Over a month after its previous 6.6 release, Incus, an open-source container and virtual machine manager, released its latest update, version 6.7. It is packed with features and improvements designed to benefit everyone, from individual users to those managing small homelabs and even large-scale clusters.
The release’s highlight is easier access to the Incus web interface. Previously, users had to navigate a somewhat complex process involving network configurations and managing certificates to access the Incus web UI.
With Incus 6.7, a simpler alternative is here: the new incus webui command. This command allows users to run a small HTTP web server locally, protected by a unique token, significantly simplifying access while maintaining security.
For cluster users, Incus 6.7 introduces automatic cluster rebalancing. This new feature, which allows for live migration of VMs, ensures that workloads are efficiently distributed across all nodes.
In light of this, users can now configure various settings, such as how frequently rebalancing occurs and how many instances are moved during each round.
Networking has also seen improvements in this release. For those running OCI containers, Incus now ensures that DHCP lease renewal is handled seamlessly. Previously, containers might have experienced issues with DNS records expiring due to unrenewed DHCP leases, but now the DHCP client continues running in the background to maintain network stability.
OVN networks also received an upgrade, with support for DHCP address ranges now extended to these networks. This allows for more flexible IP management, letting users reserve network portions for static assignments or other uses.
Backup processes are now more customizable with the addition of the --refresh-exclude-older flag. This helps users who want to maintain different snapshot histories between source and backup servers, providing more control over what gets backed up and when.
For users interested in monitoring the incus top command now supports configurable columns, formats, and refresh times, making it easier to tailor the output to specific needs.
Additionally, virtual machines now log their QMP (QEMU Machine Protocol) commands in a new “qemu.qmp.log” file, offering more transparency and traceability for interactions between Incus and QEMU.
Finally, there are several other quality-of-life improvements in Incus 6.7. For example, users can now change the parent device for managed physical networks, providing flexibility when physical network configurations change.
Additionally, the QEMU scriptlet received more helper functions, simplifying tasks like adding or removing devices, while a new get_instances_count command makes it easier to track instance usage in placement decisions.
For more information about the Incus 6.7 container and virtual machine manager changes, visit the release announcement or check out the full changelog.
Users are encouraged to try out these new features by visiting the Incus online platform, which provides a hands-on experience with the latest version.
