Incus 6.0 LTS Released with Extended Support for System Containers and Virtual Machines

The Linux Containers team has officially released Incus 6.0 LTS, marking a significant milestone for the container and virtual machine management system.

Incus 6.0 LTS joins the ranks of LXC 6.0 LTS and LXCFS 6.0 LTS, concluding this series of Long-Term Support releases. With a support period lasting until June 2029, users can expect bug and security fixes alongside minor usability improvements during the first two years, followed by a focus on security maintenance for the remaining tenure.

Notable Enhancements in Incus 6.0 LTS #

Enhanced Swap Limits for Containers #

The limits.memory.swap configuration for containers has been expanded to accept byte amounts, offering granular control over memory swapping. This update facilitates a more precise allocation of swap space, enhancing memory management capabilities within containers.

Shell Completion Mechanism #

Incus 6.0 LTS transitions to generating shell completion scripts directly from the command line tool, moving away from manually maintained bash scripts. Completion profiles for bash, fish, powershell, and zsh are now available, streamlining the user experience across different shell environments.

External Bridge Interfaces #

The syntax for configuring managed network bridges for external interfaces has been extended. It now supports the creation and attachment of VLAN interfaces, simplifying network management and enhancing flexibility for complex network configurations.

Live-Migration of VMs with Attached Disks #

Virtual machines with disks attached from remote storage pools (such as Ceph or LVM cluster) can now be live-migrated seamlessly. This enhancement bolsters Incus’s VM live-migration capabilities, offering increased mobility and flexibility for virtual machine management.

System and USB Device Information #

The introduction of a System section in incus info --resources and a dedicated USB devices section provides valuable insights into the hardware and USB devices available on a system. This information proves especially useful in clustered environments for firmware updates and device management.

Transitioning from LXD #

For users migrating from LXD, the lxd-to-incus migration tool facilitates a smooth transition, supporting versions as low as 4.0 LTS and up to the latest LXD 5.21 bugfix release. This tool ensures a quick and conflict-free migration process, backed by thorough pre-migration checks.

Support and Community #

Incus 6.0 LTS receives community support through the Linux Containers forum, with commercial support options available via Zabbly - Incus services. Users can report bugs and contribute to the project’s development on GitHub.