---
name: "lxc-start-ephemeral"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "lxc"
version: "1:1.0.6-6+deb8u6"
release: "Debian 8 (Jessie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/lxc-start-ephemeral"
---

# lxc-start-ephemeral(1)

start an ephemeral copy of an existing container

## NAME

lxc-start-ephemeral - start an ephemeral copy of an existing container

## SYNOPSIS

**lxc-start-ephemeral**  \[-o\] \[-n\] \[-d\] \[--bdir\] \[--user\] \[--key\] \[--union-type\] \[--keep-data\] \[COMMAND\]

## DESCRIPTION

**lxc-start-ephemeral** start an ephemeral copy of an existing container.

## OPTIONS

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

  Original container name

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

  Name of the ephemeral container (defaults to a random suffix).

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

  Start the container in background and print the name and IP. This option can't be used if a command is passed.

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

  Directory to bind mount into container. Can be passed multiple times.

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

  The user to connect to the container as. Used when passing a command to lxc-start-ephemeral.

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

  Copy the provided SSH public key into the container.

- FC**\[--union-type\]**F\[0\]

  Force a specific union file system. Can be one of: overlayfs aufs

- FC**\[--keep-data\]**F\[0\]

  Use a persistent backend instead of tmpfs. With this option, you can lxc-stop and lxc-start the no longer so ephemeral container (it's still an overlay, but a persistent one).

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

  Immediately run the provided command in the container. This currently uses ssh (not attach) and is incompatible with daemon mode.

## SEE ALSO

[**lxc-start**(1)](/lxc-start/1.md),

## EXAMPLES

- lxc-start-ephemeral -o p1

  Simply start an ephemeral container and attach to the console. This container will be based on existing container "p1".

- lxc-start-ephemeral -o p1 -n p1-ephemeral -d

  Start an ephemeral container based on p1 called p1-ephemeral and print its IP and name to the console instead of attaching.

## SEE ALSO

[**lxc**(7)](/lxc/7.md), [**lxc-create**(1)](/lxc-create/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)

## AUTHOR

Stéphane Graber \<FCstgraber@ubuntu.comF\[0\]\>