Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Only 64 bit host cpu?

I wonder if Proxmox actually could work in a 32 bit host CPU, or if eventually it will?

Is it capable to have 32 bit guest OS?
 
I wonder if Proxmox actually could work in a 32 bit host CPU, or if eventually it will?

Is it capable to have 32 bit guest OS?

Proxmox VE works only on 64-bit CPU´s (AMD or Intel). There is no plan for 32-bit for the platform.

But you can run 32-bit and 64-bit guest OS - we normally recommends 32-bit guests.
 
How do we submit bug reports for Proxmox VE?

the forum is good place. we will pick everything up here and will file to our internal bugtracker (currently not public accessible).
 
32bit host os?

What are the reasons you choose only to support 64 bit host os'es?

We have discused if we should try to develop a way to install Proxmox onto a 32 bit os, if you can give os any feedback on this it would be very much appreciated, and we would ofcourse make our findings public.

Furthermore we have been trying to install Proxmox ontop of a clean Debian Etch install, the reason for this is that we need the Debian installer to prepare our software raid partitions.

If we can get any inputs on that as well it would be very nice, if we can't we will simply take it apart until we get the parts small enough to understand them and then we will assemble it again ontop of a 32bit (og 64bit ... if there's any reason we can't do it on 32bit) Debian installation-

But anything any of you people can give os to ease it up will be appreciated :)

/ Mike
 
What are the reasons you choose only to support 64 bit host os'es?

there are many reasons, also already discussed in this forum, but here are the most important points in short.

- on a 64-bit host you can run 32 and 64 bit guests
- on a 32-bit host memory resources cannot be managed as needed, especially for server with a lot of RAM (more than 4 GB).
- all server CPU´s from Intel and AMD are 64 bit since more than 3 years, so talking about 32 bit is a discussion about old and outdated hardware - never suitable for virtualization.
- stability and testing efforts: Proxmox VE releases are tested and validated against all Windows and all major Linux distributions, both 32 and 64 bit - KVM and OpenVZ. That means if we also go for 32-bit we just have double testing efforts: double costs and much slower development speed.

Due to this and also other mentioned on other posts it is very easy to understand why we choose 64-bit (like all others).

We have discused if we should try to develop a way to install Proxmox onto a 32 bit os, if you can give os any feedback on this it would be very much appreciated, and we would ofcourse make our findings public.

why do you want to develop software for outdated hardware? is there any special reason which I missed here? why not just helping on the mainstream Proxmox VE version?

Furthermore we have been trying to install Proxmox ontop of a clean Debian Etch install, the reason for this is that we need the Debian installer to prepare our software raid partitions.

there are a lot of problems on this and thats the reason why we do not support this.

We will support multiple storages for Proxmox VE releases (after 1.0). Therefore you will get more flexibility here - see Roadmap.

If we can get any inputs on that as well it would be very nice, if we can't we will simply take it apart until we get the parts small enough to understand them and then we will assemble it again ontop of a 32bit (og 64bit ... if there's any reason we can't do it on 32bit) Debian installation-

But anything any of you people can give os to ease it up will be appreciated :)

/ Mike
 
1. Is there a reason for not supporting virtual floppy? I find it very handy.
2. PXE support would also be nice, I also want to be able too do a networkboot, ie. for RIS if possible.
 
The main reason is that we own 25 HP 360 G3 Server, with a combined power of 180.000 Ghz, 7.300 GB og harddisk and 125 Gigs of memory ..... and i woule realy prefer not to toss them yet ... :*(
 
1. Is there a reason for not supporting virtual floppy? I find it very handy.

I will add that to our TODO list.

2. PXE support would also be nice, I also want to be able too do a networkboot, ie. for RIS if possible.

PXE for VMs? Just select PXE one the boot prompt (thought I never tested that).

- Dietmar
 
Great! I will test PXE tomorrow, looks as if maybe I was too fast with that request.. (Otherwise http://etherboot.org is a great source for ROM images.)
I see in /usr/share/kvm there are pxe images for e1000, rtl8139, pc-net and ne2k_pci so sorry for bothering..

