3. Charliecloud command reference¶

3.1.1. Synopsis¶

$ ch-build -t TAG [ARGS ...] CONTEXT

3.1.2. Description¶

Build a Docker image named TAG described by Dockerfile ./Dockerfile or as specified. Pass the HTTP proxy environment variables through with --build-arg.

Sudo privileges are required to run the docker command.

Arguments:

--file

Dockerfile to use (default: ./Dockerfile)

-t

name (tag) of Docker image to build

--help

print help and exit

--version

print version and exit

Additional arguments are accepted and passed unchanged to docker build.

3.1.3. Examples¶

Create a Docker image tagged foo and specified by the file Dockerfile located in the current working directory. Use /bar as the Docker context directory:

$ ch-build -t foo /bar

Equivalent to above:

$ ch-build -t foo --file=./Dockerfile /bar

Instead, use the Dockerfile /baz/qux.docker:

$ ch-build -t foo --file=/baz/qux.docker /bar

Note that calling your Dockerfile anything other than Dockerfile will confuse people.

3.2.1. Synopsis¶

$ ch-build2dir CONTEXT DEST [ARGS ...]

3.2.2. Description¶

Build a Docker image as specified by the file Dockerfile in the current working directory and context directory CONTEXT. Unpack it in DEST.

Sudo privileges are required to run the docker command.

This runs the following command sequence: ch-build, ch-docker2tar, and ch-tar2dir but provides less flexibility than the individual commands.

Arguments:

CONTEXT

Docker context directory

DEST

directory in which to place image tarball and directory

ARGS

additional arguments passed to ch-build

--help

print help and exit

--version

print version and exit

3.3.1. Synopsis¶

$ ch-docker2tar IMAGE OUTDIR

3.3.2. Description¶

Flattens the Docker image tagged IMAGE into a Charliecloud tarball in directory OUTDIR.

Sudo privileges are required to run docker export.

Additional arguments:

--help

print help and exit

--version

print version and exit

3.3.3. Example¶

$ ch-docker2tar hello /var/tmp
57M /var/tmp/hello.tar.gz
$ ls -lh /var/tmp
-rw-r-----  1 reidpr reidpr  57M Feb 13 16:14 hello.tar.gz

3.4.1. Synopsis¶

$ ch-docker-run [-i] [-b HOSTDIR:GUESTDIR ...] TAG CMD [ARGS ...]

3.4.2. Description¶

Runs the command CMD in a Docker container using the image named TAG.

Sudo privileges are required for docker run.

CMD is run under your user ID. The users and groups inside the container match those on the host.

Arguments:

-i

run interactively with a pseudo-TTY

-b

bind-mount HOSTDIR at GUESTDIR inside the container (can be repeated)

--help

print help and exit

--version

print version and exit

3.5.1. Synopsis¶

$ ch-run [OPTION...] NEWROOT CMD [ARG...]

3.5.2. Description¶

Run command CMD in a Charliecloud container using the flattened and unpacked image directory located at NEWROOT.

-b, --bind=SRC[:DST]

mount SRC at guest DST (default /mnt/0, /mnt/1, etc.)

-c, --cd=DIR

initial working directory in container

-g, --gid=GID

run as group GID within container

--is-setuid

exit successfully if compiled for setuid, else fail

--no-home

do not bind-mount your home directory (by default, your home directory is mounted at /home/$USER in the container)

-t, --private-tmp

use container-private /tmp (by default, /tmp is shared with the host)

-u, --uid=UID

run as user UID within container

-v, --verbose

be more verbose (debug if repeated)

-w, --write

mount image read-write (by default, the image is mounted read-only)

-?, --help

print help and exit

--usage

print a short usage message and exit

-V, --version

print version and exit

3.5.3. Example¶

Run the command echo hello inside a Charliecloud container using the unpacked image at /data/foo:

$ ch-run /data/foo -- echo hello
hello

3.6.1. Synopsis¶

$ CH_RUN_ARGS="NEWROOT [ARG...]"
$ ch-ssh [OPTION...] HOST CMD [ARG...]

3.6.2. Description¶

Runs command CMD in a Charliecloud container on remote host HOST. Use the content of environment variable CH_RUN_ARGS as the arguments to ch-run on the remote host.

3.6.3. Example¶

On host bar.example.com, run the command echo hello inside a Charliecloud container using the unpacked image at /data/foo with starting directory /baz:

$ hostname
foo
$ export CH_RUN_ARGS='--cd /baz /data/foo'
$ ch-ssh bar.example.com -- hostname
bar

3.7.1. Synopsis¶

$ ch-tar2dir TARBALL DIR

3.7.2. Description¶

Extract the tarball TARBALL into a subdirectory of DIR. TARBALL must contain a Linux filesystem image, e.g. as created by ch-docker2tar.

Inside DIR, a subdirectory will be created whose name corresponds to the name of the tarball with the .tar.gz suffix removed. If such a directory exists already and appears to be a Charliecloud container image, it is removed and replaced. If the existing directory doesn’t appear to be a container image, the script aborts with an error.

Additional arguments:

--help

print help and exit

--verbose

be more verbose

--version

print version and exit

3.7.3. Example¶

$ ls -lh /var/tmp
total 57M
-rw-r-----  1 reidpr reidpr  57M Feb 13 16:14 hello.tar.gz
$ ch-tar2dir /var/tmp/hello.tar.gz /var/tmp
creating new image /var/tmp/hello
/var/tmp/hello unpacked ok
$ ls -lh /var/tmp
total 57M
drwxr-x--- 22 reidpr reidpr 4.0K Feb 13 16:29 hello
-rw-r-----  1 reidpr reidpr  57M Feb 13 16:14 hello.tar.gz