This document describes the schema for the Linux-specific section of the container configuration. The Linux container specification uses various kernel features like namespaces, cgroups, capabilities, LSM, and filesystem jails to fulfill the spec.
The Linux ABI includes both syscalls and several special file paths. Applications expecting a Linux environment will very likely expect these file paths to be set up correctly.
The following filesystems SHOULD be made available in each container's filesystem:
Path | Type |
---|---|
/proc | proc |
/sys | sysfs |
/dev/pts | devpts |
/dev/shm | tmpfs |
A namespace wraps a global system resource in an abstraction that makes it appear to the processes within the namespace that they have their own isolated instance of the global resource. Changes to the global resource are visible to other processes that are members of the namespace, but are invisible to other processes. For more information, see the namespaces(7) man page.
Namespaces are specified as an array of entries inside the namespaces
root field.
The following parameters can be specified to set up namespaces:
-
type
(string, REQUIRED) - namespace type. The following namespace types SHOULD be supported:pid
processes inside the container will only be able to see other processes inside the same container or inside the same pid namespace.network
the container will have its own network stack.mount
the container will have an isolated mount table.ipc
processes inside the container will only be able to communicate to other processes inside the same container via system level IPC.uts
the container will be able to have its own hostname and domain name.user
the container will be able to remap user and group IDs from the host to local users and groups within the container.cgroup
the container will have an isolated view of the cgroup hierarchy.
-
path
(string, OPTIONAL) - namespace file. This value MUST be an absolute path in the runtime mount namespace. The runtime MUST place the container process in the namespace associated with thatpath
. The runtime MUST generate an error ifpath
is not associated with a namespace of typetype
.If
path
is not specified, the runtime MUST create a new container namespace of typetype
.
If a namespace type is not specified in the namespaces
array, the container MUST inherit the runtime namespace of that type.
If a namespaces
field contains duplicated namespaces with same type
, the runtime MUST generate an error.
"namespaces": [
{
"type": "pid",
"path": "/proc/1234/ns/pid"
},
{
"type": "network",
"path": "/var/run/netns/neta"
},
{
"type": "mount"
},
{
"type": "ipc"
},
{
"type": "uts"
},
{
"type": "user"
},
{
"type": "cgroup"
}
]
uidMappings
(array of objects, OPTIONAL) describes the user namespace uid mappings from the host to the container.
gidMappings
(array of objects, OPTIONAL) describes the user namespace gid mappings from the host to the container.
Each entry has the following structure:
containerID
(uint32, REQUIRED) - is the starting uid/gid in the container.hostID
(uint32, REQUIRED) - is the starting uid/gid on the host to be mapped to containerID.size
(uint32, REQUIRED) - is the number of ids to be mapped.
The runtime SHOULD NOT modify the ownership of referenced filesystems to realize the mapping. Note that the number of mapping entries MAY be limited by the kernel.
"uidMappings": [
{
"containerID": 0,
"hostID": 1000,
"size": 32000
}
],
"gidMappings": [
{
"containerID": 0,
"hostID": 1000,
"size": 32000
}
]
devices
(array of objects, OPTIONAL) lists devices that MUST be available in the container.
The runtime MAY supply them however it likes (with mknod
, by bind mounting from the runtime mount namespace, using symlinks, etc.).
Each entry has the following structure:
type
(string, REQUIRED) - type of device:c
,b
,u
orp
. More info in mknod(1).path
(string, REQUIRED) - full path to device inside container. If a file already exists atpath
that does not match the requested device, the runtime MUST generate an error.major, minor
(int64, REQUIRED unlesstype
isp
) - major, minor numbers for the device.fileMode
(uint32, OPTIONAL) - file mode for the device. You can also control access to devices with cgroups.uid
(uint32, OPTIONAL) - id of device owner in the container namespace.gid
(uint32, OPTIONAL) - id of device group in the container namespace.
The same type
, major
and minor
SHOULD NOT be used for multiple devices.
