1 LX(5)                 Standards, Environments, and Macros                LX(5)
   2 
   3 NAME
   4      lx - zone brand for running a GNU/Linux user-level environment
   5 
   6 DESCRIPTION
   7      The lx brand uses the brands(5) framework to provide an environment for
   8      running binary applications built for GNU/Linux. User-level code,
   9      including an entire Linux distribution, can run inside the zone. Both
  10      32-bit and 64-bit applications are supported. The majority of Linux
  11      system calls are provided, along with emulation for a variety of Linux
  12      file systems, such as proc, cgroup and sysfs.
  13 
  14      The /proc file system within the zone is a subset of a full Linux /proc.
  15      Most kernel-level tuning applied to /proc is unavailable or ignored. Some
  16      tuning can be performed, but only to reduce the overall limits that have
  17      been specified on the zone's configuration.  That is, within the zone
  18      there is no way to increase the resource limits set on the zone itself.
  19 
  20      The zone must be installed using a clone of a zfs(1m) dataset which
  21      contains an image of the software to be run in the zone.
  22 
  23      Example:
  24            zoneadm -z myzone install -x nodataset -t debian7
  25 
  26      Applications provided by the base SunOS operating system are also
  27      available within the zone under the /native mount point. This allows the
  28      use of various native tools such as dtrace(1m), mdb(1), or the proc(1)
  29      tools on GNU/Linux applications. However, not every native tool will work
  30      properly within an lx zone.
  31 
  32 CONFIGURATION
  33      The kernel-version attribute can be included in the zone's zonecfg(1m)
  34      settings as a way to specify the Linux version that the zone is
  35      emulating. For example, the value could be 3.13.0.
  36 
  37 LIMITATIONS
  38      The brand only supports the exclusive IP stack zone configuration.
  39 
  40      Most modern GNU/Linux application software runs on lx, but because there
  41      are some system calls or file systems which are not currently
  42      implemented, it's possible that an application won't run. This does not
  43      preclude the application running in the future as the lx brand adds new
  44      capabilities.
  45 
  46      Because there is only the single SunOS kernel running on the system,
  47      there is no support for any Linux kernel-level modules. That is, there is
  48      no support for add-on drivers or any other modules that are part of the
  49      Linux kernel itself. If that is required, a full virtual machine should
  50      be used instead of an lx branded zone.
  51 
  52      Any core files produced within the zone are in the native SunOS format.
  53 
  54      As with any zone, the normal security mechanisms and privileges apply.
  55      Thus, certain operations (for example, changing the system time), will
  56      not be allowed unless the zone has been configured with the appropriate
  57      additional privileges.
  58 
  59 SEE ALSO
  60      mdb(1), proc(1), dtrace(1m), zfs(1m), zoneadm(1m), zonecfg(1m),
  61      brands(5), privileges(5), resource_controls(5), zones(5)
  62 
  63 illumos                        December 31, 1969                       illumos