The /etc/vservers directory

The content of the /etc/vservers directory

/etc/vservers/.defaults

cachebase

A link to the directory which will hold cached information about vservers.
namespace-cleanup-skip

List of paths to skip during namespace cleanup.
nonamespace

Disable namespace usage globally. It can be overridden for a single vserver by setting the namespace flag there. In this mode the /vservers directory must have the 'barrier' attribute. Else, common chroot(2) exploits are possible.
nonamespace-cleanup

Disable namespace cleanup globally. It can be overridden for a single vserver by setting the namespace-cleanup flag there.
run.rev

Path of the vserver run reverse directory. This directory contains symlinks named with XID numbers which point back to the configuration directory of vservers. Under kernel 2.4 this is required for the XID to VSERVER mapping; Under kernel 2.6 it is unused. NOTE: this link exists in 0.30.202+ only; in previous versions it was a vserver specific setting.
vdirbase

A link to the default vserver rootdirectory.
/etc/vservers/.defaults/apps
- /etc/vservers/.defaults/apps/debootstrap
  - mirror
    
    The Debian mirror to use with the debootstrap program
  - uri
    
    When the debootstrap package is not installed; fetch it from this uri and install it at a temporary place.
- /etc/vservers/.defaults/apps/init
  - environment
    
    The environment to set when starting guests. Contains one VAR=VAL pair per line.
  - tty
    
    A symlink to the TTY device where input/output will be redirected from/to at startup via initscript.
- /etc/vservers/.defaults/apps/pkgmgmt
  - apt.conf
    
    The default apt.conf which is going to be used. It is overridden by distribution specific configuration file.
  - base
- /etc/vservers/.defaults/apps/vlogin
  - disable
    
    When this file exists, vlogin isn't used on vserver <guest> enter.
- /etc/vservers/.defaults/apps/vprocunhide
  - files
    
    A list of files which will be made visible by vprocunhide. Wildcards are allowed and anything ending in '/' will be processed recursively. When this file exists, it overrides the defaults in SYSDEFAULTDIR/vprocunhide-files. The entries there must be absolute filenames inclusive the leading '/proc'.
- /etc/vservers/.defaults/apps/vshelper
  - debug
    
    When existing, the vshelper execution will be traced.
  - disabled
    
    When existing, the vshelper functionality will be disabled for all vservers.
  - logfile
    
    The file where output will be logged to when vshelper is invoked from the kernel. This should point somewhere e.g. into /var/log.
  - warning-disabled
    
    When existing, sanity checks for the vshelper functionality will be skipped.
  - /etc/vservers/.defaults/apps/vshelper/vshelper-methods
    - handler
      
      See vshelper/action.
- /etc/vservers/.defaults/apps/vunify
  - exclude
    
    Static list of excluded files.
  - pgkmgmt-force
    
    When existing, information from packagemanagement will be used to create dynamic exclude-lists. This option requires that (a known) packagemanagement is configured for the vserver; else the requested operation will fail. Most tools assume 'on' as the default value.
  - pkgmgmt-ignore
    
    When existing, information from packagemanagement will not be used to create dynamic exclude-lists.
  - /etc/vservers/.defaults/apps/vunify/hash
    
    A directory which will be used as the storage place for the vhashify command.
    - id
      
      Points to a directory within the filesystems which are used for the vservers. There must be not more than one of such a directory per filesystem.
    - method
      
      The used hash method.
/etc/vservers/.defaults/init
- mtab
  
  Default mtab file
/etc/vservers/.defaults/interfaces
- vlandev
  
  When this file exists, the steps which setup and destroy a VLAN interface will be executed.

