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Toolbx Cheatsheet

A container management tool for Linux development environments using Podman/Docker. Official Docs

Installation

# Fedora
sudo dnf install toolbox podman

# Ubuntu (20.04+)
sudo apt install toolbox podman

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S toolbox podman

Basic Commands

Command Description
toolbox create --distro <name> <container-name> Create new container
toolbox enter <container-name> Enter container shell
toolbox list List containers
toolbox rm <container-name> Delete container
toolbox run <container-name> <command> Run command in container
toolbox stop <container-name> Stop container

Podman/Docker Integration

Custom Images

# From Docker Hub
toolbox create --image docker://alpine alpine-docker

# From Podman local image
toolbox create --image podman://localhost/my-image my-podman-container

# Build and use custom image
podman build -t my-toolbox-image .
toolbox create --image my-toolbox-image custom-container

Manage Containers

# List Podman containers (including Toolbx)
podman ps -a

# Inspect Toolbx container
podman inspect <container-name>

# Access Podman from within Toolbx
toolbox enter my-container
podman --version

Key Features

  1. Shared Home: Host’s $HOME mounted at /home/$USER
  2. Image Sources: 
    # Official images
toolbox create --distro ubuntu --release 22.04

# Custom registries
toolbox create --image quay.io/centos/centos:stream9
  3. Storage Management: 
    # Show Podman storage
podman system df

# Cleanup unused images
podman image prune

Workflow Examples

Create Dev Environment

toolbox create --distro fedora --release 38 dev
toolbox enter dev
sudo dnf install @development-tools

Run GUI App

# Host machine first:
xhost +local:
toolbox run --container dev firefox

Temporary Workspace

toolbox create --ephemeral --image docker://alpine temp-env
toolbox enter temp-env
apk add git
# Container destroyed after exit

Troubleshooting

Permission Issues

# Ensure subuid/subgid configured
sudo usermod --add-subuids 100000-165535 --add-subgids 100000-165535 $USER

Reset Toolbx

podman system reset  # WARNING: Deletes all containers/images
rm -rf ~/.local/share/containers/toolbox

Check Backend

# Verify Podman is default
toolbox --log-level debug create test-container | grep 'Using backend'

Appendix: Podman vs Docker

Feature Podman Docker
Daemon Daemonless Requires dockerd
Root permissions Rootless mode supported Typically needs root
Toolbx integration Default backend Works via socket
Compose files podman-compose docker-compose

Note: Toolbx uses Podman by default. For Docker compatibility: