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How to Create and Launch LXC Linux Containers

with LXC Commands
by KARTHIKEYAN SADHASIVAM on JANUARY 27, 2016

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LXC Containers are a very quick way to create a psuedo virtual environment.

In the previous LXC article, we explained how to install and configure LXC linux
containers.

In this tutorial, we’ll explain how to create a new Linux container, start the
container, and login to the LXC virtual console to use the new container.

For demonstration, we’ll be creating a CentOS LXC virtual container in this

tutorial, but you can create virtual container for pretty much any Linux distro that
you want.

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1. LXC Container Templates

Linux Containers LXC by default provides container templates for several popular
linux distros. The following are some of the LXC templates that you can use
immediately.

CentOS
Ubuntu
Fedora
OpenSUSE
Gentoo
Debian
Oracle Linux
ArchLinux

All available LXC templates are located under /usr/local/share/lxc/templates

directory.

# ls -1 /usr/local/share/lxc/templates

lxc-alpine

lxc-altlinux

lxc-archlinux

lxc-busybox

lxc-centos
lxc-cirros

lxc-debian

lxc-download

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lxc-fedora

lxc-gentoo

lxc-openmandriva

lxc-opensuse

lxc-oracle

lxc-plamo

lxc-sshd

lxc-ubuntu

lxc-ubuntu-cloud

2. Create a Container using lxc-create

To create the container, use lxc-create command as shown below.

In the following command:

–n option indicates the container name

–t option indicates the template that is used to create the container. In this
example, we are using lxc-centos template to create a CentOS container.

In this example, this will create the CentOS container with centos minimal install.

This will download all the packages that are required to run the CentOS minimal
(for example, approximately around 140 packages), and install them as part of the
MyCentOSContainer1 container

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# lxc-create -n MyCentOSContainer1 -t /usr/local/share/lxc/templates/lxc-centos

/usr/local/share/lxc/templates/lxc-centos

Host CPE ID from /etc/system-release-cpe: cpe:/o:centos:linux:6:GA

dnsdomainname: Unknown host

Checking cache download in /usr/local/var/cache/lxc/centos/x86_64/6/rootfs ...

Downloading centos minimal ...

...

...

Installing : libgcc-4.4.7-16.el6.x86_64 1/142

Installing : setup-2.8.14-20.el6_4.1.noarch 2/142

Installing : filesystem-2.4.30-3.el6.x86_64 3/142

...

Verifying : gzip-1.3.12-22.el6.x86_64 139/142

Verifying : mingetty-1.08-5.el6.x86_64 140/142

Verifying : libxml2-2.7.6-20.el6_7.1.x86_64 141/142

Verifying : 1:findutils-4.4.2-6.el6.x86_64 142/142

...

Download complete.

Copy /usr/local/var/cache/lxc/centos/x86_64/6/rootfs to /usr/local/var/lib/lxc/MyCentOSCon

Copying rootfs to /usr/local/var/lib/lxc/MyCentOSContainer1/rootfs ...

3. Root Password for the LXC Container

The root password for the LXC container is stored under: /usr/local/var/lib
/lxc/{container-name}/tmp_root_pass

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So, in the above example, for the LXC container that we just created, temporary
root password is under the following:

# cat /usr/local/var/lib/lxc/MyCentOSContainer1/tmp_root_pass

Root-MyCentOSContainer1-pf7qMB

You can change the root password of your container at any time, even if your
container is turned off by using chroot from the control host as shown below.

# chroot /usr/local/var/lib/lxc/MyCentOSContainer1/rootfs passwd

Changing password for user root.

New password:

Retype new password:

passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully.

4. Start the LXC Linux Container using lxc-start

Once the container is created, use lxc-start as shown below to start your container.