/etc/vservers/.distributions

/etc/vservers/.distributions/dist
- apt.conf
  
  The default apt.conf which is going to be used. It overrides the apt.conf from CONFDIR/.defaults/apps/pkgmgmt.
- dev
- execdir
  
  Directory with all executables and libraries which are required for this distribution.
- initpost
  
  Script which will be executed after packages are installed.
- initpre
  
  Script which will be executed before packages will be installed.
- rpmlib
  
  Directory which overrides /usr/lib/rpm.
- /etc/vservers/.distributions/dist/apt
  
  Default content of the /etc/apt/ directory.
- /etc/vservers/.distributions/dist/pkgs
  
  Contains files with packagenames.
  - list
    
    File which contains the name of packages. On top of file the special keywords '--reinstall' and '--can-fail' are possible.
- /etc/vservers/.distributions/dist/pubkeys
  
  Directory with GPG pubkeys which are used to sign the packages of this distribution.
- /etc/vservers/.distributions/dist/rpm
  
  Default content of the /etc/rpm directory.
- /etc/vservers/.distributions/dist/yum
  
  The default, yum-related content of the /etc directory.
  - yum.conf
    
    The master yum configuration file. It supports the @YUMETCDIR@, @YUMCACHEDIR@ and @YUMLOGDIR@ placeholder which will be replaced at vserver ... build time.
- /etc/vservers/.distributions/dist/yum.repos.d
  
  A directory with yum repositories.

/etc/vservers/vserver-name

The configuration directory for the vserver vserver-name.

bcapabilities

Contains the system capabilities. See lib/bcaps-v13.c for possible values.
cache

Path of the storage area for cached information about this vserver.
capabilities

Contains per line a capability. This file is used for the 2.4 kernel only; for 2.6 use bcapabilities.
ccapabilities

Contains the context capabilities. See lib/ccaps-v13.c for possible values.
context

Contains the context which shall be used for the vserver.
flags

Contains per line a flag. See lib/cflags-v13.c for possible values.
fstab

The fstab file for the vserver. Entries in this file will be mounted within the network context of the host. Use the fstab.remote file when you want that the mounting happens in the network context of the vserver. In most cases the 'fstab' file should be used.
fstab.remote

The fstab file for the vserver. Entries in this file will be mounted within the network context of the host; this means that mount will be called as chbind <options> mount .... See fstab also.
name

Contains the name of the vserver. When not given, the basename of the directory will be assumed as this name.
namespace

Overrides the global nonamespace flag and enables namespace usage for the current vserver.
namespace-cleanup

Overrides the global nonamespace-cleanup flag and enables namespace cleanup for the current vserver.
namespace-cleanup-skip

List of paths to skip during namespace cleanup. This overrides the global namespace-cleanup-skip file.
ncapabilities

Contains the network capabilities. See lib/ncaps-net.c for possible values.
nflags

Contains a network flag per line. See lib/nflags-net.c for possible values.
nice

The nice-level on which the vserver will be started.
nonamespace

Disables namespace usage for the current vserver. In this mode the /vservers directory must have the 'barrier' attribute. Else, common chroot(2) exploits are possible.
personality

Used to set the personality of the vserver. First line in the file is the personality-type followed by flags (one item per line). See /usr/include/linux/personality.h for possible values.
run

Points to a file which will contain the XID of the running vserver. When the vserver is stopped, this can be a dangling symlink.
schedule

[deprecated; use sched instead] Contains the scheduler parameters, one per line. The Hard CPU limit uses a mechanism called a Token Bucket. the concept is simple: you have a bucket of a certain size which is filled with a specified amount R of tokens each interval T until the maximum is reached (excess tokens are spilled). At each timer tick, a running process consumes one token from the bucket, unless the bucket is empty. If the bucket is empty the process is put in the hold queue. When the bucket has been refilled to at least M tokens, all on hold processes are rescheduled. See the Linux VServer Wiki for more information about this file.
shell

Contains the pathname of the shell which will be used by the "vserver ... enter" command.
vdir

Path of the vserver root directory.
/etc/vservers/vserver-name/apps
- /etc/vservers/vserver-name/apps/init
  - cmd.prepare
    
    The command which is used to setup the init-system (e.g. to set the runlevel in the utmp-file). Each option must be on a separate line.
  - cmd.start
    
    The command which is used to start the vserver. Each option must be on a separate line.
  - cmd.start-sync
    
    The command which is used to wait on the vserver after it has been started. Each option must be on a separate line. This file will be ignored when the sync flag does not exist and the '--sync' option was not used.
  - cmd.stop
    
