Host System Administration ========================== {pve} is based on the famous https://www.debian.org/[Debian] Linux distribution. That means that you have access to the whole world of Debian packages, and the base system is well documented. The https://debian-handbook.info/download/stable/debian-handbook.pdf[Debian Administrator\'s Handbook] is available online, and provide a comprehensive introduction to the Debian operating system (see xref:Hertzog13[]). A standard {pve} installation uses the default repositories from Debian, so you get bug fixes and security updates through that channel. In addition, we provide our own package repository to roll out all {pve} related packages. This includes updates to some Debian packages when necessary. We also deliver a specially optimized Linux kernel, where we enable all required virtualization and container features. That kernel includes drivers for http://zfsonlinux.org/[ZFS], and several hardware drivers. For example, we ship Intel network card drivers to support their newest hardware. The following sections will concentrate on virtualization related topics. They either explains things which are different on {pve}, or tasks which are commonly used on {pve}. For other topics, please refer to the standard Debian documentation. System requirements ------------------- For production servers, high quality server equipment is needed. Keep in mind, if you run 10 Virtual Servers on one machine and you then experience a hardware failure, 10 services are lost. {pve} supports clustering, this means that multiple {pve} installations can be centrally managed thanks to the included cluster functionality. {pve} can use local storage (DAS), SAN, NAS and also distributed storage (Ceph RBD). For details see xref:chapter-storage[chapter storage]. Minimum requirements, for evaluation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * CPU: 64bit (Intel EMT64 or AMD64) * RAM: 1 GB RAM * Hard drive * One NIC Recommended system requirements ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * CPU: 64bit (Intel EMT64 or AMD64), Multi core CPU recommended * RAM: 8 GB is good, more is better * Hardware RAID with batteries protected write cache (BBU) or flash based protection * Fast hard drives, best results with 15k rpm SAS, Raid10 * At least two NIC´s, depending on the used storage technology you need more Getting Help ------------ There are basically two different support channels. {pve} itself if fully open source, so we always encourage our users to discuss and share their knowledge using the http://forum.proxmox.com/[Community Support Forum]. The forum is fully moderated by the Proxmox support team. Up to now, the forum has about 25.000 members, and more than 120.000 messages. Needless to say that such a large forum is a great place to get information. The second channel is the commercial support provided by {proxmoxGmbh}. {pve} server subscriptions can be ordered online, see http://shop.maurer-it.com[{pve} Shop]. For all details see http://www.proxmox.com/proxmox-ve/pricing[{pve} Subscription Service Plans]. Please contact the mailto:office@proxmox.com[Proxmox sales team] for commercial support requests or volume discounts. Package Repositories -------------------- All Debian based systems use http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Packaging_Tool[APT] as package management tool. The list of repositories is defined in '/etc/apt/sources.list' and '.list' files found inside '/etc/apt/sources.d/'. Updates can be installed directly using 'apt-get', or via the GUI. Apt 'sources.list' files lists one package repository per line, with the most preferred source listed first. Empty lines are ignored, and a '#' character anywhere on a line marks the remainder of that line as a comment. The information available from the configured sources is acquired by 'apt-get update'. .File '/etc/apt/sources.list' ---- deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian jessie main contrib # security updates deb http://security.debian.org jessie/updates main contrib ---- In addition, {pve} provides three different package repositories. {pve} Enterprise Repository ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is the default, stable and recommended repository, available for all {pve} subscription users. It contains the most stable packages, and is suitable for production use. You need a valid subscription key to access this repository. The `pve-enterprise` repository is enabled by default: .File '/etc/apt/sources.list.d/pve-enterprise.list' ---- deb https://enterprise.proxmox.com/debian jessie pve-enterprise ---- NOTE: You can disable this repository by commenting out the above line using a '#' (at the start of the line). This prevents error messages if you do not have a subscription key. Please configure the `pve-no-subscription` repository in that case. As soon as updates are available, the `root@pam` user is notified via email about