apptainer(1)

apptainer(1) 💖 — apptainer-overlay-create edition ✨

okay bestie, welcome to the apptainer(1) manual page. today's main character is apptainer-overlay-create, and it's giving "we're making writable overlay images" energy. no cap. 💅

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🌸 NAME 🌸

apptainer-overlay-create — Create EXT3 writable overlay image. periodt 💖

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

literally this:

apptainer overlay create  image

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

the overlay create command allows creating an EXT3 writable overlay image, either as a single EXT3 image or by adding it automatically to an existing SIF image. both routes are valid, bestie — pick your vibe ✨ fr fr

💅 OPTIONS 💅

• --create-dir=[] — directory to create as part of the overlay layout 🎀
• -f, --fakeroot[=false] — make the overlay layout usable by actions run with --fakeroot; the flag spelling has [=false] right there 💅
• -h, --help[=false] — help for create (yes, the [=false] is part of it) 🫶
• -s, --size=64 — size of the EXT3 writable overlay in MiB, with 64 right in the flag spelling 🍓
• -S, --sparse[=false] — create a sparse overlay, with [=false] and everything 🌈

🎀 EXAMPLE 🎀

to create and add a writable overlay to an existing SIF image:

$ apptainer overlay create --size 1024 /tmp/image.sif

to create a single EXT3 writable overlay image:

$ apptainer overlay create --size 1024 /tmp/my_overlay.img

to create a sparse overlay when creating a new ext3 file system image:

$ apptainer overlay create --size 1024 --sparse /tmp/ext3_overlay.img

to create an EXT3 writable overlay image for use with --fakeroot actions:

$ apptainer overlay create --fakeroot --size 1024 /tmp/my_overlay.img

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

apptainer-overlay(1) — go give it a read too, bestie 🫶

👑 HISTORY 👑

22-Oct-2026 — Auto generated by spf13/cobra. iconic. 💀

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💖 Auto generated by spf13/cobra · Oct 2026 · apptainer(1) — mwah, bestie, you ate this page 💖