Linux / Unix: chroot Command Examples

The chroot command is used to change the root directory of a process or a group of processes to a specified directory. This can be useful for isolating a process or a group of processes from the rest of the system, for security or maintenance purposes.

Here are some examples of how to use the chroot command:

1. To change the root directory of a process to /new/root/dir, you can use the following command:

chroot /new/root/dir command

This will run the command with the root directory set to /new/root/dir.

2. To change the root directory of a process and run an interactive shell, you can use the following command:

chroot /new/root/dir /bin/bash

This will run an interactive bash shell with the root directory set to /new/root/dir.

3. To change the root directory of a process and run a command with arguments, you can use the following command:

chroot /new/root/dir /path/to/command arg1 arg2

This will run the /path/to/command command with the root directory set to /new/root/dir and the arguments arg1 and arg2.

4. To change the root directory of a process and set the current working directory to a specific directory within the new root directory, you can use the following command:

chroot /new/root/dir /bin/bash -c "cd /path/to/dir; command"

This will run the command with the root directory set to /new/root/dir and the current working directory set to /path/to/dir within the new root directory.

5. To change the root directory of a process and set the environment variables for the process, you can use the following command:

chroot /new/root/dir /bin/bash -c "export VAR1=value1; export VAR2=value2; command"