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Archer Allstars
Archer Allstars

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Install Steam in a Distrobox Container With x86-64-v3 Power Boost!

#productivity #archlinux #containers

Like always, I prefer to install any app in a manageable way, i.e., layer on the base system without altering the base in any way or leaving a lot of residue upon uninstallation.

Moreover, you can choose to use any images you want regardless of your base system. For example, you can use the official CachyOS image that provides x86-64-v3 optimized packages, hence improving gaming performance.

1. Installing Distrobox and Podman

The command will differ based on your specific package manager. Refer to your distro's docs. For example, on Arch based distros:

sudo pacman -S distrobox podman
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2. Configure Distrobox to use Podman 

echo 'container_manager="podman"' > ~/.config/distrobox/distrobox.conf
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3. Create a container 

distrobox-create -i docker.io/cachyos/cachyos-v3:latest -n games-dbx -H ~/distrobox/games-dbx --additional-flags "--dns=none" --volume /run/dbus/system_bus_socket:/run/dbus/system_bus_socket
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I use the --dns=none flag because I want to go as light as possible by not using an init container (a container with its own systemd). Without this flag, Steam will try to find systemd-resolved, of which doesn't exist obviously, and won't be able to launch successfully.

Without systemd inside the container, Steam will always show UTC time instead of your local time in Big Picture Mode, see Steam issue #10057.

Note: For NVIDIA users, in order to use the GPU inside the container, you need to add --nvidia flag to the distrobox-create command. See more here.

4. Enable x86-64-v3 packages

Once the container is created, enter the container and enable x86-64-v3 packages:

sudo pacman -Syu
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sudo pacman -Qqn | sudo pacman -S -
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5. Generating the container's locales

First, install nano to be able to edit /etc/locale.gen:

sudo pacman -S nano
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Then, editing /etc/locale.gen:

sudo nano /etc/locale.gen
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Uncomment (removing #) from en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8 line. Also, if your local language is differ, uncomment your local language too. For example:

en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8
th_TH.UTF-8 UTF-8
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Lastly, generating locales:

sudo locale-gen
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6. Install Steam! 

sudo pacman -S steam
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If you're asked during the installation,...

About the font, I use Noto font.

About which Vulkan to use, use your vendor's Vulkan. It should be obvious enough, for example, vulkan-intel (or lib32-vulkan-intel).

Please use everything from CachyOS repository if being asked.

7. Export Steam inside the container to the host

Run this inside the container:

distrobox-export -a steam
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With this, you will be able to launch Steam on the host, i.e., with Steam icon on the host.

8. Auto-update the container, zero maintenance time!

Create a systemd service file: 

nano ~/.config/systemd/user/dbx-upgrade.service
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Inside the service file:

[Unit]
Description=Upgrade all Distrobox containers
RequiresMountsFor=/run/user/1000/containers
StartLimitBurst=3
StartLimitIntervalSec=600

[Service]
Type=exec
ExecStart=sh -c "distrobox-upgrade --all"
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=60
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Create a systemd timer file: 

nano ~/.config/systemd/user/dbx-upgrade.timer
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Inside the timer file:

[Unit]
Description=Start Distrobox containers upgrade service with some delay.

[Timer]
OnStartupSec=30
RandomizedDelaySec=15
Persistent=true

[Install]
WantedBy=timers.target
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Reload and enable the timer: 

systemctl --user daemon-reload && systemctl --user enable dbx-upgrade.timer
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BONUS: Increase vm.max_map_count

According to Arch Wiki, it's recommended to increase the vm.max_map_count.

This one has to be done on the host and the container will follow automatically. The procedure should be the same across all distros.

Create a sysctl rule:

sudo nano /etc/sysctl.d/99-gamecompatibility.conf
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Add vm.max_map_count = 2147483642 in the file.

Then, apply the change immediately with:

sudo sysctl --system
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With this, you should be able to run Steam inside a container. Enjoy!

Cover Photo by Igor Saikin on Unsplash

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