For deployment enthousiasts these links might be worthfull:
http://unattended.sourceforge.net
http://ani.sourceforge.net

In the webconsole I can already choose to boot from floppy, so that's promising. ;)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The main reason is that we own 25 HP 360 G3 Server, with a combined power of 180.000 Ghz, 7.300 GB og harddisk and 125 Gigs of memory ..... and i woule realy prefer not to toss them yet ... :*(

they do also not support KVM, so sadly they are not suited for our project. maybe you should go for a stable 2.6.18 openvz based system and you need to adapt whatever you need for the gui.

I do not know you cost calculation but sooner or later it will come a point where buying new servers is cheaper than operating with stuff.
 
Hi Tom why do you recommend 32-bit guests over 64 bit guests?

e.g. a standard installation of apache2 on 64 bit containers consumes much more memory than on 32 bit.

64-bit makes sense if you need much memory in your VM (> 4GB).

what application do you wanna run?
 
e.g. a standard installation of apache2 on 64 bit containers consumes much more memory than on 32 bit.

64-bit makes sense if you need much memory in your VM (> 4GB).

what application do you wanna run?

I am looking at running a LAMP server with Moodle. I will not need more than 4 GB of Ram so 32 bit may be the way to go. I was under the impression that 64 bit would run faster but this may not be the case.
I will also be running an instance of Windows Server 2003 on the same machine and can go both 64 bit or 32 bit, again I will not need more than 4 GB ram on that guest either.

In the case of running moodle I am planning to install a minimal Ubuntu LAMP server 8.04 or 8.10 (perhaps JeOS) with CVS to update moodle. I am still deciding if I want to do a KVM guest or an OpenVZ container. What do you recommend and why?

If I get a good moodle installation going it could perhaps be a nice appliance to add to the repository?:)
 
I am looking at running a LAMP server with Moodle. I will not need more than 4 GB of Ram so 32 bit may be the way to go. I was under the impression that 64 bit would run faster but this may not be the case.

I will also be running an instance of Windows Server 2003 on the same machine and can go both 64 bit or 32 bit, again I will not need more than 4 GB ram on that guest either.

depends on what you wanna run on windows. please note, most windows server applications will not be available on 32-bit now and in future, just think of exchange 2007.

In the case of running moodle I am planning to install a minimal Ubuntu LAMP server 8.04 or 8.10 (perhaps JeOS) with CVS to update moodle. I am still deciding if I want to do a KVM guest or an OpenVZ container. What do you recommend and why?

If I get a good moodle installation going it could perhaps be a nice appliance to add to the repository?:)

It you want to get listed in the repo you need to use 'dab'. pls note, if you got it working with dab you can create 32-bit and 64-bit appliance just with changing one setting: the architecture (i386 or amd64).
 
Growing a WinXP KVM image

I noticed that there is not a way to grow the KVM guest system partition from the web console. Is there a way to increase the disk size or have it grow as needed?
 
I noticed that there is not a way to grow the KVM guest system partition from the web console. Is there a way to increase the disk size or have it grow as needed?

just google for "resize qcow2 images".
 
just google for "resize qcow2 images".

hmm that looks like a lot of work :(

Perhaps I can clone the this VM with g4u, clonzilla or ghost, then create a new KVM VM with a larger disk size and then push the image back onto the new KVM VM.

Will this kind of resizing ever be supported in proxmox-ve?
 
hmm that looks like a lot of work :(

Perhaps I can clone the this VM with g4u, clonzilla or ghost, then create a new KVM VM with a larger disk size and then push the image back onto the new KVM VM.

Will this kind of resizing ever be supported in proxmox-ve?

yes, good idea. If you have a running windows KVM guest with a too small disk just poweroff and add a new disk (with the new bigger size). then boot a live CD (I know acronis) and copy with resize to the new disk. can you try this?
 

About

The Proxmox community has been around for many years and offers help and support for Proxmox VE, Proxmox Backup Server, and Proxmox Mail Gateway.
We think our community is one of the best thanks to people like you!

Get your subscription!

The Proxmox team works very hard to make sure you are running the best software and getting stable updates and security enhancements, as well as quick enterprise support. Tens of thousands of happy customers have a Proxmox subscription. Get yours easily in our online shop.

Buy now!