README

   1 = Info for developers =
   2
   3 == Command Line Tool ==
   4
   5 Example:
   6
   7  # pct create 200 debian-7.0-standard_7.0-2_i386.tar.gz
   8  # pct start 200
   9  # pct enter 200
  10  # pct stop 200
  11  # pct destroy 200
  12
  13 You can get detailed help with:
  14
  15  # pct help -v
  16
  17 == Container names ==
  18
  19 We use integers values for container names (and do not allow to use
  20 arbitrary names for containers).
  21
  22 == LXC Configuration ==
  23
  24 We store LXC container configurations on the cluster file system:
  25
  26  /etc/pve/nodes/<nodeid>/lxc/<CTID>/config
  27
  28 There is a symbolic link for the local node at
  29
  30  /etc/pve/lxc => /etc/pve/nodes/<localhost>/lxc
  31
  32 We store PVE related configuration using prefix 'pve', for example:
  33
  34  # lxc config for container 105
  35  lxc.include = /usr/share/lxc/config/debian.common.conf
  36  lxc.utsname = ct1
  37  pve.disksize = 8
  38  pve.volid = local:105/vm-105-rootfs.raw
  39  # network config
  40  lxc.network.type = veth
  41  pve.network.bridge = vmbr0
  42  pve.network.gw = 192.168.2.1
  43  lxc.network.hwaddr = 86:5D:0B:28:E6:23
  44  pve.network.ip = 192.168.3.106/20
  45  lxc.network.name = eth0
  46  lxc.network.veth.pair = veth105.0
  47
  48 Those 'pve.network' entrioes are used by the PVE::LXCSetup classes to
  49 configure the network inside the containers.
  50
  51 We only allow 'veth' networks, and use 'lxc.network.veth.pair' to
  52 uniquely identify the network withing the configuration file
  53
  54  veth<vmid>.0 => net0
  55  veth<vmid>.1 => net1
  56  veth<vmid>.2 => net2
  57  ...
  58
  59
  60 == CRIU ==
  61
  62 CRIU (1.5.2) does not work well with kernel 3.10.0, so checkpoint/restore
  63 and live migration does not work.
  64
  65 = FAQ =
  66
  67 * Why not LXD
  68
  69 - LXD uses a local database to store configuration files, which simply
  70   does not work with our distributed configuration file system
  71   (pmxcfs)
  72
  73 - We want to use our existing libraries (i.e. Storage). Also see:
  74   https://lists.linuxcontainers.org/pipermail/lxc-users/2015-June/009441.html
  75   where they write: "Lxd will not be as flexible as lxc in many ways,
  76   including with respect to backing stores."
  77
  78   We have a different goal, and want to support many new storage technologies
  79   like zfs, ceph, ...
  80
  81 - It is a wrapper around LXC, and only provides a REST API and new CLI
  82   tool. But Proxmox VE already provides a full featured API, and CLI tools
  83   are automatically generated from that API.