User-defined Playground

containerd Playground

An industry-standard container runtime with an emphasis on simplicity, robustness and portability.

Startup configuration
containerd
containerd playground: An industry-standard container runtime with an emphasis on simplicity, robustness and portability.

🔧 System Components

  • containerd: The core container runtime daemon.
  • runc/crun/runsc: Low-level OCI runtime implementations.

🛠️ Tools

  • ctr: A low-level CLI for interacting with containerd directly.
  • nerdctl: A Docker-compatible CLI for containerd, easier for day-to-day use.

🎯 Getting Started

Pull and list images

nerdctl
ctr
nerdctl pull hello-world:latest

nerdctl images
ctr images pull docker.io/library/hello-world:latest

ctr images ls

Run containers

nerdctl
ctr
nerdctl run --rm hello-world:latest
ctr run --rm docker.io/library/hello-world:latest hello

Running a container with a selected OCI runtime

nerdctl
ctr
nerdctl run -t --runtime runc docker.io/library/hello-world:latest
nerdctl run -t --runtime crun docker.io/library/hello-world:latest

nerdctl run -t --runtime runsc ghcr.io/containerd/busybox:latest dmesg
ctr image pull docker.io/library/hello-world:latest
ctr image pull ghcr.io/containerd/busybox:latest

ctr run --rm -t --runtime io.containerd.runc.v2 --runc-binary /usr/local/sbin/runc docker.io/library/hello-world:latest runc
ctr run --rm -t --runtime io.containerd.runc.v2 --runc-binary /usr/local/sbin/crun docker.io/library/hello-world:latest crun

ctr run --rm -t --runtime io.containerd.runsc.v1 ghcr.io/containerd/busybox:latest runsc dmesg

🤔 Choosing the Right Tool

Use CaseRecommended ToolWhy
Learning the basicsnerdctlFamiliar commands, less complexity
Understanding containerd internalsctrDirect API access, explicit control
Production automationctrMinimal overhead, precise control
Development workflowsnerdctlBuild, compose, volume support

🏷️ Versions

  • OCI runtime
    • runc: v1.3.0
    • crun: 1.23.1
    • runsc: latest as of 2025-08-20
  • containerd: 2.1.4
  • CNI plugins: v1.7.1
  • nerdctl: 2.1.3

📚 Learn More

🧪 Playgrounds

📚 Courses

🏆 Challenges

Happy learning! 🚀

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