apptainer(1)

NAME
apptainer-instance-start - Start a named instance of the given container image

SYNOPSIS
apptainer instance start [start options...] [startscript args...]

DESCRIPTION
The instance start command allows you to create a new named instance from an
  existing container image that will begin running in the background. If a
  startscript is defined in the container metadata the commands in that script
  will be executed with the instance start command as well. You can optionally
  pass arguments to startscript.

apptainer instance start accepts the following container formats

*.sif Singularity Image Format (SIF). Native to Singularity
                      (3.0+) and Apptainer (v1.0.0+)

*.sqsh SquashFS format. Native to Singularity 2.4+

*.img ext3 format. Native to Singularity versions < 2.4.

directory/ sandbox format. Directory containing a valid root file
                      system and optionally Apptainer meta-data.

instance://* A local running instance of a container. (See the instance
                      command group.)

library://* A SIF container hosted on a Library (no default)

docker://* A Docker/OCI container hosted on Docker Hub or another
                      OCI registry.

shub://* A container hosted on Singularity Hub.

oras://* A SIF container hosted on an OCI registry that supports
                      the OCI Registry As Storage (ORAS) specification.

ipfs://* A SIF image from an IPFS cluster, using a HTTP gateway.

OPTIONS
--add-caps=""
    a comma separated capability list to add

--allow-setuid[=false]
    allow setuid binaries in container (root only)

--app=""
    set an application to run inside a container

--apply-cgroups=""
    apply cgroups from file for container processes (root only)

--authfile=""
    Docker-style authentication file to use for writing/reading OCI registry credentials

-B, --bind=[]
    a user-bind path specification. spec has the format src[:dest[:opts]], where src and dest are outside and inside paths. If dest is not given, it is set equal to src. Mount options ('opts') may be specified as 'ro' (read-only) or 'rw' (read/write, which is the default). Multiple bind paths can be given by a comma separated list.

--blkio-weight=0
    Block IO relative weight in range 10-1000, 0 to disable

--blkio-weight-device=[]
    Device specific block IO relative weight

--boot[=false]
    execute /sbin/init to boot container (root only)

-e, --cleanenv[=false]
    clean environment before running container

--compat[=false]
    apply settings for increased OCI/Docker compatibility. Infers --containall, --no-init, --no-umask, --no-eval, --writable-tmpfs.

-c, --contain[=false]
    use minimal /dev and empty other directories (e.g. /tmp and $HOME) instead of sharing filesystems from your host

-C, --containall[=false]
    contain not only file systems, but also PID, IPC, and environment

--cpu-shares=-1
    CPU shares for container

--cpus=""
    Number of CPUs available to container

--cpuset-cpus=""
    List of host CPUs available to container

--cpuset-mems=""
    List of host memory nodes available to container

--disable-cache[=false]
    do not use or create cache

--dmtcp-launch=""
    checkpoint for dmtcp to save container process state to (experimental)

--dmtcp-restart=""
    checkpoint for dmtcp to use to restart container process (experimental)

--dns=""
    list of DNS server separated by commas to add in resolv.conf

--docker-host=""
    specify a custom Docker daemon host

--docker-login[=false]
    login to a Docker Repository interactively

--drop-caps=""
    a comma separated capability list to drop

--env=[]
    pass environment variable to contained process

--env-file=[]
    pass environment variables from file to contained process

-f, --fakeroot[=false]
    run container with the appearance of running as root

--fusemount=[]
    A FUSE filesystem mount specification of the form ': ' - where is 'container' or 'host', specifying where the mount will be performed ('container-daemon' or 'host-daemon' will run the FUSE process detached). is the path to the FUSE executable, plus options for the mount. is the location in the container to which the FUSE mount will be attached. E.g. 'container:sshfs 10.0.0.1:/ /sshfs'. Implies --pid.

-h, --help[=false]
    help for start

-H, --home="/builddir"
    a home directory specification. spec can either be a src path or src:dest pair. src is the source path of the home directory outside the container and dest overrides the home directory within the container.

--hostname=""
    set container hostname

--intel-hpu[=false]
    enable Intel(R) Gaudi accelerator support while using a minimal /dev

-i, --ipc[=false]
    run container in a new IPC namespace

--keep-privs[=false]
    let root user keep privileges in container (root only)

--memory=""
    Memory limit in bytes

--memory-reservation=""
    Memory soft limit in bytes

--memory-swap=""
    Swap limit, use -1 for unlimited swap

--mount=[]
    a mount specification e.g. 'type=bind,source=/opt,destination=/hostopt'. The 'nonested' flag prevents the mount from being passed to nested containers via APPTAINER_BIND.

-n, --net[=false]
    run container in a new network namespace (sets up a bridge network interface by default)

--netns-path=""
    join the network namespace at the specified path (as root, or if permitted in apptainer.conf)

--network=""
    specify desired network type separated by commas, each network will bring up a dedicated interface inside container

--network-args=[]
    specify network arguments to pass to CNI plugins

--no-env=[]
    list of environment variables to block from import into container from host environment

--no-eval[=false]
    do not shell evaluate env vars or OCI container CMD/ENTRYPOINT/ARGS

--no-home[=false]
    do NOT mount users home directory if /home is not the current working directory

--no-https[=false]
    use http instead of https for docker:// oras:// and library:///... URIs

--no-init[=false]
    do NOT start shim process with --pid

--no-mount=[]
    disable one or more 'mount xxx' options set in apptainer.conf and/or specify absolute destination path to disable a bind path entry, or 'bind-paths' to disable all bind path entries.

--no-privs[=false]
    drop all privileges from root user in container

--no-umask[=false]
    do not propagate umask to the container, set default 0022 umask

--nv[=false]
    enable Nvidia support

--nvccli[=false]
    use nvidia-container-cli for GPU setup (experimental)

--oom-kill-disable[=false]
    Disable OOM killer

-o, --overlay=[]
    use an overlayFS image for persistent data storage or as read-only layer of container

--passphrase[=false]
    prompt for an encryption passphrase

--pem-path=""
    enter an path to a PEM formatted RSA key for an encrypted container

--pid-file=""
    write instance PID to the file with the given name

--pids-limit=0
    Limit number of container PIDs, use -1 for unlimited

--rocm[=false]
    enable experimental Rocm support

-S, --scratch=[]
    include a scratch directory within the container that is linked to a temporary dir (use -W to force location)

--security=[]
    enable security features (SELinux, Apparmor, Seccomp)

--unsquash[=false]
    Convert SIF file to temporary sandbox before running

-u, --userns[=false]
    run container in a new user namespace

--uts[=false]
    run container in a new UTS namespace

-W, --workdir=""
    working directory to be used for /tmp, /var/tmp and $HOME (if -c/--contain was also used)

-w, --writable[=false]
    by default all Apptainer containers are available as read only. This option makes the file system accessible as read/write.

--writable-tmpfs[=false]
    makes the file system accessible as read-write with non persistent data (with overlay support only)

EXAMPLE
      $ apptainer instance start /tmp/my-sql.sif mysql
      $ apptainer shell instance://mysql
      Apptainer my-sql.sif> pwd
      /home/mibauer/mysql
      Apptainer my-sql.sif> ps
      PID TTY          TIME CMD
        1 pts/0    00:00:00 appinit
        2 pts/0    00:00:00 bash
        3 pts/0    00:00:00 ps
      Apptainer my-sql.sif>
      $ apptainer instance stop /tmp/my-sql.sif mysql
      Stopping /tmp/my-sql.sif mysql

SEE ALSO
apptainer-instance(1)

HISTORY
23-Jul-2026 Auto generated by spf13/cobra