    The command which is used to stop the vserver. Each option must be on a separate line.
  - cmd.stop-sync
    
    The command which is used to wait on the vserver after it has been stopped. Each option must be on a separate line. This file will be ignored when the sync flag does not exist and the '--sync' option was not used.
  - depends
    
    This file is used to configure vservers which must be running before the current vserver can be started. At shutdown, the current vserver will be stopped before its dependencies. Content of this file are vserver ids (one name per line).
  - environment
    
    The environment to set when starting the guest. Contains one VAR=VAL pair per line.
  - killseq
    
    Contains the 'signal [wait signal]*' sequence which is used to stop the vserver.
  - mark
    
    This file is used to mark group of vservers which shall be started/stopped together by the initscript. Content is a simple string like 'default'.
  - mtab
    
    The initial-mtab which will be used for the vserver.
  - runlevel
    
    The start runlevel.
  - runlevel.start
    
    The start runlevel.
  - runlevel.stop
    
    The stop runlevel.
  - style
    
    Contains the init-style.
  - sync
    
    If this file is not present, all 'cmd.*-sync files will be ignored.
  - tty
    
    A symlink to the TTY device where input/output will be redirected from/to at startup via initscript.
- /etc/vservers/vserver-name/apps/vshelper
  - action
    
    The action which is going to be executed when a vshelper event occurs. The default value is 'restart', but there can be defined own methods by placing scripts into the vshelper-methods directories. These scripts are fed with the same arguments as the vshelper script.
  - debug
    
    When existing, the vshelper execution will be traced for this vserver.
  - disabled
    
    When existing, the vshelper functionality will be disabled for this vserver.
  - event
    
    When existing, these scripts will be executed *instead* of the default handler defined in 'action'. Their name must match the event which caused the execution of vshelper; e.g. 'restart' or 'poweroff'. See the vs_reboot() function in the kernel for more details.
  - sync-timeout
    
    The timeout in seconds which is used when synchronising vserver startup/shutdown with the vshelper. When not set, 30 seconds will be assumed.
  - warning-disabled
    
    When existing, sanity checks for the vshelper functionality will be skipped.
- /etc/vservers/vserver-name/apps/vshelper-methods
  - handler
    
    See vshelper/action.
- /etc/vservers/vserver-name/apps/vunify
  
  This directory contains configuration data required for vserver unification.
  - exclude
    
    Static list of files which are excluded for unification. This list supports an rsync-like syntax: when a file is prefixed by '+', it is a candidate for unification; when there is no prefix or a '-' or a '~' it will be excluded. Shell-wildcards are allowed for the filenames.
    
    When used with vcopy, the '~' prefix prevents copying of the file entirely (e.g. for keyfiles). With this tool, the file will be copied instead of hardlinked when the '-' prefix is used.
  - pgkmgmt-force
    
    When existing, information from packagemanagement will be used to create dynamic exclude-lists. This option requires that (a known) packagemanagement is configured for the vserver; else the requested operation will fail. Most tools assume 'on' as the default value.
  - pkgmgmt-ignore
    
    When existing, information from packagemanagement will not be used to create dynamic exclude-lists.
  - refserver.X
    
    These are symlinks to the configuration directory (e.g. CONFDIR/vservers/<id>) of a refserver. There may be multiple such symlinks but they must be prefixed by 'refserver.' and will be processed in alphanumerical order.
  - /etc/vservers/vserver-name/apps/vunify/hash
    
    A directory which will be used as the storage place for the vhashify command.
    - id
      
      Points to a directory within the filesystems which are used for the vservers. There must be not more than one of such a directory per filesystem.
    - method
      
      The used hash method.
/etc/vservers/vserver-name/cpuset
- cpu_exclusive
  
  Is the CPU assignment exclusive?
- cpus
  
  The list of CPUs in this cpuset
- mems
  
  The list of Memory Nodes in this cpuset
- mems_exclusive
  
  Is the memory node assignment exclusive?
- name
  
  The name of the cpuset for this vserver
- nocreate
  
  When this file exists, the cpuset will be assumed to exist already
/etc/vservers/vserver-name/dlimits
- /etc/vservers/vserver-name/dlimits/dlimit
  - directory
    
