lxc_container - Manage LXC Containers¶

New in version 1.8.0.

Synopsis
- Requirements
Parameters
Notes
Examples
Return Values
Status
Maintenance
- Author

Synopsis ¶

Management of LXC containers

Requirements ¶

The below requirements are needed on the host that executes this module.

lxc >= 1.0 # OS package
python >= 2.6 # OS Package
lxc-python2 >= 0.1 # PIP Package from https://github.com/lxc/python2-lxc

Parameters ¶

Parameter	Choices/Defaults	Comments
archive bool	Choices: no ← yes	Create an archive of a container. This will create a tarball of the running container.
archive_compression	Choices: gzip ← bzip2 none	Type of compression to use when creating an archive of a running container.
archive_path		Path the save the archived container. If the path does not exist the archive method will attempt to create it.
backing_store	Choices: dir ← lvm loop btrfs overlayfs zfs	Backend storage type for the container.
clone_name bool (added in 2.0)	Choices: no ← yes	Name of the new cloned server. This is only used when state is clone.
clone_snapshot bool (added in 2.0)	Choices: no ← yes	Create a snapshot a container when cloning. This is not supported by all container storage backends. Enabling this may fail if the backing store does not support snapshots.
config		Path to the LXC configuration file.
container_command		Run a command within a container.
container_config		list of 'key=value' options to use when configuring a container.
container_log bool	Choices: no ← yes	Enable a container log for host actions to the container.
container_log_level	Choices: INFO ← ERROR DEBUG	Set the log level for a container where container_log was set.
directory		Place rootfs directory under DIR.
fs_size	Default: "5G"	File system Size.
fs_type	Default: "ext4"	Create fstype TYPE.
lv_name	Default: "$CONTAINER_NAME"	Name of the logical volume, defaults to the container name.
lxc_path		Place container under PATH
name required		Name of a container.
state	Choices: started ← stopped restarted absent frozen	Define the state of a container. If you clone a container using `clone_name` the newly cloned container created in a stopped state. The running container will be stopped while the clone operation is happening and upon completion of the clone the original container state will be restored.
template	Default: "ubuntu"	Name of the template to use within an LXC create.
template_options		Template options when building the container.
thinpool		Use LVM thin pool called TP.
vg_name	Default: "lxc"	If Backend store is lvm, specify the name of the volume group.
zfs_root		Create zfs under given zfsroot.

Notes ¶

Note

Containers must have a unique name. If you attempt to create a container with a name that already exists in the users namespace the module will simply return as “unchanged”.
The “container_command” can be used with any state except “absent”. If used with state “stopped” the container will be “started”, the command executed, and then the container “stopped” again. Likewise if the state is “stopped” and the container does not exist it will be first created, “started”, the command executed, and then “stopped”. If you use a “|” in the variable you can use common script formatting within the variable iteself The “container_command” option will always execute as BASH. When using “container_command” a log file is created in the /tmp/ directory which contains both stdout and stderr of any command executed.
If “archive” is true the system will attempt to create a compressed tarball of the running container. The “archive” option supports LVM backed containers and will create a snapshot of the running container when creating the archive.
If your distro does not have a package for “python2-lxc”, which is a requirement for this module, it can be installed from source at “https://github.com/lxc/python2-lxc” or installed via pip using the package name lxc-python2.

Examples ¶

- name: Create a started container
  lxc_container:
    name: test-container-started
    container_log: true
    template: ubuntu
    state: started
    template_options: --release trusty

- name: Create a stopped container
  lxc_container:
    name: test-container-stopped
    container_log: true
    template: ubuntu
    state: stopped
    template_options: --release trusty

- name: Create a frozen container
  lxc_container:
    name: test-container-frozen
    container_log: true
    template: ubuntu
    state: frozen
    template_options: --release trusty
    container_command: |
      echo 'hello world.' | tee /opt/started-frozen

# Create filesystem container, configure it, and archive it, and start it.
- name: Create filesystem container
  lxc_container:
    name: test-container-config
    backing_store: dir
    container_log: true
    template: ubuntu
    state: started
    archive: true
    archive_compression: none
    container_config:
      - "lxc.aa_profile=unconfined"
      - "lxc.cgroup.devices.allow=a *:* rmw"
    template_options: --release trusty

