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Multipass

Multipass is a lightweight VM manager developed by Canonical that allows you to run Ubuntu virtual machines quickly and easily on macOS, Linux, and Windows. It is ideal for developers who want a clean Ubuntu environment for testing or development.

What is Multipass?

Multipass is a tool for launching and managing lightweight Ubuntu virtual machines. It provides:

  • Quick VM provisioning
  • Minimal setup
  • Cross-platform support (Mac, Linux, Windows)
  • CLI commands for VM management

It is perfect for testing, development, and experimenting without affecting your host system.

Why Use Multipass?

  • Quickly spin up Ubuntu environments
  • Isolate development environments
  • Test applications in a clean OS
  • Easily create, delete, and manage multiple VMs

How Multipass Works

Multipass does not use Docker containers. Instead, it launches full Ubuntu virtual machines using the host system's hypervisor:

  • macOS: HyperKit
  • Linux: KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine)
  • Windows: Hyper-V

This provides a fully isolated operating system, unlike Docker, which uses container-based virtualization.

Installation

Mac

The recommended way to install Multipass on macOS is via Homebrew:

brew install --cask multipass

After installation, verify it with:

multipass version

You can also download the official .dmg file from the Multipass website.

And you can use the Multipass GUI app for managing your VMs visually:

Multipass App

Linux

Multipass is available for Linux distributions like Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, and CentOS. The easiest way is to use the official snap package:

sudo snap install multipass

Verify installation:

multipass version

Basic Usage

Help

multipass help

Launch a New VM

multipass launch --name my-ubuntu-vm

This will download the latest Ubuntu image and start a VM named my-ubuntu-vm.

List Running VMs

multipass list

Access a VM

multipass shell my-ubuntu-vm

Stop a VM

multipass stop my-ubuntu-vm
multipass stop --all

Delete a VM

multipass delete my-ubuntu-vm
multipass purge

Advanced Features

  • Mount Local Folders: Access local files from your VM:
multipass mount /path/to/local my-ubuntu-vm:/home/ubuntu/mounted
  • Execute Commands:
multipass exec my-ubuntu-vm -- ls /home/ubuntu
  • Specify Ubuntu Version:
multipass launch 22.04 --name ubuntu22
  • Set Resources (CPU, RAM, Disk):
multipass launch --name big-vm --cpus 4 --mem 4G --disk 20G

References