# portablectl

## NAME



           portablectl - Attach, detach or inspect portable service images
    


## SYNOPSIS



    
           **portablectl**[OPTIONS...] {COMMAND} [NAME...]
    


## DESCRIPTION



           **portablectl** may be used to attach, detach or inspect portable
           service images. It's primarily a command interfacing with
           systemd-portabled.service(8).
    
           Portable service images contain an OS file system tree along with
           systemd(1) unit file information. A service image may be
           "attached" to the local system. If attached, a set of unit files
           are copied from the image to the host, and extended with
           _RootDirectory=_ or _RootImage=_ assignments (in case of service
           units) pointing to the image file or directory, ensuring the
           services will run within the file system context of the image.
    
           Portable service images are an efficient way to bundle multiple
           related services and other units together, and transfer them as a
           whole between systems. When these images are attached to the local
           system, the contained units may run in most ways like regular
           system-provided units, either with full privileges or inside
           strict sandboxing, depending on the selected configuration. For
           more details, see **Portable Services******[1].
    
           Portable service images may be of the following kinds:
    
           •   Directory trees containing an OS, including the top-level
               directories /usr/, /etc/, and so on.
    
           •   btrfs subvolumes containing OS trees, similar to normal
               directory trees.
    
           •   Binary "raw" disk images containing MBR or GPT partition
               tables and Linux file system partitions. (These must be
               regular files, with the .raw suffix.)


## COMMANDS



           The following commands are understood:
    
           **list**
               List available portable service images. This will list all
               portable service images discovered in the portable image
               search paths (see below), along with brief metadata and state
               information. Note that many of the commands below may both
               operate on images inside and outside of the search paths. This
               command is hence mostly a convenience option, the commands are
               generally not restricted to what this list shows.
    
               Added in version 239.
    
           **attach** _IMAGE_ [_PREFIX..._]
               Attach a portable service image to the host system. Expects a
               file system path to a portable service image file or directory
               as first argument. If the specified path contains no slash
               character ("/") it is understood as image filename that is
               searched for in the portable service image search paths (see
               below). To reference a file in the current working directory
               prefix the filename with "./" to avoid this search path logic.
    
               When a portable service is attached four operations are
               executed:
    
                1. All unit files of types .service, .socket, .target, .timer
                   and .path which match the indicated unit file name prefix
                   are copied from the image to the host's
                   /etc/systemd/system.attached/ directory (or
                   /run/systemd/system.attached/ — depending whether
                   **--runtime** is specified, see below), which is included in
                   the built-in unit search path of the system service
                   manager.
    
                2. For unit files of type .service a drop-in is added to
                   these copies that adds _RootDirectory=_ or _RootImage=_
                   settings (see systemd.unit(5) for details), that ensures
                   these services are run within the file system of the
                   originating portable service image.
    
                3. A second drop-in is created: the "profile" drop-in, that
                   may contain additional security settings (and other
                   settings). A number of profiles are available by default
                   but administrators may define their own ones. See below.
    
                4. If the portable service image file is not already in the
                   search path (see below), a symbolic link to it is created
                   in /etc/portables/ or /run/portables/, to make sure it is
                   included in it.
    
               By default, all unit files whose names start with a prefix
               generated from the image's file name are copied out.
               Specifically, the prefix is determined from the image file
               name with any suffix such as .raw removed, truncated at the
               first occurrence of an underscore character ("_"), if there is
               one. The underscore logic is supposed to be used to versioning
               so that the an image file foobar_47.11.raw will result in a
               unit file matching prefix of foobar. This prefix is then
               compared with all unit files names contained in the image in
               the usual directories, but only unit file names where the
               prefix is followed by "-", "."  or "@" are considered.
               Example: if a portable service image file is named
               foobar_47.11.raw then by default all its unit files with names
               such as foobar-quux-waldi.service, foobar.service or
               foobar@.service will be considered. It's possible to override
               the matching prefix: all strings listed on the command line
               after the image file name are considered prefixes, overriding
               the implicit logic where the prefix is derived from the image
               file name.
    
               By default, after the unit files are attached the service
               manager's configuration is reloaded, except when **--no-reload**
               is specified (see below). This ensures that the new units made
               available to the service manager are seen by it.
    
