Multipass

Multipass provides cloud-style virtual machines (VMs) on a variety of platforms and host operating systems. Multipass is popular among developers for efficient local testing. When run on macOS with Apple Silicon or on Linux with a Raspberry Pi 5, Multipass provides a similar experience to cloud instances. A local, software-compatible equivalent of an Arm cloud instance with good performance is an important option for developers.

Multipass provides a clear command line interface (CLI) to easily start virtual machine instances, do development tasks, and clean the VMs from your computer.

Multipass uses the terms virtual machine and instance synonymously. In this guide, you’ll learn how to create a compatible Ubuntu Linux environment for working on cloud instances.

Download Multipass for macOS

Download Multipass for macOS from GitHub:

    

        
        
wget https://github.com/canonical/multipass/releases/download/v1.16.2/multipass-1.16.2+mac-Darwin.pkg

    

Install Multipass on macOS

Install the download using the package command:

    

        
        
sudo installer -pkg multipass-1.16.2+mac-Darwin.pkg -target /

    

The following getting started instructions use the command line interface. If you prefer to use the graphical interface, start it from the macOS Launchpad. The following image shows the initial screen. You can use the UI to create, start, and stop virtual machines.

Multipass is now installed. You can now get Started with Multipass .

Install Multipass on Arm Linux

Multipass can be used on Arm Linux computers such as the Raspberry Pi 5.

Running Multipass on Linux requires the KVM hypervisor. KVM does not typically work on virtual machines. It requires bare metal.

The following instructions have been tested on a Raspberry Pi 5 running Raspberry Pi OS and Ubuntu.

Check if KVM is available

Install and run the kvm-ok command to confirm KVM is available.

Install kvm-ok on Debian-based Linux distributions:

    

        
        
sudo apt install cpu-checker -y

    

To check if KVM is available, run:

    

        
        
sudo kvm-ok

    

If KVM is available, the output is similar to:

    

        
        INFO: /dev/kvm exists
KVM acceleration can be used

        
    

If KVM is not available, the output is similar to:

    

        
        INFO: /dev/kvm does not exist
HINT:   sudo modprobe kvm
INFO: For more detailed results, you should run this as root
HINT:   sudo /usr/sbin/kvm-ok

        
    

If KVM is available, proceed with the install.

Install the Snap daemon on Arm Linux

You might need to install the Snap daemon, snapd, before installing Multipass.

If you aren’t sure if it is running, execute the command:

    

        
        
snap version

    

If the command is found and version information is printed, then snapd is running.

If you need to install snapd, run:

    

        
        
sudo apt install snapd -y

    

    

        
        
sudo snap install multipass

    

Get started with Multipass

Multipass is now installed. You can try it out.

Confirm Multipass is installed

To confirm multipass is installed, run:

    

        
        
multipass version

    

If the multipass command is not found, add /snap/bin to the Bash search path:

    

        
        
export PATH=$PATH:/snap/bin

    

List available Ubuntu images

Multipass runs Ubuntu images. The last three long-term support (LTS) versions are available. A Docker environment with Portainer is also available, as well as a few other images.

To see the available images, run the find command. Any of the listed images can be used to create a new instance.

    

        
        
multipass find

    

The output from find is similar to:

    

        
        Image                       Aliases           Version          Description
22.04                       jammy             20251001         Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
24.04                       noble,lts         20251001         Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
25.04                       plucky            20251003         Ubuntu 25.04
daily:25.10                 questing,devel    20251015         Ubuntu 25.10

Blueprint (deprecated)      Aliases           Version          Description
anbox-cloud-appliance                         latest           Anbox Cloud Appliance
charm-dev                                     latest           A development and testing environment for charmers
docker                                        0.4              A Docker environment with Portainer and related tools
jellyfin                                      latest           Jellyfin is a Free Software Media System that puts you in control of managing and streaming your media.
minikube                                      latest           minikube is local Kubernetes
ros2-humble                                   0.1              A development and testing environment for ROS 2 Humble.
ros2-jazzy                                    0.1              A development and testing environment for ROS 2 Jazzy.

        
    

Launch a Multipass instance

The default values for launching instances allocate 1 CPU, create a small disk (5 Gb), and limited memory (1 Gb). By default, the name of the instance is automatically assigned.

Use the following command to launch a virtual machine instance with non-default values.

    

        
        
multipass launch lts --name m1u --cpus 4 --disk 16G --memory 4G

    

After the instance is launched, the command prompt returns and the instance is running in the background.

Connect to a Multipass instance

Use the list command to identify created instances. Note the instance names as the name is used in other commands.

    

        
        
multipass list

    

To start a command line shell on a running instance, use the shell command:

    

        
        
multipass shell m1u

    

Execute a command on a Multipass instance

To run a specific command from the host on the instance, use the exec command. The command to be run comes after the --:

    

        
        
multipass exec m1u -- uname -a

    

The uname output is similar to:

    

        
        Linux m1u 6.8.0-36-generic #36-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Mon Jun 10 13:20:23 UTC 2024 aarch64 aarch64 aarch64 GNU/Linux

        
    

Print instance information

The info command prints information about the instance, including the IP address.

    

        
        
multipass info m1u

    

The output is similar to:

    

        
        Name:           m1u
State:          Running
Snapshots:      0
IPv4:           192.168.73.29
Release:        Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS
Image hash:     e380b683b0c4 (Ubuntu 24.04 LTS)
CPU(s):         4
Load:           0.00 0.03 0.01
Disk usage:     2.0GiB out of 15.4GiB
Memory usage:   355.3MiB out of 3.8GiB
Mounts:         --

        
    

Mount a host directory into a Multipass instance

To access a large number of files on the host machine without copying or transferring them into the instance, use the mount command. This command makes a host directory visible in the instance and all files can be accessed. Modifications made from inside the instance will directly change the files on the host.

For example, to mount a host directory called dev and have it appear in the instance, use the mount command:

    

        
        
multipass mount dev m1u:/home/ubuntu/dev

    

There are also options to adjust the user and group IDs as needed to avoid permission problems.

Unmount a host directory from a Multipass instance

Use the umount command to unmount the directory:

    

        
        
multipass umount m1u:/home/ubuntu/dev

    

Directories can be dynamically mounted and unmounted without stopping the instance.

Stop and start a Multipass instance

Multipass instances can be stopped and started quickly.

Stop the instance:

    

        
        
multipass stop m1u

    

After stopping the instance, the state will change to Stopped on the list command.

Start the instance:

    

        
        
multipass start m1u

    

Clean up Multipass instances

Use the delete command to delete the instance:

    

        
        
multipass delete m1u

    

After deletion, the state will change to Deleted. There is one extra level of protection to recover deleted instances before they are fully deleted.

Use the recover command to recover the deleted instance:

    

        
        
multipass recover m1u

    

Use the purge command to permanently remove all deleted instances:

    

        
        
multipass purge

    

You’re now ready to use Multipass.