"devices": [
{
"path": "/dev/fuse",
"type": "c",
"major": 10,
"minor": 229,
"fileMode": 438,
"uid": 0,
"gid": 0
},
{
"path": "/dev/sda",
"type": "b",
"major": 8,
"minor": 0,
"fileMode": 432,
"uid": 0,
"gid": 0
}
]
In addition to any devices configured with this setting, the runtime MUST also supply:
/dev/null
/dev/zero
/dev/full
/dev/random
/dev/urandom
/dev/tty
/dev/console
is set up ifterminal
is enabled in the config by bind mounting the pseudoterminal pty to/dev/console
./dev/ptmx
. A bind-mount or symlink of the container's/dev/pts/ptmx
.
Also known as cgroups, they are used to restrict resource usage for a container and handle device access. cgroups provide controls (through controllers) to restrict cpu, memory, IO, pids, network and RDMA resources for the container. For more information, see the kernel cgroups documentation.
cgroupsPath
(string, OPTIONAL) path to the cgroups.
It can be used to either control the cgroups hierarchy for containers or to run a new process in an existing container.
The value of cgroupsPath
MUST be either an absolute path or a relative path.
- In the case of an absolute path (starting with
/
), the runtime MUST take the path to be relative to the cgroups mount point. - In the case of a relative path (not starting with
/
), the runtime MAY interpret the path relative to a runtime-determined location in the cgroups hierarchy.
If the value is specified, the runtime MUST consistently attach to the same place in the cgroups hierarchy given the same value of cgroupsPath
.
If the value is not specified, the runtime MAY define the default cgroups path.
Runtimes MAY consider certain cgroupsPath
values to be invalid, and MUST generate an error if this is the case.
Implementations of the Spec can choose to name cgroups in any manner. The Spec does not include naming schema for cgroups. The Spec does not support per-controller paths for the reasons discussed in the cgroupv2 documentation. The cgroups will be created if they don't exist.
You can configure a container's cgroups via the resources
field of the Linux configuration.
Do not specify resources
unless limits have to be updated.
For example, to run a new process in an existing container without updating limits, resources
need not be specified.
Runtimes MAY attach the container process to additional cgroup controllers beyond those necessary to fulfill the resources
settings.
"cgroupsPath": "/myRuntime/myContainer",
"resources": {
"memory": {
"limit": 100000,
"reservation": 200000
},
"devices": [
{
"allow": false,
"access": "rwm"
}
]
}
devices
(array of objects, OPTIONAL) configures the allowed device list.
The runtime MUST apply entries in the listed order.
Each entry has the following structure:
allow
(boolean, REQUIRED) - whether the entry is allowed or denied.type
(string, OPTIONAL) - type of device:a
(all),c
(char), orb
(block). Unset values mean "all", mapping toa
.major, minor
(int64, OPTIONAL) - major, minor numbers for the device. Unset values mean "all", mapping to*
in the filesystem API.access
(string, OPTIONAL) - cgroup permissions for device. A composition ofr
(read),w
(write), andm
(mknod).
"devices": [
{
"allow": false,
"access": "rwm"
},
{
"allow": true,
"type": "c",
"major": 10,
"minor": 229,
"access": "rw"
},
{
"allow": true,
"type": "b",
"major": 8,
"minor": 0,
"access": "r"
}
]
memory
(object, OPTIONAL) represents the cgroup subsystem memory
and it's used to set limits on the container's memory usage.
For more information, see the kernel cgroups documentation about memory.
Values for memory specify the limit in bytes, or -1
for unlimited memory.
limit
(int64, OPTIONAL) - sets limit of memory usagereservation
(int64, OPTIONAL) - sets soft limit of memory usageswap
(int64, OPTIONAL) - sets limit of memory+Swap usagekernel
(int64, OPTIONAL) - sets hard limit for kernel memorykernelTCP
(int64, OPTIONAL) - sets hard limit for kernel TCP buffer memory
The following properties do not specify memory limits, but are covered by the memory
controller:
swappiness
(uint64, OPTIONAL) - sets swappiness parameter of vmscan (See sysctl's vm.swappiness) The values are from 0 to 100. Higher means more swappy.disableOOMKiller
(bool, OPTIONAL) - enables or disables the OOM killer. If enabled (false
), tasks that attempt to consume more memory than they are allowed are immediately killed by the OOM killer. The OOM killer is enabled by default in every cgroup using thememory
subsystem. To disable it, specify a value oftrue
.useHierarchy
(bool, OPTIONAL) - enables or disables hierarchical memory accounting. If enabled (true
), child cgroups will share the memory limits of this cgroup.
