Inject universal /slim/init instead of requiring container-specific setup

slim now works with any Containerfile by injecting distro-agnostic scripts
at build time:

- /slim/init: mounts special filesystems, configures networking (static
  QEMU slirp), sets up cgroup2, timezone, and rootless container prereqs.
  Parses slim.cmd=<base64> from the kernel cmdline for runtime overrides,
  otherwise execs /slim/exec.

- /slim/exec: generated from the image's CMD/ENTRYPOINT (via podman image
  inspect), overridable via --cmd at build and run time.

Changes:
- New src/inject.rs: inspect image config, infer command, generate
  /slim/exec script, inject /slim/ into mounted rootfs
- New src/scripts/slim-init.sh: the universal init script (include_str!)
- build.rs: rename --init to --cmd, inject scripts before packing,
  drop Meta::save, restructure to ensure unmount always runs
- qemu.rs: hardcode init=/slim/init, add --cmd (base64 on cmdline),
  drop Meta::load, add -no-reboot
- Remove src/meta.rs and meta.toml (no longer needed)
- Cargo.toml: add serde_json + base64, remove unused walkdir + cpio + toml
- Example Containerfiles simplified to plain FROM + CMD
- New example/test.sh for manual verification
- README updated for new workflow

Cargo.lock

@@ -64,6 +64,12 @@ version = "1.0.104"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "330a5ed07fa54e4702c9d6c4174f74427fc0ef6e214bbd677ae50a5099946470"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "base64"
+version = "0.22.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "72b3254f16251a8381aa12e40e3c4d2f0199f8c6508fbecb9d91f575e0fbb8c6"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "bitflags"
 version = "2.13.1"
@@ -122,12 +128,6 @@ version = "1.0.5"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "1d07550c9036bf2ae0c684c4297d503f838287c83c53686d05370d0e139ae570"
 
-[[package]]
-name = "cpio"
-version = "0.4.1"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "938e716cb1ade5d6c8f959c13a7248b889c07491fc7e41167c3afe20f8f0de1e"
-
 [[package]]
 name = "crc32fast"
 version = "1.5.1"
@@ -137,12 +137,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "cfg-if",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "equivalent"
-version = "1.0.2"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "877a4ace8713b0bcf2a4e7eec82529c029f1d0619886d18145fea96c3ffe5c0f"
-
 [[package]]
 name = "errno"
 version = "0.3.14"
@@ -180,34 +174,24 @@ dependencies = [
  "r-efi",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "hashbrown"
-version = "0.17.1"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "ed5909b6e89a2db4456e54cd5f673791d7eca6732202bbf2a9cc504fe2f9b84a"
-
 [[package]]
 name = "heck"
 version = "0.5.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "2304e00983f87ffb38b55b444b5e3b60a884b5d30c0fca7d82fe33449bbe55ea"
 
-[[package]]
-name = "indexmap"
-version = "2.14.1"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "07aa2048142242915a31d35844fb311e0e53fcca590c3a0a40dcf1b841fa09eb"
-dependencies = [
- "equivalent",
- "hashbrown",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "is_terminal_polyfill"
 version = "1.70.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "a6cb138bb79a146c1bd460005623e142ef0181e3d0219cb493e02f7d08a35695"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "itoa"
+version = "1.0.18"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "8f42a60cbdf9a97f5d2305f08a87dc4e09308d1276d28c869c684d7777685682"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "libc"
 version = "0.2.189"
@@ -220,6 +204,12 @@ version = "0.12.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "32a66949e030da00e8c7d4434b251670a91556f4144941d37452769c25d58a53"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "memchr"
+version = "2.8.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "cf8baf1c55e62ffcace7a9f06f4bd9cd3f0c4beb022d3b367256b91b87513d98"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "miniz_oxide"
 version = "0.8.9"
@@ -279,15 +269,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "windows-sys",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "same-file"
-version = "1.0.6"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "93fc1dc3aaa9bfed95e02e6eadabb4baf7e3078b0bd1b4d7b6b0b68378900502"
-dependencies = [
- "winapi-util",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "serde"
 version = "1.0.229"
@@ -319,12 +300,16 @@ dependencies = [
 ]
 
 [[package]]
-name = "serde_spanned"
+name = "serde_json"
-version = "1.1.1"
+version = "1.0.151"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "6662b5879511e06e8999a8a235d848113e942c9124f211511b16466ee2995f26"
+checksum = "c841b55ecdae098c80dcae9cf767f6f8a0c2cdb3416bbef72181df4d0fe73f14"
 dependencies = [
+ "itoa",
+ "memchr",
+ "serde",
  "serde_core",
+ "zmij",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -338,13 +323,12 @@ name = "slim"
 version = "0.1.0"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
+ "base64",
  "clap",
- "cpio",
  "flate2",
  "serde",
+ "serde_json",
  "tempfile",
- "toml",
- "walkdir",
  "xdg",
 ]
 
