pve-faq.adoc

   1 Frequently Asked Questions
   2 ==========================
   3 include::attributes.txt[]
   4 ifndef::manvolnum[]
   5 :pve-toplevel:
   6 endif::manvolnum[]
   7 ifdef::wiki[]
   8 :title: FAQ
   9 endif::wiki[]
  10
  11 NOTE: New FAQs are appended to the bottom of this section.
  12
  13 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
  14 ADD NEW FAQS TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS SECTION TO MAINTAIN NUMBERING
  15 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
  16
  17 [qanda]
  18
  19 What distribution is {pve} based on?::
  20
  21 {pve} is based on http://www.debian.org[Debian GNU/Linux]
  22
  23 What license does the {pve} project use?::
  24
  25 {pve} code is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License,
  26 version 3.
  27
  28 Will {pve} run on a 32bit processor?::
  29
  30 {pve} works only on 64-bit CPUs (AMD or Intel). There is no plan
  31 for 32-bit for the platform.
  32 +
  33 NOTE: VMs and Containers can be both 32-bit and/or 64-bit.
  34
  35 Does my CPU support virtualization?::
  36
  37 To check if your CPU is virtualization compatible, check for the `vmx`
  38 or `svm` tag in this command output:
  39 +
  40 ----
  41 egrep '(vmx|svm)' /proc/cpuinfo
  42 ----
  43
  44 Supported Intel CPUs::
  45
  46 64-bit processors with
  47 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtualization_Technology#Intel_virtualization_.28VT-x.29[Intel
  48 Virtualization Technology (Intel VT-x)] support. (http://ark.intel.com/search/advanced/?s=t&VTX=true&InstructionSet=64-bit[List of processors with Intel VT and 64-bit])
  49
  50 Supported AMD CPUs::
  51
  52 64-bit processors with
  53 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtualization_Technology#AMD_virtualization_.28AMD-V.29[AMD
  54 Virtualization Technology (AMD-V)] support.
  55
  56 What is a container, CT, VE, Virtual Private Server, VPS?::
  57
  58 Operating-system-level virtualization is a server-virtualization
  59 method where the kernel of an operating system allows for multiple
  60 isolated user-space instances, instead of just one. We call such
  61 instances containers. As containers use the host's kernel they are
  62 limited to Linux guests.
  63
  64 What is a QEMU/KVM guest (or VM)?::
  65
  66 A QEMU/KVM guest (or VM) is a guest system running virtualized under
  67 {pve} using QEMU and the Linux KVM kernel module.
  68
  69 What is QEMU?::
  70
  71 QEMU is a generic and open source machine emulator and
  72 virtualizer. QEMU uses the Linux KVM kernel module to achieve near
  73 native performance by executing the guest code directly on the host
  74 CPU.
  75 It is not limited to Linux guests but allows arbitrary operating systems
  76 to run.
  77
  78 How long will my {pve} version be supported?::
  79
  80 {pve} versions are supported at least as long as the corresponding
  81 Debian Version is
  82 https://wiki.debian.org/DebianOldStable[oldstable]. {pve} uses a
  83 rolling release model and using the latest stable version is always
  84 recommended.
  85 +
  86 [width="100%",cols="5*d",options="header"]
  87 |===========================================================
  88 | {pve} Version | Debian Version    | First Release | Debian EOL | Proxmox EOL
  89 | {pve} 4.x     | Debian 8 (Jessie) | 2015-10       | 2018-05    | tba
  90 | {pve} 3.x     | Debian 7 (Wheezy) | 2013-05       | 2016-04    | 2017-02
  91 | {pve} 2.x     | Debian 6 (Squeeze)| 2012-04       | 2014-05    | 2014-05
  92 | {pve} 1.x     | Debian 5 (Lenny)  | 2008-10       | 2012-03    | 2013-01
  93 |===========================================================
  94
  95 LXC vs LXD vs Proxmox Containers vs Docker::
  96
  97 LXC is a userspace interface for the Linux kernel containment
  98 features. Through a powerful API and simple tools, it lets Linux users
  99 easily create and manage system containers. LXC, as well as the former
 100 OpenVZ, aims at *system virtualization*, i.e. allows you to run a
 101 complete OS inside a container, where you log in as ssh, add users,
 102 run apache, etc...
 103 +
 104 LXD is building on top of LXC to provide a new, better user
 105 experience. Under the hood, LXD uses LXC through `liblxc` and its Go
 106 binding to create and manage the containers. It's basically an
 107 alternative to LXC's tools and distribution template system with the
 108 added features that come from being controllable over the network.
 109 +
 110 Proxmox Containers also aims at *system virtualization*, and thus uses
 111 LXC as the basis of its own container offer. The Proxmox Container
 112 Toolkit is called `pct`, and is tightly coupled with {pve}. That means
 113 that it is aware of the cluster setup, and it can use the same network
 114 and storage resources as fully virtualized VMs. You can even use the
 115 {pve} firewall, create and restore backups, or manage containers using
 116 the HA framework. Everything can be controlled over the network using
 117 the {pve} API.
 118 +
 119 Docker aims at running a *single* application running in a contained
 120 environment. Hence you're managing a docker instance from the host with the
 121 docker toolkit. It is not recommended to run docker directly on your
 122 {pve} host.
 123 +
 124 NOTE: You can however perfectly install and use docker inside a Proxmox Qemu
 125 VM, and thus getting the benefit of software containerization with the very
 126 strong isolation that VMs provide.