How to Install and Use Multipass on Ubuntu

Multipass is Canonical’s lightweight virtual machine manager that launches Ubuntu VMs with a single command. It’s designed for developers who want a fresh Ubuntu environment quickly.

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Prerequisites

• Ubuntu 16.04+
• Root or sudo access
• Internet connection
• KVM-enabled kernel (Linux)
• At least 2GB RAM available
• 5GB free disk space

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Method 1: Install via Snap (Recommended)

Step 1: Install Snapd (if needed)

sudo apt update && sudo apt install snapd -y

On Ubuntu 16.04+, snapd is already pre-installed.

Step 2: Install Multipass

sudo snap install multipass

Step 3: Verify Installation

multipass version

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Method 2: Install Edge Version

sudo snap install multipass --edge

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Launch Your First VM

Launch Default VM

multipass launch --name myvm

This launches the current Ubuntu LTS with a random name.

Launch Specific Version

multipass launch 22.04 --name jammy-vm
multipass launch 24.04 --name noble-vm

Launch with Custom Resources

multipass launch --name dev-vm --mem 4G --disk 20G --cpus 2

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Basic Commands

List VMs

multipass list

Connect to VM Shell

multipass shell myvm

Or use:

multipass exec myvm -- bash

Run Command in VM

multipass exec myvm -- sudo apt update

multipass exec myvm -- ls -la

Stop/Start VM

multipass stop myvm
multipass start myvm

Delete VM

multipass delete myvm
multipass purge

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Find Available Images

multipass find

Shows available Ubuntu images:

• lts – Current LTS
• 22.04 – Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
• 24.04 – Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
• daily – Daily build

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Using cloud-init

Pass a cloud-init config to customize VMs on launch:

multipass launch --name custom-vm --cloud-init config.yaml

Example cloud-init Config

#cloud-config
packages:
  - git
  - curl
  - vim
users:
  - name: developer
    sudo: ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL
    shell: /bin/bash

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Using Primary Instance

Multipass assigns special treatment to the primary instance:

multipass launch --name primary

• Files from ~/CloudDocs appear in the VM
• Hotkey access to VM shell

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Configure Driver

Set Default Driver

sudo multipass set local.driver=qemu

Available drivers:

• qemu – Default on Linux (KVM)
• libvirt – Use existing libvirt setup
• virtualbox – VirtualBox backend

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Manage Multipass

Check Status

systemctl status multipass

Restart Service

sudo systemctl restart multipass

Get Aliases

multipass aliases

Get Info

multipass info myvm

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Mount Files

Share directories between host and VM:

multipass mount /path/on/host myvm:/path/in/vm

multipass mount ~/projects myvm:/home/ubuntu/projects

Unmount

multipass umount myvm:/path/in/vm

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Useful Workflows

Create Dev Environment

multipass launch --name dev --mem 4G --disk 40G --cpus 4
multipass exec dev -- sudo apt update
multipass exec dev -- sudo apt install -y docker.io docker-compose

Clone VM

multipass launch --name clone --disk 10G < original.qcow2

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Troubleshooting

KVM Not Available

sudo modprobe kvm
sudo modprobe kvm_intel  # for Intel
sudo modprobe kvm_amd    # for AMD

VM Stuck

multipass stop -f myvm
multipass start myvm

Permission Denied

sudo usermod -aG kvm $USER
sudo usermod -aG libvirt $USER

Clean Up

multipass clean

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Uninstall Multipass

sudo snap remove multipass

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Conclusion

Multipass is now installed! You can now:

• Launch Ubuntu VMs with a single command
• Access VM shell instantly
• Use cloud-init for customization
• Mount directories between host and VM
• Create dev environments quickly