@@ -378,45 +362,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "windows-sys",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "toml"
-version = "1.1.4+spec-1.1.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "3aace63f4bbcdfc2c965b059de67119c89c4017a70d633be6c104910f67056f5"
-dependencies = [
- "indexmap",
- "serde_core",
- "serde_spanned",
- "toml_datetime",
- "toml_parser",
- "toml_writer",
- "winnow",
-]
-
-[[package]]
-name = "toml_datetime"
-version = "1.1.1+spec-1.1.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "3165f65f62e28e0115a00b2ebdd37eb6f3b641855f9d636d3cd4103767159ad7"
-dependencies = [
- "serde_core",
-]
-
-[[package]]
-name = "toml_parser"
-version = "1.1.3+spec-1.1.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "1d38ac1cf9b95face32296c0a3ede1fdc270627c9d9c02a7274dd6d960dc4d56"
-dependencies = [
- "winnow",
-]
-
-[[package]]
-name = "toml_writer"
-version = "1.1.2+spec-1.1.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "7d56353a2a665ad0f41a421187180aab746c8c325620617ad883a99a1cbe66d2"
-
 [[package]]
 name = "unicode-ident"
 version = "1.0.24"
@@ -429,25 +374,6 @@ version = "0.2.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "06abde3611657adf66d383f00b093d7faecc7fa57071cce2578660c9f1010821"
 
-[[package]]
-name = "walkdir"
-version = "2.5.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "29790946404f91d9c5d06f9874efddea1dc06c5efe94541a7d6863108e3a5e4b"
-dependencies = [
- "same-file",
- "winapi-util",
-]
-
-[[package]]
-name = "winapi-util"
-version = "0.1.11"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "c2a7b1c03c876122aa43f3020e6c3c3ee5c05081c9a00739faf7503aeba10d22"
-dependencies = [
- "windows-sys",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "windows-link"
 version = "0.2.1"
@@ -463,14 +389,14 @@ dependencies = [
  "windows-link",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "winnow"
-version = "1.0.4"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "23b97319f7b8343df12cc98938e5c3eb436064524c8d2b4e30a1d3a36eecdf81"
-
 [[package]]
 name = "xdg"
 version = "3.0.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "2fb433233f2df9344722454bc7e96465c9d03bff9d77c248f9e7523fe79585b5"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "zmij"
+version = "1.0.23"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "29666d0abbfad1e3dc4dcf6144730dd3a3ab225bbbdac83319345b1b44ccfc1b"

Cargo.toml

@@ -5,14 +5,13 @@ edition = "2024"
 
 [dependencies]
 anyhow = "1.0.104"
+base64 = "0.22"
 clap = { version = "4.6.6", features = ["derive"] }
 flate2 = "1.1.9"
-walkdir = "2.5.0"
+serde = { version = "1.0.229", features = ["derive"] }
-cpio = "0.4.1"
+serde_json = "1.0"
 xdg = "3.0.0"
 tempfile = "3.27.0"
-toml = "1.1.4"
-serde = { version = "1.0.229", features = ["derive"] }
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 tempfile = "3.27.0"

README.md

@@ -2,19 +2,31 @@
 
 Turning containers into bootable VMs
 
-## Example - Minimal Alpine Busybox
+## Example
 
 ```sh
 # Build the container
 podman build ./example/alpine -t slim-alpine
 
-# Make the container bootable by extracing initrd (initial ramdisk)
+# Make the container bootable. slim injects /slim/init and /slim/exec,
-slim build qcow2 slim-alpine --init=/init
+# then packs the rootfs as a qcow2 disk.
+slim build qcow2 slim-alpine
 
-# Boot the image using QEMU, `./example/alpine/init` will drop you into an interactive shell.
+# Boot the image using QEMU. The container's CMD runs automatically.
 slim run slim-alpine
 
+# Override the command at runtime (base64-encoded on the kernel cmdline):
+slim run slim-alpine --cmd '/bin/sh'
+
+# Override the command at build time (baked into /slim/exec):
+slim build qcow2 slim-alpine --cmd '/bin/sh'
+
 # Cleanup
 slim image rm slim-alpine
 podman image rm slim-alpine
 ```
+
+## Kernel
+
+slim boots VMs using a shared kernel at `$XDG_DATA_HOME/slim-rs/registry/vmlinuz`.
+Place a suitable x86 bzImage there before running `slim run`.

example/alpine/Containerfile

@@ -1,9 +1,2 @@
 FROM alpine:latest
-RUN mkdir -p /lib/apk/db /run
+CMD ["/bin/sh"]
-RUN apk add --no-cache --initdb linux-virt busybox util-linux
-RUN cp /boot/vmlinuz-virt /vmlinuz && echo "Welcome to slim!" > /etc/motd
-
-# Use custom init script
-COPY init /init
-RUN chmod +x /init
-

