# Multipass — Instant Ubuntu VMs on Any Desktop

> Multipass by Canonical launches Ubuntu virtual machines in seconds on macOS, Windows, and Linux, providing lightweight cloud-style development environments locally.

## Install

Save in your project root:

# Multipass — Instant Ubuntu VMs on Any Desktop

## Quick Use
```bash
# Install on macOS
brew install --cask multipass

# Launch an Ubuntu VM
multipass launch --name dev --cpus 2 --memory 4G --disk 20G

# Open a shell
multipass shell dev
```

## Introduction
Multipass is a lightweight VM manager by Canonical that lets you spin up Ubuntu instances in seconds on macOS, Windows, or Linux. It provides a cloud-init compatible workflow, making it easy to create reproducible development and testing environments without the overhead of full hypervisor management.

## What Multipass Does
- Launches Ubuntu VMs in under 30 seconds with a single command
- Supports cloud-init for automated provisioning on first boot
- Manages VM lifecycle (start, stop, delete, snapshot) through a simple CLI
- Mounts host directories into guest VMs for seamless file sharing
- Uses native hypervisors (HyperKit/QEMU on macOS, Hyper-V on Windows, KVM on Linux)

## Architecture Overview
Multipass runs a local daemon that manages VM lifecycle through the host's native hypervisor. On macOS it uses QEMU or HyperKit, on Windows it uses Hyper-V or VirtualBox, and on Linux it uses QEMU/KVM or LXD. The CLI communicates with the daemon over a local gRPC socket. Each VM boots from an official Ubuntu cloud image with cloud-init applied.

## Self-Hosting & Configuration
- Install via `brew install --cask multipass` on macOS, Chocolatey on Windows, or snap on Linux
- Set the default hypervisor with `multipass set local.driver=qemu` (or `hyperkit`, `hyperv`)
- Pass cloud-init YAML with `multipass launch --cloud-init config.yaml`
- Mount host directories with `multipass mount ~/projects dev:/home/ubuntu/projects`
- Configure default CPU, memory, and disk with `multipass set local.default-*` keys

## Key Features
- Sub-minute VM launch times using pre-built Ubuntu cloud images
- Full cloud-init support for reproducible provisioning scripts
- Native hypervisor integration for near-bare-metal performance
- Host directory mounts for seamless development workflows
- Snapshot and restore for quick environment rollbacks

## Comparison with Similar Tools
- **Lima** — Linux VMs on macOS with containerd focus; Multipass is Ubuntu-specific with tighter Canonical integration
- **Vagrant** — multi-provider VM management with Vagrantfiles; Multipass is simpler and faster for Ubuntu-only workflows
- **Docker Desktop** — container-based environments; Multipass provides full VMs when containers are not sufficient
- **UTM** — macOS VM app with GUI; Multipass is CLI-first and optimized for automated provisioning
- **WSL 2** — Windows-only Linux layer; Multipass runs full VMs across all three major operating systems

## FAQ
**Q: Which Ubuntu versions does Multipass support?**
A: Multipass supports all current Ubuntu LTS releases and the latest interim release. Use `multipass find` to list available images.

**Q: Can I run non-Ubuntu images?**
A: Multipass is designed for Ubuntu images. For other distributions, consider Lima or Vagrant.

**Q: How does Multipass compare to running Docker containers?**
A: Multipass provides full virtual machines with their own kernel, suitable for testing kernel modules, systemd services, or workloads that need a complete OS.

**Q: Does Multipass support ARM architectures?**
A: Yes. On Apple Silicon Macs, Multipass runs ARM64 Ubuntu images natively through QEMU or the Virtualization framework.

## Sources
- https://github.com/canonical/multipass
- https://multipass.run/docs

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Source: https://tokrepo.com/en/workflows/35facbfd-414b-11f1-9bc6-00163e2b0d79
Author: AI Open Source