"memory": {
"limit": 536870912,
"reservation": 536870912,
"swap": 536870912,
"kernel": -1,
"kernelTCP": -1,
"swappiness": 0,
"disableOOMKiller": false
}
cpu
(object, OPTIONAL) represents the cgroup subsystems cpu
and cpusets
.
For more information, see the kernel cgroups documentation about cpusets.
The following parameters can be specified to set up the controller:
shares
(uint64, OPTIONAL) - specifies a relative share of CPU time available to the tasks in a cgroupquota
(int64, OPTIONAL) - specifies the total amount of time in microseconds for which all tasks in a cgroup can run during one period (as defined byperiod
below)period
(uint64, OPTIONAL) - specifies a period of time in microseconds for how regularly a cgroup's access to CPU resources should be reallocated (CFS scheduler only)realtimeRuntime
(int64, OPTIONAL) - specifies a period of time in microseconds for the longest continuous period in which the tasks in a cgroup have access to CPU resourcesrealtimePeriod
(uint64, OPTIONAL) - same asperiod
but applies to realtime scheduler onlycpus
(string, OPTIONAL) - list of CPUs the container will run inmems
(string, OPTIONAL) - list of Memory Nodes the container will run in
"cpu": {
"shares": 1024,
"quota": 1000000,
"period": 500000,
"realtimeRuntime": 950000,
"realtimePeriod": 1000000,
"cpus": "2-3",
"mems": "0-7"
}
blockIO
(object, OPTIONAL) represents the cgroup subsystem blkio
which implements the block IO controller.
For more information, see the kernel cgroups documentation about blkio.
The following parameters can be specified to set up the controller:
-
weight
(uint16, OPTIONAL) - specifies per-cgroup weight. This is default weight of the group on all devices until and unless overridden by per-device rules. -
leafWeight
(uint16, OPTIONAL) - equivalents ofweight
for the purpose of deciding how much weight tasks in the given cgroup has while competing with the cgroup's child cgroups. -
weightDevice
(array of objects, OPTIONAL) - an array of per-device bandwidth weights. Each entry has the following structure:major, minor
(int64, REQUIRED) - major, minor numbers for device. For more information, see the mknod(1) man page.weight
(uint16, OPTIONAL) - bandwidth weight for the device.leafWeight
(uint16, OPTIONAL) - bandwidth weight for the device while competing with the cgroup's child cgroups, CFQ scheduler only
You MUST specify at least one of
weight
orleafWeight
in a given entry, and MAY specify both. -
throttleReadBpsDevice
,throttleWriteBpsDevice
(array of objects, OPTIONAL) - an array of per-device bandwidth rate limits. Each entry has the following structure:major, minor
(int64, REQUIRED) - major, minor numbers for device. For more information, see the mknod(1) man page.rate
(uint64, REQUIRED) - bandwidth rate limit in bytes per second for the device
-
throttleReadIOPSDevice
,throttleWriteIOPSDevice
(array of objects, OPTIONAL) - an array of per-device IO rate limits. Each entry has the following structure:major, minor
(int64, REQUIRED) - major, minor numbers for device. For more information, see the mknod(1) man page.rate
(uint64, REQUIRED) - IO rate limit for the device
"blockIO": {
"weight": 10,
"leafWeight": 10,
"weightDevice": [
{
"major": 8,
"minor": 0,
"weight": 500,
"leafWeight": 300
},
{
"major": 8,
"minor": 16,
"weight": 500
}
],
"throttleReadBpsDevice": [
{
"major": 8,
"minor": 0,
"rate": 600
}
],
"throttleWriteIOPSDevice": [
{
"major": 8,
"minor": 16,
"rate": 300
}
]
}
hugepageLimits
(array of objects, OPTIONAL) represents the hugetlb
controller which allows to limit the
HugeTLB usage per control group and enforces the controller limit during page fault.
For more information, see the kernel cgroups documentation about HugeTLB.