example/alpine/init

@@ -1,29 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/sh
-
-# Create console device
-# TODO: is this necessary?
-[ -c /dev/console ] || mknod -m 600 /dev/console c 5 1
-
-# Mount special filesystems
-mkdir -p /proc /sys
-mount -t proc proc /proc
-mount -t sysfs sysfs /sys
-
-# Networking
-echo slim > /proc/sys/kernel/hostname
-ip link set lo up 2>/dev/null
-ip link set eth0 up 2>/dev/null
-udhcpc -i eth0 -f -q # Get DHCP lease
-
-echo
-echo 'Welcome to slim!'
-echo
-
-# Run interactive shell
-/bin/sh </dev/console >/dev/console 2>&1
-
-poweroff -f
-while true; do
-    sleep 1
-    poweroff -f
-done

example/archlinux/Containerfile

@@ -1,23 +1,2 @@
-# FROM archlinux:latest
+FROM archlinux:latest
-FROM marvin
+CMD ["/bin/sh"]
-
-
-USER root
-
-# Update, install kernel, initramfs tools, and utilities
-# 'linux' includes mkinitcpio hooks that auto-generate the initramfs
-RUN pacman -Syu --noconfirm linux busybox util-linux dhcpcd; \
-    pacman -Sc --noconfirm
-
-# Copy kernel and initramfs to root for VM extraction
-RUN cp /boot/vmlinuz-linux /vmlinuz && \
-    cp /boot/initramfs-linux.img /initrd.img
-
-# Allow root login without password
-RUN passwd -d root
-
-# Set up timezone. Required to bypass archlinux's first-install setup.
-RUN ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe/Stockholm /etc/localtime
-
-COPY init /init
-RUN chmod +x /init

example/archlinux/init

@@ -1,28 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/sh
-
-# Mount special filesystems
-mkdir -p /dev /proc /sys
-[ -c /dev/console ] || mknod -m 600 /dev/console c 5 1
-mount -t proc proc /proc
-mount -t sysfs sysfs /sys
-
-# Networking
-echo slim > /proc/sys/kernel/hostname
-ip link set lo up 2>/dev/null
-ip link set eth0 up 2>/dev/null
-# udhcpc -i eth0 -f -q # Get DHCP lease
-
-echo
-echo 'Welcome to slim!'
-echo
-
-# Start systemd
-exec /sbin/init
-
-# Or, just run a shell
-# /bin/sh </dev/console >/dev/console 2>&1
-# poweroff -f
-# while true; do
-#     sleep 1
-#     poweroff -f
-# done

