Enroot vs systemd-nspawn
Enroot
github.comsystemd-nspawn
freedesktop.orgSide by side
| Figure | Enroot | systemd-nspawn |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Container Engines | 7.7 (#11) | 7.5 (#18) |
| Configuration | Runtime configuration can be set in enroot.conf or through environment variables, which take precedence over the file. | Per-container .nspawn files provide persistent settings, and command-line options take precedence over those settings by default. |
| Isolation | Enroot uses Linux user and mount namespaces and provides little to no isolation while preserving filesystem separation. | It virtualizes the filesystem hierarchy, process tree, IPC subsystems, and host and domain names. |
| License | The project is released under the Apache License 2.0. | The systemd repository includes an LGPL 2.1 license file. |
| Purpose | Enroot turns traditional container and OS images into unprivileged sandboxes. | systemd-nspawn runs a command or a full Linux-based operating system in a lightweight namespace container. |
Plans
In their own words
Enroot
Enroot is a free, open-source Linux command-line utility that turns traditional container and operating-system images into unprivileged sandboxes. It is aimed at high-performance or virtualized environments where portability and reproducibility matter and additional isolation is not required. Enroot runs without a daemon and supports unprivileged multi-user use without a setuid binary. Linux user and mount namespaces preserve filesystem separation, while the project provides little to no isolation. The command line covers batch, bundle, create, exec, export, import, list, remove, and start operations. It imports known formats including Docker, with the README reporting a 3x to 5x speedup for large Docker-image imports. Built-in GPU support uses libnvidia-container, and hooks can add NVIDIA support or Mellanox host MOFED. Runtime settings come from enroot.conf or higher-priority environment variables. Standard and hardened package flavors are available.
systemd-nspawn
systemd-nspawn has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.