Any active tool with the same functionality?

[RaphaelJenni]

The task this tool fulfills seems to be exactly what I have been looking for. Sadly, the project has been abandoned. Is there any tool in existence that is still alive and solves the same problems?

More specifically I need a tool that can be run as non-root, fakes the root file system, and stores any changes in a place for later inspection.

[illtellyoulater]

@RaphaelJenni I'm looking for exactly the same thing, how did your search go?

[RaphaelJenni]

@illtellyoulater I created a project/tool myself. Maybe it can help you.
https://github.com/chast-io/chast-core

[illtellyoulater]

Thank you @RaphaelJenni, your project looks interesting, but at first sight it seems a bit too complicated for my use case.
In the context I'm working in an apparently simpler solution would be the firejail sandboxing tool, in conjunction with the --overlay-tmpfs flag.

This should create a sandbox in which all modifications to the filesystem are stored in an overlay layer, leaving the host filesystem untouched.

In case this might still be useful to you: https://firejail.wordpress.com/documentation-2/basic-usage/ (see sections 3.2 & 3.3).

[illtellyoulater]

@RaphaelJenni
I just discovered that you went down the Firejail route way before me and that you found about the broken --overlay option (which sadly after one year is still broken). Now I see why you went ahead with your own solution... I'll give it another look :)