How to use the command portablectl (with examples)

Portablectl is a systemd utility that allows you to manage and deploy portable service images on Linux systems. This article will guide you through the different use cases of the portablectl command, providing examples along the way.

Use case 1: List available portable service images

Code:

portablectl list

Motivation: Knowing the available portable service images on your Linux system is useful when you want to attach or detach a specific image.

Explanation: The command portablectl list lists all the portable service images that are discovered in the portable image search paths.

Example output:

Listing portable service images...
ID                 IMAGE
1                  /path/to/image1
2                  /path/to/image2
3                  /path/to/image3

3 portable service images listed.

Use case 2: Attach a portable service image to the host system

Code:

portablectl attach path/to/image

Motivation: Attaching a portable service image to the host system allows you to use and run the services provided by the image.

Explanation: The command portablectl attach is used to attach a portable service image to the host system. You need to provide the path to the image you want to attach.

Example output:

Attaching portable service image...
Image "/path/to/image" successfully attached.

Use case 3: Detach a portable service image from the host system

Code:

portablectl detach path/to/image|image_name

Motivation: Detaching a portable service image from the host system is necessary when you no longer need to use the services provided by the image.

Explanation: The command portablectl detach is used to detach a portable service image from the host system. You can provide either the path to the image or the image name.

Example output:

Detaching portable service image...
Image "/path/to/image" successfully detached.

Use case 4: Display details and metadata about a portable service image

Code:

portablectl inspect path/to/image

Motivation: Inspecting a portable service image helps you understand its details and metadata, such as its ID, image file, and the services it provides.

Explanation: The command portablectl inspect displays details and metadata about a specified portable service image. You need to provide the path to the image you want to inspect.

Example output:

Inspecting portable service image...
Image: /path/to/image
ID: 1
Services: service1.service, service2.service, service3.service
Arch: x86_64
Root directory: /var/lib/portables/1
Image file: /var/lib/portables/1/portable-image

1 portable service image inspected.

Use case 5: Check if a portable service image is attached to the host system

Code:

portablectl is-attached path/to/image|image_name

Motivation: Checking whether a portable service image is attached to the host system is useful when you want to determine if a specific image is active and running.

Explanation: The command portablectl is-attached checks if a portable service image is attached to the host system. You can provide either the path to the image or the image name.

Example output:

Checking if portable service image is attached...
Image "/path/to/image" is not attached.

Conclusion:

This article has covered the various use cases of the portablectl command, which allows you to manage and deploy portable service images on Linux systems. Whether you need to list available images, attach or detach an image, inspect its details, or check its attachment status, portablectl provides the necessary functionalities for efficient management of portable service images.