Permanent link to this article: https://blog.simos.info/using-command-aliases-in-lxd-to-exec-a-shell/

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  1. One advantage of overriding the ‘shell’ alias instead of using ‘ubuntu’ is that Bash completion keeps working with ‘shell’ (both for filling the command name and the names of the container)

    1. Indeed, that’s an issue. Using the snap package of LXD, it is not possible to edit /etc/bash_completion.d/lxc with the completion rules because this is a link into the read-only LXD image.
      What you can do instead, is take a copy of this file, then remove the link and place the actual file in place. By doing so, you can edit it and add new commands. To add ubuntu (as in lxc ubuntu mycontainer), search for shell in the completion file and add ubuntu in the list.

    • Makrand on May 9, 2020 at 06:25
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    Nice Article! BTW, is there any way to login into non ubuntu containers are regular user?

    Also, do you work on development on LXC/D?

  2. Hi Simon;

    If ı create any alias in container’s .bashrc than I cant call this.

    For example:

    I added alias netp=’clear; netstat -pulten’ to .bashrc in container and source .bashrc.

    When I call ‘lxc exec u18base — bash -c “netp”‘, I take this error “bash: netp: command not found”

    If I call “lxc exec u18base — netp” than there is no error/warning on terminal.

    Have you any experience?

  3. Hi!

    When you run a command in a container like lxc exec u18base - netp, and you do not get any output, then it is highly likely that the command could not be found and did not run any. You do not get any stderr from lxc exec commands, just stdout.

    When you run lxc exec, it does not load up the user’s shell environment, therefore the alias netp is not found.

    On top of that, alias-es are not processed during non-interactive shells.

    I suggest to move from BASH aliases to BASH functions.

    lxc exec mycontainer -- bash -c 'netp() { clear; netstat -pulten; } ; netp'
    
  4. Thank you Simos. I follow you and all who work for LXC/LXD with great pleasure and excitement.

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