multipass

Multipass is a lightweight virtualization tool designed to provide Ubuntu virtual machines with minimal configuration. It offers a cross-platform command-line interface that lets users create, manage, and connect to small Ubuntu instances on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Instances are based on Ubuntu cloud images and can be customized with memory, CPU, and disk size at launch, with options to resize later. Cloud-init support allows initial provisioning such as user creation, package installation, and script execution through user-data.

Multipass operates with host-appropriate virtualization backends: Hyper-V on Windows, HyperKit on macOS, and KVM/QEMU on Linux. This approach aims to deliver fast, disposable VMs without the overhead of full desktop virtualization. The CLI provides commands such as launch, list, info, shell, transfer, mount, stop, delete, and purge to manage lifecycle and access.

Typical workflows involve launching a named instance, then connecting to it via a shell or executing commands remotely. For example, a user might run a command to start an instance, use multipass shell to access it, or use multipass transfer to copy files. Mounting host directories and adjusting resource allocation enable convenient development and testing setups without manual VM configuration.

Use cases for Multipass include quick development environments, isolated testing across different Ubuntu versions, and lightweight provisioned environments for continuous integration. It emphasizes reproducibility and simplicity, offering a minimal layer of virtualization focused on running Ubuntu workloads with predictable behavior across platforms.