{"id":2852,"date":"2022-05-11T01:54:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-11T01:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dft.wiki\/?p=2852"},"modified":"2026-07-11T15:21:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T19:21:49","slug":"managing-containers-with-lxd-cheat-sheet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dft.wiki\/?p=2852","title":{"rendered":"Managing System Containers – Cheat Sheet"},"content":{"rendered":"

Linux Containers<\/strong> (LXC) are typically managed by LXD<\/strong> or Incus<\/strong> as if they were Virtual Machines, allowing them to take <\/span>snapshots<\/span><\/strong>, have <\/span>distinct IPs<\/span><\/strong>, and <\/span>retain data when shut down<\/span><\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Containers can be managed using profiles to define network settings and other configuration parameters, such as limiting the maximum CPU or RAM usage per instance.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is worth mentioning that since Canonical took full control of the LXD project<\/span>, the community created a fork called Incus<\/strong> [Link<\/a>]. This fork has removed many of Canonical’s ecosystem-specific components and became the officially adopted option of LinuxContainers.org<\/strong> [Link<\/a>]. So, the content of this post might interchangeably use or mention LXD or Incus as if they were synonyms, although they slightly differ for basic operations…<\/p>\n

Internally, containers can communicate using <\/span>containerName.lxd<\/span><\/strong> because a DNS service is configured by default.<\/span><\/p>\n

LXD vs Docker<\/span><\/p>\n

LXD is a system container that runs a full operating system, while Docker is an application container that typically runs a single application and abstracts storage, networking, and logs from the user.<\/span><\/p>\n

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INSTALLATION<\/strong><\/p>\n

Incus <\/strong>(recommended)<\/p>\n

sudo apt update\r\nsudo apt install incus -y\r\nsudo usermod -aG incus-admin $USER\r\nincus admin init<\/pre>\n
If you want to run virtual machines too and not just containers:<\/p>\n
sudo apt install qemu-system -y<\/pre>\n
If you are planning to migrate from LXD:<\/p>\n
sudo apt install incus-tools -y<\/pre>\n
LXD<\/strong><\/p>\n
The second command (optional) enables the Web UI.<\/p>\n
sudo snap install lxd -y\r\nsudo snap set lxd ui.enable=true\r\nsudo systemctl reload snap.lxd.daemon.service\r\nsudo usermod -aG lxd $USER\r\nsudo lxd init<\/pre>\n
Note:<\/span><\/strong> Adding your user to the lxd group is optional but recommended, as it allows managing containers without using sudo each time. A logout and login may be required for the group change to take effect.<\/span><\/p>\n
WEB UI SETUP<\/strong><\/p>\n
The Web UI is only available from LXD 5.14<\/strong> or newer. Navigate to https:\/\/127.0.0.1:8443\/<\/strong> from the local machine, or use the network address if connecting remotely:<\/p>\n
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Completed!<\/p>\n
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MOST POPULAR COMMANDS<\/strong><\/p>\n
lxc<\/code> and incus<\/code> can pretty much do the same thing the same way in the examples below.<\/p>\n