DISTROBOX-EXPORT(1)

🦋 NAME 🦋

distrobox-export — the bestie that yeets your apps and binaries out of the container and onto your actual host, no cap ✨

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💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

Application and binary exporting — that's the whole job, and she does it gorgeously.

okay so distrobox-export takes care of exporting an app or a binary from the container to the host. that's it. that's the gig. 🫶

and like, the exported app? it will be easily available in your normal launcher, and it will automatically be launched from the container it is exported from. so it looks like a host app but it's lowkey living in the container the whole time. main character behaviour honestly. 👑

You may want to install graphical applications or CLI tools in your distrobox. Using distrobox-export from inside the container will let you use them from the host itself. yes bestie, that's the entire point and it's giving convenience 💅

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

distrobox-export

       --app/-a:       name of the application to export or absolute path to desktopfile to export
       --bin/-b:       absolute path of the binary to export
       --list-apps:        list applications exported from this container
       --list-binaries     list binaries exported from this container, use -ep to specify custom paths to search
       --delete/-d:        delete exported application or binary
       --export-label/-el: label to add to exported application name.
                   Use "none" to disable.
                   Defaults to (on \$container_name)
       --export-path/-ep:  path where to export the binary
       --extra-flags/-ef:  extra flags to add to the command
       --enter-flags/-nf:  flags to add to distrobox-enter
       --sudo/-S:      specify if the exported item should be run as sudo
       --help/-h:      show this message
       --verbose/-v:       show more verbosity
       --version/-V:       show version

and now the translation, one flag at a time, because you deserve clarity 💖

• --app, -a — name of the application to export, or an absolute path to a desktopfile to export
• --bin, -b — absolute path of the binary to export
• --list-apps — list applications exported from this container
• --list-binaries — list binaries exported from this container, use -ep to specify custom paths to search
• --delete, -d — delete exported application or binary
• --export-label, -el — label to add to the exported application name. Use "none" to disable. Defaults to (on \$container_name)
• --export-path, -ep — path where to export the binary
• --extra-flags, -ef — extra flags to add to the command
• --enter-flags, -nf — flags to add to distrobox-enter
• --sudo, -S — specify if the exported item should be run as sudo
• --help, -h — show this message
• --verbose, -v — show more verbosity
• --version, -V — show version

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🌸 EXAMPLES 🌸

the classic combo moves, memorise them iykyk:

distrobox-export --app mpv [--extra-flags "flags"] [--delete] [--sudo]
distrobox-export --bin /path/to/bin [--export-path ~/.local/bin] [--extra-flags "flags"] [--delete] [--sudo]

🎀 App export example 🎀

distrobox-export --app abiword

This tool will simply copy the original .desktop files along with needed icons, add the prefix /usr/local/bin/distrobox-enter -n distrobox_name -e ... to the commands to run, and save them in your home to be used directly from the host as a normal app. like she literally does the paperwork for you. obsessed. 💅

distrobox-export --app /opt/application/my-app.desktop

This will skip searching for the desktopfile in canonical paths, and just use the provided file path. no searching, no scavenger hunt, just the file you handed her. slay. ✨

🧚 Binary export example 🧚

distrobox-export --bin /usr/bin/code --extra-flags "--foreground" --export-path $HOME/.local/bin

In the case of exporting binaries, you will have to specify where to export it (--export-path) and the tool will create a little wrapper script that will distrobox-enter -e from the host, the desired binary. This can be handy with the use of direnv to have different versions of the same binary based on your env or project. different vibes for different projects, we love a flexible queen 🌈

The exported binaries will be exported in the --export-path of choice as a wrapper script that acts naturally both on the host and in the container. it just works both places. iconic.

🌟 Additional flags 🌟

You can specify additional flags to add to the command, for example if you want to export an electron app, you could add the --foreground flag to the command:

distrobox-export --app atom --extra-flags "--foreground"
distrobox-export --bin /usr/bin/vim --export-path ~/.local/bin --extra-flags "-p"

This works for binaries and apps. Extra flags are only used then the exported app or binary is used from the host, using them inside the container will not include them. so like, host-only behaviour, don't come for her if the container version is plain 🙈

💀 Unexport 💀

The option --delete will un-export an app or binary. breaking up is easy actually.

distrobox-export --app atom --delete
distrobox-export --bin /usr/bin/vim --export-path ~/.local/bin --delete

👑 Run as root in the container 👑

The option --sudo will launch the exported item as root inside the distrobox. big power energy, use responsibly bestie 🔥

📝 Notes 📝

Note you can use --app OR --bin but not together. pick a lane, she's not doing both. 💅

📸 [IMAGE: app-export] — app-export

NOTE: some electron apps such as vscode and atom need additional flags to work from inside the container, use the --extra-flags option to provide a series of flags, for example:

distrobox-export --app atom --extra-flags "--foreground"

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and that's the whole page, you're welcome 💜

this masterpiece of a manual is brought to you by Distrobox, dated Mar 2026 — DISTROBOX-EXPORT(1) forever and always, go export something cute 🎀✨🦋