Distrobox / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET

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ZDNET's key takeaways

• Distrobox allows you to run different Linux distributions.
• This is a great way to learn the basics of Linux.
• Distrobox is free to install and use.

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I use Linux… a lot. I use it for just about everything I do. Oftentimes, I use multiple instances of Linux. How do I do that? If you want to go the virtual machine route, there's VirtualBox. However, if you'd like to simplify things even more (without having to download multi GB ISO files), you can take the path of containers.

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One way to do this is via Distrobox.

What is Distrobox?

Distrobox is a nifty tool that allows you to easily spin up different Linux distributions from your desktop computer. Say, for example, your desktop runs Ubuntu and you want to try Fedora. You could spin up a Fedora container with Distrobox and experiment with it. And although Distrobox is a command line tool, you can also install GUI apps and then export them to your desktop.

It's really cool.

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It's also safe, because it doesn't monkey with your host OS, so you can spin up a different distribution with Distrobox, enter the new container, do whatever you want, and trust that whatever you are doing won't harm your host.

I'm going to walk you through the process of installing Distrobox and then how to use it. I'll also demonstrate how you can install a GUI app and then use that app on the host OS. Fun times.

How to install Distrobox

What you'll need: To use Distrobox, you'll need a Linux desktop distribution and a user with sudo privileges. I'll demonstrate this on Linux Mint.

The first thing we'll do is update APT with the command:

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sudo apt-get update

Next, we'll install Distrobox and a container tool (docker-compose will do the trick). For that, issue the command:

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sudo apt-get install distrobox docker-compose -y

That's it. Distrobox is installed.

How to use Distrobox

Distrobox pulls images from a centralized repository and then uses those images to create containers for a specific distribution.

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1. Create the Fedora container

For our example, we're going to create a new container for Fedora, which is done with the command:

distrobox-create --name fedorainnabox --image fedora

Note: You can name your new container anything you like.

You can install several different distributions. To view a list of available distros for Distrobox, check out the official distribution list page.

2. Enter the container

You can now enter the newly created container with the command:

distrobox enter fedorainnabox

Remember to use the name you chose for your new container.

3. Use the container

You now have a full-blown Fedora distribution to use. You can update it with:

sudo dnf update

You can install software (such as the nano text editor) like this:

sudo dnf install nano

Here's a really cool trick. Let's say you want to install an app on your Distrobox Fedora container and then run it on your host. That app might be available only on Fedora and not Linux Mint. Or maybe you know that Fedora has a newer version of an app you need than is available on your host. How do you do this? 

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It's simple: First, make sure to enter the Fedora container. Once you've done that, install the app. For example, you might want to install the latest version of the Chromium web browser. For that, issue the command:

sudo dnf install chromium -y

Once the installation is complete, you have to export the app to the host with the command:

distrobox-export --app chromium

You can now run that app from the host desktop menu.

Chromium is installed on a Distrobox container but can now be run from the host.

Jack Wallen/ZDNET

You might be surprised to find out that the exported apps run almost as fast as if they were installed natively on your host.

How to stop and remove a Distrobox container

When you're finished working with your Distrobox container, exit it with the command:

exit

You can then stop the container with:

distrobox stop fedorainnabox

Remember to use the name you gave your Distrobox container.

You can then delete the container with:

distrobox rm fedorainnabox

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And that's all there is to using Distrobox for spinning up containers of various Linux distributions.