Hi. Since yesterday i selfhosted all my stuff with a raspberry pi and two odroids. Everything works ok, but after i read about a few apps that are not supported by the arm-architecture of the SBCs and about the advantages of the backup-solution in proxmox, i bought a little server (6500T/8GB/250GB) to try proxmox.
Installed proxmox, but now - before i install my first VM - i have a few questions:
a) What Linux OS do i take? Ubuntu Server?
b) Should it be headless?
The server is in the cellar of my house, so would there be any advantages of installing an OS with a GUI?
You must log in or register to comment.
a) What Linux OS do i take? Ubuntu Server?
Typically folks either pick what they like best or pick what’s recommended by the service they’re trying to run. (Remember, typically you run one service per VM, so everything about the VM can be tailored to that service. That’s pretty much the whole point of virtualization – so that you don’t have to get multiple services cooperating on the same machine.)
My default go-to would be Debian, but again, it’s really a matter of personal preference.
b) Should it be headless?
GUIs take up disk space, RAM and CPU cycles, so it’s more efficient not to have them (especially when you’re virtualizing and therefore running separate copies per VM). However, this is 2023, not 1993, so it’s not that big a deal.
would there be any advantages of installing an OS with a GUI?
The advantage would be that you could administer the VM and the service inside it using a GUI, if you’re into that sort of thing.
In general, most services are designed to be administered over SSH or via a web interface, so a GUI shouldn’t be necessary. Also, in general you ought to be scripting the administration of your VMs themselves using e.g. Ansible, so a GUI shouldn’t be necessary for that, either.