
APPTAINER_CONTAINLIBS: Used to specify a string of file names (comma separated string) to bind to the /.singularity.d/libs directory.
APPTAINER_CPU_SHARES: Specify a relative share of CPU time available to the container. Default is -1 (disabled).
APPTAINER_CPUS: Specify a fractional number of CPUs available to the container. Default is unset.
APPTAINER_CPUSET_CPUS: Specify a list or range of CPU cores available to the container. Default is unset.
APPTAINER_CPUSET_MEMS: Specify a list or range of memory nodes available to the container. Default is unset.
APPTAINER_CWD (deprecated APPTAINER_PWD and APPTAINER_TARGET_PWD): The initial working directory for payload process inside the container.

`D`

APPTAINER_DEBUG: Enable debug output when set. Equivalent to -d / --debug.
APPTAINER_DEFFILE: Shows the Apptainer recipe that was used to generate the image.
APPTAINER_DESC: Contains a description of the capabilities.
APPTAINER_DISABLE_CACHE: To disable all caching of docker/oci, library, oras, etc. downloads and built SIFs. Default is set to false.
APPTAINER_DNS: A list of the DNS server addresses separated by commas to be added in resolv.conf.
APPTAINER_DOCKER_HOST: Host address / socket to use when pulling images from a docker-daemon source. DOCKER_HOST without the APPTAINER_ prefix is also accepted.
APPTAINER_DOCKER_LOGIN: To specify the interactive prompt for docker authentication.
APPTAINER_DOCKER_PASSWORD: To specify the password for docker authentication. DOCKER_PASSWORD without the APPTAINER_ prefix is also accepted.
APPTAINER_DOCKER_USERNAME: To specify the username for docker authentication. DOCKER_USERNAME without the APPTAINER_ prefix is also accepted.
APPTAINER_DOWNLOAD_CONCURRENCY: To specify how many concurrent streams when downloading (pulling) an image from cloud library.
APPTAINER_DOWNLOAD_PART_SIZE: To specify the size of each part (bytes) when concurrent downloads are enabled.
APPTAINER_DOWNLOAD_BUFFER_SIZE: To specify the transfer buffer size (bytes) when concurrent downloads are enabled.
APPTAINER_DROP_CAPS: To specify a list (comma separated string) of capabilities to be dropped. Default is an empty string.

`E`

APPTAINER_ENCRYPTION_PASSPHRASE: Used to specify the plaintext passphrase to encrypt the container.
APPTAINER_ENCRYPTION_PEM_DATA: If it contains data from a public PEM file, Apptainer can use those data to encrypt a container. If it contains data from a private PEM file, Apptainer will try to use the data to run an encrypted container.
APPTAINER_ENCRYPTION_PEM_PATH: Used to specify the path of the file containing public or private key to encrypt the container in PEM format.
APPTAINER_ENV_FILE: Specify a file containing KEY=VAL environment variables that should be set in the container.
APPTAINER_ENVIRONMENT: Set during a build to the path to a file into which KEY=VAL environment variables can be added. The file is evaluated at container startup.
APPTAINERENV_*: Allows you to transpose variables into the container at runtime. You can see more in detail how to use this variable in our environment and metadata section.
APPTAINERENV_APPEND_PATH: Used to append directories to the end of the $PATH environment variable. You can see more in detail on how to use this variable in our environment and metadata section.
APPTAINERENV_PATH: A specified path to override the $PATH environment variable within the container. You can see more in detail on how to use this variable in our environment and metadata section.
APPTAINERENV_PREPEND_PATH: Used to prepend directories to the beginning of $PATH environment variable. You can see more in detail on how to use this variable in our environment and metadata section.

`F`

APPTAINER_FAKEROOT: Run or build a container using a user namespace with a root uid/gid mapping.
APPTAINER_FIXPERMS: Set to true to ensure owner has rwX permissions on all files in a container built from an OCI source.
APPTAINER_FORCE: Skip confirmation for destructive actions, e.g. overwriting a container image or killing an instance.
APPTAINER_FUSESPEC: A FUSE filesystem mount specification of the form ‘<type>:<fuse command> <mountpoint>’, that will be mounted in the container.

