How To Install Distrobox on openSUSE

In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Distrobox on openSUSE. Distrobox is a versatile tool that uses container technologies like Podman, Docker, or Lilipod to create containers using the Linux distribution of your choice. The created container is tightly integrated with the host, allowing sharing of the HOME directory of the user, external storage, external USB devices, graphical apps (X11/Wayland), and audio.

This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you the step-by-step installation of the Distrobox on openSUSE.

Prerequisites

• A server running one of the following operating systems: openSUSE(Leap or Tumbleweed)
• It’s recommended that you use a fresh OS install to prevent any potential issues.
• You will need access to the terminal to execute commands. openSUSE provides the Terminal application for this purpose. It can be found in your Applications menu.
• You’ll need an active internet connection to download Distrobox and its dependencies.
• You’ll need administrative (root) access or a user account with sudo privileges.

Install Distrobox on openSUSE

Step 1. Before we begin the installation process, it’s important to ensure that your system is up-to-date. You can do this by running the following command in your terminal:

sudo zypper refresh
sudo zypper update

Step 2. Installing Container Runtime.

If you haven’t already installed a container runtime like Podman or Docker, do so:

sudo zypper install podman

Or

sudo zypper install docker
sudo systemctl enable --now docker
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

Step 3. Installing Distrobox on openSUSE.

You can install Distrobox directly from the GitHub repository using the curl or wget command. Here’s how you can do it:

curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/89luca89/distrobox/main/install | sudo sh

Or

wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/89luca89/distrobox/main/install | sudo sh

Check that Distrobox is installed correctly:

distrobox --version

Step 4. Using Distrobox.

• Creating a Container

Create a new container with a specific image:

distrobox create --name my-container --image registry.opensuse.org/opensuse/toolbox:latest

• Entering a Container

Enter the container to start working within it:

distrobox enter my-container

• Listing Containers

List all available Distrobox containers:

distrobox list

• Exporting Applications

Export applications from the container to the host:

distrobox-export --app <application_name>

Step 5. Troubleshooting and Tips.

• Slow container creation: If you experience slow container creation, it might be due to the image size getting bigger with each distrobox create command. You can delete the previous containers and images to free up space and improve performance.
• Container save and restore: Distrobox does not currently support saving and restoring containers. However, you can use Podman’s podman export and podman import commands to achieve this functionality.
• Using the host’s Podman or Docker inside a container: To use the host’s Podman or Docker inside a container, you can mount the Docker or Podman socket when creating the container:

distrobox create --name my-container --image registry.opensuse.org/opensuse/toolbox:latest --mount type=bind,src=/var/run/docker.sock,dst=/var/run/docker.sock

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Distrobox. Thanks for using this tutorial for installing the Distrobox on your openSUSE system. For additional or useful information, we recommend you check the official Distrobox website.