Managing LXD containers – advanced options

In this recipe, we will learn about some advanced options provided by LXD.

How to do it…

Follow these steps to deal with LXD containers:

1. Sometimes, you may need to clone a container and have it running as a separate system. LXD provides a copy command to create such clones:

   $ lxc copy c1 c2   # lxc copy source destination
   

   You can also create a temporary copy with the --ephemeral flag and it will be deleted after one use.

2. Similarly, you can create a container, configure it as per you requirements, have it stored as an image, and use it to create more containers. The lxc publish command allows you to export existing containers as a new image. The resulting image will contain all modifications from the original container:

   $ lxc publish c1 --alias nginx   # after installing nginx
   

   The container to be published should be in the stopped state. Alternatively, you can use the --force flag to publish a running container, which will internally stop the container...