Each entry has the following structure:
pageSize
(string, REQUIRED) - hugepage size The value has the format<size><unit-prefix>B
(64KB, 2MB, 1GB), and must match the<hugepagesize>
of the corresponding control file found in/sys/fs/cgroup/hugetlb/hugetlb.<hugepagesize>.limit_in_bytes
. Values of<unit-prefix>
are intended to be parsed using base 1024 ("1KB" = 1024, "1MB" = 1048576, etc).limit
(uint64, REQUIRED) - limit in bytes of hugepagesize HugeTLB usage
"hugepageLimits": [
{
"pageSize": "2MB",
"limit": 209715200
},
{
"pageSize": "64KB",
"limit": 1000000
}
]
network
(object, OPTIONAL) represents the cgroup subsystems net_cls
and net_prio
.
For more information, see the kernel cgroups documentations about net_cls cgroup and net_prio cgroup.
The following parameters can be specified to set up the controller:
classID
(uint32, OPTIONAL) - is the network class identifier the cgroup's network packets will be tagged withpriorities
(array of objects, OPTIONAL) - specifies a list of objects of the priorities assigned to traffic originating from processes in the group and egressing the system on various interfaces. The following parameters can be specified per-priority:name
(string, REQUIRED) - interface name in runtime network namespacepriority
(uint32, REQUIRED) - priority applied to the interface
"network": {
"classID": 1048577,
"priorities": [
{
"name": "eth0",
"priority": 500
},
{
"name": "eth1",
"priority": 1000
}
]
}
pids
(object, OPTIONAL) represents the cgroup subsystem pids
.
For more information, see the kernel cgroups documentation about pids.
The following parameters can be specified to set up the controller:
limit
(int64, REQUIRED) - specifies the maximum number of tasks in the cgroup
"pids": {
"limit": 32771
}
rdma
(object, OPTIONAL) represents the cgroup subsystem rdma
.
For more information, see the kernel cgroups documentation about rdma.
The name of the device to limit is the entry key. Entry values are objects with the following properties:
hcaHandles
(uint32, OPTIONAL) - specifies the maximum number of hca_handles in the cgrouphcaObjects
(uint32, OPTIONAL) - specifies the maximum number of hca_objects in the cgroup
You MUST specify at least one of the hcaHandles
or hcaObjects
in a given entry, and MAY specify both.
"rdma": {
"mlx5_1": {
"hcaHandles": 3,
"hcaObjects": 10000
},
"mlx4_0": {
"hcaObjects": 1000
},
"rxe3": {
"hcaObjects": 10000
}
}
unified
(object, OPTIONAL) allows cgroup v2 parameters to be to be set and modified for the container.
Each key in the map refers to a file in the cgroup unified hierarchy.
The OCI runtime MUST ensure that the needed cgroup controllers are enabled for the cgroup.
Configuration unknown to the runtime MUST still be written to the relevant file.
The runtime MUST generate an error when the configuration refers to a cgroup controller that is not present or that cannot be enabled.
"unified": {
"io.max": "259:0 rbps=2097152 wiops=120\n253:0 rbps=2097152 wiops=120",
"hugetlb.1GB.max": "1073741824"
}
If a controller is enabled on the cgroup v2 hierarchy but the configuration is provided for the cgroup v1 equivalent controller, the runtime MAY attempt a conversion.
If the conversion is not possible the runtime MUST generate an error.
intelRdt
(object, OPTIONAL) represents the Intel Resource Director Technology.
If intelRdt
is set, the runtime MUST write the container process ID to the tasks
file in a proper sub-directory in a mounted resctrl
pseudo-filesystem. That sub-directory name is specified by closID
parameter.
If no mounted resctrl
pseudo-filesystem is available in the runtime mount namespace, the runtime MUST generate an error.
If intelRdt
is not set, the runtime MUST NOT manipulate any resctrl
pseudo-filesystems.
