The Incus team has just announced the release of version 6.18 of its container & virtual machine manager, a community-driven fork of LXD, created after Canonical changed LXD’s governance and moved it under its umbrella.
This version marks a notable milestone—the Incus Agent is now compatible with macOS. With this addition, the agent supports seamless operation across Linux, Windows, and macOS, providing command execution, file transfers, and shared storage using the 9p protocol. macOS users can also report system information back to Incus, marking a major step forward in cross-platform management.
Another key enhancement is support for systemd credentials. Administrators can now provide data directly to systemd services inside containers and virtual machines through new configuration keys, including both text and binary credential options.
In virtualization, Incus 6.18 introduces VirtIO sound card support to enhance desktop audio for Linux guests utilizing SPICE. Windows drivers are not yet available, but this feature benefits most Linux users running graphical virtual machines. The update also allows USB devices to be detached without removal, enabling flexible device management by simply toggling the attached property.
On the storage front, Incus expands file operations for custom volumes, matching the capabilities previously available on instances. Administrators can now create, edit, push, pull, and delete files directly within storage volumes. The release also restores balance to ISO management by allowing users to export ISO volumes, complementing the existing import function.
Networking gains a subtle but useful addition with the new dns.mode option for OVN networks, which lets users disable built-in DNS records when not needed. At the same time, MAC address patterns can now be customized globally or per project—ideal for organizations with their own registered address ranges.
Additionally, the IncusOS CLI has been reworked to integrate logic directly from the IncusOS repository, offering a more comprehensive set of administrative commands. From backups and updates to TPM operations and storage actions, nearly every API function is now accessible from the command line.
Other technical additions include BPF token delegation, allowing specific BPF commands, maps, and programs to be securely delegated to containers or virtual machines.
For more information about the Incus 6.18 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.