# lxc-start -n MyCentOSContainer1

lxc-start: cgfs.c: handle_cgroup_settings: 2077 Device or resource busy - failed to set me

CentOS release 6.6 (Final)

Kernel 2.6.32-431.el6.x86_64 on an x86_64

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MyCentOSContainer1 login: init: rcS main process (8) killed by TERM signal

Entering non-interactive startup

Bringing up loopback interface: [ OK ]

Bringing up interface eth0:

Determining IP information for eth0... done. [ OK ]

Starting system logger: [ OK ]

Mounting filesystems: [ OK ]

Generating SSH2 RSA host key: [ OK ]

Generating SSH1 RSA host key: [ OK ]

Generating SSH2 DSA host key: [ OK ]

Starting sshd: [ OK ]

CentOS release 6.6 (Final)

Kernel 2.6.32-431.el6.x86_64 on an x86_64

MyCentOSContainer1 login:

If you get the following “container failed to start” error message, then something is
wrong in your configuration.

# lxc-start -n MyCentOSContainer1

lxc-start: lxc_start.c: main: 344 The container failed to start.

lxc-start: lxc_start.c: main: 346 To get more details, run the container in foreground mod

lxc-start: lxc_start.c: main: 348 Additional information can be obtained by setting the --

To find-out exactly what is wrong with your configuration, run the LXC container

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in the foreground using the -F option as shown below.

If you get the following, “failed to attach to bridge”, “failed to create netdev”,
“failed to create the network” error message, then bridge adapter is not configured
properly on your system.

Check the ifcfg-br0 settings that we mentioned in our earlier LXC Linux Container
setup article, to make sure you have the bridge configuration setup properly and
working.

# lxc-start -F -n MyCentOSContainer1

lxc-start: conf.c: instantiate_veth: 2796 failed to attach 'veth8VPW29' to the bridge 'lxc

lxc-start: conf.c: lxc_create_network: 3079 failed to create netdev

lxc-start: start.c: lxc_spawn: 935 failed to create the network

lxc-start: start.c: __lxc_start: 1192 failed to spawn 'MyCentOSContainer1'

lxc-start: lxc_start.c: main: 344 The container failed to start.

lxc-start: lxc_start.c: main: 348 Additional information can be obtained by setting the --

5. View Container Info using lxc-info

To display detailed information about your container, use lxc-info command as
shown below.

# lxc-info -n MyCentOSContainer1

Name: MyCentOSContainer1

State: RUNNING

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PID: 7696

IP: 192.168.100.101

CPU use: 1.61 seconds

BlkIO use: 32.00 KiB

Memory use: 2.63 MiB

Link: vethLNI1UH

TX bytes: 1.98 KiB

RX bytes: 46.08 KiB

Total bytes: 48.06 KiB

6. Stop LXC Linux Container using lxc-stop

To stop your LXC linux container use lxc-stop as shown below, and specify the
container name that you like to stop.

# lxc-stop -n MyCentOSContainer1

7. Clone an Existing Container using lxc-clone

Cloning is useful when you want to take a snapshot of the old container before you
make any changes to the configuration on the container. You can use this as a
simple backup method for container configuration.

Cloning the container can be done using lxc-clone command as shown below. In
this case, the new container name is MyCentOSContainer2

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# lxc-clone -o MyCentOSContainer1 -n MyCentOSContainer2

Created container MyCentOSContainer2 as copy of MyCentOSContainer1

8. Delete an Existing Container using lxc-destory

To delete an existing container, use lxc-destroy command as shown below.

# lxc-destroy -n MyCentOSContainer2

9. Connect to LXC Linux Container Console

To connect to the console of the container, use the following lxc-console
command.

# lxc-console -n MyCentOSContainer1

Connected to tty 1

Type Ctrl+a q to exit the console, Ctrl+a Ctrl+a to enter Ctrl+a itself

CentOS release 6.6 (Final)

Kernel 2.6.32-431.el6.x86_64 on an x86_64

MyCentOSContainer1 login:

10. Change LXC Configurations using lxc-config

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To change the LXC configuration, you can use lxc-config command.

First, use lxc-config -l option, which will just display all the available
configurations as shown below.