               If **--now** and/or **--enable** are passed, the portable services are
               immediately started (blocking operation unless **--no-block** is
               passed) and/or enabled after attaching the image.
    
               In place of the image path a ".v/" versioned directory may be
               specified, see systemd.v(7) for details.
    
               In place of the directory path a ".v/" versioned directory may
               be specified, see systemd.v(7) for details.
    
               Added in version 239.
    
           **detach** _IMAGE_ [_PREFIX..._]
               Detaches a portable service image from the host. This undoes
               the operations executed by the **attach** command above, and
               removes the unit file copies, drop-ins and image symlink
               again. This command expects an image name or path as
               parameter. Note that if a path is specified only the last
               component of it (i.e. the file or directory name itself, not
               the path to it) is used for finding matching unit files. This
               is a convenience feature to allow all arguments passed as
               **attach** also to **detach**.
    
               If **--now** and/or **--enable** are passed, the portable services are
               immediately stopped (blocking operation) and/or disabled
               before detaching the image. Prefix(es) are also accepted, to
               be used in case the unit names do not match the image name as
               described in the **attach**.
    
               Added in version 239.
    
           **reattach** _IMAGE_ [_PREFIX..._]
               Detaches an existing portable service image from the host, and
               immediately attaches it again. This is useful in case the
               image was replaced. Running units are not stopped during the
               process. Partial matching, to allow for different versions in
               the image name, is allowed: only the part before the first "_"
               character has to match. If the new image does not exist, the
               existing one will not be detached. The parameters follow the
               same syntax as the **attach** command.
    
               If **--now** and/or **--enable** are passed, the portable services are
               immediately stopped if removed, started and/or enabled if
               added, or restarted if updated. Prefixes are also accepted, in
               the same way as described in the **attach** case.
    
               Added in version 248.
    
           **inspect** _IMAGE_ [_PREFIX..._]
               Extracts various metadata from a portable service image and
               presents it to the caller. Specifically, the os-release(5)
               file of the image is retrieved as well as all matching unit
               files. By default, a short summary showing the most relevant
               metadata in combination with a list of matching unit files is
               shown (that is the unit files **attach** would install to the host
               system). If combined with **--cat**(see above), the os-release
               data and the units files' contents is displayed unprocessed.
               This command is useful to determine whether an image qualifies
               as portable service image, and which unit files are included.
               This command expects the path to the image as parameter,
               optionally followed by a list of unit file prefixes to
               consider, similar to the **attach** command described above.
    
               Added in version 239.
    
           **is-attached** _IMAGE_
               Determines whether the specified image is currently attached
               or not. Unless combined with the **--quiet** switch this will show
               a short state identifier for the image. Specifically:
    
               **Table 1. Image attachment states**
               ┌──────────────────┬──────────────────────────┐
               │ **State** │ **Description** │
               ├──────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
               │ **detached** │ The image is currently   │
               │                  │ not attached.            │
               ├──────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
               │ **attached** │ The image is currently   │
               │                  │ attached, i.e. its unit  │
               │                  │ files have been made     │
               │                  │ available to the host    │
               │                  │ system.                  │
               ├──────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
               │ **attached-runtime** │ Like **attached** , but the   │
               │                  │ unit files have been     │
               │                  │ made available           │
               │                  │ transiently only, i.e.   │
               │                  │ the **attach** command has   │
               │                  │ been invoked with the    │
               │                  │ **--runtime** option.        │
               ├──────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
               │ **enabled** │ The image is currently   │
               │                  │ attached, and at least   │
               │                  │ one unit file associated │
               │                  │ with it has been         │
               │                  │ enabled.                 │
               ├──────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
               │ **enabled-runtime** │ Like **enabled** , but the    │
               │                  │ unit files have been     │
               │                  │ made available           │
               │                  │ transiently only, i.e.   │
               │                  │ the **attach** command has   │
               │                  │ been invoked with the    │
               │                  │ **--runtime** option.        │
               ├──────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
               │ **running** │ The image is currently   │
               │                  │ attached, and at least   │
               │                  │ one unit file associated │
               │                  │ with it is running.      │
               ├──────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
               │ **running-runtime** │ The image is currently   │
               │                  │ attached transiently,    │
               │                  │ and at least one unit    │
               │                  │ file associated with it  │
               │                  │ is running.              │
               └──────────────────┴──────────────────────────┘
    
               Added in version 239.
    