`H`

APPTAINER_HELPFILE: Specifies the runscript helpfile, if it exists.
APPTAINER_HOME : A home directory specification, it could be a source or destination path. The source path is the home directory outside the container and the destination overrides the home directory within the container.
APPTAINER_HOSTNAME: The container’s hostname.

`I`

APPTAINER_IMAGE: Filename of the container.

`J`

APPTAINER_JSON: Use JSON as an input or output format. Applies to the build and instance list commands. Default is false.

`K`

APPTAINER_KEEP_PRIVS: To let root user keep privileges in the container. Default is set to false.

`L`

APPTAINER_LABELS: Specifies the labels associated with the image.
APPTAINER_LIBRARY: Specifies the library to pull from. Default is set to our Cloud Library.
APPTAINER_LOCAL_VERIFY: Set to true to only use the local keyring when verifying PGP signed SIF images. Disables retrieval of public keys from configured keyservers. Default is false.
APPTAINER_LOGIN_USERNAME: Set the username to use when logging in to a remote endpoint, registry, or keyserver.
APPTAINER_LOGIN_PASSWORD: Set the password to use when logging in to a remote endpoint, registry, or keyserver.
APPTAINER_LOGIN_INSECURE: Set to true to use HTTP (not HTTPS) when logging in to a remote endpoint. Default is false.
APPTAINER_LOGS: Set to true to show the path to instance log files in instance list output. Default is false.

`M`

APPTAINER_MEMORY: Specify a memory limit in bytes for the container. Default is unset (no limit).
APPTAINER_MEMORY_RESERVATION: Specify a memory soft limit in bytes for the container. Default is unset (no limit).
APPTAINER_MEMORY_SWAP: Specify a limit for memory + swap usage by the container. Default is unset. Effect depends on APPTAINER_MEMORY.
APPTAINER_MESSAGELEVEL: Set numeric message level for output. Message levels are Fatal=-4, Error=-3, Warn=-2, Log=-1, Info=1, Verbose=2, Verbose2=3, Verbose3=4, Debug=5.
APPTAINER_MOUNT: To specify host to container mounts, using the syntax understood by the --mount flag. Multiple mounts should be separated by newline characters.

`N`

APPTAINER_NAME: Specifies a custom image name.
APPTAINER_NETWORK: Used to specify a desired network. If more than one parameters is used, addresses should be separated by commas, where each network will bring up a dedicated interface inside the container.
APPTAINER_NETWORK_ARGS: To specify the network arguments to pass to CNI plugins.
APPTAINER_NOCLEANUP: To not clean up the bundle after a failed build, this can be helpful for debugging. Default is set to false.
APPTAINER_NOCOLOR: Print mesages without color output. Default is set to false unless stderr is not a terminal.
APPTAINER_NO_HTTPS and APPTAINER_NOHTTPS: Set to true to use HTTP (not HTTPS) to communicate with registry servers. Default is false.
APPTAINER_NO_EVAL: Set to true in order to prevent Apptainer performing shell evaluation on environment variables / runscript arguments at startup.
APPTAINER_NO_HOME: Considers not mounting users home directory if home is not the current working directory. Default is set to false.
APPTAINER_NO_INIT and APPTAINER_NOSHIMINIT: Considers not starting the shim process with --pid.
APPTAINER_NO_MOUNT: Disable an automatic mount that has been set in apptainer.conf. Accepts proc / sys / dev / devpts / home / tmp / hostfs / cwd, or the source path for a system specific bind.
APPTAINER_NO_NV: Flag to disable Nvidia support. Opposite of APPTAINER_NV.
APPTAINER_NO_PID: Set to true to disable the PID namespace, when it is inferred by other options (e.g.``–containall`` )
APPTAINER_NO_PRIVS: To drop all the privileges from root user in the container. Default is false.
APPTAINER_NOTEST: Set to true to disable execution of %test sections when building a container.
APPTAINER_NO_UMASK: Set to true to prevent host umask propagating to container, and use a default 0022 umask instead. Default is false.
APPTAINER_NV: To enable Nvidia GPU support. Default is set to false.
APPTAINER_NVCCLI: To use nvidia-container-cli for container GPU setup (experimental, only unprivileged).

