Should I install nethserver on proxmox as a LXC-Container or VM?

[arohl (Andrew Rohl)]

I have been reading through the archives and can see that nethserver has been installed both as a VM or as a LXC-Container. Thoughts on what is best for someone new to proxmox but with some linux experience? @Andy_Wismer?

[Andy_Wismer (André Wismer)]

Hi Andrew

Depending on your (planned) usage…

Databases (Not only Relational) can add in problems to running as a LXC Container. This has to do with how memory is handled.

In such cases, running a VM is better and rock solid.

LXC can save a LOT of resources, but the headaches with databases afterward make it less worthwhile for me.

My 2 cents
Andy

[pike (Michael Kicks)]

@arohl

I have been reading through the archives and can see that nethserver has been installed both as a VM or as a LXC-Container.

Exactly… where did you find that “NethServer can be installed as LXC-Container”?

[Andy_Wismer (André Wismer)]

@pike

Hi

It doesn’t really matter, where he found it. I myself recall the post…
If I’m not mistaken, it was in context with installing NethServer on ARM (incl. Proxmox on a Raspberry) but also in another context.

One is this one:

Nethserver on ProxMox LXC

Hello all, As an experiment, last night I went about installing Nehtserver in a Centos 7 lxc container on proxmox 6.3 latest. After hitting a wall for a bit, I have it running and doing basic firewall, ad blocking and such. The stickiest bit was immediately after running: yum install -y http://mirror.nethserver.org/nethserver/nethserver-release-7.rpm nethserver-install I would lose access to both of the VMBR I had assigned to this Centos container in proxmox. They were confirmed working and …

---

Besides which:

The Quote from Archi is “has been installed” is not quite the same as “can be installed” like you are using - that implies something almost “recommended”.

Yes, I know, english can be difficult at times, and there are some fine points in grammar, etc…

My 2 cents
Andy

[pike (Michael Kicks)]

@Andy_Wismer

It doesn’t really matter, where he found it. I myself recall the post…

IMVHO it does. Because AFAIK NethServer is bare metal or VM only, as “supported scenario”. At least, according to documentation
I mean… you can still use VirtualBox on your newest Apple Box with M1 ARM (currently unsupported). But anyway, as LXC, I don’t consider it really “an option”, only something to kill time.

[Andy_Wismer (André Wismer)]

A NethServer on LXC is in my opinion - like yours - a play thing, a toy.
Not for productive use!

Some users want to learn, which is a good thing. And a toy can help to understand things not obvious from the start.

And a lot of stuff / playing around goes into development of the next Version, NS8. Not all, not everything… The better NS8 turns out, the better for everyone here. Not everyone needs all features, some use NS as server, some only as firewall. Some want more power efficiency, some need as much power as the CPU can give.

My 2 cents
Andy

[arohl (Andrew Rohl)]

Thanks for the comments - I will go down the VM route!

[PaulVM (Paolo)]

KVM is better/simpler, but LXC works (after resolvong some startup problems and with limitations).
I tried some LXC installation for situations were I usually prefer CT over VM.
Currently I have a good working NS 7.x mail server installed on Proxmox 5.x in late 2017, now on Proxmox 6.4. 40 userd, 600 GB mail storage … no problems
And a File server installed on Proxmox 6.x (5 TB data storage).
After the startup configuration problems (NIC & c.), the biggest difficult was managing users authentication. Ok, DC doesn’t work in CT because of its implementation, but I had a lot of problems to connect to a DC that in VM I haven’t.
Hope in NS8 there is a simpler path

[pike (Michael Kicks)]

Currently NS8 is “throw away your containerized environment and install NS8 container”

[pagaille (Matthieu Gaillet)]

I experimented with with NS in LXC containers and was never totally confident in the setup. Even a simple web server was sometimes playing funny.