# Create an lvm container, run a complex command in it, add additional
# configuration to it, create an archive of it, and finally leave the container
# in a frozen state. The container archive will be compressed using bzip2
- name: Create a frozen lvm container
  lxc_container:
    name: test-container-lvm
    container_log: true
    template: ubuntu
    state: frozen
    backing_store: lvm
    template_options: --release trusty
    container_command: |
      apt-get update
      apt-get install -y vim lxc-dev
      echo 'hello world.' | tee /opt/started
      if [[ -f "/opt/started" ]]; then
          echo 'hello world.' | tee /opt/found-started
      fi
    container_config:
      - "lxc.aa_profile=unconfined"
      - "lxc.cgroup.devices.allow=a *:* rmw"
    archive: true
    archive_compression: bzip2
  register: lvm_container_info

- name: Debug info on container "test-container-lvm"
  debug:
    var: lvm_container_info

- name: Run a command in a container and ensure its in a "stopped" state.
  lxc_container:
    name: test-container-started
    state: stopped
    container_command: |
      echo 'hello world.' | tee /opt/stopped

- name: Run a command in a container and ensure its it in a "frozen" state.
  lxc_container:
    name: test-container-stopped
    state: frozen
    container_command: |
      echo 'hello world.' | tee /opt/frozen

- name: Start a container
  lxc_container:
    name: test-container-stopped
    state: started

- name: Run a command in a container and then restart it
  lxc_container:
    name: test-container-started
    state: restarted
    container_command: |
      echo 'hello world.' | tee /opt/restarted

- name: Run a complex command within a "running" container
  lxc_container:
    name: test-container-started
    container_command: |
      apt-get update
      apt-get install -y curl wget vim apache2
      echo 'hello world.' | tee /opt/started
      if [[ -f "/opt/started" ]]; then
          echo 'hello world.' | tee /opt/found-started
      fi

# Create an archive of an existing container, save the archive to a defined
# path and then destroy it.
- name: Archive container
  lxc_container:
    name: test-container-started
    state: absent
    archive: true
    archive_path: /opt/archives

# Create a container using overlayfs, create an archive of it, create a
# snapshot clone of the container and and finally leave the container
# in a frozen state. The container archive will be compressed using gzip.
- name: Create an overlayfs container archive and clone it
  lxc_container:
    name: test-container-overlayfs
    container_log: true
    template: ubuntu
    state: started
    backing_store: overlayfs
    template_options: --release trusty
    clone_snapshot: true
    clone_name: test-container-overlayfs-clone-snapshot
    archive: true
    archive_compression: gzip
  register: clone_container_info

- name: debug info on container "test-container"
  debug:
    var: clone_container_info

- name: Clone a container using snapshot
  lxc_container:
    name: test-container-overlayfs-clone-snapshot
    backing_store: overlayfs
    clone_name: test-container-overlayfs-clone-snapshot2
    clone_snapshot: true

- name: Create a new container and clone it
  lxc_container:
    name: test-container-new-archive
    backing_store: dir
    clone_name: test-container-new-archive-clone

- name: Archive and clone a container then destroy it
  lxc_container:
    name: test-container-new-archive
    state: absent
    clone_name: test-container-new-archive-destroyed-clone
    archive: true
    archive_compression: gzip

- name: Start a cloned container.
  lxc_container:
    name: test-container-new-archive-destroyed-clone
    state: started

- name: Destroy a container
  lxc_container:
    name: '{{ item }}'
    state: absent
  with_items:
    - test-container-stopped
    - test-container-started
    - test-container-frozen
    - test-container-lvm
    - test-container-config
    - test-container-overlayfs
    - test-container-overlayfs-clone
    - test-container-overlayfs-clone-snapshot
    - test-container-overlayfs-clone-snapshot2
    - test-container-new-archive
    - test-container-new-archive-clone
    - test-container-new-archive-destroyed-clone

Return Values ¶

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

Key		Returned	Description
lxc_container complex		success	container information
	ips list	success	list of ips Sample: ['10.0.3.3']
	state string	success	resulting state of the container Sample: running
	name string	success	name of the lxc container Sample: test_host
	init_pid int	success	pid of the lxc init process Sample: 19786
	clone boolean	success, when clone_name is specified	if the container was cloned Sample: True
	interfaces list	success	list of the container's network interfaces Sample: ['eth0', 'lo']
	archive string	success, when archive is true	resulting state of the container Sample: /tmp/test-container-config.tar

Status ¶

This module is flagged as preview which means that it is not guaranteed to have a backwards compatible interface.

Maintenance ¶

This module is flagged as community which means that it is maintained by the Ansible Community. See Module Maintenance & Support for more info.

For a list of other modules that are also maintained by the Ansible Community, see here.

Author ¶

Kevin Carter (@cloudnull)

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