           **read-only** _IMAGE_ [_BOOL_]
               Marks or (unmarks) a portable service image read-only. Takes
               an image name, followed by a boolean as arguments. If the
               boolean is omitted, positive is implied, i.e. the image is
               marked read-only.
    
               Added in version 239.
    
           **remove** _IMAGE_...
               Removes one or more portable service images. Note that this
               command will only remove the specified image path itself — it
               refers to a symbolic link then the symbolic link is removed
               and not the image it points to.
    
               Added in version 239.
    
           **set-limit**[_IMAGE_] _BYTES_
               Sets the maximum size in bytes that a specific portable
               service image, or all images, may grow up to on disk (disk
               quota). Takes either one or two parameters. The first,
               optional parameter refers to a portable service image name. If
               specified, the size limit of the specified image is changed.
               If omitted, the overall size limit of the sum of all images
               stored locally is changed. The final argument specifies the
               size limit in bytes, possibly suffixed by the usual K, M, G, T
               units. If the size limit shall be disabled, specify "-" as
               size.
    
               Note that per-image size limits are only supported on btrfs
               file systems. Also, depending on _BindPaths=_ settings in the
               portable service's unit files directories from the host might
               be visible in the image environment during runtime which are
               not affected by this setting, as only the image itself is
               counted against this limit.
    
               Added in version 239.
    


## OPTIONS



           The following options are understood:
    
           **-q** , **--quiet**
               Suppresses additional informational output while running.
    
               Added in version 239.
    
           **-p** _PROFILE_ , **--profile=**_PROFILE_
               When attaching an image, select the profile to use. By
               default, the "default" profile is used. For details about
               profiles, see below.
    
               Added in version 239.
    
           **--copy=**
               When attaching an image, select whether to prefer copying or
               symlinking of files installed into the host system. Takes one
               of "copy" (files will be copied), "symlink" (to prefer
               creation of symbolic links), "auto" for an intermediary mode
               where security profile drop-ins and images are symlinked while
               unit files are copied, or "mixed" (since v256) where security
               profile drop-ins are symlinked while unit files and images are
               copied. Note that this option expresses a preference only, in
               cases where symbolic links cannot be created — for example
               when the image operated on is a raw disk image, and hence not
               directly referentiable from the host file system — copying of
               files is used unconditionally.
    
               Added in version 239.
    
           **--runtime**
               When specified the unit and drop-in files are placed in
               /run/systemd/system.attached/ instead of
               /etc/systemd/system.attached/. Images attached with this
               option set hence remain attached only until the next reboot,
               while they are normally attached persistently.
    
               Added in version 239.
    
           **--no-reload**
               Do not reload the service manager after attaching or detaching
               a portable service image. Normally the service manager is
               reloaded to ensure it is aware of added or removed unit files.
    
               Added in version 239.
    
           **--cat**
               When inspecting portable service images, show the
               (unprocessed) contents of the metadata files pulled from the
               image, instead of brief summaries. Specifically, this will
               show the os-release(5) and unit file contents of the image.
    
               Added in version 239.
    
           **--enable**
               Immediately enable/disable the portable service after
               attaching/detaching.
    
               Added in version 245.
    
           **--now**
               Immediately start/stop/restart the portable service after
               attaching/before detaching/after upgrading.
    
               Added in version 245.
    
           **--no-block**
               Do not block waiting for attach --now to complete.
    
               Added in version 245.
    
           **--clean**
               When detaching ensure the configuration, state, logs, cache,
               and runtime data directories of the portable service are
               removed from the host system.
    
               Added in version 256.
    
           **--extension=**_PATH_
               Add an additional image _PATH_ as an overlay on top of _IMAGE_
               when attaching/detaching. This argument can be specified
               multiple times, in which case the order in which images are
               laid down follows the rules specified in systemd.exec(5) for
               the _ExtensionImages=_ directive and for the systemd-sysext(8)
               and systemd-confext(8) tools. The images must contain an
               extension-release file with metadata that matches what is
               defined in the os-release of _IMAGE_. See: os-release(5). Images
               can be block images, btrfs subvolumes or directories. For more
               information on portable services with extensions, see the
               "Extension Images" paragraph on **Portable Services******[1].
    
