containerd

Start containerd daemon

$ sudo containerd

$ sudo containerd --config [/etc/containerd/config.toml]

$ sudo containerd --log-level debug

$ containerd config default > [/etc/containerd/config.toml]

$ containerd --version

$ sudo containerd --root [/var/lib/containerd]

containerd [options]

containerd is an industry-standard container runtime that manages the complete container lifecycle on a host system. It handles image transfer and storage, container execution and supervision, low-level storage, and network attachments.
As a daemon, containerd provides a gRPC API for higher-level tools like Docker, Kubernetes, and nerdctl to interact with. It supports OCI (Open Container Initiative) images and runtime specifications, ensuring compatibility across the container ecosystem.
containerd is designed to be embedded into larger systems rather than used directly by end users. Kubernetes uses containerd as its container runtime through the CRI (Container Runtime Interface), and Docker uses it as its core runtime engine.

--config FILE

Path to configuration file (default: /etc/containerd/config.toml).

Root directory for containerd data.

State directory for containerd.

Address for containerd's gRPC socket.

Logging level: trace, debug, info, warn, error, fatal, panic.

Output the default configuration to stdout.

Output the current configuration.

Display version information.

Display help information.

/etc/containerd/config.toml

Main configuration file for containerd daemon settings, runtime options, and plugin configurations.

containerd is typically managed as a system service rather than run directly. Direct interaction requires tools like ctr or nerdctl. Proper configuration is essential for security, especially regarding runtime options and namespace isolation. Root privileges are required for most operations.

containerd was originally developed as part of Docker and was spun out as an independent project in December 2016. It was donated to the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) in 2017 and graduated as a CNCF project in 2019, becoming the standard container runtime for Kubernetes.

ctr(1), nerdctl(1), docker(1), runc(1)