A Docker image based on ubuntu that runs systemd with a minimal set of
services.
This image is meant for development use only. We strongly recommend against running it in production! This image is not tested on WSL, please PR if you did!
noble,latestjammyfocal
The short answer: use ghcr.io/savvii/docker-systemd for running applications that
need to be run in a full Ubuntu system and not on their own as PID 1.
The long answer: ghcr.io/savvii/docker-systemd might be a better choice than the
stock ubuntu image if one of the following is true:
-
You want to test a provisioning or deployment script that configures and starts
systemdservices. -
You want to run multiple services in the same container.
-
You want to solve the the PID 1 zombie reaping problem.
If you just want to run a single, short-lived process in a container, you
should probably use the stock ubuntu image instead.
docker run --rm --privileged -v /:/host ghcr.io/savvii/docker-systemd:noble setup
Run the container:
docker run -d --name systemd --security-opt seccomp=unconfined --tmpfs /run --tmpfs /run/lock -v /sys/fs/cgroup:/sys/fs/cgroup:ro -t ghcr.io/savvii/docker-systemd:noble
For macOS, use --cgroupns host and :rw:
docker run -d --name systemd --cgroupns host --security-opt seccomp=unconfined --tmpfs /run --tmpfs /run/lock -v /sys/fs/cgroup:/sys/fs/cgroup:rw --platform linux/amd64 -t ghcr.io/savvii/docker-systemd:noble
This image is useless as it's only meant to serve as a base for your own images, but you can still create a container from it. Run the appropriate command from the sections above.
Check the logs to see if systemd started correctly:
docker logs systemd
If everything worked, the output should look like this:
systemd 255 running in system mode. (+PAM +AUDIT +SELINUX +IMA +APPARMOR +SMACK +SYSVINIT +UTMP +LIBCRYPTSETUP +GCRYPT +GNUTLS +ACL +XZ +LZ4 +SECCOMP +BLKID +ELFUTILS +KMOD +IDN2 -IDN +PCRE2 default-hierarchy=hybrid)
Detected virtualization docker.
Detected architecture x86-64.
Welcome to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS!
Set hostname to <container-id>.
Initializing machine ID from random generator.
[ OK ] Created slice System Slice.
[ OK ] Reached target Slices.
[ OK ] Listening on Journal Socket.
[ OK ] Listening on Journal Socket (/dev/log).
[ OK ] Reached target Local File Systems.
Starting Journal Service...
Starting Create Volatile Files and Directories...
[ OK ] Reached target Swap.
[ OK ] Reached target Sockets.
[ OK ] Reached target Paths.
[ OK ] Started Create Volatile Files and Directories.
[ OK ] Started Journal Service.
Also check the journal logs:
docker exec systemd journalctl
The output should show systemd initialization.
To check for clean shutdown, in one terminal run:
docker exec systemd journalctl -f
And in another shut down systemd:
docker stop systemd
The journalctl logs should show a clean shutdown.
Copyright © 2016-2025 Solita + Savvii. Licensed under the MIT license.