Install Ubuntu containers on Archlinux using LXC

Install the lxc and the debootstrap packages:

# pacman -Sy lxc debootstrap

Install an Ubuntu container

I will install Ubuntu 16. Therfore, I will use the xenial release. If you want to install Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, use the precise release.

I create an LXC container named ubuntu-16 with the release xenial and the architecture amd64:

# lxc-create --name=ubuntu-16 --template=download -- --dist ubuntu --release xenial --arch amd64

Setup the network

Install the libvirt package because we need the virsh program. Also, we will need ebtables and dnsmasq for the default NAT/DHCP networking. (*)

# pacman -Sy libvirt ebtables dnsmasq

Start and enable the libvirtd daemon.

# systemctl start libvirtd
# systemctl enable libvirtd

Print the virtual network configuration default provided by libvirtd.

# virsh net-dumpxml default
<network>
  <name>default</name>
  <uuid>f9f9128b-8183-4c2c-af56-23cd52100d3a</uuid>
  <forward mode='nat'/>
  <bridge name='virbr0' stp='on' delay='0'/>
  <mac address='52:54:00:8d:ea:7f'/>
  <ip address='192.168.122.1' netmask='255.255.255.0'>
    <dhcp>
      <range start='192.168.122.2' end='192.168.122.254'/>
    </dhcp>
  </ip>
</network>

Edit the file /var/lib/lxc/ubuntu-16/config to set-up the network configuration of the container:

lxc.net.0.type = veth
lxc.net.0.flags = up
lxc.net.0.name = eth0
lxc.net.0.link = virbr0

Setup the virb0 interface:

# virsh net-start default

Set-up the ubuntu password

sudo lxc-attach -n ubuntu-16
# passwd ubuntu

Type ctrl-d to detach to the session.

Install openssh-server

sudo lxc-start -F -n ubuntu-16

Connect as ubuntu and install openssh-server as follow:

sudo apt install openssh-server

Start the Ubuntu container

Start the Ubuntu container as follow:

# lxc-start --name ubuntu-16

Get the IP of the Ubuntu container:

# lxc-ls -f ubuntu-16 -F IPV4

You can stop the Ubuntu container as follow:

# lxc-stop --name ubuntu-16

Set a static IP for the container

Edit the default virtual network provided by libvirtd to restrict the DHCP range from 192.168.122.2-192.168.122.254 to 192.168.122.10-192.122.254.

# virsh net-edit default

as follow:

<network>
  <name>default</name>
  <uuid>bd881c3e-406f-40bb-84ed-b09e68f210e2</uuid>
  <forward mode='nat'/>
  <bridge name='virbr0' stp='on' delay='0'/>
  <mac address='52:54:00:2d:23:30'/>
  <ip address='192.168.122.1' netmask='255.255.255.0'>
    <dhcp>
      <range start='192.168.122.10' end='192.168.122.254'/>
    </dhcp>
  </ip>
</network>

Restart the libvirtd daemon:

# systemctl restart libvirtd

Stop the the xenial container:

# lxc-stop --name ubuntu-16

Add the following line in the file /var/lib/lxc/ubuntu-16/config:

lxc.net.0.ipv4.address = 192.168.122.2/24

Restart the ubuntu-16 container.

Connect to the container

# ssh [email protected]

Use the password ubuntu to connect.

manoj23/ubuntu-on-archlinux-using-lxc.md