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lxd

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By Muzammil Shaik 7 min read

Useful LXD Commands

Images

List Images

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lxc image list ubuntu:
lxc image list images:
lxc image alias list images:
lxc image list

Show Image Information

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lxc image info ubuntu:24.04
lxc image info images:debian/13

Copy an Image

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lxc image copy ubuntu:24.04 local: --alias ubuntu-24.04

Export and Import Images

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lxc image export IMAGE /backup/
lxc image import backup.tar.gz --alias myimage

Containers

Create and Launch Containers

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lxc launch ubuntu:14.04 CONTAINERNAME
lxc launch ubuntu:14.04/armhf armcont
lxc launch images:alpine/3.3/amd64
lxc launch ubuntu:24.04 mycontainer
lxc launch images:debian/13 debian13
lxc launch images:debian/13/amd64 debian13
lxc launch images:alpine/3.22/amd64 alpine

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lxc image list
lxc launch $FINGERPRINT $CONTAINERNAME
lxc config device override $CONTAINERNAME eth0
lxc config device set $CONTAINERNAME eth0 ipv4.address $IP
lxc restart $CONTAINERNAME
lxc list
lxc config device show $CONTAINERNAME

Create a Container Without Starting It

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lxc init images:alpine/3.3/amd64 alpinecont
lxc init images:debian/13 debian-trixie

Start, Stop and Restart

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lxc start CONTAINER
lxc stop CONTAINER
lxc restart CONTAINER
lxc stop CONTAINER --force
lxc pause CONTAINER
lxc resume CONTAINER

List Containers

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lxc list
lxc list --columns "nsapt"
lxc list security.privileged=true
lxc list -c ns4
lxc list -c ns46
lxc list status=Running
lxc list status=Stopped

Container Information

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lxc info CONTAINERNAME
lxc info CONTAINERNAME --resources
lxc info --resources

Rename, Copy and Delete

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lxc move CONTAINERNAME NEWNAME
lxc copy CONTAINER1 CONTAINER2
lxc delete CONTAINER
lxc delete CONTAINER --force

Start or Stop All Containers

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for c in $(lxc list -c n --format csv); do lxc start "$c"; done
for c in $(lxc list -c n --format csv); do lxc stop "$c"; done

Container Access

Execute Commands

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lxc exec CONTAINERNAME -- PROGRAM OPTIONS
lxc exec CONTAINERNAME sh
lxc exec CONTAINER -- bash
lxc exec CONTAINER -- sh
lxc exec CONTAINER -- ip addr
lxc exec CONTAINER -- systemctl status nginx
lxc exec CONTAINER -- df -h

Execute as a Specific User

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lxc exec CONTAINER --user 1000 -- bash

Set Environment Variables

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lxc exec CONTAINERNAME --env KEY=VALUE PROGRAM
lxc exec CONTAINER --env KEY=value -- command

Console

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lxc console CONTAINER

Container Files

Pull Files

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lxc file pull CONTAINERNAME/etc/passwd /tmp/mypasswd
lxc file pull CONTAINER/etc/passwd /tmp/passwd

Push Files

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lxc file push /tmp/mypasswd CONTAINERNAME/etc/passwd
lxc file push /tmp/file CONTAINER/etc/file

Edit Files

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lxc file edit CONTAINERNAME/etc/passwd
lxc file edit CONTAINER/etc/hosts

Copy Directories

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lxc file push -r ./directory CONTAINER/root/
lxc file pull -r CONTAINER/root/directory ./

Snapshots

Create Snapshots

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lxc snapshot CONTAINERNAME SNAPNAME
lxc snapshot CONTAINERNAME

Restore Snapshots

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lxc restore CONTAINERNAME SNAPNAME

Create a Container From a Snapshot

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lxc copy CONTAINERNAME/SNAPNAME NEWCONTAINER

Delete Snapshots

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lxc delete CONTAINERNAME/SNAPNAME

Rename Snapshots

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lxc move CONTAINERNAME/SNAPNAME CONTAINERNAME/NEWSNAPNAME

View Snapshot Information

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lxc info CONTAINERNAME

Configuration

Edit Configuration

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export VISUAL=/usr/bin/vim
lxc config edit CONTAINERNAME

Set Configuration Values

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lxc config set CONTAINERNAME KEY VALUE

Unset Configuration Values

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lxc config unset CONTAINER KEY

Show Configuration

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lxc config show CONTAINERNAME
lxc config show CONTAINERNAME --expanded

Container Devices

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lxc config device show CONTAINER
lxc config device add CONTAINER DEVICE TYPE KEY=VALUE
lxc config device remove CONTAINER DEVICE

Profiles

List Profiles

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lxc profile list

Show a Profile

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lxc profile show PROFILE

Edit a Profile

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lxc profile edit PROFILE

Add a Profile

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lxc profile add CONTAINER PROFILE

Remove a Profile

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lxc profile remove CONTAINER PROFILE

CPU and Memory

Set CPU Limit

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lxc config set CONTAINER limits.cpu 2

Set Memory Limit

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lxc config set CONTAINER limits.memory 2GiB

Remove CPU and Memory Limits

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lxc config unset CONTAINER limits.cpu
lxc config unset CONTAINER limits.memory

