Termux + QEMU + Alpine Linux = Docker on Stock ChromeOS

No Developer Mode Needed.

Tutorial for running Docker with an Alpine Linux Host inside of QEMU VM on a ChromeOS/Termux host.

Why would you choose this method over crouton? Crouton requires enabling developer mode on your ChromeOS device which breaks the security model of ChromeOS. This is fine for most developers but you trade security for performance. My goal was instead to trade performance for security.

Warning: Tested on Samsung Chromebook Pro (Intel m3 x86_64 w/ ChromeOS 63, 64) other hardware results may vary. I would be interested to know about other ChromeOS devices, so please let me know your results via PR or email

ARM Processor based ChromeOS Devices will have to use the qemu-system-x86_64 command which requires modifiying the two scripts in the script directory of this repo.

• What you will need:
  • An hour of time.
  • A ChromeOS Device with Android Apps support. (Again, Developer Mode is NOT needed)
  • The Termux App Play Store Link
  • The Termux X/GUI Repos
  • The latest Alpine Virutal ISO (x86_64) (NOTE: I could not get the standard Alpine ISO to work, so far I've only managed to get the Virtual version to work)

Installation Steps

1. Install Termux.
2. Setup Termux packages:

   pkg update
   pkg upgrade
   pkg install coreutils
   pkg install termux-tools proot util-linux net-tools openssh git
   pkg install wget
   

   NOTE: It is important to install wget or https will fail due to an older verison that comes with Termux.
3. Setup storage:

   termux-setup-storage
   

   For more information about directories in Termux see this stack overflow post.
4. Add the X/GUI Repos:

   wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/xeffyr/termux-x-repository/master/enablerepo.sh
   bash enablerepo.sh
   

5. Install QEMU

   pkg install qemu-system
   

6. Clone this repo:

   git clone https://github.com/pwdonald/chromeos-qemu-docker.git
   

7. Create Virtual Storage Device: (NOTE: make sure you're aware of what directory you're in i.e. /storage/emulated/0/Download can be wiped by ChromeOS periodically as space is needed so backup often!)
   • This command will create a 4GB dynamically allocated (qcow2) virtual drive.

   qemu-img create -f qcow2 virtual_drive 4G
   

8. Download the latest version of the virtual ISO from the Alpine Linux website.
   1. Rename the iso to alpine_x86_64.iso
   2. Run the command

      bash ./chromeos-qemu-docker/scripts/setup_alpine.sh
      

      • This script should be run in whichever directory your virtual drive exists to start the VM.
      • This may take a few minutes to start, resulting in a black screen with a cursor.
      • If you've been using the Termux session for a while you may see some of your history creep into view instead of a black screen.
9. Once inside the VM:
   1. Login with username root.
   2. Run the following command:

      setup-alpine
      

      Answer the questions as you see fit. You may encounter errors when trying to setup the alpine package repos. If this happens you will need to exit the script (Ctrl + C) and run the following:

      echo "nameserver 8.8.8.8" > /etc/resolv.conf
      

      Then attempt to run the alpine-setup command again.
10. Once the alpine-setup script is complete--it will instruct you to restart the machine.
    • To exit the VM Press Ctrl + A, X.
    • Congrats! You've installed Alpine Linux!
11. Run the command:

    bash ./chromeos-qemu-docker/scripts/start_persist.sh
    

    1. Login with root & the password you setup in step 8.
       • You may have to add your nameservers again.
    2. Run:

       apk --no-cache update
       apk --no-cache install vim
       

       Or install your favorite editor of choice
    3. Use vim (or whiehver editor) to modify /etc/apk/repositories by uncommenting the line ending with community. To uncomment simply delete the leading # symbol on the line.
    4. Run

       apk --no-cache add docker
       

       Docker is now installed!
12. Start the docker service with

    service docker start
    

    • You can now use docker as you would in a traditional environment.
    • The start_persist.sh script maps ports 22 and 80 from the virtual environment to 10020 and 10080 respectively on the Termux environment. You can utilize these ports from your ChromeOS env by finding the IP address of your Termux session.

Supported Devices

This is a list of devices with report(s) of successful installation.

• Samsung Chromebook Pro
• Asus C302