1) sudo apt-get install debootstrap schroot 2) sudo mkdir /sid 3) sudo debootstrap sid /sid http://deb.debian.org/debian 4) Add the following to /etc/schroot/schroot.conf [sid] description=Debian sid (unstable) directory=/sid aliases=unstable,default users=user1,user2 where user1 and user2 are users that are allowed to use the chroot (change them!). 5) Add the following to /etc/fstab /home /sid/home none bind 0 0 /dev /sid/dev none bind 0 0 /dev/pts /sid/dev/pts none bind 0 0 /dev/shm /sid/dev/shm none bind 0 0 /proc /sid/proc none bind 0 0 /sys /sid/sys none bind 0 0 /tmp /sid/tmp none bind 0 0 /run /sid/run none bind 0 0 5.1) sudo mkdir /sid/var/run/dbus 5.2) sudo mkdir /sid/var/lib/dbus 6) sudo mount -a 7) sudo cp /etc/sudoers /etc/hosts /etc/hostname /etc/passwd /etc/shadow /etc/group /sid/etc 8) Create /usr/local/bin/sid with the following lines #!/bin/sh schroot -c sid -p -q -- "$@" 8.1) sudo chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/sid 9) Create /sid/usr/sbin/policy-rc.d to prevent daemons from starting accidentally inside the chroot with the following lines #!/bin/sh logger "sid $0 invoked with $@" exit 101 9.1) sudo chmod a+x /sid/usr/sbin/policy-rc.d 10) (just an example) sudo sid apt-get install libreoffice 11) (just an example) sid libreoffice