machinectl command examples

machinectl – Control the systemd machine manager

Example 1. Download an Ubuntu image and open a shell in it

# machinectl pull-tar https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/trusty/current/trusty-server-cloudimg-amd64-root.tar.gz
# systemd-nspawn -M trusty-server-cloudimg-amd64-root

This downloads and verifies the specified .tar image, and then uses systemd-nspawn(1) to open a shell in it.

Example 2. Download a Fedora image, set a root password in it, start it as service

# machinectl pull-raw --verify=no http://ftp.halifax.rwth-aachen.de/fedora/linux/releases/21/Cloud/Images/x86_64/Fedora-Cloud-Base-20141203-21.x86_64.raw.xz
# systemd-nspawn -M Fedora-Cloud-Base-20141203-21
# passwd
# exit
# machinectl start Fedora-Cloud-Base-20141203-21
# machinectl login Fedora-Cloud-Base-20141203-21

This downloads the specified .raw image with verification disabled. Then a shell is opened in it and a root password is set. Afterwards the shell is left, and the machine started as system service. With the last command a login prompt into the container is requested.