Multipass is a lightweight VM manager from Canonical that lets you create, access, and delete Ubuntu VMs with just a few commands. It’s especially handy for spinning up Kubernetes lab nodes, OpenStack test setups, or quick throwaway dev environments.
Environment: Ubuntu / Linux (snap-enabled distributions); macOS and Windows are also supported
[01] What is Multipass?
Multipass is a lightweight VM tool focused on quickly creating and running Ubuntu VMs. On Linux it can use KVM/QEMU as its backend, so performance is close to KVM, but it’s far simpler to use.
| Tool |
Role |
| VirtualBox / VMware |
General-purpose, GUI-centric VM management |
| libvirt / KVM |
Powerful virtualization management for Linux servers |
| Multipass |
Create/delete Ubuntu VMs in just a few commands |
It’s less about “better performance” and more about the ease of quickly creating and using Ubuntu VMs. It handles image preparation, cloud-init, and networking automatically.
[02] Installation
On Ubuntu you can install it with a single snap command.
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sudo snap install multipass
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Check the version after installing.
[03] Basic Usage
3-1. Create a VM (launch)
Specify just a name to create an Ubuntu VM with default specs.
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multipass launch --name test-vm
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3-2. List VMs (list)
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Name State IPv4 Image
test-vm Running 10.x.x.x Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
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3-3. Open a shell (shell)
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multipass shell test-vm
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3-4. Run a command only (exec)
You can run a command directly from the host without opening a shell.
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multipass exec test-vm -- lsb_release -a
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3-5. Stop / Start / Delete
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multipass stop test-vm # stop
multipass start test-vm # start
multipass delete test-vm # delete (moves to trash, recoverable)
multipass purge # permanently remove deleted VMs from disk
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delete only marks the VM as “to be deleted.” To actually reclaim disk space, you must also run purge.
[04] Creating a VM with Specific Resources
You can specify CPU, memory, and disk directly.
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multipass launch --cpus 2 --memory 4G --disk 20G --name k8s-node
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| Option |
Meaning |
--cpus |
Number of vCPUs to allocate |
--memory |
Memory size (e.g., 4G) |
--disk |
Disk size (e.g., 20G) |
--name |
VM name |
If you need a specific Ubuntu version, run multipass find to see available images, then specify the version like multipass launch 22.04.
[05] Building Kubernetes Lab Nodes
One of the most common uses for Multipass is spinning up several Ubuntu nodes locally to test a cluster without any physical servers.
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multipass launch --name k8s-master --cpus 2 --memory 4G --disk 30G
multipass launch --name k8s-worker1 --cpus 2 --memory 4G --disk 30G
multipass launch --name k8s-worker2 --cpus 2 --memory 4G --disk 30G
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After creating three nodes, shell into each VM and set up the cluster with kubeadm or similar.
[06] Automating Initial Setup with cloud-init
You can predefine what runs on the VM’s first boot using a cloud-init YAML file. This is useful for automating package installation, adding users, and so on.
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# init.yaml
packages:
- docker.io
- git
runcmd:
- systemctl enable --now docker
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multipass launch --name dev-vm --cloud-init init.yaml
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cloud-init also works with libvirt/KVM, but you have to configure it yourself. Multipass handles it with a single --cloud-init option.
[07] Sharing Files with the Host
7-1. Mount a directory (mount)
Mount a host directory inside the VM.
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multipass mount ~/project test-vm:/home/ubuntu/project
multipass umount test-vm # unmount
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7-2. Transfer files (transfer)
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multipass transfer file.txt test-vm:/home/ubuntu/
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[08] Multipass vs libvirt/KVM
| Item |
Multipass |
libvirt/KVM |
| Purpose |
Fast Ubuntu VM creation, dev/test |
General-purpose server virtualization |
| Difficulty |
Low |
Medium to high |
| VM creation |
Very simple |
Manual configuration required |
| Ubuntu cloud image |
Handled automatically |
Usually prepared manually |
| cloud-init |
Easy to use |
Possible, but configured manually |
| Fine network control |
Limited |
Very powerful |
| Fine storage control |
Limited |
Powerful |
| Production fit |
Suited for dev/test |
Suited for production/advanced virtualization |
| Performance |
Close to KVM, depending on backend |
Uses KVM directly |
For fine-grained control with libvirt/KVM, you typically work with commands like these directly.
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virsh list --all
virt-install ...
virsh edit <vm>
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[09] Summary — When to Use What
| Situation |
Recommendation |
| A few Kubernetes lab nodes |
Multipass |
| Ubuntu VMs for OpenStack-Helm testing |
Multipass |
| Quickly spinning up a temporary dev environment |
Multipass |
| SR-IOV / PCI passthrough / NUMA / hugepage |
libvirt/KVM |
| OVS bridge, provider network experiments |
libvirt/KVM |
| Validating OpenStack Nova/libvirt internals |
libvirt/KVM |
Remember the essentials. Need an Ubuntu VM fast? Use Multipass. Need deep control over networking, storage, or hardware virtualization? Use libvirt/KVM. Multipass for dev and test, libvirt/KVM for production and advanced virtualization.
