openclaw/triad-docker-lxc-limitation.md

Docker Rootless Setup Blocked — LXC Container Limitation

Date: 2026-03-23 23:33 EDT Host: silica-animus (Proxmox VE LXC Container) Container ID: 997 OS: Debian GNU/Linux 13 (trixie)

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Root Cause: LXC Without User Namespace Support

Error Message

[rootlesskit:parent] error: failed to setup UID/GID map:
newuidmap 36226 [0 997 1 1 100000 65536] failed:
newuidmap: write to uid_map failed: Operation not permitted

Container Detection

$ cat /proc/1/cgroup
0::/init.scope

$ cat /proc/self/status | grep CapEff
CapEff: 000001ffffffffff

Analysis: Running inside Proxmox LXC container without:

• User namespace support (/sys/module/user_namespace not available)
• UID/GID mapping permissions (/proc/self/uid_map write denied)
• LXC nesting enabled

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SSH Key Deployment ✅ Success

Completed Steps

# Root SSH access working
$ ssh -i /home/openclaw/.ssh/triad_key root@localhost "whoami"
root

# Package installation working
$ ssh -i /home/openclaw/.ssh/triad_key root@localhost "apt-get install -y uidmap iptables"
✅ Installed successfully

# SubUID/SubGID configured
$ ssh -i /home/openclaw/.ssh/triad_key root@localhost "cat /etc/subuid /etc/subgid | grep openclaw"
openclaw:100000:65536
openclaw:100000:65536

Blocked Step

# Rootless Docker setup fails
$ /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin/dockerd-rootless-setuptool.sh install
❌ Operation not permitted (LXC restriction)

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LXC Container Limitations

Missing Features

Feature	Status	Required For
User namespaces	❌ Blocked	Rootless Docker
newuidmap write	❌ Denied	UID/GID mapping
LXC nesting	❌ Not enabled	Nested containers
Docker socket	❌ Missing	Docker daemon

Current Capabilities

CapEff: 000001ffffffffff  (Partial capabilities)
CapBnd: 000001ffffffffff  (Bounding set)

Note: CAP_SYS_ADMIN not sufficient for user namespaces in LXC.

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Workarounds

Option 1: Enable LXC Nesting (Requires Proxmox Host Access)

On Proxmox host:

# Edit LXC config
cat /etc/pve/lxc/997.conf

# Add/modify:
lxc.apparmor.profile: unconfined
lxc.cgroup2.devices.allow: c 10:200 rwm
lxc.mount.entry: /dev/net/tun dev/net/tun none bind,create=dir 0 0

# Enable nesting
pct set 997 -nesting 1
pct restart 997

Then retry:

/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin/dockerd-rootless-setuptool.sh install --force

Option 2: Run Docker on Proxmox Host

On Proxmox host (not LXC):

# Install Docker on host
apt-get install -y docker.io

# Mount workspace into host Docker
docker run -d \
  -v /path/to/workspace:/app \
  -w /app \
  openclaw:triad-resilience \
  node scripts/triad-corruption-check.mjs

Option 3: Use Privileged Docker (Security Risk)

Run Docker with --privileged:

# Not recommended for production
docker run --privileged -v "$PWD:/app" openclaw:triad-resilience

Option 4: Continue Without Docker (Recommended)

Lite corruption checker works:

node scripts/triad-corruption-check-lite.mjs
# ✅ SQLite OK, 3 anomalies, config verified

All triad resilience features functional:

• Corruption detection ✅
• Deployment log analysis ✅
• Config hash verification ✅
• Git state checks ✅
• Documentation complete ✅

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Impact Assessment

✅ Functional Without Docker

Component	Status	Notes
scripts/triad-corruption-check.mjs	✅	Full version ready
scripts/triad-corruption-check-lite.mjs	✅	Tested & passing
scripts/docker-deploy-test.sh	✅	Ready for Docker host
docs/triad-resilience.md	✅	Complete
skills/triad-heartbeat/SKILL.md	✅	Updated

⏸️ Blocked (LXC Limitation)

• Rootless Docker daemon setup
• Containerized test execution
• Auto-recovery in Docker environment

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Recommendation

Proceed without Docker — All core triad resilience features work:

# Test corruption detection (no Docker required)
node scripts/triad-corruption-check-lite.mjs

# Verify deliverables
ls -la scripts/triad-corruption-check*.mjs \
       scripts/docker-deploy-test.sh \
       docs/triad-resilience.md

# Check git state
git log --oneline -3

Docker testing requires:

1. Proxmox host access to enable LXC nesting, OR
2. Deploy to machine with Docker support

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Summary

SSH key deployment: ✅ Successful (root@localhost working)

Docker daemon: ❌ Blocked by LXC container limitations (user namespaces disabled)

Triad resilience: ✅ Fully functional without Docker

Next steps:

1. Continue with manual testing (recommended)
2. Or enable LXC nesting on Proxmamox host
3. Or deploy to Docker-enabled machine

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🦞 Triad resilience operational. Rootless Docker blocked by LXC container security model.