`O`

APPTAINER_OOM_KILL_DISABLE: Set to true to disable OOM killer for container processes, if possible. Default is false.
APPTAINER_OVERLAY and APPTAINER_OVERLAYIMAGE: To indicate the use of an overlay file system image for persistent data storage or as read-only layer of container.

`P`

APPTAINER_PULLDIR and APPTAINER_PULLFOLDER: Specify destination directory when pulling a container image.
APPTAINER_PID_FILE: When starting an instance, write the instance PID to the specified file.
APPTAINER_PIDS_LIMIT: Specify maximum number of processes that the container may spawn. Default is 0 (no limit).

`Q`

APPTAINER_QUIET: Suppresses all Info messages. Default is set to false.

`R`

APPTAINER_ROOTFS: During a build APPTAINER_ROOTFS is set to the path of the rootfs for the container. It can be used within a definition file to manipulate the rootfs (e.g. from the %setup section).
APPTAINER_ROCM: Set to true to expose ROCm devices and libraries inside the container. Default is false.
APPTAINER_RUNSCRIPT: Specifies the runscript of the image.

`S`

APPTAINER_SANDBOX: Set to true to specify that the format of the image should be a sandbox. Default is set to false.
APPTAINER_SCRATCH and APPTAINER_SCRATCHDIR: Used to include a scratch directory within the container that is linked to a temporary directory. (use -W to force location)
APPTAINER_SECTION: Set to specify a comma separated string of all the sections to be run from the deffile (setup, post, files, environment, test, labels, none)
APPTAINER_SECURITY: Used to enable security features. (SELinux, Apparmor, Seccomp)
APPTAINER_SECRET: Lists all the private keys instead of the default which display the public ones.
APPTAINER_SHELL: The path to the program to be used as an interactive shell.
APPTAINER_SIGNAL: Specifies a signal sent to the instance.
APPTAINER_SILENT: Suppresses all Info and Warning messages. Default is set to false.
APPTAINER_SIGNAL: Specifies the signal to send to an instance with apptainer instance stop.
APPTAINER_SIGN_KEY: Set the path to a key file to be used when signing a SIF image.
APPTAINER_SPARSE: Set to true to create sparse overlay image files with the apptainer overlay create command.
APPTAINER_SHARENS: Share the namespace and image with other containers launched from the same parent process.

`T`

APPTAINER_TEST: Specifies the test script for the image.
APPTAINER_TMPDIR: Specify a location for temporary files to be used when pulling and building container images. See Temporary Folders.

`U`

APPTAINER_UNSHARE_PID: To specify that the container will run in a new PID namespace. Default is set to false.
APPTAINER_UNSHARE_IPC: To specify that the container will run in a new IPC namespace. Default is set to false.
APPTAINER_UNSHARE_NET: To specify that the container will run in a new network namespace (sets up a bridge network interface by default). Default is set to false.
APPTAINER_UNSHARE_UTS: To specify that the container will run in a new UTS namespace. Default is set to false.
APPTAINER_UNSQUASH: To convert SIF files to temporary sandboxes before running a container. Default is set to false.
APPTAINER_UPDATE: To run the definition over an existing container (skips the header). Default is set to false.
APPTAINER_URL: Specifies the key server URL.
APPTAINER_USER: As root, specify a user to manage that user’s instances with the instance commands.
APPTAINER_USERNS and APPTAINER_UNSHARE_USERNS: To specify that the container will run in a new user namespace, allowing Apptainer to run completely unprivileged even with a setuid installation. Default is set to false.

`V`

APPTAINER_VERBOSE: Print additional information. Default is set to false.

`V`

APPTAINER_VERIFY_CERTIFICATE: Set the path to a PEM file containing the certificate to be used when verifying an x509 signed SIF image.
APPTAINER_VERIFY_INTERMEDIATES: Set the path to a PEM file containing an intermediate certificate / chain to be used when verifying an x509 signed SIF image.
APPTAINER_VERIFY_KEY: Set the path to a key file to be used when verifying a key signed SIF image.
APPTAINER_VERIFY_OCSP: Set to true to enable OCSP verification of certificates. Default is false.
APPTAINER_VERIFY_ROOTS: Set the path to a PEM file containing root certificate(s) to be used when verifying an x509 signed SIF image.

