mbox - Multi-call Binary Toolbox

Version: 0.1.0-alpha

A lightweight, single-binary multi-call utility suite for Linux — inspired by busybox, built with simplicity in mind.

Features

• 🔧 Single Binary — One executable, 133 applets via symlinks
• 📦 Zero Dependencies — Pure C, links against libc only
• ⚡ Fast & Small — Static builds under 2 MB
• 🔗 Symlink Dispatch — Run as ls, cat, ps, etc.
• 📁 Relocatable Install — mbox --install <dir> creates relative symlinks
• 🐧 Linux Native — Designed for embedded, containers, and minimal systems
• ℹ️ Built-in Help — Every applet supports --help / -h
• 🔄 Shell Completions — Bash, fish, and zsh completions included

Applets

Core Utilities (22 applets)

Applet	Description
echo	Print arguments
cat	Concatenate files
ls	List directory contents
pwd	Print working directory
env	Print/set environment
printenv	Print environment variables
true	Return true (exit 0)
false	Return false (exit 1)
yes	Output string repeatedly
sleep	Sleep for duration
uname	Print system information
basename	Strip directory from path
dirname	Strip last path component
id	Print user identity
whoami	Print current username
hostname	Print/set hostname
date	Print/set date and time
tee	Read stdin, write to files
clear	Clear terminal
reset	Reset terminal
agetty	Alternative getty

File Operations (21 applets)

Applet	Description
mkdir	Make directories
rm	Remove files/directories
mv	Move/rename files
cp	Copy files
ln	Create links
touch	Update file timestamps
chmod	Change file permissions
chown	Change file owner
chgrp	Change file group
stat	Display file status
find	Find files
du	Disk usage
df	Disk free space
mktemp	Create temporary file
realpath	Print resolved path
readlink	Print symlink target
sync	Flush filesystem buffers
file	Determine file type
dd	Convert and copy a file
mount	Mount filesystems
umount	Unmount filesystems
chroot	Change root directory
pivot_root	Change root filesystem

Text Utilities (32 applets)

Applet	Description
grep	Search for patterns
awk	Pattern scanning language
head	Output first lines
tail	Output last lines
wc	Count lines/words/bytes
sort	Sort lines of text
uniq	Filter duplicate lines
cut	Cut fields from lines
tr	Translate characters
sed	Stream editor
strings	Find printable strings
rev	Reverse lines
nl	Number lines
fold	Wrap long lines
paste	Merge lines of files
comm	Compare sorted files
diff	Compare files line by line
md5sum	Compute MD5 checksums
sha256sum	Compute SHA256 checksums
cksum	Compute CRC checksum
base64	Base64 encode/decode
xxd	Hex dump
shuf	Shuffle lines
expand / unexpand	Convert tabs ⟷ spaces
logger	Log messages to syslog
tar	Archive files
gzip	Compress files
gunzip	Decompress files
zcat	Decompress to stdout
compress	Compress files (LZW)
uncompress	Decompress .Z files

Shell Utilities (9 applets)

Applet	Description
seq	Print sequence of numbers
expr	Evaluate expressions
test / [	Evaluate conditions
printf	Format and print data
xargs	Build commands from stdin
tty	Print terminal name
stty	Print/change terminal settings
sh	Minimal shell

Process Utilities (11 applets)

Applet	Description
ps	List running processes
kill	Send signal to process
free	Display memory usage
uptime	Show system uptime
which	Find executable in PATH
top	Process snapshot
pidof	Find PID by name
pgrep	Find PID by pattern
pkill	Kill processes by name
nproc	Number of processors
watch	Run command periodically

System / Privileged (31 applets)

Applet	Description
su	Switch user
login	Begin session
passwd	Change password
adduser	Add a user
deluser	Delete a user
pwinit	Init password database
who	Show who is logged in
last	Show login history
w	Show logged in users
dmesg	Print kernel messages
swapon / swapoff	Enable/disable swap
modprobe	Load kernel modules
insmod	Insert kernel modules
rmmod	Remove kernel modules
lsmod	List loaded kernel modules
udhcpc	DHCP client
poweroff	Power off system
reboot	Reboot system
halt	Halt system
shutdown	Shutdown/reboot system
mdev	Create device nodes
fsck	Check filesystem
lsblk	List block devices
blkid	Locate block device attributes
fdisk	Manipulate partition table
mkfs	Build a filesystem
mknod	Create device files
init	System init (PID 1)

Network (8 applets)

