Craft Providers

3.6.0 verified Fri May 01 auth: no python

Craft-providers is a Python library for managing and provisioning build environments using LXD, Multipass, or Docker. It is part of the Snapcraft ecosystem, currently at version 3.6.0, with a release cadence of approximately monthly.

pip install craft-providers

Common errors

error ImportError: cannot import name 'LXDInstance' from 'craft_providers' ↓

cause The LXDInstance class is not directly under craft_providers; it is in craft_providers.lxd.

fix

Use: from craft_providers.lxd import LXDInstance

error craft_providers.errors.ProviderError: Failed to launch LXD container ↓

cause LXD is not installed, not running, or the user lacks permissions.

fix

Ensure LXD is installed, the daemon is running, and user is in the lxd group.

Warnings

breaking In craft-providers 2.0, the API was rewritten. The old craft_providers.bases.Base class hierarchy was replaced with craft_providers.bases.BuilddBase and other concrete base classes. ↓

fix Update code to use new base classes; refer to migration guide.

deprecated craft_providers.lxd.LXDInstance.launch() is deprecated in favor of .create() since version 3.0. ↓

fix Use .create() instead of .launch().

gotcha LXD must be installed and the user must have permission to interact with the LXD socket (usually via lxd group). ↓

fix Install LXD and add user to lxd group, then log out and back in.

Imports

LXDInstance
```
from craft_providers.lxd import LXDInstance
```
Correct import for LXD provider instance.
MultipassInstance
```
from craft_providers.multipass import MultipassInstance
```
Correct import for Multipass provider instance.

DockerInstance

wrong

from craft_providers.docker import Docker

correct

from craft_providers.docker import DockerInstance

The class is named DockerInstance, not Docker.

Quickstart

Creates an LXD container with Ubuntu Jammy, runs a command, then deletes it.

from craft_providers.lxd import LXDInstance
from craft_providers import bases

instance = LXDInstance(name="my-instance")
instance.create(
    base=bases.BuilddBase(series="jammy")
)
with instance as ctx:
    print(ctx.execute_run(["lsb_release", "-a"]))
instance.delete()