runc: a tiny „mini-lab“ environment setup

27. April 2025 | runc

Perfect, let’s keep it simple and practical. Here’s your Mini-Lab Setup:

1. Create a safe playground machine

You don’t want to mess up your main workstation by mistake.
The best is a small, disposable virtual machine.

Options:

  • Use VirtualBox (free) + a minimal Linux ISO (Ubuntu Server or Debian Netinst).

  • Or use KVM/libvirt if you already have Linux.

  • Or spin up a cheap cloud VM (e.g., $5/month DigitalOcean droplet or AWS EC2 t4g.micro if you want cloud).

2. Recommended lab machine specs

  • OS: Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS or Debian 12

  • RAM: 2 GB minimum

  • Disk: 10–20 GB (you won’t need much)

  • CPU: 1–2 cores

  • SSH access: optional but nice for working remotely.

3. Essential packages to install

Right after installing Linux, log in and run:

bash
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y \
curl wget vim htop strace \
debootstrap \
runc \
cgroup-tools \
net-tools \
unshare

Optional but good:

bash
sudo apt install -y docker.io

(only if you want to compare Docker behavior easily)

4. Lab working method

Work as root or with sudo because:

  • You need access to namespaces.

  • You need to mount cgroups manually.

  • You need to create isolated environments freely.

Best is to SSH into the lab machine or open a terminal, then directly experiment.

5. Backup strategy

Don’t worry about screwing it up:
If you trash the VM (kernel panic, bad cgroups, frozen session), just reset it in 2 minutes.

✅ That’s the point: Break things. Learn. Repeat.

Optional but cool:
If you want to be really close to real production:

  • Use a kernel with cgroups v2 (Ubuntu 22.04+ or Debian 12 default) → this is where all modern container orchestration is heading.