Learn LXC - Ecosystem: LXD, Incus & Proxmox

#Introduction

You've now mastered LXC directly. But LXC doesn't live alone — it's the foundation of a larger ecosystem: LXD, Incus, and Proxmox VE. In episode 19 we map the complete picture: who builds what on top of whom, when to use which, and where LXC sits compared to Docker. This is the context you need when explaining technology choices to a team or client.

#The Ecosystem Map

plaintext

                    ┌──────────────────────────────┐
                    │   LXC (liblxc, low-level)    │
                    │   lxc-create, lxc-start, ... │
                    └──────────────────────────────┘
                       ▲           ▲           ▲
              ┌────────┴─┐  ┌──────┴─────┐  ┌─┴─────────┐
              │   LXD    │  │   Incus    │  │  Proxmox  │
              │ (Canonical)│  │ (fork, 2023)│  │  VE (CT)  │
              └──────────┘  └────────────┘  └───────────┘

All the upper layers use LXC as the engine underneath. The differences are in the interface and added features.

#LXD: Canonical's LXC Manager

LXD is a container (and VM) manager built on top of LXC, backed by Canonical. Its main differences from raw LXC:

REST API — all operations go through an API; CLI tooling (lxc, lxd) and SDKs are available for various languages.
Clustering — combines many hosts into a single pool with centralized management.
Image management — official image mirror, publish/copy images between hosts.
VM support — LXD can also run KVM VMs alongside LXC containers.
Snap package — easy installation and upgrades via snap.

Create a container with LXD (style comparison)

lxc launch ubuntu:24.04 c1
lxc list
lxc exec c1 -- hostname

Note: lxc here is the LXD CLI, different from the LXC lxc-* tooling. In episode 22 we compare when to choose which.

#Incus: The Community Fork

Incus is a community fork of LXD born in 2023 after a controversial Canonical move (migrating development to a company domain). Incus is community-governed and provides:

Functionality on par with LXD: containers + VMs, REST API, clustering.
A roadmap and governance independent of any vendor.
A nearly identical CLI (incus launch ubuntu:24.04 c1).

Create a container with Incus

incus launch ubuntu:24.04 c1
incus list
incus exec c1 -- hostname

Note

LXD and Incus are "siblings" — both managers on top of LXC, differing in governance. Choose LXD if you want vendor support (Canonical, enterprise); choose Incus if you want a fully community and open-governance project. Both are far easier to use than raw LXC for large-scale management.

#Proxmox VE: LXC as the CT Engine

From episode 12 we already know: Proxmox VE uses LXC as its container (CT) engine. In the ecosystem map, PVE is an integrated manager combining CTs (LXC) and VMs (KVM) in one web/API platform — positioned above LXC exactly like LXD/Incus, but focused on complete virtualization (VMs + CTs + cluster + backups).

#Comparison: LXC vs LXD/Incus vs Docker

Aspect	LXC	LXD / Incus	Docker
Level	Low-level (`lxc-*` tooling)	High-level manager	Application container
Contents	Full distro + init	Full distro + init	Single application/process
API	CLI / liblxc	REST API, CLI, SDK	REST API, CLI
Clustering	Manual	Built-in	Swarm/Kubernetes
Usage	Direct control, edge, embedded	Easy management of many containers	Microservice applications

#When to Use Which

LXC — need direct, minimal, lightweight control; learning the concepts; edge devices; low-level integration.
LXD/Incus — managing tens to hundreds of containers easily, need an API and clustering.
Docker — running specific applications with ready-made images.

The three aren't enemies: Docker can run inside LXC (episode 12), and LXD/Incus still depend on LXC underneath.

Tip

You don't have to pick one "forever". A common healthy pattern: LXC/Proxmox as the system layer, Docker inside it for applications, and — once scale gets large — LXD/Incus or Kubernetes at the management layer. Understanding LXC gives you the foundation for understanding all the layers above it.

#Further Learning Path

After this series, the natural next steps:

learn-lxd / learn-incus — container managers on top of LXC.
learn-micro-cloud — LXD + Ceph + OVN clustering.
learn-docker — application containers.
learn-proxmox — integrated CT + VM platform.

#Closing

Key takeaways:

LXD (Canonical) is a high-level manager on top of LXC with a REST API, clustering, and VM support.
Incus is a community fork of LXD (2023) with independent governance.
Proxmox VE uses LXC as its CT engine in an integrated virtualization platform.
LXC = low-level; LXD/Incus = high-level managers; Docker = application containers.
Understanding LXC is the key to understanding all the ecosystem layers above it.

In the next episode 20 we'll cover monitoring & logging — lxc-info -s for status, resource usage via cgroups, Prometheus integration (node_exporter per container) and Zabbix, plus LXC logs in /var/log/lxc/, per-container journal, and boot logs.