Provided by: lxc-utils_5.0.1-0ubuntu8~23.10.1_amd64 
NAME
lxc-copy - copy an existing container.
SYNOPSIS
lxc-copy {-n, --name name} [-P, --lxcpath path] {-N, --newname newname} [-p, --newpath
newpath] [-B, --backingstorage backingstorage] [-s, --snapshot] [-a,
--allowrunning] [-K, --keepname] [-D, --keepdata] [-M, --keepmac] [-L, --fssize
size [unit]] [-- hook arguments]
lxc-copy {-n, --name name} [-P, --lxcpath path] [-N, --newname newname] [-p, --newpath
newpath] {-e, --ephemeral} [-B, --backingstorage backingstorage] [-s, --snapshot]
[-a, --allowrunning] [-K, --keepname] [-D, --keepdata] [-M, --keepmac] [-L,
--fssize size [unit]] [-- hook arguments]
lxc-copy {-n, --name name} [-P, --lxcpath path] [-N, --newname newname] [-p, --newpath
newpath] {-e, --ephemeral} [-B, --backingstorage backingstorage] [-s, --snapshot]
[-t, --tmpfs] [-K, --keepname] [-M, --keepmac] [-- hook arguments]
lxc-copy {-n, --name name} [-P, --lxcpath path] {-N, --newname newname} [-p, --newpath
newpath] {-R, --rename}
DESCRIPTION
lxc-copy creates and optionally starts (ephemeral or non-ephemeral) copies of existing
containers.
lxc-copy creates copies of existing containers. Copies can be complete clones of the
original container. In this case the whole root filesystem of the container is simply
copied to the new container. Or they can be snapshots, i.e. small copy-on-write copies of
the original container. In this case the specified backing storage for the copy must
support snapshots. This currently includes btrfs, lvm (lvm devices do not support
snapshots of snapshots.), overlay, and zfs.
The copy's backing storage will be of the same type as the original container. overlay
snapshots of directory backed containers are exempted from this rule.
When the -e flag is specified an ephemeral snapshot of the original container is created
and started. Ephemeral containers will have lxc.ephemeral = 1 set in their config file and
will be destroyed on shutdown. When -e is used in combination with -D a non-ephemeral
snapshot of the original container is created and started. Ephemeral containers can also
be placed on a tmpfs with -t flag. NOTE: If an ephemeral container that is placed on a
tmpfs is rebooted all changes made to it will currently be lost!
When -e is specified and no newname is given via -N a random name for the snapshot will be
chosen.
Containers created and started with -e can have custom mounts. These are specified with
the -m flag. Currently two types of mounts are supported: bind, and overlay. Mount types
are specified as suboptions to the -m flag and can be specified multiple times separated
by commas. overlay mounts are currently specified in the format -m overlay=/src:/dest.
When no destination dest is specified dest will be identical to src. Read-only bind mounts
are specified -m bind=/src:/dest:ro and read-write bind mounts -m bind=/src:/dest:rw.
Read-write bind mounts are the default and rw can be missing when a read-write mount is
wanted. When dest is missing dest will be identical to src. An example for multiple mounts
would be -m bind=/src1:/dest1:ro,bind=/src2:ro,overlay=/src3:/dest3.
The mounts, their options, and formats supported via the -m flag are subject to change.
OPTIONS
-N,--newname newname
The name for the copy.
-p,--newpath newpath
The path for the copy.
-R,--rename
Rename the original container.
-s,--snapshot
Create a snapshot of the original container. The backing storage for the copy must
support snapshots. This currently includes btrfs, lvm, overlay, and zfs.
-a,--allowrunning
Allow the creation of a Snapshot of an already running container. This may cause
data corruption or data loss depending on the used filesystem and applications. Use
with care.
-F,--foreground
Run the snapshot in the foreground. The snapshots console will be attached to the
current tty. (This option can only be specified in conjunction with -e.)
-d, --daemon
Run the snapshot as a daemon (This is the default mode for ephemeral containers.).
As the container has no more tty, if an error occurs nothing will be displayed, the
log file can be used to check the error. (This option can only be specified in
conjunction with -e.)
-m, --mount mounttype
Specify a mount for a snapshot The opts argument for the mount type can by of type
{bind, overlay}. For example -m bind=/src:/dest:ro,overlay=/src:/dest (This option
can currently only be specified in conjunction with -e.).
-t, --tmpfs
When this option is specified the ephemeral container will be placed on a tmpfs.
NOTE: Rebooting an ephemeral container that is located on a tmpfs will currently
cause all changes made to it to be lost. This flag will only work for ephemeral
containers created with the -e flag. The original container, from which the
ephemeral snapshot is created, must be stored as a simple directory.
-B, --backingstorage backingstorage
Specify the backing storage type to be used for the copy where 'backingstorage' is
of type 'btrfs', 'dir', 'lvm', 'loop', 'overlay', or 'zfs'.
-L, --fssize size [unit]
Specify the size for an 'lvm' filesystem.
-K, --keepname
When this option is specified the hostname of the original container will be kept
for the copy.
-D, --keepdata
When this option is specified with -e a non-ephemeral container is created and
started.
-M, --keepmac
When this option is specified the MAC address of the original container will be
kept for the copy.
COPY HOOK
If the container being copied has one or more lxc.hook.clone specified, then the specified
hooks will be called for the new container. The first 3 arguments passed to the clone hook
will be the container name, a section ('lxc'), and the hook type ('clone'). Extra
arguments passed to lxc-copy will be passed to the hook program starting at argument 4.
The LXC_ROOTFS_MOUNT environment variable gives the path under which the container's root
filesystem is mounted. The configuration file pathname is stored in LXC_CONFIG_FILE, the
new container name in LXC_NAME, the old container name in LXC_SRC_NAME, and the path or
device on which the rootfs is located is in LXC_ROOTFS_PATH.
COMMON OPTIONS
These options are common to most of lxc commands.
-?, -h, --help
Print a longer usage message than normal.
--usage
Give the usage message
-q, --quiet
mute on
-P, --lxcpath=PATH
Use an alternate container path. The default is /var/lib/lxc.
-o, --logfile=FILE
Output to an alternate log FILE. The default is no log.
-l, --logpriority=LEVEL
Set log priority to LEVEL. The default log priority is ERROR. Possible values are :
FATAL, ALERT, CRIT, WARN, ERROR, NOTICE, INFO, DEBUG, TRACE.
Note that this option is setting the priority of the events log in the alternate
log file. It do not have effect on the ERROR events log on stderr.
-n, --name=NAME
Use container identifier NAME. The container identifier format is an alphanumeric
string.
--rcfile=FILE
Specify the configuration file to configure the virtualization and isolation
functionalities for the container.
This configuration file if present will be used even if there is already a
configuration file present in the previously created container (via lxc-create).
--version
Show the version number.
SEE ALSO
lxc(7), lxc-create(1), lxc-copy(1), lxc-destroy(1), lxc-start(1), lxc-stop(1), lxc-
execute(1), lxc-console(1), lxc-monitor(1), lxc-wait(1), lxc-cgroup(1), lxc-ls(1), lxc-
info(1), lxc-freeze(1), lxc-unfreeze(1), lxc-attach(1), lxc.conf(5)
AUTHOR
Christian Brauner <christian.brauner@mailbox.org>
2024-01-24 lxc-copy(1)