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Running and Building ARM Docker Containers on x86

Install

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sudo apt-get install qemu binfmt-support qemu-user-static

binfmt

binfmt (Binary Format) is a Linux kernel feature that allows execution of non-native binary formats (executables compiled for different architectures). This enables cross-architecture execution, such as running ARM64 binaries on an x86_64 machine.

binfmt works with interpreters like QEMU to translate and execute foreign binaries transparently.

Registration With docker

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docker run --rm --privileged multiarch/qemu-user-static --reset -p yes

-p yes

This register qemu persistent and available for future docker to run

multiarch/qemu-user-static

  • The multiarch/qemu-user-static image is pulled and run temporarily to register QEMU with your system.
  • It doesn't leave behind an actual image that appears in docker images.

The purpose of this command is to enable the host system to run binaries compiled for different architectures (such as ARM) using QEMU. This is particularly useful for building and running ARM Docker containers on an x86 host.

Usage

test
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docker run --platform=linux/arm64/v8 --rm ubuntu:22.04 uname -m

References