community.general.lxd_container module – Manage LXD instances

Note

This module is part of the community.general collection (version 5.8.3).

You might already have this collection installed if you are using the ansible package. It is not included in ansible-core. To check whether it is installed, run ansible-galaxy collection list.

To install it, use: ansible-galaxy collection install community.general.

To use it in a playbook, specify: community.general.lxd_container.

Synopsis

  • Management of LXD containers and virtual machines.

Parameters

Parameter

Comments

architecture

string

The architecture for the instance (for example x86_64 or i686). See https://github.com/lxc/lxd/blob/master/doc/rest-api.md#post-1.

client_cert

aliases: cert_file

path

The client certificate file path.

If not specified, it defaults to ${HOME}/.config/lxc/client.crt.

client_key

aliases: key_file

path

The client certificate key file path.

If not specified, it defaults to ${HOME}/.config/lxc/client.key.

config

dictionary

The config for the instance (for example {"limits.cpu": "2"}). See https://github.com/lxc/lxd/blob/master/doc/rest-api.md#post-1.

If the instance already exists and its “config” values in metadata obtained from the LXD API https://github.com/lxc/lxd/blob/master/doc/rest-api.md#instances-containers-and-virtual-machines are different, this module tries to apply the configurations.

The keys starting with volatile. are ignored for this comparison when ignore_volatile_options=true.

devices

dictionary

The devices for the instance (for example { "rootfs": { "path": "/dev/kvm", "type": "unix-char" }}). See https://github.com/lxc/lxd/blob/master/doc/rest-api.md#post-1.

ephemeral

boolean

Whether or not the instance is ephemeral (for example true or false). See https://github.com/lxc/lxd/blob/master/doc/rest-api.md#post-1.

Choices:

  • false

  • true

force_stop

boolean

If this is true, the lxd_container forces to stop the instance when it stops or restarts the instance.

Choices:

  • false ← (default)

  • true

ignore_volatile_options

boolean

added in community.general 3.7.0

If set to true, options starting with volatile. are ignored. As a result, they are reapplied for each execution.

This default behavior can be changed by setting this option to false.

The current default value true is deprecated since community.general 4.0.0, and will change to false in community.general 6.0.0.

Choices:

  • false

  • true

name

string / required

Name of an instance.

profiles

list / elements=string

Profile to be used by the instance.

project

string

added in community.general 4.8.0

Project of an instance. See https://github.com/lxc/lxd/blob/master/doc/projects.md.

snap_url

string

The unix domain socket path when LXD is installed by snap package manager.

Default: "unix:/var/snap/lxd/common/lxd/unix.socket"

source

dictionary

The source for the instance (e.g. { “type”: “image”, “mode”: “pull”, “server”: “https://images.linuxcontainers.org”, “protocol”: “lxd”, “alias”: “ubuntu/xenial/amd64” }).

See https://github.com/lxc/lxd/blob/master/doc/rest-api.md#post-1 for complete API documentation.

Note that protocol accepts two choices: lxd or simplestreams.

state

string

Define the state of an instance.

Choices:

  • "started" ← (default)

  • "stopped"

  • "restarted"

  • "absent"

  • "frozen"

target

string

added in community.general 1.0.0

For cluster deployments. Will attempt to create an instance on a target node. If the instance exists elsewhere in a cluster, then it will not be replaced or moved. The name should respond to same name of the node you see in lxc cluster list.

timeout

integer

A timeout for changing the state of the instance.

This is also used as a timeout for waiting until IPv4 addresses are set to the all network interfaces in the instance after starting or restarting.

Default: 30

trust_password

string

The client trusted password.

You need to set this password on the LXD server before running this module using the following command: lxc config set core.trust_password <some random password>. See https://www.stgraber.org/2016/04/18/lxd-api-direct-interaction/.

If trust_password is set, this module send a request for authentication before sending any requests.

type

string

added in community.general 4.1.0

Instance type can be either virtual-machine or container.

Choices:

  • "container" ← (default)

  • "virtual-machine"

url

string

The unix domain socket path or the https URL for the LXD server.

Default: "unix:/var/lib/lxd/unix.socket"

wait_for_container

boolean

added in community.general 4.4.0

If set to true, the tasks will wait till the task reports a success status when performing container operations.

Choices:

  • false ← (default)

  • true

wait_for_ipv4_addresses

boolean

If this is true, the lxd_container waits until IPv4 addresses are set to the all network interfaces in the instance after starting or restarting.

Choices:

  • false ← (default)

  • true

Notes

Note

  • Instances can be a container or a virtual machine, both of them must have unique name. If you attempt to create an instance with a name that already existed in the users namespace the module will simply return as “unchanged”.

  • There are two ways to run commands inside a container or virtual machine, using the command module or using the ansible lxd connection plugin bundled in Ansible >= 2.1, the later requires python to be installed in the instance which can be done with the command module.

  • You can copy a file from the host to the instance with the Ansible ansible.builtin.copy and ansible.builtin.template module and the community.general.lxd connection plugin. See the example below.

  • You can copy a file in the created instance to the localhost with command=lxc file pull instance_name/dir/filename filename. See the first example below.