the available new packages. On the GUI, the change-log of each package can be viewed (if available), showing all details of the update. So you will never miss important security fixes. {pve} No-Subscription Repository ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As the name suggests, you do not need a subscription key to access this repository. It can be used for testing and non-production use. Its not recommended to run on production servers, as these packages are not always heavily tested and validated. We recommend to configure this repository in '/etc/apt/sources.list'. .File '/etc/apt/sources.list' ---- deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian jessie main contrib # PVE pve-no-subscription repository provided by proxmox.com, # NOT recommended for production use deb http://download.proxmox.com/debian jessie pve-no-subscription # security updates deb http://security.debian.org jessie/updates main contrib ---- {pve} Test Repository ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Finally, there is a repository called `pvetest`. This one contains the latest packages and is heavily used by developers to test new features. As usual, you can configure this using '/etc/apt/sources.list' by adding the following line: .sources.list entry for `pvetest` ---- deb http://download.proxmox.com/debian jessie pvetest ---- Installing {pve} ---------------- {pve} ships as a set of Debian packages, so you can simply install it on top of a normal Debian installation. After configuring the repositories, you need to run: [source,bash] ---- apt-get update apt-get install proxmox-ve ---- While this looks easy, it presumes that you have correctly installed the base system, and you know how you want to configure and use the local storage. Network configuration is also completely up to you. In general, this is not trivial, especially when you use LVM or ZFS. This is why we provide an installation CD-ROM for {pve}. That installer just ask you a few questions, then partitions the local disk(s), installs all required packages, and configures the system including a basic network setup. You can get a fully functional system within a few minutes, including the following: * Complete operating system (Debian Linux, 64-bit) * Partition the hard drive with ext4 (alternative ext3 or xfs) or ZFS * {pve} Kernel with LXC and KVM support * Complete toolset * Web based management interface NOTE: By default, the complete server is used and all existing data is removed. Using the {pve} Installation CD-ROM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Please insert the installation CD-ROM, then boot from that drive. Immediately afterwards you can choose the following menu options: Install Proxmox VE:: Start normal installation. Install Proxmox VE (Debug mode):: Start installation in debug mode. It opens a shell console at several installation steps, so that you can debug things if something goes wrong. Please press `CTRL-D` to exit those debug consoles and continue installation. This option is mostly for developers and not meant for general use. Test Memory:: Runs 'memtest86+'. This is useful to check if your memory if functional and error free. You normally select *Install Proxmox VE* to start the installation. After that you get prompted to select the target hard disk(s). The `Options` button aside lets you select the target file system, and defaults to `ext4`. If you have more than one disk, you can also select ZFS here. ZFS supports several software RAID levels, so this is specially useful if you do not have a hardware RAID controller. TIP: ZFS uses a lot of memory, so it is best to add additional 8-16GB RAM if you want to use ZFS. The next pages just asks for basic configuration options like time zone and keyboard layout. You also need to specify your email address and select a superuser password. The last step is the network configuration. Please note that you can use either IPv4 or IPv6 here, but not both. If you want to configure a dual stack node, you can easily do that after installation. If you press `Next` now, installation starts to format disks, and copies packages to the target. Please wait until that is finished, then reboot the server. Further configuration is done via the Proxmox web interface. Just point your browser to the IP address given during installation (https://youripaddress:8006). {pve} is tested for IE9, Firefox 10 and higher, Google Chrome (latest). Network Configuration --------------------- Basic network setup. image::images/cluster-nwdiag.svg[{pve} Cluster Network] image::images/node-nwdiag.svg[{pve} Default Network Setup] Local Storage ------------- Logical Volume Manager (LVM) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TODO: info about LVM. ZFS on Linux ~~~~~~~~~~~~ TODO: info about ZFS. Working with 'systemd' ---------------------- Journal and syslog ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TODO: explain persistent journal...