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Concept
Linux namespaces
Summary
Namespaces are a feature of the Linux kernel that partitions kernel resources such that one set of processes sees one set of resources while another set of processes sees a different set of resources. The feature works by having the same namespace for a set of resources and processes, but those namespaces refer to distinct resources. Resources may exist in multiple spaces. Examples of such resources are process IDs, host-names, user IDs, file names, some names associated with network access, and Inter-process communication.
Namespaces are a fundamental aspect of containers in Linux.
The term "namespace" is often used for a type of namespace (e.g. process ID) as well as for a particular space of names.
A Linux system starts out with a single namespace of each type, used by all processes. Processes can create additional namespaces and also join different namespaces.
Linux namespaces were inspired by the wider namespace functionality used heavily throughout Plan 9 from Bell Labs.
The Linux Namespaces originated in 2002 in the 2.4.19 kernel with work on the mount namespace kind. Additional namespaces were added beginning in 2006 and continuing into the future.
Adequate containers support functionality was finished in kernel version 3.8 with the introduction of User namespaces.
Since kernel version 5.6, there are 8 kinds of namespaces. Namespace functionality is the same across all kinds: each process is associated with a namespace and can only see or use the resources associated with that namespace, and descendant namespaces where applicable. This way each process (or process group thereof) can have a unique view on the resources. Which resource is isolated depends on the kind of namespace that has been created for a given process group.
Mount namespaces control mount points. Upon creation the mounts from the current mount namespace are copied to the new namespace, but mount points created afterwards do not propagate between namespaces (using shared subtrees, it is possible to propagate mount points between namespaces).
Official source
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