Distrobox - Revision history

Farberbrodsky: Add known issue: Distrobox is not location independent. I have personally encountered this.

2026-05-22T15:16:15Z

Add known issue: Distrobox is not location independent. I have personally encountered this.

@@ Line 83: / Line 83: @@
 === Distrobox Fails With Arch Linux and init ===
 This is a cross-distro (not NixOS-specific) issue resulting from a [https://github.com/util-linux/util-linux/ util-linux] runuser regression.<ref name="debian-report">https://github.com/89luca89/distrobox/issues/2069</ref><ref name="nixos-report">https://github.com/89luca89/distrobox/issues/2065</ref> A fix has recently been merged, and the issue should be resolved in the next release (v2.43).<ref name="util-linux-pull">https://github.com/util-linux/util-linux/pull/4185</ref>.
 == References ==
 <references/>

Smudgebun: Added Known Issues section, in it a current Distrobox issue making the example usage on this page break

2026-05-04T19:32:33Z

Added Known Issues section, in it a current Distrobox issue making the example usage on this page break

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:32, 4 May 2026
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	[[Category:Applications]]		[[Category:Applications]]
	[[Category:Container]]		[[Category:Container]]

			== Known Issues ==
			=== Distrobox Fails With Arch Linux and init ===
			This is a cross-distro (not NixOS-specific) issue resulting from a [https://github.com/util-linux/util-linux/ util-linux] runuser regression.<ref name="debian-report">https://github.com/89luca89/distrobox/issues/2069</ref><ref name="nixos-report">https://github.com/89luca89/distrobox/issues/2065</ref> A fix has recently been merged, and the issue should be resolved in the next release (v2.43).<ref name="util-linux-pull">https://github.com/util-linux/util-linux/pull/4185</ref>.

			== References ==
			<references/>

Luflosi: Use "distrobox --root" instead of running as root directly since distrobox does not want to be run with sudo or doas

2025-10-02T08:19:11Z

Use "distrobox --root" instead of running as root directly since distrobox does not want to be run with sudo or doas

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:19, 2 October 2025
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	<syntaxhighlight lang="console">		<syntaxhighlight lang="console">
	# distrobox create --name archlinux --init --image archlinux:latest		distrobox create --root --name archlinux --init --image archlinux:latest
	</syntaxhighlight>		</syntaxhighlight>

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	<syntaxhighlight lang="console">		<syntaxhighlight lang="console">
	# distrobox enter archlinux		distrobox enter --root archlinux
	</syntaxhighlight>		</syntaxhighlight>

Luflosi: Minor grammar fix

2025-10-02T08:16:40Z

Minor grammar fix

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:16, 2 October 2025
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	=== Using different architecture ===		=== Using different architecture ===
	~~Following~~ example will run an Ubuntu container with a different architecture than the host, in this case arm64.		The following example will run an Ubuntu container with a different architecture than the host, in this case arm64.

	Add following line to your system configuration, apply it and then reboot the system.<syntaxhighlight lang="nix">		Add following line to your system configuration, apply it and then reboot the system.<syntaxhighlight lang="nix">

StijnRuts: Described how to mount extra volumes to expose your user profile to Distrobox

2025-09-06T12:19:21Z

Described how to mount extra volumes to expose your user profile to Distrobox

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:19, 6 September 2025
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	=== Exposing your profile ===		=== Exposing your profile ===
	If you get errors like <code>/home/user/.zshenv:.:2: no such file or directory: /etc/profiles/per-user/user/etc/profile.d/hm-session-vars.sh</code> or <code>_atuin_preexec: command not found: atuin</code> that is because your shell init is referencing paths that are not accessible to Distrobox. By default, Distrobox only gets access to your home directory. You can mount additional volumes with <code>distrobox create --volume /your/custom/volume/path</code>, but it is more convenient to define defaults in <code>distrobox.conf</code>:<syntaxhighlight lang="nix">environment.etc."distrobox/distrobox.conf".text = ''		If you get errors like <code>/home/user/.zshenv:.:2: no such file or directory: /etc/profiles/per-user/user/etc/profile.d/hm-session-vars.sh</code> or <code>_atuin_preexec: command not found: atuin</code> that is because your shell init is referencing paths that are not accessible to Distrobox. By default, Distrobox only gets access to your home directory. You can mount additional volumes with <code>distrobox create --volume /your/custom/volume/path</code>, but it is more convenient to define defaults in <code>distrobox.conf</code>: <syntaxhighlight lang="nix">environment.etc."distrobox/distrobox.conf".text = ''
	container_additional_volumes="/nix/store:/nix/store:ro /etc/profiles/per-user:/etc/profiles/per-user:ro /etc/static/profiles/per-user:/etc/static/profiles/per-user:ro"		container_additional_volumes="/nix/store:/nix/store:ro /etc/profiles/per-user:/etc/profiles/per-user:ro /etc/static/profiles/per-user:/etc/static/profiles/per-user:ro"
	''; </syntaxhighlight>		''; </syntaxhighlight>

StijnRuts: Described how to mount extra volumes to expose your user profile to Distrobox