example/test.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,177 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Test script for slim - boots containers and verifies CMD inference/override.
+# Requires: podman, qemu-system-x86_64, KVM, curl, and a kernel at
+# $XDG_DATA_HOME/slim-rs/registry/vmlinuz.
+set -u
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
+SLIM_BIN="$SCRIPT_DIR/../target/debug/slim"
+TIMEOUT=120
+
+pass=0
+fail=0
+
+report() {
+    if [ "$1" = "pass" ]; then
+        echo "  PASS: $2"
+        pass=$((pass + 1))
+    else
+        echo "  FAIL: $2"
+        fail=$((fail + 1))
+    fi
+}
+
+check_output() {
+    output="$1"
+    marker="$2"
+    label="$3"
+    if echo "$output" | grep -q "$marker"; then
+        report pass "$label"
+    else
+        report fail "$label (expected marker: $marker)"
+    fi
+}
+
+cleanup() {
+    "$SLIM_BIN" image rm "$1" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+    podman image rm "$2" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+}
+
+test_distro() {
+    distro="$1"
+    from="$2"
+    extra_setup="$3"
+
+    echo "=== Testing $distro ==="
+
+    work="$(mktemp -d)"
+
+    # === Test 1: CMD-inferred ===
+    echo "-- Test 1: CMD-inferred"
+    cat > "$work/Containerfile.infer" <<EOF
+FROM $from
+$extra_setup
+CMD ["/bin/sh", "-c", "echo CMD_INFERRED_OK; wget -q -O /dev/null http://1.1.1.1 2>/dev/null && echo CONN_OK; wget -q -O /dev/null http://example.org 2>/dev/null && echo DNS_OK; poweroff -f"]
+EOF
+    img="slim-test-$distro-infer"
+    if podman build -t "$img" -f "$work/Containerfile.infer" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        "$SLIM_BIN" build qcow2 "$img" >/dev/null 2>&1
+        output=$(timeout "$TIMEOUT" "$SLIM_BIN" run "$img" 2>&1 || true)
+        check_output "$output" "CMD_INFERRED_OK" "$distro CMD-inferred"
+        check_output "$output" "CONN_OK" "$distro connect to 1.1.1.1"
+        check_output "$output" "DNS_OK" "$distro DNS lookup"
+    else
+        report fail "$distro CMD-inferred (podman build failed)"
+    fi
+    cleanup "$img" "$img"
+
+    # === Test 2: slim run --cmd override ===
+    echo "-- Test 2: slim run --cmd override"
+    cat > "$work/Containerfile.run" <<EOF
+FROM $from
+$extra_setup
+CMD ["/bin/sh", "-c", "echo SHOULD_NOT_APPEAR; poweroff -f"]
+EOF
+    img="slim-test-$distro-run"
+    if podman build -t "$img" -f "$work/Containerfile.run" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        "$SLIM_BIN" build qcow2 "$img" >/dev/null 2>&1
+        output=$(timeout "$TIMEOUT" "$SLIM_BIN" run "$img" --cmd 'echo RUN_OVERRIDE_OK; poweroff -f' 2>&1 || true)
+        check_output "$output" "RUN_OVERRIDE_OK" "$distro run --cmd override"
+    else
+        report fail "$distro run --cmd override (podman build failed)"
+    fi
+    cleanup "$img" "$img"
+
+    # === Test 3: slim build --cmd override ===
+    echo "-- Test 3: slim build --cmd override"
+    cat > "$work/Containerfile.build" <<EOF
+FROM $from
+$extra_setup
+CMD ["/bin/sh", "-c", "echo SHOULD_NOT_APPEAR; poweroff -f"]
+EOF
+    img="slim-test-$distro-build"
+    if podman build -t "$img" -f "$work/Containerfile.build" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        "$SLIM_BIN" build qcow2 "$img" --cmd 'echo BUILD_OVERRIDE_OK; poweroff -f' >/dev/null 2>&1
+        output=$(timeout "$TIMEOUT" "$SLIM_BIN" run "$img" 2>&1 || true)
+        check_output "$output" "BUILD_OVERRIDE_OK" "$distro build --cmd override"
+    else
+        report fail "$distro build --cmd override (podman build failed)"
+    fi
+    cleanup "$img" "$img"
+
+    rm -rf "$work"
+}
+
+test_service() {
+    echo "=== Testing nextcloud service ==="
+
+    img="slim-test-nextcloud"
+    host_port=18080
+    work="$(mktemp -d)"
+
+    cat > "$work/Containerfile" <<'EOF'
+FROM docker.io/library/nextcloud:32-apache
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends iproute2 && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+EOF
+
+    echo "-- Building nextcloud container image..."
+    if ! podman build -t "$img" -f "$work/Containerfile" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        report fail "nextcloud service (podman build failed)"
+        rm -rf "$work"
+        return
+    fi
+
+    echo "-- Building slim VM..."
+    if ! "$SLIM_BIN" build qcow2 "$img" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        report fail "nextcloud service (slim build failed)"
+        cleanup "$img" "$img"
+        rm -rf "$work"
+        return
+    fi
+
+    echo "-- Booting VM with port forward (host :${host_port} -> guest :80)..."
+    setsid timeout 300 "$SLIM_BIN" run "$img" \
+        --forward "tcp:0.0.0.0:${host_port}-:80" \
+        --memory 2048M >/dev/null 2>&1 &
+    vm_pid=$!
+
+    echo "-- Waiting for Nextcloud to start..."
+    up=0
+    for _ in $(seq 1 60); do
+        if curl -s -o /dev/null -m 2 "http://localhost:${host_port}/" 2>/dev/null; then
+            up=1
+            break
+        fi
+        sleep 3
+    done
+
+    if [ "$up" = "1" ]; then
+        response=$(curl -s -L -m 10 "http://localhost:${host_port}/" 2>/dev/null || true)
+        if echo "$response" | grep -qi "nextcloud"; then
+            report pass "nextcloud service (port forward + content)"
+        else
+            report fail "nextcloud service (port reachable but no 'nextcloud' in response)"
+        fi
+    else
+        report fail "nextcloud service (port not reachable within timeout)"
+    fi
+
+    pkill -f "qemu-system-x86_64.*$img" 2>/dev/null || true
+    kill "$vm_pid" 2>/dev/null || true
+    wait "$vm_pid" 2>/dev/null || true
+
+    cleanup "$img" "$img"
+    rm -rf "$work"
+}
+
+echo "Building slim..."
+cargo build 2>&1
+
+test_distro "alpine" "alpine:latest" ""
+test_distro "archlinux" "archlinux:latest" "RUN pacman -Sy --noconfirm iproute2 wget; pacman -Sc --noconfirm"
+
+test_service
+
+echo ""
+echo "=== Results: $pass passed, $fail failed ==="
+[ "$fail" -eq 0 ]

src/build.rs

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-//! Build: mount a podman image, extract vmlinuz, and pack the rootfs as a
+//! Build: mount a podman image, inject /slim/ scripts, and pack the rootfs
-//! gzipped cpio initrd in the registry.
+//! as a gzipped cpio initrd or qcow2 disk in the registry.
 
 use anyhow::{Context, Result, bail};
 use clap::{Args, ValueEnum};
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ use std::process::{Command, Stdio};
 use tempfile::NamedTempFile;
 
 use crate::command::cmd;
-use crate::meta::Meta;
+use crate::inject;
 use crate::registry::registry_dir;
 
 #[derive(Args, Debug)]
@@ -21,10 +21,10 @@ pub struct BuildCmd {
     /// Image tag / registry subdir name
     name: String,
 
-    /// The path to the `init` program for the VM.
+    /// Override the command to exec in the VM. Inferred from the image's
-    // TODO: infer init based on `COMMAND`/`ENTRYPOINT`?
+    /// CMD/ENTRYPOINT if not provided.
-    #[clap(long, default_value = "/sbin/init")]
+    #[clap(long)]
-    init: String,
+    cmd: Option<String>,
 }
 
