README.md

   1 [![LXD](https://linuxcontainers.org/static/img/containers.png)](https://linuxcontainers.org/lxd)
   2 # LXC
   3
   4 LXC is the well-known and heavily tested low-level Linux container runtime. It
   5 is in active development since 2008 and has proven itself in critical
   6 production environments world-wide. Some of its core contributors are the same
   7 people that helped to implement various well-known containerization features
   8 inside the Linux kernel.
   9
  10 ## Status
  11 Type            | Service               | Status
  12 ---             | ---                   | ---
  13 CI (Linux)      | GitHub                | [![Build Status](https://github.com/lxc/lxc/actions/workflows/build.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/lxc/lxc/actions)
  14 CI (Linux)      | Jenkins               | [![Build Status](https://jenkins.linuxcontainers.org/job/lxc-github-commit/badge/icon)](https://jenkins.linuxcontainers.org/job/lxc-github-commit/)
  15 Project status  | CII Best Practices    | [![CII Best Practices](https://bestpractices.coreinfrastructure.org/projects/1087/badge)](https://bestpractices.coreinfrastructure.org/projects/1087)
  16 Fuzzing         | OSS-Fuzz              | [![Fuzzing Status](https://oss-fuzz-build-logs.storage.googleapis.com/badges/lxc.svg)](https://oss-fuzz-build-logs.storage.googleapis.com/index.html#lxc)
  17 Fuzzing         | CIFuzz                | [![CIFuzz](https://github.com/lxc/lxc/actions/workflows/cifuzz.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/lxc/lxc/actions/workflows/cifuzz.yml)
  18
  19 ## System Containers
  20
  21 LXC's main focus is system containers. That is, containers which offer an
  22 environment as close as possible as the one you'd get from a VM but without the
  23 overhead that comes with running a separate kernel and simulating all the
  24 hardware.
  25
  26 This is achieved through a combination of kernel security features such as
  27 namespaces, mandatory access control and control groups.
  28
  29 ## Unprivileged Containers
  30
  31 Unprivileged containers are containers that are run without any privilege. This
  32 requires support for user namespaces in the kernel that the container is run
  33 on. LXC was the first runtime to support unprivileged containers after user
  34 namespaces were merged into the mainline kernel.
  35
  36 In essence, user namespaces isolate given sets of UIDs and GIDs. This is
  37 achieved by establishing a mapping between a range of UIDs and GIDs on the host
  38 to a different (unprivileged) range of UIDs and GIDs in the container. The
  39 kernel will translate this mapping in such a way that inside the container all
  40 UIDs and GIDs appear as you would expect from the host whereas on the host
  41 these UIDs and GIDs are in fact unprivileged. For example, a process running as
  42 UID and GID 0 inside the container might appear as UID and GID 100000 on the
  43 host. The implementation and working details can be gathered from the
  44 corresponding user namespace man page.
  45
  46 Since unprivileged containers are a security enhancement they naturally come
  47 with a few restrictions enforced by the kernel. In order to provide a fully
  48 functional unprivileged container LXC interacts with 3 pieces of setuid code:
  49
  50 - lxc-user-nic (setuid helper to create a veth pair and bridge it on the host)
  51 - newuidmap (from the shadow package, sets up a uid map)
  52 - newgidmap (from the shadow package, sets up a gid map)
  53
  54 Everything else is run as your own user or as a uid which your user owns.
  55
  56 In general, LXC's goal is to make use of every security feature available in
  57 the kernel. This means LXC's configuration management will allow experienced
  58 users to intricately tune LXC to their needs.
  59
  60 A more detailed introduction into LXC security can be found under the following link
  61
  62 - https://linuxcontainers.org/lxc/security/
  63
  64 ### Removing all Privilege
  65
  66 In principle LXC can be run without any of these tools provided the correct
  67 configuration is applied. However, the usefulness of such containers is usually
  68 quite restricted. Just to highlight the two most common problems:
  69
  70 1. Network: Without relying on a setuid helper to setup appropriate network
  71    devices for an unprivileged user (see LXC's `lxc-user-nic` binary) the only
  72    option is to share the network namespace with the host. Although this should
  73    be secure in principle, sharing the host's network namespace is still one
  74    step of isolation less and increases the attack vector.
  75    Furthermore, when host and container share the same network namespace the
  76    kernel will refuse any sysfs mounts. This usually means that the init binary
  77    inside of the container will not be able to boot up correctly.
