runc(1)

runc is a lightweight, portable Open Container Initiative (OCI) runtime. It runs containers from OCI bundle directories containing a config.json specification file and a root filesystem. runc is used by container engines like Docker and containerd to actually execute containers on Linux systems.

Containers are created, started, and managed via subcommands. Each container runs in isolation with its own filesystem, network namespace, and process tree. runc handles low-level Linux kernel features like cgroups, namespaces, and seccomp to enforce isolation.

Create a container named 'mycontainer' from the OCI bundle in the current directory (creates but doesn't start)

runc create mycontainer

Start a previously created container named 'mycontainer'

runc start mycontainer

Create and start a container in one command, blocking until the container exits

runc run mycontainer

Execute a new process (/bin/sh) inside an already-running container

runc exec mycontainer /bin/sh

List all containers managed by runc with their PID and status

runc list

Delete a stopped container and its state from the runc root directory

runc delete mycontainer

Run a container using a specific bundle path and custom root directory

runc --bundle /path/to/bundle --root /var/run/runc run testctr

Pause a running container and then resume it

runc pause mycontainer && runc resume mycontainer