 #[derive(ValueEnum, Clone, Debug)]
@@ -33,39 +33,77 @@ enum ImageKind {
     Initrd,
 }
 
-pub(crate) fn build(BuildCmd { kind, name, init }: BuildCmd) -> Result<()> {
+pub(crate) fn build(
+    BuildCmd {
+        kind,
+        name,
+        cmd: cmd_override,
+    }: BuildCmd,
+) -> Result<()> {
     let image = &name;
-    let mount_path = mount_image(image)?;
+    let container = format!("slim-build-{}", image.replace(':', "-"));
+
+    let mount_path = mount_container(image, &container)?;
     println!("Mounted at: {}", mount_path.display());
 
-    // Keep the build result so the image is unmounted even when the build fails.
+    let result = build_inner(&kind, image, &mount_path, cmd_override);
-    let result = match kind {
-        ImageKind::Initrd => build_initrd(image, &mount_path),
-        ImageKind::Qcow2 => build_qcow2(image, &mount_path),
-    };
 
     let unmounted = cmd(&[
-        "podman", "unshare", "--", "podman", "image", "unmount", image,
+        "podman",
+        "unshare",
+        "--",
+        "podman",
+        "container",
+        "unmount",
+        &container,
     ])
     .is_ok();
-    if unmounted {
+    let removed = cmd(&["podman", "rm", &container]).is_ok();
-        println!("Unmounted image.");
+    if unmounted && removed {
+        println!("Unmounted and removed container.");
     } else {
-        eprintln!("warning: failed to unmount image '{}'", image);
+        eprintln!("warning: failed to clean up container '{container}'");
     }
 
-    Meta { init }.save(image)?;
-
     result
 }
 
-fn mount_image(image: &str) -> Result<PathBuf> {
+fn build_inner(
-    let mount_path = cmd(&["podman", "unshare", "--", "podman", "image", "mount", image])?;
+    kind: &ImageKind,
+    image: &str,
+    mount_path: &Path,
+    cmd: Option<String>,
+) -> Result<()> {
+    let config = inject::inspect_config(image)?;
+    let command = cmd.unwrap_or_else(|| inject::infer_command(&config));
+    let env = inject::env(&config);
+    let working_dir = inject::working_dir(&config);
+    let exec_script = inject::build_exec_script(&command, &env, working_dir);
+    inject::inject(mount_path, &exec_script)?;
+    println!("Injected /slim/ (init + exec)");
+
+    match kind {
+        ImageKind::Initrd => build_initrd(image, mount_path),
+        ImageKind::Qcow2 => build_qcow2(image, mount_path),
+    }
+}
+
+fn mount_container(image: &str, container: &str) -> Result<PathBuf> {
+    cmd(&["podman", "create", "--name", container, image, "/bin/true"])?;
+    let mount_path = cmd(&[
+        "podman",
+        "unshare",
+        "--",
+        "podman",
+        "container",
+        "mount",
+        container,
+    ])?;
     Ok(PathBuf::from(mount_path.trim()))
 }
 
 /// Copy a directory onto a new raw disk image with EXT4.
-fn to_raw_ext4(dir: &Path) -> Result<NamedTempFile> {
+fn to_raw_ext4(dir: &Path, tmp_dir: &Path) -> Result<NamedTempFile> {
     let dir = dir.to_str().context("Invalid UTF-8")?;
     let du_out = cmd(&["podman", "unshare", "--", "du", "-sk", dir])?;
 
@@ -83,7 +121,7 @@ fn to_raw_ext4(dir: &Path) -> Result<NamedTempFile> {
         + 64 * gb; // Add some spare capacity for activities
     let size = size.to_string();
 
-    let raw_file = NamedTempFile::new()?;
+    let raw_file = NamedTempFile::new_in(tmp_dir)?;
     let raw_path = raw_file.path().to_str().context("Invalid UTF-8")?;
     cmd(&["podman", "unshare", "--", "truncate", "-s", &size, raw_path])?;
     cmd(&[
@@ -100,9 +138,9 @@ fn to_raw_ext4(dir: &Path) -> Result<NamedTempFile> {
 }
 
 /// Copy a directory onto a new qcow2 disk image with EXT4.
-fn to_qcow2_ext4(mount_path: &Path) -> Result<NamedTempFile> {
+fn to_qcow2_ext4(mount_path: &Path, tmp_dir: &Path) -> Result<NamedTempFile> {
-    let raw = to_raw_ext4(mount_path)?;
+    let raw = to_raw_ext4(mount_path, tmp_dir)?;
-    let qcow2 = NamedTempFile::new()?;
+    let qcow2 = NamedTempFile::new_in(tmp_dir)?;
     let raw_path = raw.path().to_str().context("Invalid UTF-8")?;
     let qcow2_path = qcow2.path().to_str().context("Invalid UTF-8")?;
     cmd(&[
@@ -116,7 +154,7 @@ fn build_qcow2(image: &str, mount_path: &Path) -> Result<()> {
     fs::create_dir_all(&reg_dir)?;
     println!("Registry: {}", reg_dir.display());
 
