How to use an instance
See also: Instance
This document demonstrates various ways to use an instance.
Open a shell prompt inside an instance
See also:
shell
To open a shell prompt on an existing instance (e.g. loving-duck), run the command multipass shell loving-duck. The output will be similar to the following:
Welcome to Ubuntu 20.04.4 LTS (GNU/Linux 5.4.0-109-generic x86_64)
* Documentation: https://help.ubuntu.com
* Management: https://landscape.canonical.com
* Support: https://ubuntu.com/advantage
System information as of Tue May 31 14:26:40 -03 2022
System load: 0.0 Processes: 113
Usage of /: 28.8% of 4.67GB Users logged in: 0
Memory usage: 21% IPv4 address for ens3: 10.49.93.241
Swap usage: 0%
1 update can be applied immediately.
To see these additional updates run: apt list --upgradable
The list of available updates is more than a week old.
To check for new updates run: sudo apt update
To run a command as administrator (user "root"), use "sudo <command>".
See "man sudo_root" for details.
ubuntu@loving-duck:~$
If the instance loving-duck is Stopped or Suspended, it will be started automatically.
If no argument is given to the shell command, Multipass will open a shell prompt on the primary instance (and also create it, if it doesn’t exist).
As shown in the example above, an Ubuntu prompt is displayed as a result of the shell command, where you can run commands inside the instance.
To end the session, use logout, exit, or the Ctrl-D shortcut.
This is also available on the GUI.
Run a command inside an instance
See also:
exec
To run a single command inside an instance, you don’t need to open a shell. The command can be directly called from the host using multipass exec. For example, the command multipass exec loving-duck -- pwd returns:
/home/ubuntu
In the example, /home/ubuntu is the output of invoking the pwd command on the loving-duck instance.
Start an instance
See also:
start
An existing instance that is in Stopped or Suspended status can be started with the multipass start command; for example:
multipass start loving-duck
You can start multiple instances at once, specifying the instance names in the command line:
multipass start loving-duck devoted-lionfish sensible-shark
To start all existing instances at once, use the --all option:
multipass start --all
If no options are specified, the multipass start command starts the primary instance, creating it if needed.
This is also available on the GUI.
Suspend an instance
See also:
suspend
An instance can be suspended with the command:
multipass suspend loving-duck
You can suspend multiple instances at once, specifying the instance names in the command line:
multipass suspend loving-duck devoted-lionfish sensible-shark
To suspend all running instances at once, use the --all option:
multipass suspend --all
If no options are specified, the multipass suspend command suspends the primary instance, if it exists and is running.
Stop an instance
See also:
stop
A running, not suspended instance is stopped with the command:
multipass stop loving-duck
You can stop multiple instances at once, specifying the instance names in the command line:
multipass stop loving-duck devoted-lionfish sensible-shark
To stop all running instances at once, use the --all option:
$ multipass stop --all
If no options are specified, the multipass stop command stops the primary instance, if it exists and is running.
Stop an instance forcefully
If the multipass stop command doesn’t work, you can use the --force argument to force the instance to shut down immediately. This is particularly useful when the virtual machine is in a non-responsive, unknown or suspended state.
multipass stop --force
The stop --force command is analogous to unplugging the power cord from a physical machine – it immediately halts all computing activities. This may be necessary under certain circumstances but can potentially lead to data loss or corruption.
This command is also available on the Multipass GUI.
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