How to: Create an LMDE Container Image

Distrobuilder
1

Is it possible to create a container image of Linux Mint Debian Edition? That is, LMDE w/ the full desktop already installed?

At the moment, I’m working on
a) re-creating the lxd.tar.xz file from the example tutorial using a yaml file that is appropriate (I hope) for debian and the templates object from that *.xz file;
b) squashing the root file system I extracted (unsquashed) from the LMDE ISO; and,
c) then importing that into lxd incus.

Any help would be appreciated (of course).

2

That didn’t work. It resulted in “E: Architecture isn’t supported”. sigh

3

I usually use these steps to create custom images:

  • Find a base image for your usecase (in your case probably one of the mint images from images.linuxcontainers.org) and create a container from that
  • Configure that container to your liking
  • Publish that container as an image with incus publish
4

Right. I typically use a base image for a container and then install a desktop package on it. Unfortunately, as far as I know, the mint images in the container repo are the ubuntu-based images, not the debian-based one.

I’d mint-ify a debian container, but LMDE is more than just installing a desktop (I’m already looking into how much more).

5

I couldn’t find a way to create a container image w/ LMDE.

6

Brave AI says:

Creating a Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) container inside Incus is technically possible but not straightforward due to the lack of pre-built container images for the Debian-based Mint flavor.

Key Challenges and Methods:

  • No Native Images: Unlike Ubuntu-based Linux Mint, LMDE does not have official container images available in the standard Incus image repository (images.linuxcontainers.org).

  • Custom Image Creation: You must create a custom image using Distrobuilder. This involves:

    1. Downloading the LMDE ISO.

    2. Unsquashing the root filesystem from the ISO.

    3. Using a YAML configuration file (based on Debian templates) to define the container structure.

    4. Building the image with Distrobuilder.

    5. Importing the resulting image into Incus using incus import.

  • Desktop Environments: If you intend to run a GUI desktop inside the container, you will need to install desktop packages (like XFCE or MATE) on a base container and then publish it as a custom image, as full desktop installations are not supported in standard system containers without significant configuration.

Conclusion: While Ubuntu-based Linux Mint has easy-to-use container support, LMDE requires manual image building via Distrobuilder or using a base Debian image and manually installing Mint components, which is complex and prone to compatibility issues.