Multipass: Instant Ubuntu VMs with Zero Fuss
What Is It?
Multipass isn’t trying to be a full-blown virtualization platform — and that’s its strength. Built by Canonical, it’s designed to spin up fresh Ubuntu environments locally with as little friction as possible. No ISO downloads, no multi-step wizards, no heavy GUI. Just one CLI command, and a new VM is ready to go.
It’s not built for production — and it doesn’t pretend to be. Multipass fits in those everyday moments: testing a script, staging a config, running an ephemeral dev box, or prototyping a deployment. When done, you delete the instance and move on. Simple.
Capabilities
| Feature | Details |
| Ubuntu Only | Automatically fetches and runs latest LTS releases |
| Headless by Default | CLI-first tool — no built-in GUI |
| Cross-Platform | Works on Windows, Linux, macOS |
| Hypervisor Agnostic | Uses Hyper-V, QEMU, or Hypervisor.framework depending on platform |
| Cloud-init Support | Accepts YAML for automated provisioning |
| Folder Mounts | Share directories between host and guest |
| Snapshots | Save VM state and roll back as needed |
| REST API (Experimental) | Optional API for programmatic control |
Why It’s Useful
Multipass makes the most sense when speed and isolation matter more than UI polish or advanced VM features. It’s perfect for scripting, automation tests, local CI tasks, or giving every developer a fresh environment that resets with one line.
You don’t need admin privileges once it’s set up. You don’t have to care about virtual switches or complex storage controllers. And if something breaks — just delete and relaunch. No cleanup needed.
Installation Guide
1. Install Multipass
– Windows: download installer from https://multipass.run
– macOS: brew install –cask multipass
– Linux: sudo snap install multipass –classic
2. Verify Installation
multipass version
3. Launch a VM
multipass launch –name devbox –mem 2G –disk 10G
4. Access the VM
multipass shell devbox
5. Mount a Host Folder
multipass mount ./shared devbox:/home/ubuntu/shared
6. Tear Down
multipass delete devbox
multipass purge
Real-World Use Cases
– Running Ansible playbooks on throwaway Ubuntu VMs.
– Testing shell scripts or server config in isolation.
– Creating on-demand dev sandboxes without using Docker.
– Local CI jobs that don’t interfere with the host system.
– Teaching environments where each student gets a fresh VM.