# lxc-config -l

lxc.default_config

lxc.lxcpath

lxc.bdev.lvm.vg

lxc.bdev.lvm.thin_pool

lxc.bdev.zfs.root

lxc.cgroup.use

lxc.cgroup.pattern

Next, use lxc.default_config option as shown below to view information about

each configuration file and its associated parameters.

# lxc-config lxc.default_config

/usr/local/etc/lxc/default.conf

# cat /usr/local/etc/lxc/default.conf

lxc.network.type = veth

lxc.network.link = virbr0

lxc.network.flags = up

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The following command will display the LXC patch where all the containers are
stored.

# lxc-config lxc.lxcpath

/usr/local/var/lib/lxc

As we see below, we see the two containers that we created under this directory.

# cd /usr/local/var/lib/lxc

# ls

MyCentOSContainer1 MyCentOSContainer2

Under the container directory, you’ll see the config file, which contains all the
basic configuration information for that particular container as shown below.

# cd /usr/local/var/lib/lxc/MyCentOSContainer1

# vi config

lxc.network.type = veth

lxc.network.link = virbr0

lxc.network.hwaddr = fb:bb:f2:87:e8:17

lxc.network.flags = up

lxc.rootfs = /usr/local/var/lib/lxc/MyCentOSContainer1/rootfs

lxc.include = /usr/local/share/lxc/config/centos.common.conf

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How to Create and Launch LXC Linux Containers with LXC Commands
lxc.arch = x86_64
lxc.utsname = MyCentOSContainer1
Tweet Like 0 > Add your comment
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How to Create and Launch LXC Linux Containers with LXC Commands https://www.thegeekstuff.com/2016/01/create-lxc-containers/

Tagged as: Chroot LXC Container, lxc-clone Command Examples, lxc-config Command Examples, lxc-console Command Examples,

lxc-create Command Examples, lxc-destroy Command Examples, lxc-info Command Examples, lxc-start Command Examples, lxc-

stop Command Examples

{ 8 comments… add one }

Raghuvamsan January 28, 2016, 8:18 am

Thanks ..I searched the right document for lxc and found one.. Keep
posting more in containers ..good work of you continues ..

LINK

Scott Vargovich January 28, 2016, 9:31 am

Ramesh,

I set this up on Arch Linux and was trying to login using the ‘lxc-console -n
MyCentOSContainer1’ command. I tried logging in using both ‘root’ and ‘admin’ to
login without success. I’m stuck on this step. Please help.

Scott

13 of 23 6/13/21, 12:51
How to Create and Launch LXC Linux Containers with LXC Commands https://www.thegeekstuff.com/2016/01/create-lxc-containers/

LINK

shatayu January 31, 2016, 4:28 am

Thanks for documentation, can you please provide more details on

templates.
Like from where we can get multiple type of templates which we can add in or
implement with LXC.

LINK

shatayu January 31, 2016, 4:29 am

Also provide us the pros and cons of LXC vs Docker

Thanks

LINK

Ethan zhang February 1, 2016, 9:36 pm

clearly expressed and instructive.

LINK

14 of 23 6/13/21, 12:51
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Jesus February 3, 2016, 3:59 pm

Hi Ramesh,

I was following this tutorial but i got isue when

lxc-start -n MyCentOSContainer1

and the trace was, any idea of what happened here?

lxc-start: utils.c: open_without_symlink: 1626 No such file or directory – Error

examining fuse in /usr/local/lib/lxc/rootfs/sys/fs/fuse/connections
lxc-start: utils.c: open_without_symlink: 1626 No such file or directory – Error
examining cgroup in /usr/local/lib/lxc/rootfs/sys/fs/cgroup
lxc-start: cgfs.c: cgroupfs_mount_cgroup: 1372 No such file or directory – could
not mount tmpfs to /sys/fs/cgroup in the container
lxc-start: conf.c: lxc_mount_auto_mounts: 866 No such file or directory – error
mounting /sys/fs/cgroup
lxc-start: conf.c: lxc_setup: 3936 failed to setup the automatic mounts for
‘MyCentOSContainer1’
lxc-start: start.c: do_start: 717 failed to setup the container
lxc-start: sync.c: __sync_wait: 51 invalid sequence number 1. expected 2
lxc-start: start.c: __lxc_start: 1192 failed to spawn ‘MyCentOSContainer1’
lxc-start: lxc_start.c: main: 344 The container failed to start.
lxc-start: lxc_start.c: main: 348 Additional information can be obtained by setting
the –logfile and –logpriority options.

