Editing Chroot (section)

{{Short description|Shell command and system call that changes the apparent root directory}}
{{lowercase|title=chroot}}
{{Infobox software
| name                   = chroot
| logo                   = 
| screenshot             = Chroot-command-example.png
| screenshot size        = 
| caption                = Example usage of <code>chroot</code> in [[Raspberry Pi OS]] running an interactive shell within a special root directory 
| author                 = [[Bill Joy]], [[Bell Labs|AT&T Bell Laboratories]]
| developer              = Various [[open-source software|open-source]] and [[commercial software|commercial]] developers
| released               = {{Start date and age|1979}}
| latest release version = 
| latest release date    = 
| operating system       = [[Unix]], [[Unix-like]], [[Plan 9 from Bell Labs|Plan 9]], [[Inferno (operating system)|Inferno]]
| platform               = [[Cross-platform]]
| genre                  = [[Command (computing)|Command]]
| license                =
| website                = 
}}

'''<code>chroot</code>''' is a [[shell (computer)|shell]] [[command (computing)|command]] and a [[system call]] on [[Unix]] and [[Unix-like]] [[operating system]]s that changes the apparent [[root directory]] for the current running process and its [[Child process|children]]. A program that is run in such a modified environment cannot name (and therefore normally cannot access) files outside the designated directory tree. The term ''chroot'' may refer to the {{mono|chroot(2)}} [[system call]] or the {{mono|chroot(8)}} [[command-line interface|command-line]] utility. The modified environment is called a '''chroot jail'''.
[[File:Chroot-from-gentoo-to-ubuntu.webm|thumb|Chroot: from Gentoo to Ubuntu]]