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Multipass/VMs by default discourages newcomers

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Metadata

Project
snapcraft (launchpad)
Number
#1859424
Type
issue
State
open
Author
~lool
Labels
—
Created
Updated
Closed
—

Current evaluation

Feature request: make Snapcraft's Multipass/VM-by-default build path more newcomer friendly (prominent messaging, KVM/nested-virt detection, LXD fallback, docs); partially addressed by health checks, docs, and LXD default on Linux

Suggested action: keep open

Reason: Maintainers acknowledged and acted on parts of it ("we improved in the 1.0 is health checks" from saviq, plus multipass error messages fixed upstream), and the repo now defaults to LXD on Linux while docs/how-to/set-up-snapcraft.rst explicitly warns Multipass "can't be used reliably on platforms that don't support nested virtualization". However, the substantive asks (LXD fallback, prominent pre-launch statement, release vs. debug build distinction per townsend) are still unimplemented in snapcraft/providers.py, which still hardcodes 'multipass' as the non-Linux default, and the issue is a bundle of four loosely-specified ideas with no acceptance criteria, so it stays open but needs scoping rather than a turnkey fix.

Evaluated by: mr-cal-bot

Impact: 38 Quick Win: 5 Complexity: 62 Confidence: 72 Actionability: 32

Issue body

Hi, Snapcraft by default will try to install and use multipass to build snaps. This is for reproducibility of the build, as to ensure the rootfs and the kernel are well defined when building a snap. I'm regularly introducing snapcraft to new persons and had a series of newcomers that struggled creating their first snap because of the multipass by default behavior. Recently, I had two persons on macOS running Ubuntu in a VM that spent hours figuring out why things were not working from their Ubuntu VM because they hadn't enabled nested virtualization and multipass couldn't create a nested VM in their manually managed VM. Today, a new snapcraft user running an Ubuntu VM under Windows was hit by the same thing. I also had a person in my team iterating over snap builds that found the builds super slow because he hadn't noticed that snapcraft switched from LXD to multipass behind the scenes. How could snapcraft do a better job? ⋅ snapcraft could make a prominent statement about the fact it's about to use multipass ⋅ snapcraft could detect availability of KVM extensions before trying to launch multipass or availability of a working multipass setup, or could fallback on LXD ⋅ documentation could be changed to explain the differences between running snapcraft natively vs running it in a VM and requirements for that VM setup ⋅ more ambitiously, snapcraft could distinguish between release and non-release builds and give a default fast/debug debug good for iterations with a fat warning that --release should be used for a release build Best, - Loïc Minier

Evaluation history

Date Model Scores Action Summary
stealth/space-bunny-alpha
Impact: 38
Quick Win: 5
Complexity: 62
Confidence: 72
Actionability: 32
keep open Feature request: make Snapcraft's Multipass/VM-by-default build path more newcomer friendly (prominent messaging, KVM/nested-virt detection, LXD fallback, docs); partially addressed by health checks, docs, and LXD default on Linux
stealth/space-bunny-alpha
Impact: 55
Quick Win: 11
Complexity: 68
Confidence: 88
Actionability: 62
keep open Multipass-based default builds caused confusing nested-VM failures and slow newcomer workflows; diagnostics and setup docs improved, but non-Linux defaults and provider fallback behavior remain unresolved.
stealth/space-bunny-alpha
Impact: 47
Quick Win: 11
Complexity: 58
Confidence: 91
Actionability: 56
keep open Multipass still complicates onboarding in some VM and non-x86 setups despite improved health checks, error messages, and provider documentation; the requested fallback and default changes remain unresolved.
stealth/space-bunny-alpha
Impact: 44
Quick Win: 6
Complexity: 70
Confidence: 88
Actionability: 48
needs triage Multipass remains the macOS/Windows default and can block nested-VM users or slow iteration; Linux now uses LXD and current docs warn about nested virtualization.
stealth/space-bunny-alpha
Impact: 48
Quick Win: 8
Complexity: 68
Confidence: 86
Actionability: 55
needs triage Untriaged request to improve automatic Multipass UX for newcomers through warnings, VM checks or fallback, better documentation, and iteration/release defaults; non-Linux still defaults to Multipass.
qwen/qwen3.8-27b
Impact: 55
Quick Win: 16
Staleness: 95
Complexity: 70
Confidence: 55
Support Request: 25
needs triage Snapcraft's default use of Multipass for builds frustrates newcomers (nested-VM failures on macOS/Windows, slow builds from silent LXD-to-Multipass switch); proposes warnings, KVM detection, docs, and release/debug defaults. Open 6.6 years, no labels, no comments, no maintainer response.
qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b
Staleness: 95
Complexity: 30
Confidence: 80
Support Request: 10
needs triage External contributor reports Snapcraft's default Multipass/VM usage creates friction for newcomers, especially in nested virtualization setups. Suggests better warnings, availability checks, and documentation. Untriaged and inactive for over six years.
qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b
Staleness: 95
Complexity: 45
Confidence: 85
Support Request: 20
needs triage Issue reports that Snapcraft's default use of Multipass/VMs creates friction for newcomers, especially in nested VM environments. Suggests better warnings, fallbacks, and docs. Currently untriaged with no maintainer response after ~6.5 years.
qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6
Staleness: 95
Complexity: 55
Confidence: 90
Support Request: 20
close stale Unaddressed feedback from over six years ago regarding Snapcraft's default Multipass usage discouraging newcomers. Suggests UX warnings, KVM checks, fallbacks, and documentation updates. No maintainer response or labels.

Update history

Date Change
created

Related work

  • Related To: snapcraft (launchpad)#1859427 (confidence 85%)

    Companion bug cited by the reporter for the automatic Multipass install; fixed by commit eb9bd8fbf (PR #2869) installing Multipass from stable.

  • Related To: multipass#1342 (confidence 80%)

    Upstream issue filed by saviq; relates to the confusing 'launch failed / shutdown called while starting' output quoted in the thread.

  • Related To: multipass#1312 (confidence 80%)

    Upstream fix that produced the clearer 'CPU does not support KVM extensions' message shown in the saviq comment of 2020-02-10.

Related issues

No related issues found above the similarity threshold.