               Note that the same extensions have to be specified, in the
               same order, when attaching and detaching.
    
               In place of the image path a ".v/" versioned directory may be
               specified, seesystemd.v(7) for details.
    
               In place of the directory path a ".v/" versioned directory may
               be specified, see systemd.v(7) for details.
    
               Added in version 249.
    
           **--force**
               Skip safety checks and attach or detach images (with
               extensions) without first ensuring that the units are not
               running, and do not insist that the extension-release._NAME_
               file in the extension image has to match the image filename.
    
               Added in version 252.
    
           **-H** , **--host=**
               Execute the operation remotely. Specify a hostname, or a
               username and hostname separated by "@", to connect to. The
               hostname may optionally be suffixed by a port ssh is listening
               on, separated by ":", and then a container name, separated by
               "/", which connects directly to a specific container on the
               specified host. This will use SSH to talk to the remote
               machine manager instance. Container names may be enumerated
               with **machinectl -H** _HOST_. Put IPv6 addresses in brackets.
    
           **-M** , **--machine=**
               Execute operation on a local container. Specify a container
               name to connect to, optionally prefixed by a user name to
               connect as and a separating "@" character. If the special
               string ".host" is used in place of the container name, a
               connection to the local system is made (which is useful to
               connect to a specific user's user bus: "--user
               --machine=lennart@.host"). If the "@" syntax is not used, the
               connection is made as root user. If the "@" syntax is used
               either the left hand side or the right hand side may be
               omitted (but not both) in which case the local user name and
               ".host" are implied.
    
           **--no-pager**
               Do not pipe output into a pager.
    
           **--no-legend**
               Do not print the legend, i.e. column headers and the footer
               with hints.
    
           **--no-ask-password**
               Do not query the user for authentication for privileged
               operations.
    
           **-h** , **--help**
               Print a short help text and exit.
    
           **--version**
               Print a short version string and exit.
    


## FILES AND DIRECTORIES



           Portable service images are preferably stored in
           /var/lib/portables/, but are also searched for in /etc/portables/,
           /run/systemd/portables/, /usr/local/lib/portables/ and
           /usr/lib/portables/. It's recommended not to place image files
           directly in /etc/portables/ or /run/systemd/portables/ (as these
           are generally not suitable for storing large or non-textual data),
           but use these directories only for linking images located
           elsewhere into the image search path.
    
           When a portable service image is attached, matching unit files are
           copied onto the host into the /etc/systemd/system.attached/ and
           /run/systemd/system.attached/ directories. When an image is
           detached, the unit files are removed again from these directories.
    


## PROFILES



           When portable service images are attached a "profile" drop-in is
           linked in, which may be used to enforce additional security (and
           other) restrictions locally. Four profile drop-ins are defined by
           default, and shipped in /usr/lib/systemd/portable/profile/.
           Additional, local profiles may be defined by placing them in
           /etc/systemd/portable/profile/. The default profiles are:
    
           **Table 2. Profiles**
           ┌───────────┬──────────────────────────┐
           │ **Name** │ **Description** │
           ├───────────┼──────────────────────────┤
           │ default   │ This is the default      │
           │           │ profile if no other      │
           │           │ profile name is set via  │
           │           │ the **--profile=**(see      │
           │           │ above). It's fairly      │
           │           │ restrictive, but should  │
           │           │ be useful for common,    │
           │           │ unprivileged system      │
           │           │ workloads. This includes │
           │           │ write access to the      │
           │           │ logging framework, as    │
           │           │ well as IPC access to    │
           │           │ the D-Bus system.        │
           ├───────────┼──────────────────────────┤
           │ nonetwork │ Very similar to default, │
           │           │ but networking is turned │
           │           │ off for any services of  │
           │           │ the portable service     │
           │           │ image.                   │
           ├───────────┼──────────────────────────┤
           │ strict    │ A profile with very      │
           │           │ strict settings. This    │
           │           │ profile excludes IPC     │
           │           │ (D-Bus) and network      │
           │           │ access.                  │
           ├───────────┼──────────────────────────┤
           │ trusted   │ A profile with very      │
           │           │ relaxed settings. In     │
           │           │ this profile the         │
           │           │ services run with full   │
           │           │ privileges.              │
           └───────────┴──────────────────────────┘
    
           For details on these profiles and their effects see their precise
           definitions, e.g.
           /usr/lib/systemd/portable/profile/default/service.conf and
           similar.
    


