LXC.EXPORT(1)

💅 NAME

lxc-export — export instance backups, bestie. That's it, that's the whole vibe ✨

Oh and hey, you're reading a page from LXD - Command line client(1) — the LXD command line client manual, aka where all the good stuff lives 🎀

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

lxc export [:] [target] [--instance-only] [--optimized-storage] [flags]

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

Description:

Export instances as backup tarballs 🫶 That's literally the whole job — you point it at an instance, it hands you back a tarball. Iconic.

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💖 OPTIONS 💖

• --compression="" — which compression algorithm to use. Set it to none if you want it uncompressed, no cap 🌈
• --export-version="" — wanna use a different metadata format version than the latest one the server supports? This is your girl. It's closing quotes above, iykyk.
• --instance-only[=false] — whether or not to only back up the instance itself, without the snapshots 👀 Defaults to false, so snapshots come along unless you say otherwise.
• --optimized-storage[=false] — use the storage driver's optimized format. Heads up though: backups made this way can only be restored on a similar pool ⚠️ not a portable lil tarball, so think before you commit fr fr. Defaults to false.

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🦋 OPTIONS INHERITED FROM PARENT COMMANDS 🦋

These ones aren't even hers, she's just borrowing them from the parent command 🧚

• --debug[=false] — show all the debug messages. All of them. Every last one 💀 Defaults to false.
• --force-local[=false] — force using the local unix socket. Defaults to false.
• -h, --help[=false] — print help. The classic. Defaults to false.
• --project="" — override the source project 🎀
• -q, --quiet[=false] — don't show progress information. For when you want peace and quiet, lowkey. Defaults to false.
• --sub-commands[=false] — use this with help or --help to view sub-commands. Defaults to false.
• -v, --verbose[=false] — show all information messages. Chatty era 💬 Defaults to false.
• --version[=false] — print the version number. Defaults to false.

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🔥 EXAMPLE 🔥

lxc export u1 backup0.tar.gz
    Download a backup tarball of the u1 instance.

Look at that. u1 goes in, backup0.tar.gz comes out. Slay 💅

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👑 SEE ALSO 👑

lxc(1) — go read the main character's page too, bestie 🫶

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⭐ HISTORY ⭐

22-Aug-2026 — Auto generated by spf13/cobra. Not me being a whole auto-generated icon 😭

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💜 That's the whole page, you ate that. Now go export something and back it up like the responsible queen you are. Periodt.