The following parameters can be specified for the container:
-
closID
(string, OPTIONAL) - specifies the identity for RDT Class of Service (CLOS). IfclosID
is set, runtimes MUST createclosID
directory in a mountedresctrl
pseudo-filesystem if it doesn't exist. If not set, runtimes MUST use the container ID fromstart
and create the<container-id>
directory. -
l3CacheSchema
(string, OPTIONAL) - specifies the schema for L3 cache id and capacity bitmask (CBM). The value SHOULD start withL3:
and SHOULD NOT contain newlines. -
memBwSchema
(string, OPTIONAL) - specifies the schema of memory bandwidth per L3 cache id.-
The value MUST start with
MB:
and MUST NOT contain newlines. -
If both
l3CacheSchema
andmemBwSchema
are set, runtimes MUST write the combined value to theschemata
file in that sub-directory discussed inclosID
. -
If
l3CacheSchema
contains a line beginning withMB:
, the value written toschemata
file MUST be the non-MB:
line(s) froml3CacheSchema
and the line frommemBWSchema
. -
If either
l3CacheSchema
ormemBwSchema
is set, runtimes MUST write the value to theschemata
file in the that sub-directory discussed inclosID
. -
If neither
l3CacheSchema
normemBwSchema
is set, runtimes MUST NOT write toschemata
files in anyresctrl
pseudo-filesystems. -
If
closID
is set,l3CacheSchema
and/ormemBwSchema
is set, runtimes MUST comparel3CacheSchema
and/ormemBwSchema
value withschemata
file, and generate an error if doesn't match. -
If
closID
is set, and neither ofl3CacheSchema
andmemBwSchema
are set, runtime MUST check if corresponding pre-configured directoryclosID
is present in mountedresctrl
. If such pre-configured directoryclosID
exists, runtime MUST assign container to thisclosID
and generate an error if directory does not exist.
-
Consider a two-socket machine with two L3 caches where the default CBM is 0x7ff and the max CBM length is 11 bits, and minimum memory bandwidth of 10% with a memory bandwidth granularity of 10%.
Tasks inside the container only have access to the "upper" 7/11 of L3 cache on socket 0 and the "lower" 5/11 L3 cache on socket 1, and may use a maximum memory bandwidth of 20% on socket 0 and 70% on socket 1.
"linux": {
"intelRdt": {
"closID": "guaranteed_group",
"l3CacheSchema": "L3:0=7f0;1=1f",
"memBwSchema": "MB:0=20;1=70"
}
}
sysctl
(object, OPTIONAL) allows kernel parameters to be modified at runtime for the container.
For more information, see the sysctl(8) man page.
"sysctl": {
"net.ipv4.ip_forward": "1",
"net.core.somaxconn": "256"
}
Seccomp provides application sandboxing mechanism in the Linux kernel. Seccomp configuration allows one to configure actions to take for matched syscalls and furthermore also allows matching on values passed as arguments to syscalls. For more information about Seccomp, see Seccomp kernel documentation. The actions, architectures, and operators are strings that match the definitions in seccomp.h from libseccomp and are translated to corresponding values.
seccomp
(object, OPTIONAL)
The following parameters can be specified to set up seccomp:
-
defaultAction
(string, REQUIRED) - the default action for seccomp. Allowed values are the same assyscalls[].action
. -
architectures
(array of strings, OPTIONAL) - the architecture used for system calls. A valid list of constants as of libseccomp v2.5.0 is shown below.SCMP_ARCH_X86
SCMP_ARCH_X86_64
SCMP_ARCH_X32
SCMP_ARCH_ARM
SCMP_ARCH_AARCH64
SCMP_ARCH_MIPS
SCMP_ARCH_MIPS64
SCMP_ARCH_MIPS64N32
SCMP_ARCH_MIPSEL
SCMP_ARCH_MIPSEL64
SCMP_ARCH_MIPSEL64N32
SCMP_ARCH_PPC
SCMP_ARCH_PPC64
SCMP_ARCH_PPC64LE
SCMP_ARCH_S390
SCMP_ARCH_S390X
SCMP_ARCH_PARISC
SCMP_ARCH_PARISC64
SCMP_ARCH_RISCV64
-
flags
(array of strings, OPTIONAL) - list of flags to use with seccomp(2).A valid list of constants is shown below.