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LINK

Anshul June 21, 2016, 9:15 am

Hi Jesus/Ramesh,
I am getting same error , are you able to solve this problem if yes then please help
me out. I am new to linux.
lxc-start: cgfs.c: handle_cgroup_settings: 2091 Device or resource busy – failed to
set memory.use_hierarchy to 1; continuing
lxc-start: cgfs.c: handle_cgroup_settings: 2091 Device or resource busy – failed to
set memory.use_hierarchy to 1; continuing
lxc-start: utils.c: open_without_symlink: 1626 No such file or directory – Error
examining fuse in /usr/local/lib/lxc/rootfs/sys/fs/fuse/connections
lxc-start: utils.c: open_without_symlink: 1626 No such file or directory – Error
examining cgroup in /usr/local/lib/lxc/rootfs/sys/fs/cgroup
lxc-start: cgfs.c: cgroupfs_mount_cgroup: 1372 No such file or directory – could
not mount tmpfs to /sys/fs/cgroup in the container
lxc-start: conf.c: lxc_mount_auto_mounts: 866 No such file or directory – error
mounting /sys/fs/cgroup
lxc-start: conf.c: lxc_setup: 3936 failed to setup the automatic mounts for
‘dmszone’
lxc-start: start.c: do_start: 717 failed to setup the container
lxc-start: sync.c: __sync_wait: 51 invalid sequence number 1. expected 2
lxc-start: start.c: __lxc_start: 1192 failed to spawn ‘dmszone’
lxc-start: lxc_start.c: main: 344 The container failed to start.
lxc-start: lxc_start.c: main: 348 Additional information can be obtained by setting
the –logfile and –logpriority options.

16 of 23 6/13/21, 12:51
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LINK

GAurav June 22, 2016, 6:53 am

Hi,

I am also getting the below error. Any help will be highly appreciated.

lxc-start: cgfs.c: handle_cgroup_settings: 2091 Device or resource busy – failed to

set memory.use_hierarchy to 1; continuing
lxc-start: cgfs.c: handle_cgroup_settings: 2091 Device or resource busy – failed to
set memory.use_hierarchy to 1; continuing
lxc-start: utils.c: open_without_symlink: 1626 No such file or directory – Error
examining cgroup in /usr/local/lib/lxc/rootfs/sys/fs/cgroup
lxc-start: cgfs.c: cgroupfs_mount_cgroup: 1372 No such file or directory – could
not mount tmpfs to /sys/fs/cgroup in the container
lxc-start: conf.c: lxc_mount_auto_mounts: 866 No such file or directory – error
mounting /sys/fs/cgroup
lxc-start: conf.c: lxc_setup: 3936 failed to setup the automatic mounts for
‘MyCentOSContainer1’
lxc-start: start.c: do_start: 717 failed to setup the container
lxc-start: sync.c: __sync_wait: 51 invalid sequence number 1. expected 2
lxc-start: start.c: __lxc_start: 1192 failed to spawn ‘MyCentOSContainer1’
lxc-start: lxc_start.c: main: 344 The container failed to start.
lxc-start: lxc_start.c: main: 348 Additional information can be obtained by setting
the –logfile and –logpriority options.
[root@DMS-Linux dmsadmin]#

17 of 23 6/13/21, 12:51
How to Create and Launch LXC Linux Containers with LXC Commands https://www.thegeekstuff.com/2016/01/create-lxc-containers/

LINK

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How to Create and Launch LXC Linux Containers with LXC Commands
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