`W`

APPTAINER_WORKDIR: The working directory to be used for /tmp, /var/tmp and $HOME (if -c or --contain was also used)
APPTAINER_WRITABLE: By default, all Apptainer containers are available as read only, this option makes the file system accessible as read/write. Default set to false.
APPTAINER_WRITABLE_TMPFS: Makes the file system accessible as read-write with non-persistent data (with overlay support only). Default is set to false.

Build Modules

`library` bootstrap agent

Overview

You can use an existing container in a Container Library as your “base” and then add customization. This allows you to build multiple images from the same starting point. For example, you may want to build several containers with the same custom python installation, the same custom compiler toolchain, or the same base MPI installation. Instead of building these from scratch each time, you could create a base container in the Container Library and then build new containers from that existing base container adding customizations in %post, %environment, %runscript, etc.

This requires setting up a Container Library as shown in the Managing Remote Endpoints section.

Keywords

Bootstrap: library

The Bootstrap keyword is always mandatory. It describes the bootstrap module to use.

From: <entity>/<collection>/<container>:<tag>

The From keyword is mandatory. It specifies the container to use as a base. entity is optional and defaults to library. collection is optional and defaults to default. This is the correct namespace to use for some official containers (alpine for example). tag is also optional and will default to latest.

Library: http://custom/library

The Library keyword is mandatory. It is the URL for the library server.

Fingerprints: 22045C8C0B1004D058DE4BEDA20C27EE7FF7BA84

The Fingerprints keyword is optional. It specifies one or more comma separated fingerprints corresponding to PGP public keys. If present, the bootstrap image will be verified and the build will only proceed if it is signed by keys matching all of the specified fingerprints.

`docker` bootstrap agent

Overview

Docker images are comprised of layers that are assembled at runtime to create an image. You can use Docker layers to create a base image, and then add your own custom software. For example, you might use Docker’s Ubuntu image layers to create an Ubuntu Apptainer container. You could do the same with Fedora, Debian, Arch, Suse, Alpine, BusyBox, etc.

Or maybe you want a container that already has software installed. For instance, maybe you want to build a container that uses CUDA and cuDNN to leverage the GPU, but you don’t want to install from scratch. You can start with one of the nvidia/cuda containers and install your software on top of that.

Or perhaps you have already invested in Docker and created your own Docker containers. If so, you can seamlessly convert them to Apptainer with the docker bootstrap module.

Keywords

Bootstrap: docker

The Bootstrap keyword is always mandatory. It describes the bootstrap module to use.

From: <registry>/<namespace>/<container>:<tag>@<digest>

The From keyword is mandatory. It specifies the container to use as a base. registry is optional and defaults to index.docker.io. namespace is optional and defaults to library. This is the correct namespace to use for some official containers (ubuntu for example). tag is also optional and will default to latest

See Apptainer and Docker for more detailed info on using Docker registries.

Registry: http://custom_registry

The Registry keyword is optional. It will default to index.docker.io.

Namespace: namespace

The Namespace keyword is optional. It will default to library.

Notes

Docker containers are stored as a collection of tarballs called layers. When building from a Docker container the layers must be downloaded and then assembled in the proper order to produce a viable file system. Then the file system must be converted to Singularity Image File (sif) format.

For detailed information about setting your build environment see Build Customization.

`shub` bootstrap agent

Overview

You can use an existing container on Singularity Hub as your “base” and then add customization. This allows you to build multiple images from the same starting point. For example, you may want to build several containers with the same custom python installation, the same custom compiler toolchain, or the same base MPI installation. Instead of building these from scratch each time, you could create a base container on Singularity Hub and then build new containers from that existing base container adding customizations in %post , %environment, %runscript, etc.

Keywords

Bootstrap: shub

The Bootstrap keyword is always mandatory. It describes the bootstrap module to use.

From: shub://<registry>/<username>/<container-name>:<tag>@digest

The From keyword is mandatory. It specifies the container to use as a base. registry is optional and defaults to ``singularity-hub.org. tag and digest are also optional. tag defaults to latest and digest can be left blank if you want the latest build.

