balic 0.0.8

Balic - Command-line Linux Containers Toolset

Balič (read balitch) is a command-line toolset for working with LXC containers.

Installation

Install balic via pip:

pip install balic

Balic requires the following packages installed:

appdirs
cliff

Usage

Create a new container:

# create a new lxc container called test
balic create -n test

Build setup:

# create test build directory
mkdir test

# create build.sh that echos hello world inside the container
echo 'echo "hello world"' > test/build.sh

# copy test directory into the container and run build.sh
balic build -n test -d test

In case you need to prepare anything in the build directory:

# create prepare.sh which will be executed locally to prepare build dir
echo 'echo "prepare something inside build dir: `dirname "$0"`"' > test/prepare.sh

# run prepare.sh in given build dir
balic prepare -n test -d test

Multi-step builds can be done as well:

# create test_step2 build directory
mkdir test_step2

# create build.sh that echos "another step" inside the container
echo 'echo "another step"' > test_step2/build.sh

# copy test directory into container and run build.sh
balic build -n test -d test_step2

Pack the built container:

# pack test lxc container into rootfs.tar.gz
balic pack -n test -o rootfs.tar.gz

Destroy the container when no longer needed:

# destroy test lxc container
balic destroy -n test

Full workflow:

balic create -n test                 # creates lxc container names test
balic prepare -n test -d build_dir   # run prepare.sh inside the build_dir
balic build -n test -d build_dir     # builds test lxc container using content of build_dir
balic build -n test -d build_dir2    # builds test lxc container using content of build_dir2
balic build -n test -d build_dir3    # builds test lxc container using content of build_dir3
...
balic pack -n test -o rootfs.tar.gz  # packs test lxc container into rootfs.tar.gz
balic destroy -n test                # destroy test lxc container

Use environment input parameter for build and prepare commands:

# to run `build.sh environment` or `prepare.sh environment` use -e input parameter
balic prepare -n test -d test -e production
balic build -n test -d test -e production

Ie. whatever you specify as environment ends up as $1 in build.sh / prepare.sh.

Documentation

Source of the documentaton is available in the Balic repository https://gitlab.com/markuz/balic/tree/master/docs/source

Development

Pull requests welcomed.

Balic git repository is available at https://gitlab.com/markuz/balic

For more information, see https://gitlab.com/markuz/balic/-/blob/master/docs/source/development.rst

License

BSD 3-clause Clear License