Provided by: distrobox_1.8.1.2-1_all 
NAME
distrobox assemble
distrobox-assemble
DESCRIPTION
distrobox-assemble takes care of creating or destroying containers in batches, based on a manifest file.
The manifest file by default is ./distrobox.ini, but can be specified using the --file flag.
SYNOPSIS
distrobox assemble
--file: path or URL to the distrobox manifest/ini file
--name/-n: run against a single entry in the manifest/ini file
--replace/-R: replace already existing distroboxes with matching names
--dry-run/-d: only print the container manager command generated
--verbose/-v: show more verbosity
--version/-V: show version
EXAMPLES
This is an example manifest file to create two containers:
[ubuntu]
additional_packages="git vim tmux nodejs"
image=ubuntu:latest
init=false
nvidia=false
pull=true
root=false
replace=true
start_now=false
# You can add comments using this #
[arch] # also inline comments are supported
additional_packages="git vim tmux nodejs"
home=/tmp/home
image=archlinux:latest
init=false
start_now=true
init_hooks="touch /init-normal"
nvidia=true
pre_init_hooks="touch /pre-init"
pull=true
root=false
replace=false
volume="/tmp/test:/run/a /tmp/test:/run/b"
Create
We can bring them up simply using
distrobox assemble create
If the file is called distrobox.ini and is in the same directory you’re launching the command, no further
arguments are needed. You can specify a custom path for the file using
distrobox assemble create --file /my/custom/path.ini
Or even specify a remote file, by using an URL:
distrobox-assemble create --file https://raw.githubusercontent.com/89luca89/dotfiles/master/distrobox.ini
Replace
By default, distrobox assemble will replace a container only if replace=true is specified in the manifest
file.
In the example of the manifest above, the ubuntu container will always be replaced when running distrobox
assemble create, while the arch container will not.
To force a replace for all containers in a manifest use the --replace flag
distrobox assemble create --replace [--file my/custom/path.ini]
Remove
We can bring down all the containers in a manifest file by simply doing
distrobox assemble rm
Or using a custom path for the ini file
distrobox assemble rm --file my/custom/path.ini
Test
You can always test what distrobox would do by using the --dry-run flag. This command will only print
what commands distrobox would do without actually running them.
Clone
Disclaimer: You need to start the container once to ensure it is fully initialized and created before
cloning it. The container being copied must also be stopped before the cloning process can proceed.
Available options
This is a list of available options with the corresponding type:
Types legend:
• bool: true or false
• string: a single string, for example home="/home/luca-linux/dbox"
• string_list: multiple strings, for example additional_packages="htop vim git". Note that string_list
can be declared multiple times to be compounded:
[ubuntu]
image=ubuntu:latest
additional_packages="git vim tmux nodejs"
additional_packages="htop iftop iotop"
additional_packages="zsh fish"
Flag Name Type
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
additional_flags string_list Additional flags to
pass to the container
manager
additional_packages string_list Additional packages to
install inside the
container
home string Which home directory
should the container
use
image string Which image should the
container use, look
here for a list
clone string Name of the Distrobox
container to use as the
base for a new
container (the
container must be
stopped).
init_hooks string_list Commands to run inside
the container, after
the packages setup
pre_init_hooks string_list Commands to run inside
the container, before
the packages setup
volume string_list Additional volumes to
mount inside the
containers
exported_apps string_list App names or
desktopfile paths to
export
exported_bins string_list Binaries to export
exported_bins_path string Optional path where to
export binaries
(default:
$HOME/.local/bin)
entry bool Generate an entry for
the container in the
app list (default:
false)
start_now bool Start the container
immediately (default:
false)
init bool Specify if this is an
initful container
(default: false)
nvidia bool Specify if you want to
enable NVidia drivers
integration (default:
false)
pull bool Specify if you want to
pull the image every
time (default: false)
root bool Specify if the
container is rootful
(default: false)
unshare_ipc bool Specify if the
container should
unshare the ipc
namespace (default:
false)
unshare_netns bool Specify if the
container should
unshare the network
namespace (default:
false)
unshare_process bool Specify if the
container should
unshare the process
(pid) namespace
(default: false)
unshare_devsys bool Specify if the
container should
unshare /dev (default:
false)
unshare_all bool Specify if the
container should
unshare all the
previous options
(default: false)
For further explanation of each of the option in the list, take a look at the distrobox create usage,
each option corresponds to one of the create flags.
Advanced example
[tumbleweed_distrobox]
image=registry.opensuse.org/opensuse/distrobox
pull=true
additional_packages="acpi bash-completion findutils iproute iputils sensors inotify-tools unzip"
additional_packages="net-tools nmap openssl procps psmisc rsync man tig tmux tree vim htop xclip yt-dlp"
additional_packages="git git-credential-libsecret"
additional_packages="patterns-devel-base-devel_basis"
additional_packages="ShellCheck ansible-lint clang clang-tools codespell ctags desktop-file-utils gcc golang jq python3"
additional_packages="python3-bashate python3-flake8 python3-mypy python3-pipx python3-pycodestyle python3-pyflakes python3-pylint python3-python-lsp-server python3-rstcheck python3-yapf python3-yamllint rustup shfmt"
additional_packages="kubernetes-client helm"
init_hooks=GOPATH="${HOME}/.local/share/system-go" GOBIN=/usr/local/bin go install github.com/golangci/golangci-lint/cmd/golangci-lint@latest;
init_hooks=GOPATH="${HOME}/.local/share/system-go" GOBIN=/usr/local/bin go install github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2/ginkgo@latest;
init_hooks=GOPATH="${HOME}/.local/share/system-go" GOBIN=/usr/local/bin go install golang.org/x/tools/cmd/goimports@latest;
init_hooks=GOPATH="${HOME}/.local/share/system-go" GOBIN=/usr/local/bin go install golang.org/x/tools/gopls@latest;
init_hooks=GOPATH="${HOME}/.local/share/system-go" GOBIN=/usr/local/bin go install sigs.k8s.io/kind@latest;
init_hooks=ln -sf /usr/bin/distrobox-host-exec /usr/local/bin/conmon;
init_hooks=ln -sf /usr/bin/distrobox-host-exec /usr/local/bin/crun;
init_hooks=ln -sf /usr/bin/distrobox-host-exec /usr/local/bin/docker;
init_hooks=ln -sf /usr/bin/distrobox-host-exec /usr/local/bin/docker-compose;
init_hooks=ln -sf /usr/bin/distrobox-host-exec /usr/local/bin/flatpak;
init_hooks=ln -sf /usr/bin/distrobox-host-exec /usr/local/bin/podman;
init_hooks=ln -sf /usr/bin/distrobox-host-exec /usr/local/bin/xdg-open;
exported_apps="htop"
exported_bins="/usr/bin/htop /usr/bin/git"
exported_bins_path="~/.local/bin"
Clone example
[ubuntu]
additional_packages="git vim tmux"
image=ubuntu:latest
init=false
nvidia=false
pull=true
root=false
replace=true
start_now=true
[deno_ubuntu]
clone=ubuntu
init=false
nvidia=false
pull=true
root=false
replace=true
start_now=true
pre_init_hooks=curl -fsSL https://deno.land/install.sh | sh;
[bun_ubuntu]
clone=ubuntu
init=false
nvidia=false
pull=true
root=false
replace=true
start_now=true
pre_init_hooks=curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash;
Distrobox Jan 2025 DISTROBOX-ASSEMBLE(1)