Manual: aa-exec

AA-EXEC(1)					  AppArmor					  AA-EXEC(1)

NAME
       aa-exec - confine a program with the specified AppArmor profile

SYNOPSIS
       aa-exec [options] [--] [ ...]

DESCRIPTION
       aa-exec is used to launch a program confined by the specified profile and or namespace.	If both a
       profile and namespace are specified command will be confined by profile in the new policy namespace.
       If only a namespace is specified, the profile name of the current confinement will be used.  If
       neither a profile or namespace is specified command will be run using standard profile attachment
       (ie. as if run without the aa-exec command).

       If the arguments are to be pasted to the  being invoked by aa-exec then -- should be used to
       separate aa-exec arguments from the command.
	 aa-exec -p profile1 -- ls -l

OPTIONS aa-exec accepts the following arguments:
       -p PROFILE, --profile=PROFILE
	   confine    with  PROFILE.  If  the PROFILE is not specified use the current profile name
	   (likely unconfined).

       -n NAMESPACE, --namespace=NAMESPACE
	   use profiles in NAMESPACE.  This will result	 in  confinement  transitioning	 to  using  the	 new
	   profile namespace.

       -i, --immediate
	   transition  to  PROFILE before doing executing .  This subjects the running of 
	   to the exec transition rules of the current profile.

       -v, --verbose
	   show commands being performed

       -d, --debug
	   show commands and error codes

       --  Signal the end of options and disables further option processing. Any arguments after the --	 are
	   treated  as	arguments  of  the  command.  This is useful when passing arguments to the 
	   being invoked by aa-exec.

RESTRICTIONS
       aa-exec uses aa_change_profile(3) to change application confinement.  The use of aa_change_profile(3)
       may be restricted by policy in ways that will cause failure or results different than expected.

       Even when using aa-exec from unconfined restrictions in policy can causes failure or the	 confinement
       entered to be different than requested

       See     the     unpriviled     unconfined     restriction     documentation    for    more    detail.
       https://gitlab.com/apparmor/apparmor/-/wikis/unprivileged_unconfined_restriction

STACKING
       aa-exec can be used to setup a stack of profiles as confinement. When an application is confined by a
       stack, all profiles in the stack are checked as if they were the profile confining  the	application.
       The resulting mediation is the intersection of what is allowed by each profile in the stack.

       The  profiles  in  a stack are treated independently. Each profile can have its own flags and profile
       transitions. During an exec each profile gets to specify	 its  transition  and  the  results  brought
       together to form a new canonicalized stack.

       The  profile  separator	indicating  a  stack  is  the  character  sequence //&.	 Thus a stack can be
       expressed using

	 $ aa-exec -p "unconfined//&firefox" -- bash
	 $ ps -Z
	 LABEL				     PID TTY	      TIME CMD
	 unconfined			   30714 pts/12	  00:00:00 bash
	 firefox//&unconfined (unconfined) 31160 pts/12	  00:00:00 bash
	 firefox//&unconfined (unconfined) 31171 pts/12	  00:00:00 ps

NAMESPACES
       aa-exec can be used to enter confinement in another policy namespace if the policy namespaces exists,
       is visible, and the profile exists in the namespace. Note applications launched within the  namespace
       will  not  be  able  to	exit  the  namespace, and may be restricted by additional confinement around
       namespacing. Files and resources visible to the parent that  launches  the  application	may  not  be
       visible in the policy namespace resulting in access denials.

       To  enter  a policy namespace the profile is prefixed with the namespace's name, using a : prefix and
       suffix.

       Eg.

	 $ aa-exec -p :ex1:unconfined -- bash
	 $ ps -Z
	 LABEL				     PID TTY	      TIME CMD
	 -				   30714 pts/12	  00:00:00 bash
	 unconfined			   34372 pts/12	  00:00:00 bash
	 unconfined			   34379 pts/12	  00:00:00 ps

       Confinement of processes outside of the namespace may not be visible in which  case  the	 confinement
       will  be	 represented  with  a -. If policy is stacked only part of the confinement might be visible.
       However confinement is usually fully visible from the parent policy namespace.

       Eg. the confinement of the child can be queried in the parent to see

	 $ ps -Z 34372
	 LABEL				     PID TTY	  STAT	 TIME COMMAND
	 :ex1:unconfined		   34372 pts/12	  S+	 0:00 bash

       And in the case of stacking with namespaces

	 $ aa-exec -p "unconfined//&:ex1:unconfined" -- bash
	 $ ps -Z
	 LABEL				     PID TTY	      TIME CMD
	 -				   30714 pts/12	  00:00:00 bash
	 unconfined			   36298 pts/12	  00:00:00 bash
	 unconfined			   36305 pts/12	  00:00:00 ps

       while from the parent namespace the full confinement can be seen

	 $ ps -Z 36298
	 LABEL				     PID TTY	  STAT	 TIME COMMAND
	 unconfined//&:ex1:unconfined	   36298 pts/12	  S+	 0:00 bash

BUGS
       If you find any bugs, please report them at 

SEE ALSO
       apparmor(7),	   apparmor.d(5),	 aa_change_profile(3),	      aa_change_onexec(3)	 and
       .

AppArmor 5.0.0~beta1				 2026-04-08					  AA-EXEC(1)