Setting Up Multipass on Arch Linux - Complete Guide#

1. Install Required Dependencies#

First, install the necessary packages from the official repositories:

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sudo pacman -S qemu-base libvirt dnsmasq apparmor edk2-ovmf git cmake gcc

These packages provide:

• QEMU - The virtualization platform Multipass uses
• libvirt - Virtualization API
• dnsmasq - For VM networking
• AppArmor - Security module for access control
• edk2-ovmf - UEFI firmware for VMs
• git, cmake, gcc - Required for building Multipass from AUR

2. Set Up System Services#

Enable and start the required system services:

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# Enable and start libvirt
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sudo systemctl enable --now libvirtd.service
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# Enable and start AppArmor
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sudo systemctl enable --now apparmor.service

3. Configure User Permissions#

Add your user to the necessary groups to allow VM management without sudo:

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sudo usermod -a -G libvirt,kvm $USER

Important: Log out and back in for these group changes to take effect.

4. Configure OVMF for UEFI Support#

Set up the OVMF firmware for QEMU:

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sudo mkdir -p /usr/share/qemu
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sudo ln -s /usr/share/edk2/x64/OVMF.fd /usr/share/qemu/OVMF.fd

5. Install Multipass from AUR#

Using an AUR helper (like yay):

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yay -S canonical-multipass

Or manually:

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git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/canonical-multipass.git
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cd canonical-multipass
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makepkg -si

6. Start Multipass Service#

Enable and start the Multipass daemon:

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sudo systemctl enable --now multipassd.service

7. Verify Installation#

Confirm that Multipass is installed correctly:

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multipass version
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multipass list

Launching Ubuntu Instances#

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multipass launch 20.04 --name my-instance

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multipass launch 20.04 --name dev-instance --cpus 4 --memory 8G --disk 50G

Managing Instances#

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multipass list

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multipass shell instance-name

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multipass stop instance-name

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multipass delete instance-name
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multipass purge  # Remove deleted instances completely

OVMF Firmware Issues#

If you encounter errors related to OVMF.fd:

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# Verify OVMF installation
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ls -l /usr/share/edk2/x64/OVMF.fd
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# Recreate symlink if needed
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sudo rm /usr/share/qemu/OVMF.fd
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sudo ln -s /usr/share/edk2/x64/OVMF.fd /usr/share/qemu/OVMF.fd

Service Connection Issues#

If Multipass fails to connect to the daemon:

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# Check service status
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systemctl status multipassd
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# Check logs
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journalctl -u multipassd
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# Restart service
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sudo systemctl restart multipassd

Permission Issues#

For permission-related errors:

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# Verify group membership
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groups | grep -E "libvirt|kvm"
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# Fix permissions if needed
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sudo chmod 666 /dev/kvm

AppArmor Profiles#

Ensure AppArmor is properly configured:

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# Verify profiles are loaded
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aa-status | grep multipass

Network Security#

• Default networking is NAT-based for isolation
• Consider setting up dedicated network bridges for production use

Resource Limits#

• Set appropriate resource limits to prevent denial of service conditions
• Monitor resource usage with:

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multipass info instance-name

Access Control#

• Use standard Linux permissions
• Consider implementing additional QEMU security features for sensitive environments

Updating Multipass#

Keep Multipass updated with:

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yay -Syu canonical-multipass

Backing Up Instance Data#

Back up your instance data:

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multipass stop instance-name
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cp -r /var/lib/multipass/data/instance-name backup/

Regular Clean-Up#

Perform maintenance to free up resources:

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# Remove old instances
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multipass delete unused-instance
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multipass purge
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# Clear cache
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rm -rf ~/.cache/multipass

Custom Image Source#

Use a different Ubuntu image server:

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multipass set local.image-servers="https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/releases/"

Shared Folders#

Mount a host directory in your instance:

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multipass mount /path/to/host/directory instance-name:/path/in/instance

Bridged Networking#

For direct network access, use a bridge:

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# First create a bridge using netctl or systemd-networkd
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# Then launch with:
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multipass launch --network bridge=br0