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Distrobox

What is Distrobox?

distrobox|510x413

Run other minimal variants of popular Linux distributions in Bazzite inside of a container, and access each distribution's packages without any of their dependencies and libraries affecting the host machine.

Important Information:

  • Containers are not virtual machines.
  • Containers are intended to be disposable and may run into issues where they need to be recreated.
  • Using this method to obtain software requires knowledge of how traditional Linux operating systems install packages.
    • Create a test container to familiarize yourself with basic Linux commands before diving in further.

Distrobox containers run sub-systems of other popular Linux distributions with access to their package managers (apt, dnf, pacman, etc.) and their package formats (.deb/.rpm) and any additional repositories like the AUR.

Arch Linux Distrobox Container Example:

i use arch btw|690x229, 75%

i use arch (in a container) btw.

Linux Distribution Examples:

OS Package Manager Search for Packages
Fedora dnf Fedora Packages / COPR Packages
Arch pacman Arch Linux Packages / AUR Packages
Debian / Ubuntu apt Debian Packages / Ubuntu Packages (PPA)
openSUSE zypper openSUSE Packages
Void xbps Void Linux Packages
Alpine apk Alpine Linux Packages

Use Cases

Distrobox containers can be used for both development environments and installing applications that are not available in any of the other installation methods which can be exclusive to specific package managers.

Distrobox Graphical Interface

BoxBuddy|690x382, 75%

Distrobox containers can be created and managed graphically with BoxBuddy which is pre-installed.

Desktop Integration

Applications with a graphical user interface can integrate with your system with an application shortcut entering this command inside of the container:

distrobox-export --app <package>

Read Bluefin's documentation on how containers integrate with your system.

Manually Create Pre-Configured Distrobox Containers

ujust distrobox-assemble

Select the container that you want to use.

Advanced users: Declare your own custom Distrobox containers following the distrobox-assemble documentation.

Entering The Container

Swap between different containers in your host with the terminal or alternatively enter:

distrobox enter <container>

Removing Distrobox Containers

Delete containers graphically with BoxBuddy.

Alternatively, use the command line:

distrobox stop <container_name>
distrobox rm -f <container_name>

Distrobox Video Guide

Project Website

https://distrobox.it/


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