-    let qcow2 = to_qcow2_ext4(mount_path)?;
+    let qcow2 = to_qcow2_ext4(mount_path, &reg_dir)?;
 
     fs::copy(qcow2.path(), reg_dir.join("image.qcow2"))
         .context("Failed to copy qcow2 image to registry")?;
@@ -134,7 +172,7 @@ fn build_initrd(image: &str, mount_path: &Path) -> Result<()> {
     // Pack the rootfs as a gzipped newc cpio archive. The cpio pipeline
     // runs inside the namespace, its stdout is compressed here.
     let initrd_path = reg_dir.join("initrd");
-    let script = r#"cd "$1" && find . -not -path ./vmlinuz | cpio -o -H newc"#;
+    let script = r#"cd "$1" && find . | cpio -o -H newc"#;
     let mut cpio = Command::new("podman")
         .args(["unshare", "--", "sh", "-c", script, "sh", mount_path])
         .stdout(Stdio::piped())

src/inject.rs

@@ -0,0 +1,134 @@
+//! Inject: inspect a podman image's config, infer the default command, and
+//! inject distro-agnostic /slim/ scripts (init + exec) into the mounted rootfs.
+
+use anyhow::{Context, Result, anyhow};
+use serde::Deserialize;
+use std::fs;
+use std::path::Path;
+
+use crate::command::cmd;
+
+const SLIM_INIT: &str = include_str!("scripts/slim-init.sh");
+
+#[derive(Debug, Default, Deserialize)]
+#[serde(rename_all = "PascalCase")]
+pub struct Config {
+    #[serde(default)]
+    cmd: Option<Vec<String>>,
+    #[serde(default)]
+    entrypoint: Option<Vec<String>>,
+    #[serde(default)]
+    env: Option<Vec<String>>,
+    #[serde(default)]
+    working_dir: Option<String>,
+}
+
+pub fn inspect_config(image: &str) -> Result<Config> {
+    let json = cmd(&[
+        "podman",
+        "image",
+        "inspect",
+        image,
+        "--format",
+        "{{json .Config}}",
+    ])?;
+    let config: Config = serde_json::from_str(json.trim())
+        .with_context(|| anyhow!("failed to parse image inspect output for '{image}'"))?;
+    Ok(config)
+}
+
+/// Infer the command string from the image config.
+///
+/// Concatenates ENTRYPOINT + CMD (Docker semantics). If neither is present,
+/// falls back to `/bin/sh`.
+pub fn infer_command(config: &Config) -> String {
+    let entrypoint = config.entrypoint.as_deref().filter(|e| !e.is_empty());
+    let cmd = config.cmd.as_deref().filter(|c| !c.is_empty());
+
+    let parts: Vec<String> = match (entrypoint, cmd) {
+        (Some(ep), Some(c)) => {
+            let mut parts = ep.to_vec();
+            parts.extend(c.iter().cloned());
+            parts
+        }
+        (Some(ep), None) => ep.to_vec(),
+        (None, Some(c)) => c.to_vec(),
+        (None, None) => vec!["/bin/sh".to_string()],
+    };
+
+    if parts.len() == 3 && (parts[0] == "/bin/sh" || parts[0] == "sh") && parts[1] == "-c" {
+        parts[2].clone()
+    } else {
+        shell_join(&parts)
+    }
+}
+
+pub fn env(config: &Config) -> Vec<String> {
+    config.env.clone().unwrap_or_default()
+}
+
+pub fn working_dir(config: &Config) -> Option<&str> {
+    config.working_dir.as_deref()
+}
+
+fn shell_escape(s: &str) -> String {
+    format!("'{}'", s.replace('\'', "'\\''"))
+}
+
+fn shell_join(parts: &[String]) -> String {
+    parts
+        .iter()
+        .map(|p| shell_escape(p))
+        .collect::<Vec<_>>()
+        .join(" ")
+}
+
+/// Generate the /slim/exec script from a command string, env vars, and working dir.
+pub fn build_exec_script(command: &str, env: &[String], working_dir: Option<&str>) -> String {
+    let mut lines = String::from("#!/bin/sh\n");
+    if let Some(dir) = working_dir.filter(|d| !d.is_empty()) {
+        lines.push_str(&format!("cd {} 2>/dev/null\n", shell_escape(dir)));
+    }
+    for var in env {
+        if let Some((key, val)) = var.split_once('=') {
+            lines.push_str(&format!(
+                "export {}={}\n",
+                shell_escape(key),
+                shell_escape(val)
+            ));
+        }
+    }
+    lines.push_str(&format!("exec /bin/sh -c {}\n", shell_escape(command)));
+    lines
+}
+
+/// Inject /slim/init and /slim/exec into a mounted container image rootfs.
+pub fn inject(mount_path: &Path, exec_script: &str) -> Result<()> {
+    let mount_str = mount_path.to_str().context("mount path is not UTF-8")?;
+
+    let init_temp = tempfile::NamedTempFile::new()?;
+    let exec_temp = tempfile::NamedTempFile::new()?;
+    fs::write(init_temp.path(), SLIM_INIT)?;
+    fs::write(exec_temp.path(), exec_script)?;
+
+    let init_src = init_temp
+        .path()
+        .to_str()
+        .context("temp path is not UTF-8")?;
+    let exec_src = exec_temp
+        .path()
+        .to_str()
+        .context("temp path is not UTF-8")?;
+
+    let init_dest = format!("{mount_str}/slim/init");
+    let exec_dest = format!("{mount_str}/slim/exec");
+
+    cmd(&[
+        "podman", "unshare", "--", "install", "-D", "-m", "755", init_src, &init_dest,
+    ])?;
+    cmd(&[
+        "podman", "unshare", "--", "install", "-D", "-m", "755", exec_src, &exec_dest,
+    ])?;
+
+    Ok(())
+}

