lxcstart

lxc-start is a command-line utility within the Linux Containers (LXC) project used to start an existing container. It reads the container’s configuration file (typically located in the container’s directory, such as /var/lib/lxc/NAME/config) and initializes the container’s namespaces, cgroups, and root filesystem, then launches the container’s initial process. The tool is commonly invoked as lxc-start, and in some references it may be described as lxcstart.

When started, lxc-start coordinates the setup required for container isolation and process execution within the Linux kernel’s namespaces and cgroups. Depending on the options, the container can be run in the foreground for debugging or detached as a background daemon. The command relies on the configuration to determine resource limits, namespace mappings, and the command that starts inside the container.

Typical usage involves specifying the target container by name and may include options controlling daemonization, logging, and the location of configuration files. For example, users can direct where to log and how verbose the output should be, as well as which container to operate on. The exact set of options varies by LXC version.

LXC provides a suite of related tools for managing containers, including lxc-stop, lxc-destroy, lxc-attach, and lxc-info. lxc-start interacts with the LXC kernel modules to bring containers from a stopped or created state into an running state, enabling isolated, lightweight process execution on a host.