Linux namespaces

Speaker: Helmut Grohne

Track: MiniDebConf Hamburg

Type: Long talk

Room: Dock Europe Seminarraum

Time: May 03 (Sat): 10:30

Duration: 0:45

The concept of namespaces has been added to the Linux kernel more than twenty years ago. They’re used in numerous software components such as Debian’s buildd infrastructure as well as being the building blocks of all Linux container runtimes. We want to dive into namespaces with the goal of generating a better understanding of the capabilities and limitations of these technologies. After getting an idea of where namespaces are used, we will dive into particular namespaces at the syscall level and gather a deeper understanding of how to compose them. A particular focus of this talk is placed on using them from an unprivileged user account. While the introduction is meant to be understood by a less technical audience, we will visit an number of related subjects such as capabilities, control groups, file descriptors, and file systems in userspace.