src/main.rs

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ mod build;
 mod command;
 mod forward;
 mod image;
-mod meta;
+mod inject;
 mod qemu;
 mod registry;
 
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ use clap::{Parser, Subcommand};
 use crate::{build::BuildCmd, image::ImageCmd, qemu::RunCmd};
 
 #[derive(Parser, Debug)]
-#[command(about = "Build bootable initrd VMs from container images")]
+#[command(about = "Turn containers into bootable VMs")]
 struct Cli {
     #[command(subcommand)]
     command: Commands,

src/meta.rs

@@ -1,28 +0,0 @@
-use std::fs;
-
-use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
-
-use crate::registry::registry_dir;
-
-#[derive(Clone, Debug, Serialize, Deserialize)]
-pub struct Meta {
-    /// Path to the init program
-    pub init: String,
-}
-
-const FILENAME: &str = "meta.toml";
-
-impl Meta {
-    pub fn load(image: &str) -> anyhow::Result<Self> {
-        let path = registry_dir(image)?.join(FILENAME);
-        let s = fs::read_to_string(path)?;
-        Ok(toml::from_str(&s)?)
-    }
-
-    pub fn save(&self, image: &str) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
-        let path = registry_dir(image)?.join(FILENAME);
-        let s = toml::to_string_pretty(self)?;
-        fs::write(path, &s)?;
-        Ok(())
-    }
-}

src/qemu.rs

@@ -1,13 +1,17 @@
 //! QEMU: boot a registry entry with qemu-system-x86_64 using direct kernel
-//! boot (-kernel/-initrd).
+//! boot (-kernel/-initrd or -drive). The kernel is shared across all VMs
+//! at $XDG_DATA_HOME/slim-rs/registry/vmlinuz. A universal /slim/init script (injected
+//! at build time) handles VM bootstrap; /slim/exec runs the container's
+//! CMD/ENTRYPOINT. Runtime overrides are delivered as `slim.cmd=<base64>`
+//! on the kernel cmdline.
 
 use anyhow::{Context, Result, bail};
+use base64::Engine;
 use clap::Args;
 use std::{fmt::Write as _, process::Command};
 
 use crate::{
     forward::PortForward,
-    meta::Meta,
     registry::{registry_base_dir, registry_dir},
 };
 
@@ -23,6 +27,11 @@ pub struct RunCmd {
     /// Forward ports from host to guest. Example: `tcp:0.0.0.0:80-:8080`
     #[clap(long)]
     forward: Vec<PortForward>,
+
+    /// Override the command to exec in the VM (base64-encoded on the kernel
+    /// cmdline as slim.cmd=<b64>). Overrides the CMD inferred at build time.
+    #[clap(long)]
+    cmd: Option<String>,
 }
 
 pub(crate) fn run(
@@ -30,6 +39,7 @@ pub(crate) fn run(
         name,
         memory,
         forward,
+        cmd,
     }: RunCmd,
 ) -> Result<()> {
     let reg_dir = registry_dir(&name)?;
@@ -38,40 +48,40 @@ pub(crate) fn run(
     let qcow2_path = reg_dir.join("image.qcow2");
     if !vmlinuz_path.exists() {
         // TODO: guide user in how to set up a kernel
-        bail!("No kernel available.")
+        bail!(
+            "No kernel available. Place a vmlinuz at {}",
+            vmlinuz_path.display()
+        );
     }
 
-    let meta = Meta::load(&name).context("Failed to load meta.toml. Run `slim build` first.")?;
+    let mut cmdline: Vec<String> = vec![
-    // TODO: sanity-check for spaces
+        "console=ttyS0,115200".into(),
-    let init_arg = format!("init={}", meta.init);
+        "rw".into(),
-
+        "earlyprintk=serial".into(),
-    let fs_args;
+        "nokaslr".into(),
-    let mut cmdline = vec![
+        "init=/slim/init".into(),
-        "console=ttyS0,115200",
+        "devtmpfs.mount=1".into(), // Automatically mount /dev at boot
-        "rw",
-        "earlyprintk=serial",
-        "nokaslr",
-        &init_arg,
-        "devtmpfs.mount=1", // Automatically mount /dev at boot
     ];
 