    The directory to which the limit should be applied
  - inodes_total
    
    The amount of inodes this vserver should be limited to
  - reserved
    
    How much space (percentage-wise) should be reserved for the root user
  - space_total
    
    The amount of space this vserver should be limited to (measured in blocks of 1024 bytes)
/etc/vservers/vserver-name/interfaces
- bcast
  
  The default broadcast address.
- dev
  
  The default network device.
- mask
  
  The default network mask.
- novlandev
  
  When this file exists, the steps which setup and destroy a VLAN interface will be skipped. This overrides the global vlandev setting for this vserver.
- prefix
  
  The default network prefix-length.
- scope
  
  The default scope of the network interfaces.
- vlandev
  
  When this file exists, the steps which setup and destroy a VLAN interface will be executed for all interfaces of this vserver.
- /etc/vservers/vserver-name/interfaces/iface
  
  'iface' is an arbitrary name for the interface; the value itself is not important but may be interesting regarding interface-creation and usage with chbind. Both happens in alphabetical order and numbers like '00' are good names for these directories.
  - bcast
    
    The broadcast address.
  - dev
    
    The network device.
  - disabled
    
    When this file exists, this interface will be ignored.
  - ip
    
    The ip which will be assigned to this interface.
  - mask
    
    The network mask.
  - name
    
    When this file exists, the interface will be named with the text in this file. Without such an entry, the IP will not be shown by ifconfig but by ip addr ls only. Such a labeled interface is known as an "alias" also (e.g. 'eth0:foo').
  - nodev
    
    When this file exists, the interface will be assumed to exist already. This can be used to assign primary interfaces which are created by the host or another vserver.
  - novlandev
    
    When this file exists, the steps which setup and destroy a VLAN interface will be skipped. This will override the global vlandev and the per-guest vlandev.
  - prefix
    
    The network prefix-length.
  - scope
    
    The scope of the network interface.
  - vlandev
    
    When this file exists, the steps which setup and destroy a VLAN interface will be executed.
/etc/vservers/vserver-name/rlimits

A directory with resource limits. Possible resources are cpu, fsize, data, stack, core, rss, nproc, nofile, memlock, as, locks, msgqueue, nsock, openfd, anon, shmem, semary, nsems and dentry. This configuration will be honored for kernel 2.6 only.
- resource
  
  A file which contains the hard- and soft-limit of the given resource in the first line. The special keyword 'inf' is recognized.
- resource.hard
  
  A file which contains the hard-limit of the given resource in the first line. The special keyword 'inf' is recognized.
- resource.min
  
  A file which contains the guaranteed minimum of the given resource in the first line. The special keyword 'inf' is recognized.
- resource.soft
  
  A file which contains the soft-limit of the given resource in the first line. The special keyword 'inf' is recognized.
/etc/vservers/vserver-name/sched
- fill-rate
  
  Amount of tokens to add each interval
- fill-rate2
  
  Amount of tokens to add each interval2 when advancing idle time
- idle-time
  
  When this file exists, advancing idle time is activated
- interval
  
  The interval between refills of the bucket
- interval2
  
  The interval between refills of the bucket when advancing idle time
- priority-bias
  
  Bias added to priorities calculated within the guest (result is clamped to -20/+19)
- tokens
  
  The initial amount of tokens to put in the bucket
- tokens-max
  
  The bucket's size
- tokens-min
  
  The minimum amount of tokens required to unhold the context
- /etc/vservers/vserver-name/sched/cpu-id
  
  This directory contains per-CPU and/or per-bucket specific settings. Remember to set the cpu-id file. All CPUs inherit the global settings.
  - bucket-id
    
    The bucket to apply these settings to
  - cpu-id
    
    The CPU to apply these settings to
  - fill-rate
    
    Amount of tokens to add each interval
  - fill-rate2
    
    Amount of tokens to add each interval2 when advancing idle time
  - idle-time
    
    When this file exists, advancing idle time is activated
  - interval
    
    The interval between refills of the bucket
  - interval2
    
    The interval between refills of the bucket when advancing idle time
  - priority-bias
    
