Incus is a next-generation system container, application container, and virtual machine manager.

It provides a user experience similar to that of a public cloud. With it, you can easily mix and match both containers and virtual machines, sharing the same underlying storage and network.

Incus is image based and provides images for a wide number of Linux distributions. It provides flexibility and scalability for various use cases, with support for different storage backends and network types and the option to install on hardware ranging from an individual laptop or cloud instance to a full server rack.

When using Incus, you can manage your instances (containers and VMs) with a simple command line tool, directly through the REST API or by using third-party tools and integrations. Incus implements a single REST API for both local and remote access.

The Incus project was created by Aleksa Sarai as a community driven alternative to Canonical’s LXD. Today, it’s led and maintained by many of the same people that once created LXD.