Examples

# An example for creating a Ubuntu container and install python
- hosts: localhost
  connection: local
  tasks:
    - name: Create a started container
      community.general.lxd_container:
        name: mycontainer
        ignore_volatile_options: true
        state: started
        source:
          type: image
          mode: pull
          server: https://images.linuxcontainers.org
          protocol: lxd # if you get a 404, try setting protocol: simplestreams
          alias: ubuntu/xenial/amd64
        profiles: ["default"]
        wait_for_ipv4_addresses: true
        timeout: 600

    - name: Check python is installed in container
      delegate_to: mycontainer
      ansible.builtin.raw: dpkg -s python
      register: python_install_check
      failed_when: python_install_check.rc not in [0, 1]
      changed_when: false

    - name: Install python in container
      delegate_to: mycontainer
      ansible.builtin.raw: apt-get install -y python
      when: python_install_check.rc == 1

# An example for creating an Ubuntu 14.04 container using an image fingerprint.
# This requires changing 'server' and 'protocol' key values, replacing the
# 'alias' key with with 'fingerprint' and supplying an appropriate value that
# matches the container image you wish to use.
- hosts: localhost
  connection: local
  tasks:
    - name: Create a started container
      community.general.lxd_container:
        name: mycontainer
        ignore_volatile_options: true
        state: started
        source:
          type: image
          mode: pull
          # Provides current (and older) Ubuntu images with listed fingerprints
          server: https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/releases
          # Protocol used by 'ubuntu' remote (as shown by 'lxc remote list')
          protocol: simplestreams
          # This provides an Ubuntu 14.04 LTS amd64 image from 20150814.
          fingerprint: e9a8bdfab6dc
        profiles: ["default"]
        wait_for_ipv4_addresses: true
        timeout: 600

# An example for creating container in project other than default
- hosts: localhost
  connection: local
  tasks:
    - name: Create a started container in project mytestproject
      community.general.lxd_container:
        name: mycontainer
        project: mytestproject
        ignore_volatile_options: true
        state: started
        source:
          protocol: simplestreams
          type: image
          mode: pull
          server: https://images.linuxcontainers.org
          alias: ubuntu/20.04/cloud
        profiles: ["default"]
        wait_for_ipv4_addresses: true
        timeout: 600

# An example for deleting a container
- hosts: localhost
  connection: local
  tasks:
    - name: Delete a container
      community.general.lxd_container:
        name: mycontainer
        state: absent
        type: container

# An example for restarting a container
- hosts: localhost
  connection: local
  tasks:
    - name: Restart a container
      community.general.lxd_container:
        name: mycontainer
        state: restarted
        type: container

# An example for restarting a container using https to connect to the LXD server
- hosts: localhost
  connection: local
  tasks:
    - name: Restart a container
      community.general.lxd_container:
        url: https://127.0.0.1:8443
        # These client_cert and client_key values are equal to the default values.
        #client_cert: "{{ lookup('env', 'HOME') }}/.config/lxc/client.crt"
        #client_key: "{{ lookup('env', 'HOME') }}/.config/lxc/client.key"
        trust_password: mypassword
        name: mycontainer
        state: restarted

# Note your container must be in the inventory for the below example.
#
# [containers]
# mycontainer ansible_connection=lxd
#
- hosts:
    - mycontainer
  tasks:
    - name: Copy /etc/hosts in the created container to localhost with name "mycontainer-hosts"
      ansible.builtin.fetch:
        src: /etc/hosts
        dest: /tmp/mycontainer-hosts
        flat: true

# An example for LXD cluster deployments. This example will create two new container on specific
# nodes - 'node01' and 'node02'. In 'target:', 'node01' and 'node02' are names of LXD cluster
# members that LXD cluster recognizes, not ansible inventory names, see: 'lxc cluster list'.
# LXD API calls can be made to any LXD member, in this example, we send API requests to
#'node01.example.com', which matches ansible inventory name.
- hosts: node01.example.com
  tasks:
    - name: Create LXD container
      community.general.lxd_container:
        name: new-container-1
        ignore_volatile_options: true
        state: started
        source:
          type: image
          mode: pull
          alias: ubuntu/xenial/amd64
        target: node01

    - name: Create container on another node
      community.general.lxd_container:
        name: new-container-2
        ignore_volatile_options: true
        state: started
        source:
          type: image
          mode: pull
          alias: ubuntu/xenial/amd64
        target: node02

# An example for creating a virtual machine
- hosts: localhost
  connection: local
  tasks:
    - name: Create container on another node
      community.general.lxd_container:
        name: new-vm-1
        type: virtual-machine
        state: started
        ignore_volatile_options: true
        wait_for_ipv4_addresses: true
        profiles: ["default"]
        source:
          protocol: simplestreams
          type: image
          mode: pull
          server: https://images.linuxcontainers.org
          alias: debian/11
        timeout: 600

Return Values

Common return values are documented here, the following are the fields unique to this module:

Key

Description

actions

list / elements=string

List of actions performed for the instance.

Returned: success

Sample: ["create", "start"]

addresses

dictionary

Mapping from the network device name to a list of IPv4 addresses in the instance.

Returned: when state is started or restarted

Sample: {"eth0": ["10.155.92.191"]}

logs

list / elements=string

The logs of requests and responses.

Returned: when ansible-playbook is invoked with -vvvv.

Sample: ["(too long to be placed here)"]

old_state

string

The old state of the instance.

Returned: when state is started or restarted

Sample: "stopped"

Authors

  • Hiroaki Nakamura (@hnakamur)