This simple Linux tool lets you safely try multiple distros on the same desktop – free

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ZDNET Highlights

• Distrobox allows you to run different Linux distributions.
• This is a great way to learn the basics of Linux.
• Distrobox is free to install and use.

I use Linux a lot… I use it for almost everything. Often, I use multiple instances of Linux. How do I do that? If you want to go the virtual machine route, there’s VirtualBox. However, if you want to simplify things even more (without downloading multi GB ISO files), you can go the container route.

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One way to do this is through Distrobox.

What is Distrobox?

Distrobox is a great tool that allows you to easily spin up different Linux distributions from your desktop computer. For example, let’s say your desktop runs Ubuntu and you want to try Fedora. You can spin up a Fedora container with Distrobox and experiment with it. And although Distrobox is a command line tool, you can also install GUI apps and then export them to your desktop.

This is really great.

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It’s also secure, as it doesn’t tamper with your host OS, so you can spin up a different distribution with Distrobox, drop in the new container, do whatever you want, and be confident that whatever you’re doing won’t harm your host.

I am going to walk you through the process of installing Distrobox and then how to use it. I’ll also show how you can install a GUI app and then use that app on the host OS. time to have fun.

how to install distrobox

What you need: To use Distrobox, you’ll need a Linux desktop distribution and a user with sudo privileges. I will demonstrate this on Linux Mint.

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install distrobox docker-compose -y

That’s it. Distrobox is installed.

how to use distrobox

Distrobox pulls images from a centralized repository and then uses those images to create containers for a specific distribution.

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1. Create Fedora container

For our example, we are going to create a new container for Fedora, which is done with the command:

distrobox–create–name fedoranabox–image fedora

Note: You can give your new container any name you like.

You can install many different distributions. To see a list of distros available for Distrobox, check this out Official distribution list page,

2. Enter the container

Now you can enter the newly created container with the command:

Enter Distrobox Fedoranabox

Remember to use the name you choose for your new container.

3. Use containers

You now have a full-fledged Fedora distribution to use. You can update it with:

sudo dnf update

You can install software (such as Nano Text Editor) as follows:

sudo dnf install nano

Here’s a really cool trick. Let’s say you want to install an app on your Distrobox Fedora container and then run it on your host. That app may only be available on Fedora, not Linux Mint. Or maybe you know that Fedora has a new version of the app you need available on your host. How do you do this?

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It’s simple: First, make sure to login to the Fedora container. Once you do that, install the app. For example, you might want to install the latest version of the Chromium web browser. For that, issue the command:

sudo dnf install chromium -y

Once the installation is complete, you need to export the app to the host with the command:

distrobox-export-app chromium

You can now run that app from the host desktop menu.

You may be surprised to find that exported apps run almost as fast as if they were originally installed on your host.

How to stop and delete Distrobox container

When you’re finished working with your Distrobox container, exit it with the command:

exit

You can then stop the container with:

stop distrobox fedoranabox

Remember to use the name you gave your Distrobox container.

You can then remove the container with:

distrobox rm fedoranabox

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And that’s all there is to using Distrobox to spin up containers of different Linux distributions.