rootless_container.md

Rootless Containers

As an alternative to Docker, qFlex can be run in rootless containers that do not require root privileges.

Build Rootless Image

To build a rootless qFlex image and run all tests in it, run:

$ bash scripts/create_rootless_container.sh (-|image_folder) [-h -j <p> -x -r -c]

The script will create a container in image_folder, or in a temporary directory if - is specified. The script also supports the following options:

-h        Print this help.
-j <p>    Number of parallel processes (where possible).
-x        Do not install qFlex (just create container).
-r        Run rootless container immediately after creation.
-c        Disable installation of Cirq in the rootless container.

Namespaces

To create a rootless container, the user must be allowed to unshare namespaces from parent. If not enabled:

$ sudo echo 1 > /proc/sys/kernel/unprivileged_userns_clone

Run Rootless Image

To run the rootless image:

$ bash scripts/run_rootless_container.sh image_folder

Inside the rootless image, qFlex can be installed by executing:

/install_qflex.sh

After the installation of qFlex, tests can be run as:

make -C /qflex/ run-tests

To run a sample simulation inside the image, use the following command:

/qflex/src/qflex.x /qflex/config/circuits/bristlecone_48_1-24-1_0.txt \
/qflex/config/ordering/bristlecone_48.txt /qflex/config/grid/bristlecone_48.txt