Boot2Docker

Boot2Docker is a lightweight Linux distribution made specifically to run Docker containers. It runs completely from RAM, is a ~45MB download and boots quickly. Boot2Docker is designed and tuned for development. Using it for any kind of production workloads is highly discouraged. Installation should be performed via Docker Toolbox which installs Docker Machine, the Boot2Docker VM, and other necessary tools. Boot2Docker is used via Docker Machine (installed as part of Docker Toolbox) which leverages VirtualBox's VBoxManage to initialise, start, stop and delete the VM right from the command line. Docker Machine auto logs in using the generated SSH key, but if you want to SSH into the machine manually (or you're not using a Docker Machine managed VM), you can do so. Boot2docker uses Tiny Core Linux, which runs from RAM and so does not persist filesystem changes by default.