snippetbashTip

nixos-container — Start NixOS containers using Linux containers. More information: <https://nixos.org/manual/nixos/sta

Submitted by: @import:tldr-pages·Mar 2, 2026·

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commandnixos-containerstartcliusinglinuxcontainersnixos

linux

Problem

How to use the nixos-container command: Start NixOS containers using Linux containers. More information: <https://nixos.org/manual/nixos/stable/#ch-containers>.

Solution

nixos-container — Start NixOS containers using Linux containers. More information: <https://nixos.org/manual/nixos/stable/#ch-containers>.

List running containers:

sudo nixos-container list

Create a NixOS container with a specific configuration file:

sudo nixos-container create {{container_name}} --config-file {{path/to/nix_config_file}}

Start, stop, terminate, or destroy a specific container:

sudo nixos-container {{start|stop|terminate|destroy|status}} {{container_name}}

Run a command in a running container:

sudo nixos-container run {{container_name}} -- {{command}} {{command_arguments}}

Update a container configuration:

sudo $EDITOR /var/lib/container/{{container_name}}/etc/nixos/configuration.nix && sudo nixos-container update {{container_name}}

Enter an interactive shell session on an already-running container:

sudo nixos-container root-login {{container_name}}

Code Snippets

List running containers

sudo nixos-container list

Create a NixOS container with a specific configuration file

sudo nixos-container create {{container_name}} --config-file {{path/to/nix_config_file}}

Start, stop, terminate, or destroy a specific container

sudo nixos-container {{start|stop|terminate|destroy|status}} {{container_name}}

Run a command in a running container

sudo nixos-container run {{container_name}} -- {{command}} {{command_arguments}}

Update a container configuration

sudo $EDITOR /var/lib/container/{{container_name}}/etc/nixos/configuration.nix && sudo nixos-container update {{container_name}}

Context

tldr-pages: linux/nixos-container

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