Announcement of Linux Deploy 2.0
Preparing for the release of the next version of Linux Deploy, which will include many new interesting features. The main one’s are:
- work with containers without superuser rights (based on proot), including architecture emulation without the need to support the binfmt_misc module at the core level;
- modular architecture based on plug-in components;
- updated application interface for Android;
- built-in Android-application management interface via telnet and web interface;
- extended CLI for managing containers from the command line;
- CLI with support for various platforms based on the Linux kernel, not only Android;
- repository of finished containers (container configurations and rootfs archives for them).
The Linux Deploy 2.0 command line interface is already available for testing, which has changed significantly. Now it allows you to create, configure and fully manage containers through the linuxdeploy command. Each container has a configuration file that contains all the parameters for deploying and running a specific distribution. You can work with several configurations, switching between them if necessary. Linux Deploy now has a modular architecture consisting of separate components written in a Bash-compatible ash scripting language. Components are interconnected by dependencies and are connected in a given order, there is protection against cyclic dependencies. Each component has five basic functions that are action handlers: installation, configuration, start, stop, help. The components have a tree structure and are located in the root directory, which is set in the INCLUDE_DIR environment variable. Each component is a directory containing the files required by the component. There are two main files: deploy.conf - component configuration, deploy.sh - component functions.
Components are divided into several groups responsible for a certain functionality. For example, the bootstrap component group is responsible for preparing rootfs and deploying the distribution. The core component group includes basic distributions settings and basic functions for working with containers. There are also groups to support various initialization systems, graphics subsystem and desktop environments, as well as a collection of components for installing and running various software. By combining components, you can build your own version of the distribution with the necessary set of programs.
Let’s say we want to create a container with Arch Linux as standard. To create a container, first you need to set its parameters, use the config command:
linuxdeploy -p arch config --target-path='linux.img' --chroot-dir='/mnt' \
--target-type='file' --disk-size='2000' --fs-type='auto' \
--source-path='http://mirrors.kernel.org/archlinux/' --distrib='archlinux' --arch='i686' \
--user-name='android' --include='bootstrap'
The dump of the resulting configuration file can be obtained using the command:
linuxdeploy -p arch config -x
TARGET_PATH="linux.img"
CHROOT_DIR="/mnt"
TARGET_TYPE="file"
DISK_SIZE="2000"
FS_TYPE="auto"
SOURCE_PATH="http://mirrors.kernel.org/archlinux/"
DISTRIB="archlinux"
ARCH="i686"
USER_NAME="android"
INCLUDE="bootstrap"
When the basic parameters are set, you can start the installation with the deploy command:
linuxdeploy -p arch deploy
This parameterless command starts the installation and configuration of all components connected through the INCLUDE parameter, in this case bootstrap. Once the deployment and configuration process is complete, you can connect to the container with the shell command:
linuxdeploy -p arch shell -u root
We may need to install some additional components in the future without reinstalling the basic system, then you can use the following command, for example, to install an ssh server:
linuxdeploy -p arch deploy -n bootstrap extra/ssh
Here, the option “-n bootstrap” excludes from the installation the components of the bootstrap group on which the extra/ssh component depends. The following commands will work in the same way, but the extra/ssh component will be saved in the container configuration:
linuxdeploy -p arch config --include='${INCLUDE} extra/ssh'
linuxdeploy -p arch deploy -n bootstrap
Here, the ${INCLUDE} variable is taken from the current configuration and in this case contains “bootstrap”. The expanded container can be exported as a rootfs archive:
linuxdeploy -p arch export rootfs.tar.gz
Sometimes you need to import the distribution from the rootfs archive, for this you can use the following commands:
linuxdeploy -p arch config --source-path='rootfs.tar.gz'
linuxdeploy -p arch deploy bootstrap/rootfs
The list of created configurations can be viewed through the conf command:
linuxdeploy -p arch config
arch archlinux i686 latest bootstrap extra/ssh
centos centos i386 7 bootstrap init
debian debian i386 jessie bootstrap graphics desktop
fedora fedora i386 21 bootstrap
gentoo gentoo i686 latest bootstrap
kali kalilinux i386 sana bootstrap
opensuse opensuse i586 13.2 bootstrap
slackware slackware x86 latest bootstrap
ubuntu ubuntu i386 wily bootstrap
The list of available components can be viewed through the conf command. Each component is compatible with all or only some distributions. The list of components connected (via INCLUDE) and compatible with the current configuration with their dependencies can be obtained with the command:
linuxdeploy -p arch config -l
bootstrap Installer of Linux distibution
bootstrap/debian Bootstrap for Debian GNU/Linux
bootstrap/rootfs Prepare and import RootFS
core Core components
core/aid Android users and groups
core/emulator CPU emulation
core/hostname Hostname
core/hosts Hosts file
core/locale Localization
core/mnt Mount points configuration
core/motd Message after a successful login
core/net Network configuration
core/profile User and its environment
core/proot PRoot configuration
core/su SU command
core/sudo Sudoers file
core/timezone Time zone
core/unchroot Break chroot
List of all components:
linuxdeploy config -la
List of dependencies for a specific component:
linuxdeploy -p arch config -l extra/ssh
Starting/stopping the current configuration with all components is done with start and stop commands, for example:
linuxdeploy -p arch start
Help for all connected components can be obtained with the help command, information about a particular component can be obtained as follows:
linuxdeploy help extra/ssh
Name: extra/ssh
Description: Secure shell (SSH) server
Target: debian:*:* ubuntu:*:* kalilinux:*:* archlinux:*:* fedora:*:* opensuse:*:* gentoo:*:* slackware:*:*
Depends: extra
Help:
--ssh-port=PORT
Port of SSH server.
--ssh-args=STR
Defines other sshd options, separated by a space.
At the moment, testing and debugging of the CLI is underway, it was possible to achieve the installation of Debian (wheezy), Ubuntu (precise), Kali Linux (moto), Arch Linux, Gentoo and Slackware distributions without superuser rights.
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