Multipass

Multipass is Canonical’s free command-line tool for launching Ubuntu virtual machines on Windows, macOS and Linux with one command. It is meant for admins and developers who need a clean Ubuntu server for testing a config, a script or a package without building a VM by hand. It ships as an MSI installer for Windows, a .pkg for macOS and a snap for Linux. Every instance boots from an official Ubuntu cloud image and accepts cloud-init, so a test box looks much like the cloud servers you run in production.

Multipass is free and open source under GPL-3.0. Since version 1.16 the whole code base is public, including the Windows and macOS parts that used to be proprietary. Besides the CLI there is a small GUI for launching instances and opening shells, but the command line is where the tool is most useful.

Multipass at a glance

What it does

• Launches an Ubuntu VM from an official cloud image with multipass launch. The defaults are 1 CPU, 1 GB RAM and 5 GB disk, and you can change each of them.
• Applies cloud-init user data at first boot to install packages, add users and run commands.
• Opens a shell (multipass shell) or runs single commands (multipass exec) without setting up SSH yourself.
• Mounts host folders into instances and copies files with multipass transfer.
• Takes and restores snapshots of stopped instances, and clones instances (1.15+).
• Adds bridged network interfaces so an instance can sit on your LAN.
• Uses the platform’s native hypervisor: QEMU/KVM on Linux, QEMU on macOS and Hyper-V on Windows, with VirtualBox as an alternative on Windows and Intel Macs.
• Can launch custom images from a file:// or https:// URL, on macOS and Windows too since 1.16.

How sysadmins use it

Spin up a test web server with cloud-init

Save this as web.yaml:

#cloud-config
package_update: true
packages:
  - nginx
runcmd:
  - systemctl enable --now nginx

1. Launch it: multipass launch 24.04 --name web --cpus 2 --memory 2G --disk 10G --cloud-init web.yaml
2. Get the IP: multipass info web
3. Test from the host: curl http://<IPv4 from info>/
4. Throw it away: multipass delete web then multipass purge

Snapshot before a risky change

multipass stop web
multipass snapshot web --name pre-upgrade --comment "before do-release-upgrade"
multipass start web
multipass exec web -- sudo apt-get -y full-upgrade
# if it went wrong:
multipass stop web
multipass restore web.pre-upgrade

Snapshots only work on stopped instances, so build the stop/start into your routine.

Test Ansible or shell scripts against a clean box

1. Mount your repo: multipass mount ./playbooks web:/home/ubuntu/playbooks. On Windows, enable mounts first with multipass set local.privileged-mounts=true.
2. Run the script inside: multipass exec web -- bash /home/ubuntu/playbooks/bootstrap.sh
3. Copy results back: multipass transfer web:/var/log/bootstrap.log .

Resize an instance

multipass stop web
multipass set local.web.cpus=4
multipass set local.web.memory=8G
multipass set local.web.disk=40G
multipass start web

Disk size can only grow, never shrink.

Install and first run

Linux. Install with sudo snap install multipass. Your user must belong to the group that owns /var/snap/multipass/common/multipass_socket (usually sudo, wheel or admin). The snap updates itself. Hardware virtualisation (KVM) must be available.

Windows. Run the MSI as administrator. Multipass 1.16 uses Hyper-V by default, which needs Windows 10/11 Pro, Enterprise or Education. On Home editions, install VirtualBox and switch with multipass set local.driver=virtualbox. The daemon runs as a Windows service. Use PowerShell or cmd as a normal user afterwards.

macOS. Install the .pkg with an admin account. QEMU is the default driver on both Intel and Apple silicon. Multipass 1.16 requires macOS 13 or newer and is expected to be the last release to support macOS 13.

Coming changes. The current official documentation already describes version 1.17: a new default “hcs” driver on Windows that also covers Home editions, deprecation of the Hyper-V and VirtualBox drivers, and an Apple Virtualization driver on macOS. Check which documentation version matches the release you have installed.

Common gotchas. VPN clients and corporate firewalls can break instance networking or image downloads. Nested virtualisation inside another VM needs to be enabled on the outer hypervisor.

Limitations

• Official images are Ubuntu only. Other distributions need a custom image URL.
• It is not a general desktop hypervisor. There is no Windows guest support and only basic GUI options.
• Snapshots require stopped instances, and disks cannot shrink.
• Mounts are disabled by default on Windows and can be slow for large file trees.
• Driver support is changing (LXD and libvirt were deprecated in 1.16, and the docs announce Hyper-V and VirtualBox deprecation for 1.17), so long-lived setups need some attention across upgrades.

Multipass vs alternatives

UTM is a full GUI virtualisation app for macOS that runs any OS, including Windows and other architectures, while Multipass is faster for disposable Ubuntu servers from the terminal. WSL on Windows gives you an Ubuntu userland with deep host integration but no full, separate VM with its own network identity. Vagrant is more flexible across providers and boxes, but it needs a separate hypervisor and more setup. Docker containers are lighter still, but they share the host kernel and do not boot systemd like a real server.

FAQ

Is Multipass free?

Yes. Multipass is free and open source under GPL-3.0, published by Canonical, with no paid edition.

Does Multipass work on Windows 11 Home?

With 1.16, use the VirtualBox driver on Home editions, because Hyper-V is not available there. The documentation for 1.17 describes a new driver that supports Home editions directly.

What is the default password for the Ubuntu user in Multipass?

There is none. You get in with multipass shell, and the ubuntu user has passwordless sudo. Set a password with sudo passwd ubuntu if you need console logins.

How do I fix “waiting for daemon” on Windows?

The Multipass service is not running or is still starting. Restart it from Services, or with Restart-Service Multipass in an elevated PowerShell, and check that the hypervisor is enabled.

Multipass vs WSL: which should I use?

Use WSL for everyday Linux tools on Windows. Use Multipass when you need a real VM that behaves like an Ubuntu server, with systemd, its own IP and cloud-init.

Multipass vs Docker?

Docker runs containers for applications. Multipass runs whole VMs, which suits testing OS-level configuration, kernel modules or server provisioning.

Can Multipass run an Ubuntu desktop with a GUI?

Instances are server images. You can install a desktop environment and connect over RDP, but Multipass is not designed for desktop VMs.

Last checked against official sources: 1 October 2026 (developer website: canonical.com). Versions and licence terms change — confirm on the developer's site before deploying in production.