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  12 .\" Copyright 2016, Joyent, Inc.
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  14 .Dd February 5, 2106
  15 .Dt LX 5
  16 .Os
  17 .Sh NAME
  18 .Nm lx
  19 .Nd zone brand for running a GNU/Linux user-level environment
  20 .Sh DESCRIPTION
  21 The
  22 .Em lx
  23 brand
  24 uses the
  25 .Xr brands 5
  26 framework to provide an environment for running binary applications built
  27 for GNU/Linux. User-level code, including an entire Linux distribution, can
  28 run inside the zone. Both 32-bit and 64-bit applications are supported. The
  29 majority of Linux system calls are provided, along with emulation for a
  30 variety of Linux file systems, such as
  31 .Em proc ,
  32 .Em cgroup
  33 and
  34 .Em sysfs .
  35 .Pp
  36 The
  37 .Em /proc
  38 file system within the zone is a subset of a full Linux
  39 .Em /proc .
  40 Most kernel-level tuning applied to
  41 .Em /proc
  42 is unavailable or ignored. Some tuning can be performed, but only to reduce
  43 the overall limits that have been specified on the zone's configuration.
  44 That is, within the zone there is no way to increase the resource limits set
  45 on the zone itself.
  46 .Pp
  47 The zone must be installed using a clone of a
  48 .Xr zfs 1m
  49 dataset which contains an image of the software to be run in the zone.
  50 .Pp
  51 Example:
  52 .Dl zoneadm -z myzone install -x nodataset -t debian7
  53 .Pp
  54 Applications provided by the base SunOS operating system are also available
  55 within the zone under the
  56 .Em /native
  57 mount point. This allows the use of various native tools such as
  58 .Xr dtrace 1m ,
  59 .Xr mdb 1 ,
  60 or the
  61 .Xr proc 1
  62 tools on GNU/Linux applications. However, not every native tool will work
  63 properly within an
  64 .Em lx
  65 zone.
  66 .Sh CONFIGURATION
  67 The
  68 .Em kernel-version
  69 attribute can be included in the zone's
  70 .Xr zonecfg 1m
  71 settings as a way to specify the Linux version that the zone is emulating. For
  72 example, the value could be
  73 .Em 3.13.0 .
  74 .Sh LIMITATIONS
  75 The brand only supports the exclusive IP stack zone configuration.
  76 .Pp
  77 Most modern GNU/Linux application software runs on
  78 .Em lx ,
  79 but because there are some system calls or file systems which are not currently
  80 implemented, it's possible that an application won't run. This does not
  81 preclude the application running in the future as the
  82 .Em lx
  83 brand adds new capabilities.
  84 .Pp
  85 Because there is only the single SunOS kernel running on the system, there
  86 is no support for any Linux kernel-level modules. That is, there is no support
  87 for add-on drivers or any other modules that are part of the Linux kernel
  88 itself. If that is required, a full virtual machine should be used instead of
  89 an
  90 .Em lx
  91 branded zone.
  92 .Pp
  93 Any core files produced within the zone are in the native SunOS format.
  94 .Pp
  95 As with any zone, the normal security mechanisms and privileges apply. Thus,
  96 certain operations (for example, changing the system time), will not be allowed
  97 unless the zone has been configured with the appropriate additional privileges.
  98 .Sh SEE ALSO
  99 .Xr mdb 1 ,
 100 .Xr proc 1 ,
 101 .Xr dtrace 1m ,
 102 .Xr zfs 1m ,
 103 .Xr zoneadm 1m ,
 104 .Xr zonecfg 1m ,
 105 .Xr brands 5 ,
 106 .Xr privileges 5 ,
 107 .Xr resource_controls 5 ,
 108 .Xr zones 5