tldr-pages/tldr

Let's document: Apptainer

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#20438 opened on Dec 30, 2025

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help wantedlet's documentnew command

Description

Command description

Linux container platform optimized for High Performance Computing (HPC) and Enterprise Performance Computing (EPC).

Documentation

https://apptainer.org/docs/user/latest/quick_start.html

Platform

Linux

VCS repository link (e.g. GitHub, GitLab)

https://github.com/apptainer/apptainer

Additional information

No response

Commands

Main

  • apptainer - #20443

Image Lifecycle Commands

  • apptainer build - #20443
  • apptainer pull - #20443
  • apptainer push - #20443
  • apptainer delete - #20522
  • apptainer inspect - #20559
  • apptainer search - #20624
  • apptainer sign - #20624
  • apptainer verify - #20673

SIF (Singularity Image Format) Commands

  • apptainer sif
  • apptainer sif add
  • apptainer sif del
  • apptainer sif dump
  • apptainer sif header
  • apptainer sif info
  • apptainer sif list
  • apptainer sif new
  • apptainer sif setprim

Overlay Commands

  • apptainer overlay - #20706

Runtime Commands

  • apptainer run - #20842
  • apptainer run-help - #20842
  • apptainer exec - #20842
  • apptainer shell - #20842
  • apptainer test - #20842

Instance Commands

  • apptainer instance
  • apptainer instance list
  • apptainer instance run
  • apptainer instance start
  • apptainer instance stats
  • apptainer instance stop

OCI Commands

  • apptainer oci
  • apptainer oci attach
  • apptainer oci create
  • apptainer oci delete
  • apptainer oci exec
  • apptainer oci kill
  • apptainer oci mount
  • apptainer oci pause
  • apptainer oci resume
  • apptainer oci run
  • apptainer oci start
  • apptainer oci state
  • apptainer oci umount
  • apptainer oci update

Cache Commands

  • apptainer cache - #21042
  • apptainer cache clean - #21042
  • apptainer cache list - #21042

Config Commands

  • apptainer config - #21301
  • apptainer config fakeroot - #21301
  • apptainer config global - #21301

Remote Commands

  • apptainer remote
  • apptainer remote add
  • apptainer remote get-login-password
  • apptainer remote list
  • apptainer remote login
  • apptainer remote logout
  • apptainer remote remove
  • apptainer remote status
  • apptainer remote use

Registry Commands

  • apptainer registry - #21423
  • apptainer registry list - #21423
  • apptainer registry login - #21423
  • apptainer registry logout - #21423

Plugin Commands

  • apptainer plugin
  • apptainer plugin compile
  • apptainer plugin create
  • apptainer plugin disable
  • apptainer plugin enable
  • apptainer plugin inspect
  • apptainer plugin install
  • apptainer plugin list
  • apptainer plugin uninstall

Key Commands

  • apptainer key
  • apptainer key export
  • apptainer key import
  • apptainer key list
  • apptainer key newpair
  • apptainer key pull
  • apptainer key push
  • apptainer key remove
  • apptainer key search

Keyserver Commands

  • apptainer keyserver
  • apptainer keyserver add
  • apptainer keyserver list
  • apptainer keyserver login
  • apptainer keyserver logout
  • apptainer keyserver remove

Capability Commands

  • apptainer capability - #21485
  • apptainer capability add - #21485
  • apptainer capability avail - #21485
  • apptainer capability drop - #21485
  • apptainer capability list - #21485

Checkpoint Commands (Experimental)

  • apptainer checkpoint
  • apptainer checkpoint create
  • apptainer checkpoint delete
  • apptainer checkpoint instance
  • apptainer checkpoint list

Contributor guide

Tech stack
shell
Domain
documentation
Issue type
documentation
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
2
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
fresh
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
mostly clear
Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of command line toolsFamiliarity with tldr page formatAbility to read Apptainer documentation
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
80
Research direction
This issue tracks documenting Apptainer commands for tldr pages. Many commands are already documented (checked), but several groups remain (SIF, Instance, OCI, Remote, Plugin, Key, Keyserver, Checkpoint). Each unchecked command needs a concise cheatsheet following the tldr format. Reference the Apptainer documentation at https://apptainer.org/docs/user/latest/quick start.html and existing documented commands for patterns. Contributors can pick a single command or a group. No linked PRs or maintainer comments yet.