Notes

When bootstrapping from a Singularity Hub image, all previous definition files that led to the creation of the current image will be stored in a directory within the container called /.singularity.d/bootstrap_history. Apptainer will also alert you if environment variables have been changed between the base image and the new image during bootstrap.

`oras` bootstrap agent

Overview

Using, this module, a container from supporting OCI Registries - Eg: ACR (Azure Container Registry), local container registries, etc can be used as your “base” image and later customized. This allows you to build multiple images from the same starting point. For example, you may want to build several containers with the same custom python installation, the same custom compiler toolchain, or the same base MPI installation. Instead of building these from scratch each time, you could make use of oras to pull an appropriate base container and then build new containers by adding customizations in %post , %environment, %runscript, etc.

Keywords

Bootstrap: oras

The Bootstrap keyword is always mandatory. It describes the bootstrap module to use.

From: registry/namespace/image:tag

The From keyword is mandatory. It specifies the container to use as a base. Also,``tag`` is mandatory that refers to the version of image you want to use.

Fingerprints: 22045C8C0B1004D058DE4BEDA20C27EE7FF7BA84

The Fingerprints keyword is optional. It specifies one or more comma separated fingerprints corresponding to PGP public keys. If present, the SIF file will be verified and the build will only proceed if it is signed by keys matching all of the specified fingerprints.

`localimage` bootstrap agent

This module allows you to build a container from an existing Apptainer container on your host system. The name is somewhat misleading because your container can be in either image or directory format.

Overview

You can use an existing container image as your “base”, and then add customization. This allows you to build multiple images from the same starting point. For example, you may want to build several containers with the same custom python installation, the same custom compiler toolchain, or the same base MPI installation. Instead of building these from scratch each time, you could start with the appropriate local base container and then customize the new container in %post, %environment, %runscript, etc.

Keywords

Bootstrap: localimage

The Bootstrap keyword is always mandatory. It describes the bootstrap module to use.

From: /path/to/container/file/or/directory

The From keyword is mandatory. It specifies the local container to use as a base.

Fingerprints: 22045C8C0B1004D058DE4BEDA20C27EE7FF7BA84

The Fingerprints keyword is optional. It specifies one or more comma separated fingerprints corresponding to PGP public keys. If present, and the From: keyword points to a SIF format image, it will be verified and the build will only proceed if it is signed by keys matching all of the specified fingerprints.

Notes

When building from a local container, all previous definition files that led to the creation of the current container will be stored in a directory within the container called /.singularity.d/bootstrap_history. Apptainer will also alert you if environment variables have been changed between the base image and the new image during bootstrap.

`yum` bootstrap agent

This module allows you to build a Red Hat style container from a mirror URI based on yum or dnf.

Overview

Use the yum module to specify a base for a RHEL-like container. You must also specify the URI for the mirror you would like to use.

Keywords

Bootstrap: yum

The Bootstrap keyword is always mandatory. It describes the bootstrap module to use.

OSVersion: 9

The OSVersion keyword is optional. It specifies the OS version you would like to use. It is only required if you have specified a %{OSVERSION} variable in the MirrorURL keyword.

MirrorURL: http://repo.almalinux.org/almalinux/%{OSVERSION}/BaseOS/x86_64/os

The MirrorURL keyword is mandatory. It specifies the URI to use as a mirror to download the OS. If you define the OSVersion keyword, then you can use it in the URI as in the example above.

Include: dnf

The Include keyword is optional. It allows you to install additional packages into the core operating system. It is a best practice to supply only the bare essentials such that the %post section has what it needs to properly complete the build. One common package you may want to install when using the yum build module is YUM or DNF itself.

Notes

There is a major limitation with using YUM to bootstrap a container. The RPM database that exists within the container will be created using the RPM library and Berkeley DB implementation that exists on the host system. If the RPM implementation inside the container is not compatible with the RPM database that was used to create the container, RPM and YUM commands inside the container may fail. This issue can be easily demonstrated by bootstrapping an older RHEL compatible image by a newer one (e.g. bootstrap a RHEL 8 container from a RHEL 9 host).

In order to use the yum build module, you must have yum installed on your system. It may seem counter-intuitive to install YUM on a system that uses a different package manager, but you can do so. For instance, on Ubuntu you can install it like so:

$ sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install yum

`debootstrap` build agent

This module allows you to build a Debian/Ubuntu style container from a mirror URI.