## EXIT STATUS



           On success, 0 is returned, a non-zero failure code otherwise.
    


## ENVIRONMENT



           _$SYSTEMD_LOG_LEVEL_
               The maximum log level of emitted messages (messages with a
               higher log level, i.e. less important ones, will be
               suppressed). Takes a comma-separated list of values. A value
               may be either one of (in order of decreasing importance)
               **emerg** , **alert** , **crit** , **err** , **warning** , **notice** , **info** , **debug** , or an
               integer in the range 0...7. See syslog(3) for more
               information. Each value may optionally be prefixed with one of
               **console** , **syslog** , **kmsg** or **journal** followed by a colon to set
               the maximum log level for that specific log target (e.g.
               **SYSTEMD_LOG_LEVEL=debug,console:info** specifies to log at debug
               level except when logging to the console which should be at
               info level). Note that the global maximum log level takes
               priority over any per target maximum log levels.
    
           _$SYSTEMD_LOG_COLOR_
               A boolean. If true, messages written to the tty will be
               colored according to priority.
    
               This setting is only useful when messages are written directly
               to the terminal, because journalctl(1) and other tools that
               display logs will color messages based on the log level on
               their own.
    
           _$SYSTEMD_LOG_TIME_
               A boolean. If true, console log messages will be prefixed with
               a timestamp.
    
               This setting is only useful when messages are written directly
               to the terminal or a file, because journalctl(1) and other
               tools that display logs will attach timestamps based on the
               entry metadata on their own.
    
           _$SYSTEMD_LOG_LOCATION_
               A boolean. If true, messages will be prefixed with a filename
               and line number in the source code where the message
               originates.
    
               Note that the log location is often attached as metadata to
               journal entries anyway. Including it directly in the message
               text can nevertheless be convenient when debugging programs.
    
           _$SYSTEMD_LOG_TID_
               A boolean. If true, messages will be prefixed with the current
               numerical thread ID (TID).
    
               Note that the this information is attached as metadata to
               journal entries anyway. Including it directly in the message
               text can nevertheless be convenient when debugging programs.
    
           _$SYSTEMD_LOG_TARGET_
               The destination for log messages. One of **console**(log to the
               attached tty), **console-prefixed**(log to the attached tty but
               with prefixes encoding the log level and "facility", see
               syslog(3), **kmsg**(log to the kernel circular log buffer),
               **journal**(log to the journal), **journal-or-kmsg**(log to the
               journal if available, and to kmsg otherwise), **auto**(determine
               the appropriate log target automatically, the default), **null**
               (disable log output).
    
           _$SYSTEMD_LOG_RATELIMIT_KMSG_
               Whether to ratelimit kmsg or not. Takes a boolean. Defaults to
               "true". If disabled, systemd will not ratelimit messages
               written to kmsg.
    
           _$SYSTEMD_PAGER_ , _$PAGER_
               Pager to use when **--no-pager** is not given.  _$SYSTEMD_PAGER_ is
               used if set; otherwise _$PAGER_ is used. If neither
               _$SYSTEMD_PAGER_ nor _$PAGER_ are set, a set of well-known pager
               implementations is tried in turn, including less(1) and
               more(1), until one is found. If no pager implementation is
               discovered, no pager is invoked. Setting those environment
               variables to an empty string or the value "cat" is equivalent
               to passing **--no-pager**.
    
               Note: if _$SYSTEMD_PAGERSECURE_ is not set, _$SYSTEMD_PAGER_ and
               _$PAGER_ can only be used to disable the pager (with "cat" or
               ""), and are otherwise ignored.
    
           _$SYSTEMD_LESS_
               Override the options passed to **less**(by default "FRSXMK").
    
               Users might want to change two options in particular:
    
               **K**
                   This option instructs the pager to exit immediately when
                   Ctrl+C is pressed. To allow **less** to handle Ctrl+C itself
                   to switch back to the pager command prompt, unset this
                   option.
    
