docker-systemd

The docker containers with systemd support

Introduction

The systemd is not supported by default in official docker images.

For example, users will get the following error when start ssh service using systemctl in docker container

root@f3ff816528f4:/# systemctl restart ssh 
System has not been booted with systemd as init system (PID 1). Can't operate.
Failed to connect to bus: Host is down

To fix the issue, some changes are needed when build the docker images.

• For rockylinux, almalinux and oraclelinux, refer to https://hub.docker.com/r/rockylinux/rockylinux
• For ubuntu24 and debian12, refer to https://blog.cloudabc.eu/linux/container/2024/10/27/ubuntu-docker-container-systemd/

Build the docker images

If you use a non-root user, please add sudo before the commands.

docker build . --file Dockerfile.ubuntu24 --tag weizhouapache/docker-systemd:latest-ubuntu24
docker build . --file Dockerfile.debian12 --tag weizhouapache/docker-systemd:latest-debian12
docker build . --file Dockerfile.alma9 --tag weizhouapache/docker-systemd:latest-alma9
docker build . --file Dockerfile.oracle9 --tag weizhouapache/docker-systemd:latest-oracle9
docker build . --file Dockerfile.rocky9 --tag weizhouapache/docker-systemd:latest-rocky9

You can find the docker images ready for use on: https://hub.docker.com/repository/docker/weizhouapache/docker-systemd/

Create docker containers

Please note, the container name, hostname, network name (net) and ip address (ip) are optional.

Rocky9/Alma9/Oracle9 containers

docker run -it -d \
    --privileged \
    --volume=/sys/fs/cgroup:/sys/fs/cgroup:rw \
    --cgroupns=host \
    --name alma9 \
    --hostname=alma9 \
    --net=<network name> \
    --ip=<ip address> \
    weizhouapache/docker-systemd:latest-alma9

Ubuntu24/Debian12 containers

docker run -it -d \
    --privileged \
    --name ubuntu24 \
    --hostname=ubuntu24 \
    --net=<network name> \
    --ip=<ip address> \
    weizhouapache/docker-systemd:latest-ubuntu24

Access the docker containers

Users can access the docker containers from the host by

docker exec -it ubuntu24 bash
docker exec -it alma9 bash

The openssh-server package has been installed in all containers, users can enable ssh by

echo "root:password" |chpasswd
echo "PermitRootLogin yes" >>/etc/ssh/sshd_config
systemctl enable ssh || systemctl enable sshd
systemctl restart ssh || systemctl restart sshd