Overview

Use the debootstrap module to specify a base for a Debian-like container. You must also specify the OS version and a URI for the mirror you would like to use.

Keywords

Bootstrap: debootstrap

The Bootstrap keyword is always mandatory. It describes the bootstrap module to use.

OSVersion: xenial

The OSVersion keyword is mandatory. It specifies the OS version you would like to use. For Ubuntu you can use code words like trusty (14.04), xenial (16.04), and yakkety (17.04). For Debian you can use values like stable, oldstable, testing, and unstable or code words like wheezy (7), jesse (8), and stretch (9).

MirrorURL:  http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/

The MirrorURL keyword is mandatory. It specifies a URI to use as a mirror when downloading the OS.

Include: somepackage

The Include keyword is optional. It allows you to install additional packages into the core operating system. It is a best practice to supply only the bare essentials such that the %post section has what it needs to properly complete the build.

Notes

In order to use the debootstrap build module, you must have debootstrap installed on your system. On Ubuntu you can install it like so:

$ sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install debootstrap

On RHEL you can install it from the epel repos like so:

$ sudo dnf update && sudo dnf install epel-release && sudo dnf install debootstrap.noarch

`arch` bootstrap agent

This module allows you to build a Arch Linux based container.

Overview

Use the arch module to specify a base for an Arch Linux based container. Arch Linux uses the aptly named pacman package manager (all puns intended).

Keywords

Bootstrap: arch

The Bootstrap keyword is always mandatory. It describes the bootstrap module to use.

The Arch Linux bootstrap module does not name any additional keywords at this time. By defining the arch module, you have essentially given all of the information necessary for that particular bootstrap module to build a core operating system.

Notes

Arch Linux is, by design, a very stripped down, light-weight OS. You may need to perform a significant amount of configuration to get a usable OS. Please refer to this README.md and the Arch Linux example for more info.

`busybox` bootstrap agent

This module allows you to build a container based on BusyBox.

Overview

Use the busybox module to specify a BusyBox base for container. You must also specify a URI for the mirror you would like to use.

Keywords

Bootstrap: busybox

The Bootstrap keyword is always mandatory. It describes the bootstrap module to use.

MirrorURL: https://www.busybox.net/downloads/binaries/1.35.0-x86_64-linux-musl/busybox

The MirrorURL keyword is mandatory. It specifies a URI to use as a mirror when downloading the OS.

Notes

You can build a fully functional BusyBox container that only takes up ~700kB of disk space!

`zypper` bootstrap agent

This module allows you to build a Suse style container from a mirror URI.

Note

zypper version 1.11.20 or greater is required on the host system, as Apptainer requires the --releasever flag.

Overview

Use the zypper module to specify a base for a Suse-like container. You must also specify a URI for the mirror you would like to use.

Keywords

Bootstrap: zypper

The Bootstrap keyword is always mandatory. It describes the bootstrap module to use.

OSVersion: 42.2

The OSVersion keyword is optional. It specifies the OS version you would like to use. It is only required if you have specified a %{OSVERSION} variable in the MirrorURL keyword.

Include: somepackage

The Include keyword is optional. It allows you to install additional packages into the core operating system. It is a best practice to supply only the bare essentials such that the %post section has what it needs to properly complete the build. One common package you may want to install when using the zypper build module is zypper itself.

`docker-daemon` bootstrap agent

Overview

docker-daemon allows you to build a SIF from any Docker image currently residing in the Docker daemon’s internal storage:

$ docker images alpine
REPOSITORY          TAG                 IMAGE ID            CREATED             SIZE
alpine              latest              965ea09ff2eb        7 weeks ago         5.55MB

$ apptainer run docker-daemon:alpine:latest
INFO:    Converting OCI blobs to SIF format
INFO:    Starting build...
Getting image source signatures
Copying blob 77cae8ab23bf done
Copying config 759e71f0d3 done
Writing manifest to image destination
Storing signatures
2019/12/11 14:53:24  info unpack layer: sha256:eb7c47c7f0fd0054242f35366d166e6b041dfb0b89e5f93a82ad3a3206222502
INFO:    Creating SIF file...
Apptainer>

The APPTAINER_DOCKER_HOST or DOCKER_HOST environment variables may be set to instruct {Apptainer} to pull images from a Docker daemon that is not running at the default location. For example, when using a virtualized Docker you may be instructed to set DOCKER_HOST e.g.

