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[Request]: container cp into a created but not yet started container #2404
Description
Feature or enhancement request details
Allow container cp <host-path> <container>:<path> for a container in the created (never started) state, as Docker does. Today cp requires a running container.
Use case
A sandbox orchestrator needs to place per-launch configuration (TLS material, bootstrap config) into a sandbox before its entrypoint runs. Without cp on a created container, it shares a read-only host folder with the VM and has an init helper copy the files in at boot.
Tested with container 1.5.0 on macOS 27.0.1.
Activity
gerardrecinto commentedon Oct 17, 2026
Hi @dcantah, would you be open to me investigating this for a PR? I'd keep the initial scope to copying host files into a created, never-started container before its entrypoint runs.
Before implementing it, I'd trace the copy/runtime path and check whether this needs changes in containerization. Is there a preferred way to make the root filesystem accessible for the copy without starting the workload? I'd include coverage for the created state and copy failures, and account for the copy-path hardening already proposed in #2389.
If nobody is working on this, could you assign it to me (@gerardrecinto) and confirm the approach before I open a PR?
Thanks
Gerard Recinto