SECCOMP_FILTER_FLAG_TSYNC
SECCOMP_FILTER_FLAG_LOG
SECCOMP_FILTER_FLAG_SPEC_ALLOW
-
syscalls
(array of objects, OPTIONAL) - match a syscall in seccomp. While this property is OPTIONAL, some values ofdefaultAction
are not useful withoutsyscalls
entries. For example, ifdefaultAction
isSCMP_ACT_KILL
andsyscalls
is empty or unset, the kernel will kill the container process on its first syscall. Each entry has the following structure:-
names
(array of strings, REQUIRED) - the names of the syscalls.names
MUST contain at least one entry. -
action
(string, REQUIRED) - the action for seccomp rules. A valid list of constants as of libseccomp v2.4.0 is shown below.SCMP_ACT_KILL
SCMP_ACT_KILL_PROCESS
SCMP_ACT_TRAP
SCMP_ACT_ERRNO
SCMP_ACT_TRACE
SCMP_ACT_ALLOW
SCMP_ACT_LOG
-
errnoRet
(uint, OPTIONAL) - the errno return code to use. Some actions likeSCMP_ACT_ERRNO
andSCMP_ACT_TRACE
allow to specify the errno code to return. If not specified its default value isEPERM
. -
args
(array of objects, OPTIONAL) - the specific syscall in seccomp. Each entry has the following structure:-
index
(uint, REQUIRED) - the index for syscall arguments in seccomp. -
value
(uint64, REQUIRED) - the value for syscall arguments in seccomp. -
valueTwo
(uint64, OPTIONAL) - the value for syscall arguments in seccomp. -
op
(string, REQUIRED) - the operator for syscall arguments in seccomp. A valid list of constants as of libseccomp v2.3.2 is shown below.SCMP_CMP_NE
SCMP_CMP_LT
SCMP_CMP_LE
SCMP_CMP_EQ
SCMP_CMP_GE
SCMP_CMP_GT
SCMP_CMP_MASKED_EQ
-
-
"seccomp": {
"defaultAction": "SCMP_ACT_ALLOW",
"architectures": [
"SCMP_ARCH_X86",
"SCMP_ARCH_X32"
],
"syscalls": [
{
"names": [
"getcwd",
"chmod"
],
"action": "SCMP_ACT_ERRNO"
}
]
}
rootfsPropagation
(string, OPTIONAL) sets the rootfs's mount propagation.
Its value is either shared
, slave
, private
or unbindable
.
It's worth noting that a peer group is defined as a group of VFS mounts that propagate events to each other.
A nested container is defined as a container launched inside an existing container.
shared
: the rootfs mount belongs to a new peer group. This means that further mounts (e.g. nested containers) will also belong to that peer group and will propagate events to the rootfs. Note this does not mean that it's shared with the host.slave
: the rootfs mount receives propagation events from the host (e.g. if something is mounted on the host it will also appear in the container) but not the other way around.private
: the rootfs mount doesn't receive mount propagation events from the host and further mounts in nested containers will be isolated from the host and from the rootfs (even if the nested containerrootfsPropagation
option is shared).unbindable
: the rootfs mount is a private mount that cannot be bind-mounted.
The Shared Subtrees article in the kernel documentation has more information about mount propagation.
"rootfsPropagation": "slave",
maskedPaths
(array of strings, OPTIONAL) will mask over the provided paths inside the container so that they cannot be read.
The values MUST be absolute paths in the container namespace.
"maskedPaths": [
"/proc/kcore"
]
readonlyPaths
(array of strings, OPTIONAL) will set the provided paths as readonly inside the container.
The values MUST be absolute paths in the container namespace.
"readonlyPaths": [
"/proc/sys"
]
mountLabel
(string, OPTIONAL) will set the Selinux context for the mounts in the container.
"mountLabel": "system_u:object_r:svirt_sandbox_file_t:s0:c715,c811"
personality
(object, OPTIONAL) sets the Linux execution personality. For more information
see the personality syscall documentation. As most of the options are
obsolete and rarely used, and some reduce security, the currently supported set is a small
subset of the available options.
-
domain
(string, REQUIRED) - the execution domain. The valid list of constants is shown below.LINUX32
will set theuname
system call to show a 32 bit CPU type, such asi686
.LINUX
LINUX32
-
flags
(array of strings, OPTIONAL) - the additional flags to apply. Currently no flag values are supported.