LXD Container Setup

This guide sets up LXD containers with SSH access for Filecoin PDP deployments. Containers let you run several isolated nodes on one host, each with its own static IP and storage mounts.

This config comes from one specific environment. Change hostnames, IPs, storage paths, and other settings to match your system.

Prerequisites

Root or sudo access
32 GB+ RAM recommended
100 GB+ disk space

Install and Initialize LXD

Install LXD and add your user to the lxd group:

sudo snap install lxd
sudo usermod -aG lxd $USER
newgrp lxd
lxd --version

Initialize LXD:

lxd init

Use these values when prompted:

Prompt	Value
Clustering	no
Storage pool	yes
Storage backend	zfs
Create new ZFS pool	yes
Use existing block device	no
Size	200GiB (or more)
MAAS server	no
Network bridge	yes
Bridge name	lxdbr0
IPv4 / IPv6	auto for both
LXD over network	no
Auto-update images	yes

Verify the storage pool:

lxc storage list
zfs list

Create and Launch a Container

Create a container profile. Profiles define network and storage settings. Create one per container with a unique IP:

lxc profile create mycontainer-1
lxc profile edit mycontainer-1

Paste this config, changing the IP for each container:

name: mycontainer-1
description: Container with static IP
config:
  user.network-config: |
    version: 2
    renderer: networkd
    ethernets:
        eth0:
            dhcp4: false
            addresses:
              - 192.168.1.100/24
            gateway4: 192.168.1.1
            nameservers:
              addresses:
                - 192.168.1.1
                - 8.8.8.8
devices:
  eth0:
    name: eth0
    nictype: bridged
    parent: lxdbr0
    type: nic
  root:
    path: /
    pool: default
    type: disk

Launch the container and check its status:

lxc launch ubuntu:22.04 mycontainer-1 -p mycontainer-1
lxc list

Set Up SSH Access

Install OpenSSH in the container:

lxc exec mycontainer-1 -- bash
apt update
apt install -y openssh-server
systemctl enable ssh
systemctl start ssh
exit

Add your SSH key and test the connection:

lxc exec mycontainer-1 -- mkdir -p /root/.ssh
lxc file push ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub mycontainer-1/root/.ssh/authorized_keys
lxc exec mycontainer-1 -- chmod 700 /root/.ssh
lxc exec mycontainer-1 -- chmod 600 /root/.ssh/authorized_keys
ssh root@192.168.1.100

Create a non-root user (recommended):

lxc exec mycontainer-1 -- bash
adduser myuser
usermod -aG sudo myuser
mkdir -p /home/myuser/.ssh
cp /root/.ssh/authorized_keys /home/myuser/.ssh/
chown -R myuser:myuser /home/myuser/.ssh
exit
ssh myuser@192.168.1.100

Add Storage Mounts

Mount host directories into the container for sealing and long-term storage:

sudo mkdir -p /data/mycontainer-1/storage
lxc config device add mycontainer-1 data-storage disk source=/data/mycontainer-1/storage path=/mnt/storage
lxc exec mycontainer-1 -- df -h

Add multiple mounts the same way:

lxc config device add mycontainer-1 sealing disk source=/nvme-storage/mycontainer-1 path=/sealing
lxc config device add mycontainer-1 long-term disk source=/network-storage/mycontainer-1 path=/storage

Set Resource Limits (Optional)

lxc config set mycontainer-1 limits.memory 32GiB
lxc config set mycontainer-1 limits.cpu 8
lxc info mycontainer-1

Management Commands

# Container control
lxc start mycontainer-1
lxc stop mycontainer-1
lxc restart mycontainer-1
lxc delete mycontainer-1 --force

# Access
lxc exec mycontainer-1 -- bash
ssh myuser@192.168.1.100

# Snapshots
lxc snapshot mycontainer-1 backup-2024
lxc restore mycontainer-1 backup-2024

# Info
lxc list
lxc info mycontainer-1
lxc config show mycontainer-1

Create Additional Containers

Copy the profile, change the IP, and launch:

lxc profile copy mycontainer-1 mycontainer-2
lxc profile edit mycontainer-2   # change IP to 192.168.1.101
lxc launch ubuntu:22.04 mycontainer-2 -p mycontainer-2
lxc exec mycontainer-2 -- apt update
lxc exec mycontainer-2 -- apt install -y openssh-server
lxc file push ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub mycontainer-2/root/.ssh/authorized_keys
lxc exec mycontainer-2 -- chmod 700 /root/.ssh
lxc exec mycontainer-2 -- chmod 600 /root/.ssh/authorized_keys
sudo mkdir -p /data/mycontainer-2/storage
lxc config device add mycontainer-2 data-storage disk source=/data/mycontainer-2/storage path=/mnt/storage

Networking Options

Managed bridge (default, lxdbr0). Containers are NAT’d behind the host. Simple, with automatic DHCP, but not directly reachable externally without port forwarding. Configured during lxd init.
Physical network bridge. Containers receive IP addresses on your physical network. Set this in the profile:
```
devices:
  eth0:
    nictype: bridged
    parent: br0
    type: nic
```
SR-IOV (advanced). Near-native performance with hardware isolation using dedicated NIC virtual functions. Requires an SR-IOV-capable NIC and kernel module configuration.

Troubleshooting

# Container won't start
lxc info mycontainer-1 --show-log

# Network issues
lxc exec mycontainer-1 -- cloud-init status
lxc exec mycontainer-1 -- ip addr
ping 192.168.1.100

# SSH not working
lxc exec mycontainer-1 -- systemctl status ssh
lxc exec mycontainer-1 -- ls -la /root/.ssh/

# Storage issues
zpool status
lxc storage info default

Complete Setup Example

lxc profile create prod-1
lxc profile edit prod-1
sudo mkdir -p /data/prod-1/{sealing,storage}
lxc launch ubuntu:22.04 prod-1 -p prod-1
lxc exec prod-1 -- apt update && apt install -y openssh-server
lxc exec prod-1 -- mkdir -p /root/.ssh
lxc file push ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub prod-1/root/.ssh/authorized_keys
lxc exec prod-1 -- chmod 700 /root/.ssh
lxc exec prod-1 -- chmod 600 /root/.ssh/authorized_keys
lxc config device add prod-1 sealing disk source=/data/prod-1/sealing path=/sealing
lxc config device add prod-1 storage disk source=/data/prod-1/storage path=/storage
lxc config set prod-1 limits.memory 64GiB
lxc config set prod-1 limits.cpu 16
lxc snapshot prod-1 initial-setup
ssh root@192.168.1.100

You now have LXD containers with ZFS storage, static IP networking, SSH access, persistent storage mounts, and resource management.