Applet	Description
ifconfig	Network interface info
curl	Transfer data from URLs
ip	IP configuration
ping	Send ICMP echo requests
wget	Download files from web
nc	Netcat TCP/UDP
nslookup	DNS lookup
httpd	Minimal HTTP file server
Total: 133 applets

Requirements

Required Dependencies

Package	Provides
clang or gcc	C compiler
musl or glibc	C library
libcrypt	Password hashing (passwd, su, login)
libm	Math library
libssl-dev / openssl-devel	HTTPS/TLS support for curl and wget

Optional Dependencies

Package	Purpose
sudo	For make install-setuid
just	Alternative build system (just build)

Installation

Compilation

# Standard build (dynamic, ~360K)
make

# Static build (~7.6M, no runtime libs needed)
make static

# Using just
just build       # dynamic
just static      # static

# Or manually
clang -O2 -Wall -Wextra -std=gnu11 -I. \
    main.c applets/*.c \
    -o mbox -lssl -lcrypto -lcrypt -lm

Install Applets

# Install symlinks into /usr/local/bin
make install

# Or manually
./mbox --install /usr/local/bin

# Install with setuid root (required for su, login, passwd, mount)
make install-setuid

# List all applets
mbox --list

Manual Symlink Setup

# Create symlinks manually
ln -s mbox /bin/ls
ln -s mbox /bin/cat
ln -s mbox /bin/ps
# ... etc

Usage

Running Applets

# Via mbox directly
mbox ls -la
mbox cat /etc/passwd
mbox ps aux

# Via symlink (preferred)
ls -la
cat /etc/passwd
ps aux

Install to System

# Copy binary
cp mbox /usr/local/bin/mbox

# Install all applets as symlinks
mbox --install /usr/local/bin

# Verify
ls -la /usr/local/bin/ls
# lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 13 May 15 12:00 /usr/local/bin/ls -> /usr/local/bin/mbox

Relocatable Install

mbox --install creates relative symlinks, so the entire tree can be moved:

# Install into a staging root
mbox --install /tmp/lfs-root/usr/bin

# The symlinks work even if /tmp/lfs-root is later moved to /
cd /tmp/lfs-root && tar czf rootfs.tar.gz .

Built-in Help

Every applet supports --help / -h:

mbox ls --help
mbox dd --help
mbox tar --help
ls --help         # via symlink

Shell Completions

Completions for bash, fish, and zsh are in completions/:

# bash
source completions/mbox.bash

# fish
cp completions/mbox.fish ~/.config/fish/completions/mbox.fish

# zsh
cp completions/mbox.zsh /usr/share/zsh/site-functions/_mbox

The completions cover:

• Applet name completion for mbox <tab>
• Per-applet option completion (e.g. ls -<tab>, tar -<tab>, dd bs=<tab>)
• Typed argument completion (files, directories, devices, PIDs, hosts)
• Symlink support — works when called as ls, cat, etc.

Makefile Targets

Target	Description
make / make all	Standard build
make static	Static link with musl
make install	Install symlinks to /usr/local/bin
make install-setuid	Install binary with setuid root
make clean	Remove build artifacts

Examples

Container / Initramfs

# Build static mbox
make static

# Create minimal rootfs
mkdir -p /tmp/rootfs/{bin,dev,proc,sys,tmp}
cp mbox /tmp/rootfs/bin/
cd /tmp/rootfs/bin && ./mbox --install .

# Boot with: init=/bin/mbox

Embedded System

# Cross-compile for ARM
make CC=arm-linux-musleabi-gcc

# Install to target rootfs
mbox --install /mnt/target-rootfs/bin

Quick File Server

# Serve current directory on port 8080
httpd -p 8080

# Or via mbox
mbox httpd -p 8080

Comparison

Feature	mbox	busybox	toybox
Binary size	~1.6 MB static	~1 MB	~400 KB
Applets	132	300+	200+
Built-in help	All applets	Most applets	Most applets
Shell completions	bash/fish/zsh	None	None
License	MIT	GPLv2	BSD
Build deps	libc + libcrypt	libc + config	libc only
Install method	--install	make install	make install
Symlink type	Relative	Absolute	Absolute

License

MIT License — See LICENSE file for details.

Contributing

1. Fork the repository: http://git.porkof48.ru/faron/mbox
2. Create a feature branch
3. Add your applet to applets/ and register in applets.h
4. Submit a pull request

Support

For issues and questions, please open an issue on gitea: http://git.porkof48.ru/faron/mbox/issues

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mbox — One binary, a hundred tools.

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