2024/02/10
Posted Tag: #Linux
Other Tags: #Windows, #Personal, #All
This is how I setup my servers. I have tried all the other methods for pooling drives and using virtual machines on my servers but I seem to always come back to QEMU, ZFS and Docker on Linux. I mean it just works and is very dependable.
The server operating system is Ubuntu Server LTS, although why they think we need Snap on a server I have no idea. Here is how to get rid of it and keep it from installing again. I seriously thought I only had to do this type of thing in Windows.
sudo su
systemctl disable snapd.service
systemctl disable snapd.socket
systemctl disable snapd.seeded.service
rm -rf /var/cache/snapd/
apt autoremove --purge snapd
rm -rf ~/snap
cat << EOF > /etc/apt/preferences.d/ignored-packages
Package: snapd cloud-init landscape-common popularity-contest ubuntu-advantage-tools
Pin: release *
Pin-Priority: -1
EOFI will cover the need to know things about installing Ubuntu Server LTS in a later post.
QEMU is hands down the easiest way to use virtual machines. Particularly if you use Linux and install Virtual Machine Manager. You can use it to SSH to your server and run virtual machines like they are on your Linux machine while using the server’s hardware. And any operating system you want to use you can find out online how to run it in a virtual machine. Secure Boot and TPM for Windows 11 is a non issue. Add a USB thumb drive to a virtual machine it just works, not like when using VirtualBox.
One reason I use Ubuntu Server LTS is because you can install ZFS on it. I love ZFS and used to install Arch Linux on it in a mirrored pool. Stupid I know, and I learned my lesson, but if you lose a drive in a mirrored pool the operating system will still boot. Add another drive and resilvering happens in the background. You can also monitor pool status with an email being sent to you. I have four 6T drives in two mirrored pools using ZFS. You can completely wipe and install Ubuntu Server LTS again restoring your pools. For my purposes, ZFS is the best file system I can use. MDADM on Linux you can not boot after a drive dies. But never use an operating system on a pool. It is just a waste of time. Keep good backups which with Linux is hands down easier than Windows. Configuration in a home directory without the permission issues. Windows I have been there done that and what a mess.
Now Docker and specifically Docker-Compose I install on Ubuntu Server LTS to use Emby. Yes I know about Plex and Jellyfin but I just like Emby. Yes I pay for Emby Premiere since they started including TV scheduling with it. But with Docker permissions just work a lot better than a straight Emby installation on Linux.
I evaluated what I need in a server and a Linux distribution with ZFS that can also run Docker and virtual machines is what I needed. ESXI was just too much of a pain to deal with and I do not need nodes or anything anyway. It is overkill. Not like knowing ESXI is going to get me a job. With Broadcom owning VMware now a lot of the small business are going to move away from ESXI anyway. And XCP-ng is way overkill for me. Proxmox I just do not like the interface.
I like what I have and see no reason to change although I have tried multiple times before. Guess the grass is always greener.
Wish to add a comment? Your email address will never be shared with anyone. Please specify a user name for your comment or use anonymous.