🥊 Boxer

Instantly launch an ephemeral Docker container from your terminal with just one function in your .bashrc or .zshrc file.

Why?

I was inspired by Distrobox and wanted to create a solution that works on macOS. Boxer creates ephemeral Linux environments for testing or other purpose, and is designed for developers, pentesters, and hobbyists alike.

Boxer is not meant to replace Distrobox. Instead, it provides a lightweight way to launch ephemeral containers of any Docker image.

Differences between Distrobox and Boxer

Boxer can...

Create and dismantle ephemeral containers of any Docker image
Access files and folders from the directory where the container was launched

Boxer cannot...

Leave containers running in the background
Persist changes made to its containers (planned)
Use Wayland or X11 sockets
Use networking features (planned)
Mount removable devices
Tell you a love story

Key Features

Launches an interactive Docker container running the specified OS or image
Automatically removes the container after use
Includes a bind mount to your current working directory in /host
Optionally run a specific command or shell in the container
🆕 Supports image tags
No additional software required
Likely works with podman using an alias (untested)

Setup

Add this code to your .bashrc or .zshrc file, then restart your terminal:

boxer() {
  # setup vars
  IMAGE=$1
  IFS=':' read -r IMAGE_NAME IMAGE_VERSION <<< "$IMAGE"

  if [ -z "${IMAGE_VERSION}" ]; then
    docker run -it --rm --mount type=bind,source="$(pwd)",target=/host --hostname "$0"-"$IMAGE_NAME" "$IMAGE_NAME" ${@:2}
  else
    docker run -it --rm --mount type=bind,source="$(pwd)",target=/host --hostname "$0"-"$IMAGE_NAME" "$IMAGE_NAME":"$IMAGE_VERSION" ${@:2}
  fi
}

Usage and Examples

Launch a container with the boxer command like this:

boxer <image_name>[:image_tag] [command]

Then, find the files from the directory in which you launched the container in the bind mount location: /host.

Examples

Example	Command
Whip up an Ubuntu container	`boxer ubuntu`
Drop into a shell within the node image	`boxer node bash`
Target a specific image tag	`boxer rockylinux:9`

yeenbean / boxer