Check Resource Usage

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lxc info CONTAINER
lxc info CONTAINER --resources
lxc info --resources

Networking

List Networks

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lxc network list

Show a Network

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lxc network show NETWORK

Edit a Network

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lxc network edit NETWORK

Get Network Settings

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lxc network get NETWORK ipv4.address
lxc network get NETWORK ipv4.nat

Set Network Settings

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lxc network set NETWORK KEY VALUE

Create a Network

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lxc network create NETWORK
lxc network create NETWORK ipv4.address=10.10.10.1/24 ipv4.nat=true

Delete a Network

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lxc network delete NETWORK

Network Devices

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lxc config device show CONTAINER
lxc config device add CONTAINER eth0 nic network=NETWORK
lxc config device remove CONTAINER eth0
lxc config device set CONTAINER eth0 ipv4.address 192.168.2.71

Network Forwarding

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lxc network forward list NETWORK
lxc network forward show NETWORK IP
lxc network forward create NETWORK IP
lxc network forward delete NETWORK IP

Add a Port Forward

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lxc network forward port add NETWORK IP tcp EXTERNAL-PORT TARGET-IP TARGET-PORT

Remove a Port Forward

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lxc network forward port remove NETWORK IP tcp EXTERNAL-PORT

Storage

List Storage Pools

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lxc storage list

Show a Storage Pool

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lxc storage show POOL

List Storage Volumes

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lxc storage volume list POOL

Show a Storage Volume

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lxc storage volume show POOL container/CONTAINER

Host Directory Mounts

Mount a Host Directory

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lxc config device add CONTAINER DEVICE disk source=/HOST/PATH path=/CONTAINER/PATH

Mount a Single File

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lxc config device add CONTAINER DEVICE disk source=/HOST/FILE path=/CONTAINER/FILE

Remove a Mount

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lxc config device remove CONTAINER DEVICE

Monitoring and Troubleshooting

LXD Version and Server Information

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lxc version
lxc info

Monitor LXD Events

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lxc monitor
lxc monitor --type=logging

Check LXD Service

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systemctl status snap.lxd.daemon
systemctl status lxd

Restart LXD

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sudo systemctl restart snap.lxd.daemon
sudo systemctl restart lxd

Host Network Diagnostics

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ip -br addr
ip addr
ip route
ip link
bridge link
ss -lntp

Container Network Diagnostics

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lxc exec CONTAINER -- ip addr
lxc exec CONTAINER -- ip -br addr
lxc exec CONTAINER -- ip route
lxc exec CONTAINER -- ss -lntp

Connectivity Tests

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ping IP
lxc exec CONTAINER -- ping -c 4 GATEWAY-IP
lxc exec CONTAINER -- ping -c 4 8.8.8.8
lxc exec CONTAINER -- ping -c 4 google.com

DNS Tests

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cat /etc/resolv.conf
getent hosts google.com

HTTP Tests

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curl http://IP
curl -v http://IP:PORT
lxc exec CONTAINER -- curl http://127.0.0.1

Check Listening Ports

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ss -lntp
ss -lntp | grep :80
ss -lntp | grep :PORT

Projects

List Projects

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lxc project list

Show a Project

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lxc project show PROJECT

Switch Project

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lxc project switch PROJECT

Remote Servers

List Remotes

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lxc remote list

Add a Remote

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lxc remote add NAME https://SERVER:8443

Remove a Remote

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lxc remote remove NAME

List Containers on a Remote

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lxc list NAME:

Copy a Container to a Remote

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lxc copy CONTAINER REMOTE:CONTAINER

Move a Container to a Remote

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lxc move CONTAINER REMOTE:CONTAINER

Images From Containers

Publish a Container as an Image

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lxc publish CONTAINER --alias IMAGE

Launch From a Custom Image

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lxc launch IMAGE CONTAINER

Publish a Snapshot as an Image

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lxc publish CONTAINER/SNAPSHOT --alias IMAGE

Container Backup

Create a Backup Snapshot

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lxc snapshot CONTAINER BACKUP-SNAPSHOT

Restore a Backup Snapshot

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lxc restore CONTAINER BACKUP-SNAPSHOT

Copy a Backup Snapshot

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lxc copy CONTAINER/BACKUP-SNAPSHOT BACKUP-CONTAINER

App Management Inside Containers

Enter a Container

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lxc exec CONTAINER -- bash

Update Packages

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apt update
apt upgrade

Install Packages

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apt install PACKAGE

Check a Service

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systemctl status SERVICE

Restart a Service

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systemctl restart SERVICE

Enable a Service

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systemctl enable SERVICE

Check Listening Ports

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ss -lntp

Useful One-Liners

Containers and IP Addresses

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lxc list -c ns4

Containers and Profiles

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lxc list -c nsp

Expanded Container Configuration

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lxc config show CONTAINER --expanded

Container Devices

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lxc config device show CONTAINER

Network List

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lxc network list

Storage List

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lxc storage list

Profile List

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lxc profile list

Project List

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lxc project list

Remote List

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lxc remote list

LXD Events

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lxc monitor
Cheatsheet
cheatsheet
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