LXD Provider requires a local installation of LXD on macOS
Metadata
Current evaluation
Remote-LXD builds remain unavailable on macOS and Windows because provider checks still require a local LXD install, despite acknowledged demand and partial low-level remote support.
Suggested action: keep open
Reason: Maintainer @mr-cal confirmed several requests and said most low-level remote support exists, but application integration, UX, and architecture-aware build-plan filtering remain. The code still accepts lxd_remote while ensure_provider_is_available requires a local installation, and install() rejects non-Linux hosts, so the requested capability is not resolved.
Evaluated by: mr-cal-bot
Impact:
68
Quick Win:
10
Complexity:
78
Confidence:
94
Actionability:
70
Issue body
### What needs to get done
Allow LXD provider to work with a remote LXD cluster so that builds on non-linux hosts like windows and macOS can become faster. I have asked for a similar requirement in Snapcraft repo as well [here](https://github.com/snapcore/snapcraft/issues/4454).
Hoping to get some traction and insight here.
### Why it needs to get done
Currently the LXD provider checks for a local installation of LXD which is not possible for non-linux platforms. Please correct me if I am wrong here but most of the craft tools require only a client side implementation of the providers and offload the actual building by using mount/transfer options available for the provider to run the building process on the source package.
So giving the option to use a remote LXD cluster for packaging things instead of relying on multipass could make things faster as well since multipass always launches a new vm which is a rather heavy operation as compared to a container.
Propose Solution:
Making an LXC client that is correctly configured to a reachable lxd cluster, the `required` dependency could solve this problem ?
Evaluation history
| Date | Model | Scores | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha |
Impact:
68
Quick Win:
10
Complexity:
78
Confidence:
94
Actionability:
70
|
keep open | Remote-LXD builds remain unavailable on macOS and Windows because provider checks still require a local LXD install, despite acknowledged demand and partial low-level remote support. | |
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha |
Impact:
58
Quick Win:
11
Complexity:
70
Confidence:
94
Actionability:
65
|
keep open | Remote LXD builds remain unsupported end-to-end: launcher plumbing accepts remotes, but the provider still targets local LXD; application UX and cross-architecture build-plan filtering remain unfinished. | |
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha |
Impact:
56
Quick Win:
10
Complexity:
70
Confidence:
94
Actionability:
62
|
keep open | Remote LXD support remains incomplete despite low-level remote plumbing: provider readiness still requires local LXD, while application-side UX and remote-architecture handling remain unfinished. | |
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha |
Impact:
58
Quick Win:
8
Complexity:
76
Confidence:
95
Actionability:
60
|
keep open | Remote LXD support for LXDProvider is acknowledged and partially prepared, but remains unavailable on non-Linux hosts; application integration, server-architecture handling, and UX still need design. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Impact:
65
Quick Win:
18
Staleness:
65
Complexity:
72
Confidence:
75
Support Request:
10
|
keep open | Enhancement to support remote LXD clusters for non-Linux hosts. Acknowledged by maintainer with existing proof-of-concept but pending UX and application-side implementation. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
65
Complexity:
70
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
10
|
keep open | Request to enable remote LXD cluster support for the LXD provider, allowing builds on macOS/Windows without local LXD. Acknowledged by maintainers as partially implemented but requiring further UX and cross-architecture handling work. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
55
Complexity:
70
Confidence:
75
Support Request:
10
|
keep open | Enhancement request to support remote LXD clusters for non-Linux hosts. Maintainer acknowledged the feature, noted existing partial implementation, and created an internal tracking ticket. Awaiting architectural planning and UX design. |
Update history
No update history recorded yet.
Related work
-
Related To:
craft-providers#880
(confidence 93%)
Open issue #880, titled "Support LXD backend on non-Linux hosts," covers the same remote LXD use case.
Related issues
No related issues found above the similarity threshold.