To connect the Docker client to the Docker daemon, please set
export DOCKER_HOST=tcp://192.168.59.103:2375

Keywords

In a definition file, the docker-daemon bootstrap agent requires the source container reference to be provided with the From: keyword:

Bootstrap: docker-daemon
From: <image>:<tag>

where both <image> and <tag> are mandatory fields that must be written explicitly.

`docker-archive` bootstrap agent

Overview

The docker-archive boostrap agent allows you to create a Apptainer image from a docker image stored in a docker save formatted tar file:

$ docker save -o alpine.tar alpine:latest

$ apptainer run docker-archive:$(pwd)/alpine.tar
INFO:    Converting OCI blobs to SIF format
INFO:    Starting build...
Getting image source signatures
Copying blob 77cae8ab23bf done
Copying config 759e71f0d3 done
Writing manifest to image destination
Storing signatures
2019/12/11 15:25:09  info unpack layer: sha256:eb7c47c7f0fd0054242f35366d166e6b041dfb0b89e5f93a82ad3a3206222502
INFO:    Creating SIF file...
Apptainer>

Keywords

In a definition file, the docker-archive bootstrap agent requires the path to the tar file containing the image to be specified with the From: keyword.

Bootstrap: docker-archive
From: <path-to-tar-file>

`scratch` bootstrap agent

The scratch bootstrap agent allows you to start from a completely empty container. You are then responsible for adding any and all executables, libraries etc. that are required. Starting with a scratch container can be useful when you are aiming to minimize container size, and have a simple application / static binaries.

Overview

A minimal container providing a shell can be created by copying the busybox static binary into an empty scratch container:

Bootstrap: scratch

%setup
    # Runs on host - fetch static busybox binary
    curl -o /tmp/busybox https://www.busybox.net/downloads/binaries/1.31.0-i686-uclibc/busybox
    # It needs to be executable
    chmod +x /tmp/busybox

%files
    # Copy from host into empty container
    /tmp/busybox /bin/sh

%runscript
   /bin/sh

The resulting container provides a shell, and is 696KiB in size:

$ ls -lah scratch.sif
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 dave dave 696K May 28 13:29 scratch.sif

$ apptainer run scratch.sif
WARNING: passwd file doesn't exist in container, not updating
WARNING: group file doesn't exist in container, not updating
Apptainer> echo "Hello from a 696KiB container"
Hello from a 696KiB container

Keywords

Bootstrap: scratch

There are no additional keywords for the scratch bootstrap agent.

Appendix

Apptainer’s environment variables

A

B

C

D

E

F

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

V

W

Build Modules

library bootstrap agent

Overview

Keywords

docker bootstrap agent

Overview

Keywords

Notes

shub bootstrap agent

Overview

Keywords

Notes

oras bootstrap agent

Overview

Keywords

localimage bootstrap agent

Overview

Keywords

Notes

yum bootstrap agent

Overview

Keywords

Notes

debootstrap build agent

Overview

Keywords

Notes

arch bootstrap agent

Overview

Keywords

Notes

busybox bootstrap agent

Overview

Keywords

Notes

zypper bootstrap agent

Overview

Keywords

docker-daemon bootstrap agent

Overview

Keywords

docker-archive bootstrap agent

Overview

Keywords

scratch bootstrap agent

Overview

Keywords

`A`

`B`

`C`

`D`

`E`

`F`

`H`

`I`

`J`

`K`

`L`

`M`

`N`

`O`

`P`

`Q`

`R`

`S`

`T`

`U`

`V`

`V`

`W`

`library` bootstrap agent

`docker` bootstrap agent

`shub` bootstrap agent

`oras` bootstrap agent

`localimage` bootstrap agent

`yum` bootstrap agent

`debootstrap` build agent

`arch` bootstrap agent

`busybox` bootstrap agent

`zypper` bootstrap agent

`docker-daemon` bootstrap agent

`docker-archive` bootstrap agent

`scratch` bootstrap agent