Yes, you can run Windows 10 or 11 inside LXD. It’s actually not that hard—just a few prep steps and some command-line magic. These instructions are written for Arch, but the process is nearly the same on other distros (package names may change a bit).
Let’s go.
Step 1: Preparing the Image
a. Grab the ISO:
Download Windows from Microsoft like a law-abiding citizen: 👉 https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/software-download
b. Install the required packages
pacman -S distrobuilder libguestfs wimlib cdrkit
c. Repack the ISO for LXD. Note that I’m creating a Windows 10 VM
sudo distrobuilder repack-windows --windows-arch=amd64 Win10_22H2_English_x64v1.iso Win10_22H2_English_x64v1-lxd.iso
Step 2: Prepping the VM
a. Create an empty VM:
$ lxc init windows10 --empty --vm
Creating windows10
b. Give it a bigger disk
$ lxc config device override windows10 root size=55GiB
Device root overridden for windows10
c. Add CPU and memory
lxc config set windows10 limits.cpu=4 limits.memory=6GiB
d. Add a trusted platform module device
$ lxc config device add windows10 vtpm tpm path=/dev/tpm0
Device vtpm added to windows10
e. Add audio device
lxc config set windows10 raw.qemu -- "-device intel-hda -device hda-duplex -audio spice"
f. Add the install disk. Note that it needs the absolute path
$ lxc config device add windows10 install disk source=/home/victor/Downloads/OS/Win10_22H2_English_x64v1-lxd.iso boot.priority=10
Device install added to windows10
Step 3: Install Windows
a. Start the VM and connect:
lxc start windows10 --console=vga
b. “Press any key” to boot from CD and install Windows
c. Go through the usual Windows install:
You can also use the LXD WebUI console to monitor reboots:
Step 3: Clean Up
Remove the install ISO when you’re done:
$ lxc config device remove windows10 install
Device install removed from windows10
Conclusion
And that’s it—you now have Windows running on LXD. Pretty painless, right?
