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<article role="main" id="furo-main-content">
<section id="lxd-and-lxc">
<span id="lxd-lxc"></span><h1><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lxd</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lxc</span></code><a class="headerlink" href="#lxd-and-lxc" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h1>
<p>LXD is frequently confused with LXC, and the fact that LXD provides both a <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lxd</span></code> command and a <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lxc</span></code> command doesn’t make things easier.</p>
<section id="lxd-vs-lxc">
<h2>LXD vs. LXC<a class="headerlink" href="#lxd-vs-lxc" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<p>LXD and LXC are two distinct implementations of Linux containers.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="https://linuxcontainers.org/lxc/introduction/">LXC</a> is a low-level user space interface for the Linux kernel containment features.
It consists of tools (<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lxc-*</span></code> commands), templates, and library and language bindings.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="https://canonical.com/lxd">LXD</a> is a more intuitive and user-friendly tool aimed at making it easy to work with Linux containers.
It is an alternative to LXC’s tools and distribution template system, with the added features that come from being controllable over the network.
Under the hood, LXD uses LXC to create and manage the containers.</p>
<p>LXD provides a superset of the features that LXC supports, and it is easier to use.
Therefore, if you are unsure which of the tools to use, you should go for LXD.
LXC should be seen as an alternative for experienced users that want to run Linux containers on distributions that don’t support LXD.</p>
</section>
<section id="lxd-daemon">
<span id="id1"></span><h2>LXD daemon<a class="headerlink" href="#lxd-daemon" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<p>The central part of LXD is its daemon.
It runs persistently in the background, manages the instances, and handles all requests.
The daemon provides a REST API that you can access directly or through a client (for example, the default command-line client that comes with LXD).</p>
<p>See <a class="reference internal" href="../../daemon-behavior/#daemon-behavior"><span class="std std-ref">Daemon behavior</span></a> for more information about the LXD daemon.</p>
</section>
<section id="id2">
<h2><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lxd</span></code> vs. <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lxc</span></code><a class="headerlink" href="#id2" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<p>To control LXD, you typically use two different commands: <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lxd</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lxc</span></code>.</p>
<dl class="simple myst">
<dt>LXD daemon</dt><dd><p>The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lxd</span></code> command controls the LXD daemon.
Since the daemon is typically started automatically, you hardly ever need to use the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lxd</span></code> command.
An exception is the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lxd</span> <span class="pre">init</span></code> subcommand that you run to <a class="reference internal" href="../../howto/initialize/#initialize"><span class="std std-ref">initialize LXD</span></a>.</p>
<p>There are also some subcommands for debugging and administrating the daemon, but they are intended for advanced users only.
See <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lxd</span> <span class="pre">--help</span></code> for an overview of all available subcommands.</p>
</dd>
<dt>LXD client</dt><dd><p>The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lxc</span></code> command is a command-line client for LXD, which you can use to interact with the LXD daemon.
You use the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lxc</span></code> command to manage your instances, the server settings, and overall the entities you create in LXD.
See <a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/manpages/lxc/#lxc-md"><span class="std std-ref"><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lxc</span> <span class="pre">--help</span></code></span></a> for an overview of all available subcommands.</p>
<p>The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lxc</span></code> tool is not the only client you can use to interact with the LXD daemon.
You can also use the API, the UI, or a custom LXD client.</p>
</dd>
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<ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#"><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lxd</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lxc</span></code></a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#lxd-vs-lxc">LXD vs. LXC</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#lxd-daemon">LXD daemon</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#id2"><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lxd</span></code> vs. <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">lxc</span></code></a></li>
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