A standalone, daemon-less, unprivileged container image builder compatible with Dockerfile and OCI.
img is a standalone, daemon-less container image builder that allows users to build Dockerfile and OCI-compatible images without requiring root privileges. It solves the problem of secure image building in environments where users lack administrative access, such as HPC clusters or academic institutions, by operating entirely as an unprivileged process.
Developers, system administrators, and researchers in environments like HPC, academia, or enterprises with strict security policies who need to build container images without root access or a Docker daemon.
Developers choose img for its security-first approach, allowing unprivileged image building while maintaining full Docker CLI compatibility. Its use of BuildKit enables superior cache efficiency and concurrent builds, offering performance benefits over traditional Docker builds.
Standalone, daemon-less, unprivileged Dockerfile and OCI compatible container image builder.
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Runs as a standalone binary without a background service, reducing resource overhead and simplifying deployment in restricted environments.
Builds images as a non-root user by leveraging user namespaces and SUID binaries, making it ideal for multi-user setups like HPC and academia.
Commands mirror Docker's CLI for build, tag, push, and more, allowing seamless adoption by swapping 'docker' with 'img' in existing scripts.
Uses BuildKit's DAG solver internally to execute multiple build stages in parallel, improving cache usage and potentially speeding up builds.
Requires enabling user namespace support, installing packages like uidmap and libseccomp-dev, and ensuring sufficient /etc/subuid entries, which adds setup friction.
Focuses only on core image operations and lacks Docker's broader tooling such as Compose or Swarm, limiting its use in full-container workflows.
Native support is Linux-only; macOS and Windows users must run img inside a container, and cross-platform builds require QEMU setup for RUN commands.