                   If the value of _$SYSTEMD_LESS_ does not include "K", and
                   the pager that is invoked is **less** , Ctrl+C will be ignored
                   by the executable, and needs to be handled by the pager.
    
               **X**
                   This option instructs the pager to not send termcap
                   initialization and deinitialization strings to the
                   terminal. It is set by default to allow command output to
                   remain visible in the terminal even after the pager exits.
                   Nevertheless, this prevents some pager functionality from
                   working, in particular paged output cannot be scrolled
                   with the mouse.
    
               Note that setting the regular _$LESS_ environment variable has
               no effect for **less** invocations by systemd tools.
    
               See less(1) for more discussion.
    
           _$SYSTEMD_LESSCHARSET_
               Override the charset passed to **less**(by default "utf-8", if
               the invoking terminal is determined to be UTF-8 compatible).
    
               Note that setting the regular _$LESSCHARSET_ environment
               variable has no effect for **less** invocations by systemd tools.
    
           _$SYSTEMD_PAGERSECURE_
               Common pager commands like less(1), in addition to "paging",
               i.e. scrolling through the output, support opening of or
               writing to other files and running arbitrary shell commands.
               When commands are invoked with elevated privileges, for
               example under sudo(8) or **pkexec**(1), the pager becomes a
               security boundary. Care must be taken that only programs with
               strictly limited functionality are used as pagers, and
               unintended interactive features like opening or creation of
               new files or starting of subprocesses are not allowed. "Secure
               mode" for the pager may be enabled as described below, _if the_
               _pager supports that_ (most pagers are not written in a way that
               takes this into consideration). It is recommended to either
               explicitly enable "secure mode" or to completely disable the
               pager using **--no-pager** or _PAGER=cat_ when allowing untrusted
               users to execute commands with elevated privileges.
    
               This option takes a boolean argument. When set to true, the
               "secure mode" of the pager is enabled. In "secure mode",
               **LESSSECURE=1** will be set when invoking the pager, which
               instructs the pager to disable commands that open or create
               new files or start new subprocesses. Currently only less(1) is
               known to understand this variable and implement "secure mode".
    
               When set to false, no limitation is placed on the pager.
               Setting _SYSTEMD_PAGERSECURE=0_ or not removing it from the
               inherited environment may allow the user to invoke arbitrary
               commands.
    
               When _$SYSTEMD_PAGERSECURE_ is not set, systemd tools attempt to
               automatically figure out if "secure mode" should be enabled
               and whether the pager supports it. "Secure mode" is enabled if
               the effective UID is not the same as the owner of the login
               session, see geteuid(2) and sd_pid_get_owner_uid(3), or when
               running under sudo(8) or similar tools (_$SUDO_UID_ is set [2]).
               In those cases, _SYSTEMD_PAGERSECURE=1_ will be set and pagers
               which are not known to implement "secure mode" will not be
               used at all. Note that this autodetection only covers the most
               common mechanisms to elevate privileges and is intended as
               convenience. It is recommended to explicitly set
               _$SYSTEMD_PAGERSECURE_ or disable the pager.
    
               Note that if the _$SYSTEMD_PAGER_ or _$PAGER_ variables are to be
               honoured, other than to disable the pager,
               _$SYSTEMD_PAGERSECURE_ must be set too.
    
           _$SYSTEMD_COLORS_
               Takes a boolean argument. When true, **systemd** and related
               utilities will use colors in their output, otherwise the
               output will be monochrome. Additionally, the variable can take
               one of the following special values: "16", "256" to restrict
               the use of colors to the base 16 or 256 ANSI colors,
               respectively. This can be specified to override the automatic
               decision based on _$TERM_ and what the console is connected to.
    
           _$SYSTEMD_URLIFY_
               The value must be a boolean. Controls whether clickable links
               should be generated in the output for terminal emulators
               supporting this. This can be specified to override the
               decision that **systemd** makes based on _$TERM_ and other
               conditions.
    


## NOTES



            1. Portable Services
               https://systemd.io/PORTABLE_SERVICES
    
            2. It is recommended for other tools to set and check _$SUDO_UID_
               as appropriate, treating it is a common interface.
    


* * *