pve-faq.adoc

   1 Frequently Asked Questions
   2 ==========================
   3 ifndef::manvolnum[]
   4 :pve-toplevel:
   5 endif::manvolnum[]
   6 ifdef::wiki[]
   7 :title: FAQ
   8 endif::wiki[]
   9
  10 NOTE: New FAQs are appended to the bottom of this section.
  11
  12 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
  13 ADD NEW FAQS TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS SECTION TO MAINTAIN NUMBERING
  14 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
  15
  16 [qanda]
  17
  18 What distribution is {pve} based on?::
  19
  20 {pve} is based on http://www.debian.org[Debian GNU/Linux]
  21
  22 What license does the {pve} project use?::
  23
  24 {pve} code is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License,
  25 version 3.
  26
  27 Will {pve} run on a 32bit processor?::
  28
  29 {pve} works only on 64-bit CPUs (AMD or Intel). There is no plan
  30 for 32-bit for the platform.
  31 +
  32 NOTE: VMs and Containers can be both 32-bit and/or 64-bit.
  33
  34 Does my CPU support virtualization?::
  35
  36 To check if your CPU is virtualization compatible, check for the `vmx`
  37 or `svm` tag in this command output:
  38 +
  39 ----
  40 egrep '(vmx|svm)' /proc/cpuinfo
  41 ----
  42
  43 Supported Intel CPUs::
  44
  45 64-bit processors with
  46 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtualization_Technology#Intel_virtualization_.28VT-x.29[Intel
  47 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])
  48
  49 Supported AMD CPUs::
  50
  51 64-bit processors with
  52 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtualization_Technology#AMD_virtualization_.28AMD-V.29[AMD
  53 Virtualization Technology (AMD-V)] support.
  54
  55 What is a container, CT, VE, Virtual Private Server, VPS?::
  56
  57 Operating-system-level virtualization is a server-virtualization
  58 method where the kernel of an operating system allows for multiple
  59 isolated user-space instances, instead of just one. We call such
  60 instances containers. As containers use the host's kernel they are
  61 limited to Linux guests.
  62
  63 What is a QEMU/KVM guest (or VM)?::
  64
  65 A QEMU/KVM guest (or VM) is a guest system running virtualized under
  66 {pve} using QEMU and the Linux KVM kernel module.
  67
  68 What is QEMU?::
  69
  70 QEMU is a generic and open source machine emulator and
  71 virtualizer. QEMU uses the Linux KVM kernel module to achieve near
  72 native performance by executing the guest code directly on the host
  73 CPU.
  74 It is not limited to Linux guests but allows arbitrary operating systems
  75 to run.
  76
  77 [[faq-support-table]]
  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} 5.x     | Debian 9 (Stretch)| 2017-07       | tba        | tba
  90 | {pve} 4.x     | Debian 8 (Jessie) | 2015-10       | 2018-06    | 2018-06
  91 | {pve} 3.x     | Debian 7 (Wheezy) | 2013-05       | 2016-04    | 2017-02
  92 | {pve} 2.x     | Debian 6 (Squeeze)| 2012-04       | 2014-05    | 2014-05
  93 | {pve} 1.x     | Debian 5 (Lenny)  | 2008-10       | 2012-03    | 2013-01
  94 |===========================================================
  95
  96 [[faq-upgrade]]
  97 How can I upgrade {pve} to the next release?::
  98
  99 Minor version upgrades, for example upgrading from {pve} in version 5.1
 100 to 5.2, can be done just like any normal update, either through the Web
 101 GUI __Node -> Updates__ panel or through the CLI with:
 102 +
 103 ----
 104 apt update
 105 apt full-upgrade
 106 ----
 107 +
 108 NOTE: Always ensure you correctly setup the
 109 xref:sysadmin_package_repositories[package repositories] and only
 110 continue with the actual upgrade if `apt update` did not hit any error.
 111 +
 112 Major version upgrades, for example going from {pve} 4.4 to 5.0, are
 113 also supported. They must be carefully planned and tested and should
 114 *never* be started without having a current backup ready.
 115 Although the specific upgrade steps depend on your respective setup, we
 116 provide general instructions and advice of how a upgrade should be
 117 performed:
 118 +
 119 * https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Upgrade_from_4.x_to_5.0[Upgrade from {pve} 4.x to 5.0]
 120
 121 * https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Upgrade_from_3.x_to_4.0[Upgrade from {pve} 3.x to 4.0]
 122
 123 LXC vs LXD vs Proxmox Containers vs Docker::
 124
 125 LXC is a userspace interface for the Linux kernel containment
 126 features. Through a powerful API and simple tools, it lets Linux users
 127 easily create and manage system containers. LXC, as well as the former
 128 OpenVZ, aims at *system virtualization*, i.e. allows you to run a
 129 complete OS inside a container, where you log in as ssh, add users,
 130 run apache, etc...
 131 +
 132 LXD is building on top of LXC to provide a new, better user
 133 experience. Under the hood, LXD uses LXC through `liblxc` and its Go
 134 binding to create and manage the containers. It's basically an
 135 alternative to LXC's tools and distribution template system with the
 136 added features that come from being controllable over the network.
 137 +
 138 Proxmox Containers also aims at *system virtualization*, and thus uses
 139 LXC as the basis of its own container offer. The Proxmox Container
 140 Toolkit is called `pct`, and is tightly coupled with {pve}. That means
 141 that it is aware of the cluster setup, and it can use the same network
 142 and storage resources as fully virtualized VMs. You can even use the
 143 {pve} firewall, create and restore backups, or manage containers using
 144 the HA framework. Everything can be controlled over the network using
 145 the {pve} API.
 146 +
 147 Docker aims at running a *single* application running in a contained
 148 environment. Hence you're managing a docker instance from the host with the
 149 docker toolkit. It is not recommended to run docker directly on your
 150 {pve} host.
 151 +
 152 NOTE: You can however perfectly install and use docker inside a Proxmox Qemu
 153 VM, and thus getting the benefit of software containerization with the very
 154 strong isolation that VMs provide.