    Bias added to priorities calculated within the guest (result is clamped to -20/+19)
  - tokens
    
    The initial amount of tokens to put in the bucket
  - tokens-max
    
    The bucket's size
  - tokens-min
    
    The minimum amount of tokens required to unhold the context
/etc/vservers/vserver-name/scripts

A directory for scripts. By default, when one of these scripts will be executed, the execution of defaultscripts (within .../.defaults/scripts) will be skipped. To execute them nevertheless, the $DONT_SKIP_DEFAULTS environment variable must be set by one of the in-shellcontext scripts (the non-executable ones).
- initialize
  
  The scriptlet which will be executed before the root filesystem is mounted and the configuration has been loaded. Before executing the script, the configuration directory will be made the working directory.
- post-start
  
  The scriptlet which will be executed after the vserver has been started. Before executing the script, the vserver root directory will be made the working directory.
- post-stop
  
  The scriptlet which will be executed after the vserver has been stopped, but before the directories will be umounted and the the interfaces disabled. Before executing the script, the vserver root directory will be made the working directory.
- postpost-stop
  
  The scriptlet which will be executed after the vserver has been stopped completely. Before executing the script, the vserver root directory will be made the working directory.
- pre-start
  
  The scriptlet which will be executed after network-interfaces were enabled and the directories mounted, but before the vserver itself has been started. Before executing the script, the vserver root directory will be made the working directory.
- pre-stop
  
  The scriptlet which will be executed before the vserver will be stopped. Before executing the script, the vserver root directory will be made the working directory.
- prepre-start
  
  The scriptlet which will be executed before the network-interfaces are enabled and the directories are mounted. Before executing the script, the configuration directory will be made the working directory.
- /etc/vservers/vserver-name/scripts/initialize.d
  
  Repository of initialize like scripts. Before executing the script, the configuration directory will be made the working directory.
  - script
    
    See initialize.
- /etc/vservers/vserver-name/scripts/post-start.d
  
  Repository of post-start like scripts. Before executing these scripts, the vserver root directory will be made the working directory.
  - script
    
    See post-start.
- /etc/vservers/vserver-name/scripts/post-stop.d
  
  Repository of post-stop like scripts. Before executing the script, the vserver root directory will be made the working directory.
  - script
    
    See post-stop.
- /etc/vservers/vserver-name/scripts/postpost-stop.d
  
  Repository of postpost-stop like scripts. Before executing the script, the vserver root directory will be made the working directory.
  - script
    
    See postpost-stop.
- /etc/vservers/vserver-name/scripts/pre-start.d
  
  Repository of pre-start like scripts. Before executing these scripts, the vserver root directory will be made the working directory.
  - script
    
    See pre-start.
- /etc/vservers/vserver-name/scripts/pre-stop.d
  
  Repository of pre-stop like scripts. Before executing the script, the vserver root directory will be made the working directory.
  - script
    
    See pre-stop.
- /etc/vservers/vserver-name/scripts/prepre-start.d
  
  Repository of prepre-start like scripts. Before executing the script, the configuration directory will be made the working directory.
  - script
    
    See prepre-start.
/etc/vservers/vserver-name/ulimits

A directory with ulimits. Possible resources are cpu, data, fsize, locks, memlock, nofile, nproc, rss and/or stack.
- resource
  
  A file which contains the hard- and soft-limit of the given resource in the first line. The special keyword 'inf' is recognized.
- resource.hard
  
  A file which contains the hard-limit of the given resource in the first line. The special keyword 'inf' is recognized.
- resource.soft
  
  A file which contains the soft-limit of the given resource in the first line. The special keyword 'inf' is recognized.
/etc/vservers/vserver-name/uts
- context
  
  The context-name of the vserver. This file is listed for completeness only; the 'context' name is used and set internally by the util-vserver tools and can *not* be modified.
- domainname
  
  The NIS domainname of the vserver
- machine
  
  The machine-type of the vserver
- nodename
  
  The node-/hostname of the vserver
- release
  
  The OS-release of the vserver
- sysname
  
  The sysname of the vserver
- version
  
  The OS-version of the vserver