How to Install and Configure LXD on Debian 12 Bookworm

Linux containers have revolutionized the way we manage isolated application environments. While Docker is the most well-known container solution, LXD (pronounced lex-dee) offers a powerful system container and virtual machine manager that is especially well-suited for managing full Linux systems rather than just application containers. It uses LXC (Linux Containers) under the hood and provides a more user-friendly, comprehensive interface.

This guide will walk you through the installation and configuration of LXD on a Debian 12 (Bookworm) system, along with some basic usage to help you get started

1. What Is LXD?

LXD is a next-generation system container manager developed by Canonical, the makers of Ubuntu. Unlike Docker, which is focused on single-application containers, LXD offers a user experience similar to managing virtual machines, allowing you to run full Linux distributions with their own init systems.

Key features of LXD include:

• System-level containers and virtual machines
• Image management and remote image servers
• Network and storage management
• REST API for automation
• Clean and intuitive CLI

LXD uses LXC (Linux Containers) as its underlying container runtime, but provides a much richer set of features and an easier-to-use interface.

2. Prerequisites

Before installing LXD, make sure you have:

• A Debian 12 (Bookworm) system
• A non-root user with sudo privileges
• Internet connectivity

3. Step 1: Update Your System

It’s always best to start with a fully updated system to avoid package compatibility issues.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Reboot your system if any kernel updates were applied:

sudo reboot

4. Step 2: Install Snap Package Manager

LXD is best installed using Snap, Canonical’s universal package manager. Snap ensures you get the latest stable LXD version, which may not be available in Debian’s native package repositories.

First, install the Snap daemon:

sudo apt install snapd -y

Enable the Snap service:

sudo systemctl enable --now snapd

To make Snap fully functional, create a symbolic link:

sudo ln -s /var/lib/snapd/snap /snap

5. Step 3: Install LXD via Snap

Now you can install LXD:

sudo snap install lxd

This will fetch and install the latest stable version of LXD.

If you want to use the latest development version (not recommended for production), you can install:

sudo snap install lxd --edge

After installation, confirm the LXD version:

lxd --version

6. Step 4: Add Your User to the LXD Group

To run LXD commands without sudo, add your user to the lxd group:

sudo usermod -aG lxd $USER

Now log out and log back in for the changes to take effect. You can verify by running:

groups

Make sure lxd is listed.

7. Step 5: Initialize LXD

To set up your LXD environment, run:

lxd init

You’ll be prompted to answer several questions. Below is a sample walkthrough:

• Would you like to use LXD clustering? No
• Do you want to configure a new storage pool? Yes
• Name of the new storage pool: default
• Name of the storage backend to use (dir, zfs, etc.): dir (use zfs if you’re familiar with it)
• Would you like to connect to a MAAS server? No
• Would you like to create a new local network bridge? Yes
• What should the new bridge be called? lxdbr0
• Would you like LXD to be available over the network? No
• Do you want to configure the LXD daemon with metrics? Optional
• Would you like to create a new project? No

You can always reconfigure using:

lxd init --reset

8. Step 6: Launching a Container

Let’s test LXD by launching a basic container:

lxc launch images:debian/12 debian-test

This command pulls a Debian 12 image from the public LXD image server and launches it as a container named debian-test.

To see running containers:

lxc list

9. Step 7: Basic Container Management

You can interact with the container just like a lightweight VM.

Enter the container shell

lxc exec debian-test -- bash

Inside the container, you can run normal Linux commands.

Stop the container

lxc stop debian-test

Start the container

lxc start debian-test

Delete the container

lxc delete debian-test

10. Step 8: Networking and Storage Configuration

Check current networks

lxc network list

By default, LXD creates a bridge network lxdbr0 with NAT. To customize it:

lxc network edit lxdbr0

Or to create a new bridged network:

lxc network create mybridge

Configure external network access (bridged)

If you want your containers to get IPs from your LAN (not NAT), you need to configure LXD to use a bridge connected to your physical interface. This is more complex and involves creating a Linux bridge manually using Netplan or bridge-utils.

Check storage pools

lxc storage list

Add a new storage pool

lxc storage create mystorage dir

Then assign it as default for new containers:

lxc profile edit default

And update the root disk to point to mystorage.

11. Troubleshooting Tips

• Snap path issues: Ensure /snap/bin is in your $PATH. You can add it in your .bashrc or .zshrc.

  export PATH=$PATH:/snap/bin
  

• Firewall blocking traffic: Ensure that your firewall allows traffic for the bridge network (lxdbr0). Use ufw or iptables accordingly.

• LXD service not starting: Check LXD logs:

  journalctl -u snap.lxd.daemon -f
  

• Containers can’t reach the internet: Make sure lxdbr0 is configured with NAT and DNS enabled.

12. Conclusion

LXD provides a robust and powerful system container experience that closely mimics virtual machines but with much lower overhead. On Debian 12 Bookworm, although the installation process requires using Snap, it ensures you have access to the latest features and security updates.

Once LXD is installed and initialized, you can quickly launch containers, set up bridges, manage storage, and even automate deployment scenarios. It’s a fantastic tool for developers, system administrators, and anyone needing fast, isolated environments.

With its ease of use and flexibility, LXD is especially useful for testing, CI/CD pipelines, and even lightweight production workloads.