Vagrant Cheatsheet - VM Management

Vagrant's payoff is reproducibility: commit the Vagrantfile, and `vagrant up` rebuilds the same VM on anyone's laptop. The commands are short — up/ssh/halt/destroy — but the config points that bite are the box version, synced folders, and provisioner ordering. This table pairs the lifecycle commands with those Vagrantfile settings so a fresh clone goes from checkout to running VM in one command.

SysOps·40 commands·Last updated 2026-07-21

VM Lifecycle 9

vagrant init ubuntu/jammy64

Initialize a Vagrant project

vagrant up

Start the VM

vagrant ssh

SSH into the VM

vagrant halt

Shut down the VM

vagrant destroy

Destroy the VM

vagrant suspend / vagrant resume

Suspend / resume the VM

vagrant reload

Restart and reload config

vagrant status

Show VM status

vagrant global-status

List all local Vagrant environments

Box Management 6

vagrant box add ubuntu/jammy64

Download a box image

vagrant box list

List installed boxes

vagrant box outdated

Check for box updates

vagrant box update --box ubuntu/jammy64

Update a specific box

vagrant box remove ubuntu/jammy64

Remove a box image

vagrant box add my-box ./package.box

Add a box from a local file

Vagrantfile 6

config.vm.box = "ubuntu/jammy64"

Set the base box

config.vm.hostname = "dev-server"

Set the hostname

config.vm.provider "virtualbox" do |vb|\n vb.memory = "2048"\n vb.cpus = 2\nend

Configure VM resources

config.vm.synced_folder "./src", "/var/www"

Sync a folder

config.vm.provision "shell", path: "setup.sh"

Shell script provisioning

config.vm.provision "shell", inline: "apt-get update"

Inline shell provisioning

Network & Sync 6

config.vm.network "forwarded_port", guest: 80, host: 8080

Port forwarding

config.vm.network "private_network", ip: "192.168.33.10"

Private network (fixed IP)

config.vm.network "public_network"

Public network (bridged)

config.vm.synced_folder "./src", "/var/www", type: "nfs"

NFS sync (better performance)

config.vm.synced_folder "./data", "/data", disabled: true

Disable a sync folder

vagrant port

Show port-forward mappings

Multi-Machine & Provision 6

config.vm.define "web" do |web|\n web.vm.box = "ubuntu/jammy64"\nend

Define the web machine

config.vm.define "db" do |db|\n db.vm.box = "ubuntu/jammy64"\nend

Define the db machine

vagrant up web

Start a specific machine

vagrant ssh web

SSH into a specific machine

vagrant provision

Re-run provisioning

vagrant provision --provision-with shell

Run only a provisioner type

Snapshots & Plugins 7

vagrant snapshot save my-snapshot

Save a snapshot

vagrant snapshot restore my-snapshot

Restore a snapshot

vagrant snapshot list

List all snapshots

vagrant snapshot delete my-snapshot

Delete a snapshot

vagrant plugin install vagrant-vbguest

Install a plugin (auto Guest Additions)

vagrant plugin list

List installed plugins

vagrant package --output my-box.box

Package the VM into a box

Tips

vagrant up downloads the box on first run; later starts are fast.
Vagrantfile is Ruby, but only basic config is needed.
vagrant-vbguest auto-updates VirtualBox Guest Additions.
snapshot save/restore quickly persists/restores VM state.
NFS sync outperforms the default VBox shared folder for big projects.
vagrant package bundles a configured VM into a box for sharing.

Official References

Each command links to its official documentation below, so you can verify the latest usage and read deeper.

Linux man-pages

Maintained by LaoHand

Publicly updated on Jul 21, 2026, continuously proofread against official docs.

Contact Us

Wrong command or description? Send us corrections, business inquiries or product feedback by email.