lxc-lxd

Identity

• LXC: low-level Linux container tooling (cgroups + namespaces + bind mounts); CLI is lxc-* (lxc-start, lxc-ls, etc.)
• LXD: higher-level daemon on top of LXC; exposes a REST API; CLI is lxc (confusingly named); managed via lxd service
• Incus: community fork of LXD after Canonical relicensed LXD to proprietary-friendly CLA in 2023; API-compatible, same lxc CLI shape but binary is incus
• Daemon: lxd.service (or incus.service for Incus); snap-packaged LXD uses snap.lxd.daemon
• CLI: lxc for LXD; incus for Incus; lxc-* utilities for bare LXC
• Storage root (snap LXD): /var/snap/lxd/common/lxd/; (deb LXD): /var/lib/lxd/; (Incus): /var/lib/incus/
• Unix socket (snap LXD): /var/snap/lxd/common/lxd/unix.socket; (deb/Incus): /var/lib/lxd/unix.socket or /run/incus/unix.socket
• Config: runtime config via lxc config set; profiles in daemon database; no flat config files to edit
• Install: snap install lxd (Ubuntu recommended), apt install lxd (deb), or apt install incus for Incus

Key Operations