Proxmox VE Open Source LXC and KVM Management Slide deck for presentation for the talk at the Linux Fest Northwest 2018 - https://t.co/XjCqGHBMjL

1. ProxmoxVE
Open Source LXC and
KVM Managment
Sometimes you just want a nice UI
Linux Fest Northwest 2018
Richard Clark – Crafty Penguins

2. Who am I ?
● Richard Clark
● SRE Consultant with Crafty Penguins, a division of
KerkhoffTechnologies in Chilliwack, BC Canada
● Software Developer (C, Java, Python, etc.)
● System Administrator
● rick@seerickcode.com, richard@craftypenguins.net
● @seerickcode

3. PROXMOX

4. What is a Hypervisor
A Hypervisor is software, firmware, or hardware that creates and runs
multiple isolated virtual `guest` machines on a single `host` machine.

5. KVM - “Kernel-basedVirtual Machine”
● FullVirtualization for Linux/x86
– Built into linux kernel
– Emulated Hardware (Network,Video, Disk, etc.)
● Paravirtualized drivers
– Windows, Linux, *BSD, OS X, …..
● Manage with command line tools, “virsh”, or various overlay tools (virt-
manager)..

6. LXC – Linux Containers
● Operating-system-level virtualization
● Low level system that uses cgroups and isolated namespaces
● Linux based guests only
● Guests share the same kernel
● Manage with `lxc` command line
virtsh, or various 3rd
party overlays
● Make it better with :
– Docker! Docker! Docker!
– LXD

7. KVM or LXC - Different use case
● KVM
– Need to run a non-linux OS
– Need to use different or custom Linux kernel
– Need a virtual video card (Desktop GUI OS)
– Slower, but paravirtualized drivers help (network/storage)
● LXC
– Fast
– Isolation - Other than the kernel, all the underlying setup works almost like a separate
system. Separate repos, upgrades, network config, lower attack surface (install only
what you need)
– Only Linux, and only the same kernel
– No video card emulation *

8. KVM or LXC ?

9. KVM & LXC ?
● Different backing storage
● Different bootstrap methods
● Different networking configuration
● Different console access
● Different configuration for resources
● Different monitoring
● Different management (stop, start, resize, backup, move, rm)
● ..... different tools

12. Why am I giving this talk ?

13. ProxmoxVirtual Environment
● 10Years this year !
● Management system for KVM and LXC technologies
● Similar toVMWare’sVSphere, XenCenter, etc.
● Open Source (Enterprise _support_ subscription model)
● Rich UI available over HTTPS
● Manage KVM and LXC in same UI
● Virtual Console
● Clustering Solutions

14. Proxmox Feature Set #1
● Rich HTML based UI for KVM and LXC management
● No proprietary
management tools
needed
● Use LXC when
possible for fastest
isolation
● Use KVM with full
virtual emulation is
needed or non-Linux

15. Proxmox Feature Set #2
● Open Source
● Based off of Debian (currently 9.x)
– It’s Just Linux - (networking, monitoring, management, tools, etc.)
● Simple repository add and apt-get install
● It is not a ‘Light’ community edition
– Backups, Firewall, Lots of storage options, Clustering, Live Migration
● Great for Personal / HomeLab
– Run various operating systems for training/experimentation
● Starts free, as in beer, with all the features.

16. Proxmox Feature Set #3
● Lots of backing store file system support
– Network ( LVM Group (iSCSI), iSCSI target/direct, NFS, Ceph RDB, GlusterFS)
– Local
● LVM Group over any block device tech (FC, DRDB, etc.)
● Directory (storage on existing filesystem)
● ZFS
● Clustering for HA
– Multi-Master
– Live Migration to move your ‘important’VMs to other hardware.
● Snapshots
● CLI and RESTfull API
● … much, much, more, and growing every release

17. Installing Proxmox
● Download the installer ISO from
https://www.proxmox.com/en/downloads
● Install on top of already existing Debian Stretch
– All outlined at https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Install_Proxmox_VE_on_Debian_Stretch
– Essentially :
● Add the Repository
echo "deb http://download.proxmox.com/debian/pve stretch pve­no­
subscription" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pve­install­repo.list
● Install the GPG Public Key
wget http://download.proxmox.com/debian/proxmox­ve­release­5.x.gpg ­O
/etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/proxmox­ve­release­5.x.gpg

18. Installing Proxmox.. part 2
● Setup the a bridged network
– apt­get install bridge­utils
– Set a fixed static IP on a bridge (/etc/network/interfaces)
auto vmbr0
iface vmbr0 inet static
address 10.1.1.101/24
bridge_ports none
bridge_stp off
bridge_fd 0
– Add the IP and hostname to /etc/hosts
10.1.1.101 proxmox1.example.com proxmox1 pvelocalhost
– Reboot to take effect
● Update repository and install
– apt­get update && apt­get dist­upgrade
apt­get install proxmox­ve postfix open­iscsi

20. Demo ?

21. Demo 1
● Setup Network
● Install Proxmox on Debian
● Reboot and cross fingers
● Log in / Explain layout
● Add cluster storage
● AddTemplate for LXC Container
● Deploy container
● Add ISO for KVM Container
● Deploy KVM

22. Demo 2
● DeployWindows KVM /VirtIO Drivers
● Backups
● Firewall ?
● CLI usage
● ?

23. ProxmoxVE
Richard Clark – Crafty Penguins
@seerickcode
richard@craftypenguins.net
Questions ?