2025-09-06T08:36:46Z

Described how to mount extra volumes to expose your user profile to Distrobox

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:36, 6 September 2025
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	If you get errors like <code>/home/user/.zshenv:.:2: no such file or directory: /etc/profiles/per-user/user/etc/profile.d/hm-session-vars.sh</code> or <code>_atuin_preexec: command not found: atuin</code> that is because your shell init is referencing paths that are not accessible to Distrobox. By default, Distrobox only gets access to your home directory. You can mount additional volumes with <code>distrobox create --volume /your/custom/volume/path</code>, but it is more convenient to define defaults in <code>distrobox.conf</code>:<syntaxhighlight lang="nix">environment.etc."distrobox/distrobox.conf".text = ''		If you get errors like <code>/home/user/.zshenv:.:2: no such file or directory: /etc/profiles/per-user/user/etc/profile.d/hm-session-vars.sh</code> or <code>_atuin_preexec: command not found: atuin</code> that is because your shell init is referencing paths that are not accessible to Distrobox. By default, Distrobox only gets access to your home directory. You can mount additional volumes with <code>distrobox create --volume /your/custom/volume/path</code>, but it is more convenient to define defaults in <code>distrobox.conf</code>:<syntaxhighlight lang="nix">environment.etc."distrobox/distrobox.conf".text = ''
	container_additional_volumes="/nix/store:/nix/store:ro /etc/profiles/per-user:/etc/profiles/per-user:ro /etc/static/profiles/per-user:/etc/static/profiles/per-user:ro"		container_additional_volumes="/nix/store:/nix/store:ro /etc/profiles/per-user:/etc/profiles/per-user:ro /etc/static/profiles/per-user:/etc/static/profiles/per-user:ro"
	'';</syntaxhighlight>		''; </syntaxhighlight>

	[[Category:Applications]]		[[Category:Applications]]
	[[Category:Container]]		[[Category:Container]]

StijnRuts: Described how to mount extra volumes to expose your user profile to Distrobox

2025-09-06T08:33:14Z

Described how to mount extra volumes to expose your user profile to Distrobox

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:33, 6 September 2025
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	Rebuild your system, run <code>podman system migrate</code>, and try creating the distrobox container again.		Rebuild your system, run <code>podman system migrate</code>, and try creating the distrobox container again.

			=== Exposing your profile ===
			If you get errors like <code>/home/user/.zshenv:.:2: no such file or directory: /etc/profiles/per-user/user/etc/profile.d/hm-session-vars.sh</code> or <code>_atuin_preexec: command not found: atuin</code> that is because your shell init is referencing paths that are not accessible to Distrobox. By default, Distrobox only gets access to your home directory. You can mount additional volumes with <code>distrobox create --volume /your/custom/volume/path</code>, but it is more convenient to define defaults in <code>distrobox.conf</code>:<syntaxhighlight lang="nix">environment.etc."distrobox/distrobox.conf".text = ''
			container_additional_volumes="/nix/store:/nix/store:ro /etc/profiles/per-user:/etc/profiles/per-user:ro /etc/static/profiles/per-user:/etc/static/profiles/per-user:ro"
			'';</syntaxhighlight>

	[[Category:Applications]]		[[Category:Applications]]
	[[Category:Container]]		[[Category:Container]]

Cdro: /* "potentially insufficient UIDs and GUIDs" error */ Remove redundant blank lines

2025-02-19T08:26:47Z

"potentially insufficient UIDs and GUIDs" error: Remove redundant blank lines

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:26, 19 February 2025
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	=== "potentially insufficient UIDs and GUIDs" error ===		=== "potentially insufficient UIDs and GUIDs" error ===
	When setting up containers that do not run as root, as <code>podman</code> does by default, you may see an error along the following lines: (this example uses podman, lilipod has a different error)		When setting up containers that do not run as root, as <code>podman</code> does by default, you may see an error along the following lines: (this example uses podman, lilipod has a different error)


	<syntaxhighlight lang="console">		<syntaxhighlight lang="console">
	# distrobox create container		# distrobox create container

Ilyagr: /* "potentially insufficient UIDs and GUIDs" error */

2025-01-07T02:01:18Z

"potentially insufficient UIDs and GUIDs" error

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:01, 7 January 2025
Line 52:		Line 52:
	</syntaxhighlight>		</syntaxhighlight>

	adding the following to your config might help:		To fix it, adding the following to your config might help:

	<syntaxhighlight lang="nix">		<syntaxhighlight lang="nix">

Ilyagr: Fixup heading level

2025-01-07T01:36:10Z

Fixup heading level

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:36, 7 January 2025
Line 40:		Line 40:
	</syntaxhighlight>		</syntaxhighlight>

	==== "potentially insufficient UIDs and GUIDs" error ====		=== "potentially insufficient UIDs and GUIDs" error ===
	When setting up containers that do not run as root, as <code>podman</code> does by default, you may see an error along the following lines: (this example uses podman, lilipod has a different error)		When setting up containers that do not run as root, as <code>podman</code> does by default, you may see an error along the following lines: (this example uses podman, lilipod has a different error)