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FLAKE-CTL-INIT(8)() FLAKE-CTL-INIT(8)()

Name

FLAKE-CTL-INIT(8) -

NAME

flake-ctl init - Create the setup to run flake applications

SYNOPSIS

USAGE:

flake-ctl init [OPTIONS] OPTIONS:
--user
--force
--help


DESCRIPTION

Create the user specific setup to run flake applications.

The system wide setup is provided with the flake-pilot package. A user who wants to register and run flake applications without root privileges needs its own setup below the home directory. The command creates it as follows:

1.
The flakes directory of the calling user, $HOME/.config/flakes, with the sub directories podman and firecracker used by the respective engine
2.
The user specific flakes configuration file $HOME/.config/flakes.yml. It points the flake registry and the podman storage of the user to the directories created in the first step. The meta data directories of the pilots are taken from the system wide configuration file /etc/flakes.yml
3.
The podman storage configuration file $HOME/.config/flakes/podman/storage.conf. It points podman to a storage location of the calling user

The created files are meant to be adjusted as desired. Therefore a file which already exists is kept and only reported unless the --force option is given.

After the setup was created, flake applications can be registered and run with the --user option of the respective flake-ctl command. To let podman commands operate on the flake storage of the user, export the storage configuration as it is shown at the end of the setup:

export CONTAINERS_STORAGE_CONF=$HOME/.config/flakes/podman/storage.conf


OPTIONS

Create the setup for the calling user. This is the only setup the command can create. Calling it as the root user is an error
Create the configuration files from scratch, even if they already exist. Existing files are overwritten and adjustments made to them are lost

FILES

  • /etc/flakes.yml
  • $HOME/.config/flakes.yml
  • $HOME/.config/flakes
  • $HOME/.config/flakes/podman/storage.conf

EXAMPLE

$ flake-ctl init --user


AUTHOR

Marcus Schäfer

COPYRIGHT

2026, Marcus Schäfer