  78
  79 2. User Namespaces: As outlined above, user namespaces are a big security
  80    enhancement. However, without relying on privileged helpers users who are
  81    unprivileged on the host are only permitted to map their own UID into
  82    a container. A standard POSIX system however, requires 65536 UIDs and GIDs
  83    to be available to guarantee full functionality.
  84
  85 ## Configuration
  86
  87 LXC is configured via a simple set of keys. For example,
  88
  89 - `lxc.rootfs.path`
  90 - `lxc.mount.entry`
  91
  92 LXC namespaces configuration keys by using single dots. This means complex
  93 configuration keys such as `lxc.net.0` expose various subkeys such as
  94 `lxc.net.0.type`, `lxc.net.0.link`, `lxc.net.0.ipv6.address`, and others for
  95 even more fine-grained configuration.
  96
  97 LXC is used as the default runtime for [LXD](https://github.com/lxc/lxd),
  98 a container hypervisor exposing a well-designed and stable REST-api on top of
  99 it.
 100
 101 ## Kernel Requirements
 102
 103 LXC runs on any kernel from 2.6.32 onwards. All it requires is a functional
 104 C compiler. LXC works on all architectures that provide the necessary kernel
 105 features. This includes (but isn't limited to):
 106
 107 - i686
 108 - x86_64
 109 - ppc, ppc64, ppc64le
 110 - riscv64
 111 - s390x
 112 - armvl7, arm64
 113
 114 LXC also supports at least the following C standard libraries:
 115
 116 - glibc
 117 - musl
 118 - bionic (Android's libc)
 119
 120 ## Backwards Compatibility
 121
 122 LXC has always focused on strong backwards compatibility. In fact, the API
 123 hasn't been broken from release `1.0.0` onwards. Main LXC is currently at
 124 version `4.*.*`.
 125
 126 ## Reporting Security Issues
 127
 128 The LXC project has a good reputation in handling security issues quickly and
 129 efficiently. If you think you've found a potential security issue, please
 130 report it by e-mail to all of the following persons:
 131
 132 - serge (at) hallyn (dot) com
 133 - stgraber (at) ubuntu (dot) com
 134 - brauner (at) kernel (dot) org
 135
 136 For further details please have a look at
 137
 138 - https://linuxcontainers.org/lxc/security/
 139
 140 ## Becoming Active in LXC development
 141
 142 We always welcome new contributors and are happy to provide guidance when
 143 necessary. LXC follows the kernel coding conventions. This means we only
 144 require that each commit includes a `Signed-off-by` line. The coding style we
 145 use is identical to the one used by the Linux kernel. You can find a detailed
 146 introduction at:
 147
 148 - https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/v4.10/process/coding-style.html
 149
 150 and should also take a look at the [CONTRIBUTING](CONTRIBUTING) file in this
 151 repo.
 152
 153 If you want to become more active it is usually also a good idea to show up in
 154 the LXC IRC channel [#lxc-dev](https://kiwiirc.com/client/irc.libera.chat/#lxc-dev) on irc.libera.chat. We try to do all development out
 155 in the open and discussion of new features or bugs is done either in
 156 appropriate GitHub issues or on IRC.
 157
 158 When thinking about making security critical contributions or substantial
 159 changes it is usually a good idea to ping the developers first and ask whether
 160 a PR would be accepted.
 161
 162 ## Semantic Versioning
 163
 164 LXC and its related projects strictly adhere to a [semantic
 165 versioning](http://semver.org/) scheme.
 166
 167 ## Downloading the current source code
 168
 169 Source for the latest released version can always be downloaded from
 170
 171 - https://linuxcontainers.org/lxc/downloads/
 172
 173 You can browse the up to the minute source code and change history online
 174
 175 - https://github.com/lxc/lxc
 176
 177 ## Building LXC
 178
 179 Without considering distribution specific details a simple
 180
 181     meson setup -Dprefix=/usr build
 182     meson compile -C build
 183
 184 is usually sufficient.
 185
 186 ## Getting help
 187
 188 When you find you need help, the LXC projects provides you with several options.
 189
 190 ### Discuss Forum
 191
 192 We maintain a discuss forum at
 193
 194 - https://discuss.linuxcontainers.org/
 195
 196 where you can get support.
 197
 198 ### IRC
 199 You can find us in [#lxc](https://kiwiirc.com/client/irc.libera.chat/#lxc) on irc.libera.chat.
 200
 201 ### Mailing Lists
 202
 203 You can check out one of the two LXC mailing list archives and register if
 204 interested:
 205
 206 - http://lists.linuxcontainers.org/listinfo/lxc-devel
 207 - http://lists.linuxcontainers.org/listinfo/lxc-users