---
name: "lxc-destroy"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "lxc"
version: "1:7.0.0-2"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/lxc-destroy"
---

# lxc-destroy(1)

destroy a container.

## NAME

lxc-destroy - destroy a container.

## SYNOPSIS

**lxc-destroy**  {-n *name*} \[-f\] \[-s\]

## DESCRIPTION

**lxc-destroy** destroys the system object previously created by the **lxc-create** command.

## OPTIONS

- FC**-f, --force**F\[0\]

  If a container is running, stop it first. If this option is not specified and the container is running, then **lxc-destroy** will be aborted.

- FC**-s, --snapshots**F\[0\]

  destroy the specified container including all its snapshots.

## COMMON OPTIONS

These options are common to most of lxc commands.

- FC**-?, -h, --help**F\[0\]

  Print a longer usage message than normal.

- FC**--usage**F\[0\]

  Give the usage message

- FC**-q, --quiet**F\[0\]

  mute on

- FC**-P, --lxcpath=**F\[0\]*PATH*

  Use an alternate container path. The default is /var/lib/lxc.

- FC**-o, --logfile=**F\[0\]*FILE*

  Output to an alternate log *FILE*. The default is no log.

- FC**-l, --logpriority=**F\[0\]*LEVEL*

  Set log priority to *LEVEL*. The default log priority is FCERRORF\[0\]. Possible values are : FCFATALF\[0\], FCALERTF\[0\], FCCRITF\[0\], FCWARNF\[0\], FCERRORF\[0\], FCNOTICEF\[0\], FCINFOF\[0\], FCDEBUGF\[0\], FCTRACEF\[0\].

  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.

- FC**-n, --name=**F\[0\]*NAME*

  Use container identifier *NAME*. The container identifier format is an alphanumeric string.

- FC**--rcfile=**F\[0\]*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).

- FC**--version**F\[0\]

  Show the version number.

## DIAGNOSTIC

- The container was not found

  The specified container for destruction was not found. It is probable it does not exists and was already destroyed.You can use the **lxc-ls** command to list the available containers on the system.

## SEE ALSO

[**lxc**(7)](/lxc/7.md), [**lxc-create**(1)](/lxc-create/1.md), [**lxc-copy**(1)](/lxc-copy/1.md), [**lxc-destroy**(1)](/lxc-destroy/1.md), [**lxc-start**(1)](/lxc-start/1.md), [**lxc-stop**(1)](/lxc-stop/1.md), [**lxc-execute**(1)](/lxc-execute/1.md), [**lxc-console**(1)](/lxc-console/1.md), [**lxc-monitor**(1)](/lxc-monitor/1.md), [**lxc-wait**(1)](/lxc-wait/1.md), [**lxc-cgroup**(1)](/lxc-cgroup/1.md), [**lxc-ls**(1)](/lxc-ls/1.md), [**lxc-info**(1)](/lxc-info/1.md), [**lxc-freeze**(1)](/lxc-freeze/1.md), [**lxc-unfreeze**(1)](/lxc-unfreeze/1.md), [**lxc-attach**(1)](/lxc-attach/1.md), [**lxc.conf**(5)](/lxc.conf/5.md)