Welcome to the {Singularity} User Guide!
This guide aims to give an introduction to {Singularity}, brief installation instructions, and cover topics relevant to users building and running containers.
For a detailed guide to installation and configuration, as well as upgrading or uninstalling, please see the separate Admin Guide for this version of {Singularity} at https://sylabs.io/guides/{adminversion}/admin-guide/.
What's New in {Singularity} 4.1 <new>
Introduction to {Singularity} <introduction> Quick Start <quick_start> Security in {Singularity} <security>
Learn how to write a definition file that can be used to build a container. Understand the environment within a build, how to perform remote builds, and how to use the --fakeroot feature to build as a non-root user.
Build a container <build_a_container> The Definition File <definition_files> Build Environment <build_env> Fakeroot feature <fakeroot>
{Singularity} allows containers to be signed using a PGP key. The signature travels with the container image, allowing you to verify that the image is unmodified at any time. Encryption of containers using LUKS2 is also supported. Encrypted containers can be run without decrypting them to disk first.
Sign and Verify <signNverify> Key management commands <key_commands> Encrypted Containers <encryption>
Sylabs offers a suite of container services, with a free tier and on-premise options. Learn how to make use these services to simplify the process of building, signing, and sharing your containers.
Remote Endpoints <endpoint> Keyserver Management <keyserver> OCI Registries <registry> SCS Library <cloud_library>
Once you've understood the basics, explore all the options which {Singularity} provides for accessing data, running persistent services in containers, manipulating the container environment, and applying networking and security configuration.
Bind Paths and Mounts <bind_paths_and_mounts> Persistent Overlays <persistent_overlays> Instances - Running Services <running_services> Environment and Metadata <environment_and_metadata> Plugins <plugins> Security Options <security_options> Network Options <networking> Limiting Container Resources <cgroups>
{Singularity} has unique benefits and supports easy access to GPUs and other hardware. It also strives for compatibility with Docker/OCI container formats. Understand the differences between {Singularity} and Docker, as well as how to use containerized MPI and GPU applications.
Support for Docker / OCI Containers <singularity_and_docker> OCI Runtime Support <oci_runtime> Singularity and MPI applications <mpi> GPU Support <gpu>
We'd love you to get involved in the {Singularity} community! Whether through contributing feature and fixes, helping to answer questions from other users, or simply testing new releases.
Contributing <contributing>
Appendix <appendix>
Command Line Reference <cli> Licenses <license>