+    let fs_args;
     let qcow2_arg = format!("file={},format=qcow2,if=virtio", qcow2_path.display());
     if qcow2_path.exists() {
-        fs_args = vec!["-drive", &qcow2_arg];
+        fs_args = vec!["-drive".to_string(), qcow2_arg];
-        cmdline.extend_from_slice(&["root=/dev/vda", "rootfstype=ext4"]);
+        cmdline.extend(["root=/dev/vda".to_string(), "rootfstype=ext4".to_string()]);
     } else if initrd_path.exists() {
-        fs_args = vec!["-initrd", initrd_path.to_str().context("Invalid UTF-8")?];
+        let initrd_str = initrd_path.to_str().context("Invalid UTF-8")?.to_string();
-        cmdline.push("root=/dev/ram0");
+        fs_args = vec!["-initrd".to_string(), initrd_str];
+        cmdline.push("root=/dev/ram0".into());
     } else {
         bail!("Registry missing rootfs/initrd for '{name}'. Run `slim build` first.");
     }
 
+    if let Some(cmd) = &cmd {
+        let encoded = base64::engine::general_purpose::STANDARD.encode(cmd.as_bytes());
+        cmdline.push(format!("slim.cmd={encoded}"));
+    }
+
     println!("Booting {name} from registry: {}", reg_dir.display());
-    println!(
-        "  qemu-system-x86_64 -m 256 -nographic -kernel {} -initrd {} -append 'console=ttyS0'",
-        vmlinuz_path.display(),
-        initrd_path.display()
-    );
 
     let cmdline = cmdline.join(" ");
 
@@ -90,8 +100,9 @@ pub(crate) fn run(
         .args(["-m", &memory])
         .arg("-kernel")
         .arg(vmlinuz_path.as_os_str())
-        .args(fs_args)
+        .args(&fs_args)
         .args(["-snapshot"])
+        .args(["-no-reboot"])
         .args(["-append", &cmdline])
         .args(["-nographic"])
         .args(["-nic", &network]);

src/scripts/slim-init.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# slim universal init - distro-agnostic VM bootstrap.
+# Injected by `slim build` at /slim/init and invoked via init=/slim/init.
+
+# === Devices & special filesystems ===
+[ -c /dev/console ] || mknod -m 600 /dev/console c 5 1
+mkdir -p /proc /sys /dev/pts /dev/shm
+mount -t proc proc /proc
+mount -t sysfs sysfs /sys
+mount -t devpts devpts /dev/pts
+mount -t tmpfs tmpfs /dev/shm
+mount -t tmpfs tmpfs /run  -o mode=755
+mount -t tmpfs tmpfs /tmp  -o mode=1777
+
+# === cgroup2 ===
+mkdir -p /sys/fs/cgroup
+mount -t cgroup2 none /sys/fs/cgroup 2>/dev/null || echo "mount cgroup2 failed"
+# shellcheck disable=SC2013 # word-splitting is intentional: controllers are space-separated
+for c in $(cat /sys/fs/cgroup/cgroup.controllers 2>/dev/null); do
+    echo "+$c" > /sys/fs/cgroup/cgroup.subtree_control 2>/dev/null || echo "enable cgroup controller $c failed"
+done
+
+# === Rootless container prerequisites (best-effort) ===
+mount --make-rshared / 2>/dev/null || echo "make-rshared / failed"
+chmod u+s /usr/bin/newuidmap /usr/bin/newgidmap 2>/dev/null || echo "chmod newuidmap/newgidmap failed"
+
+# === Timezone ===
+ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe/Stockholm /etc/localtime 2>/dev/null || echo "set timezone failed"
+
+# === Networking (QEMU slirp: guest 10.0.2.15/24, gw 10.0.2.2, dns 10.0.2.3) ===
+ip link set lo up 2>/dev/null || echo "ip link set lo up failed"
+ip link set eth0 up 2>/dev/null || echo "ip link set eth0 up failed"
+ip addr add 10.0.2.15/24 dev eth0 2>/dev/null || echo "ip addr add eth0 failed"
+ip route add default via 10.0.2.2 2>/dev/null || echo "ip route add default failed"
+echo nameserver 10.0.2.3 > /etc/resolv.conf
+
+# === Execute the configured command ===
+# If slim.cmd=<base64> is on the kernel cmdline, decode and exec it.
+# Otherwise, exec /slim/exec (generated from the image's CMD/ENTRYPOINT).
+# shellcheck disable=SC2013 # word-splitting is intentional: cmdline tokens are space-separated
+for tok in $(cat /proc/cmdline 2>/dev/null); do
+    case "$tok" in
+        slim.cmd=*)
+            v=${tok#slim.cmd=}
+            decoded=$(printf '%s' "$v" | base64 -d 2>/dev/null) \
+                || decoded=$(printf '%s' "$v" | openssl base64 -d 2>/dev/null) \
+                || echo "base64 decode failed"
+            if [ -n "$decoded" ]; then
+                exec /bin/sh -c "$decoded"
+            fi
+            ;;
+    esac
+done
+exec /slim/exec