3 DP ports, 3 monitors, 3 VMs

[enoch85]

Hi!

Been googling for a while now but can't seems to find the correct answer.

Some background
At our office we are currently using 3 TV monitors to show alarms in our system. These are hooked up to 3 separate Raspberry Pi, which each run the kiosk for each display.

Problem is that SD cards really suck and we need to replace them like every 6 months or so.

Problem
To solve this I've now bought a HP Prodesk with 3 DP ports, and I want to use each of them to separate VMs.

Question
Is that possible, and how is that done?

 

[leesteken]

It's not possible (unless each output is from a different GPU and then it's not always possible either): https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/using-gpu-ports-to-different-vms-possible.168330/post-783046

EDIT: Alternatively, install a desktop environment on the Proxmox host (or in a VM with GPU passthrough) and show the virtual screens of the 3 VM using 3 windows (move each window to each display) on the one GPU.

 

[alexskysilk]

Is that possible, and how is that done?

yes. just not with 3 different vms. hell, you dont need a vm for this.

 

[UdoB]

Is that possible, and how is that done?

Not "officially", as @leesteken already pointed out.

You used Raspberry Pis, I take it you are not "high end enterprise with endless money" then.

If you really, really want to tinker a little bit you can try to go this route:

• setup PVE
• add a desktop environment: https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Developer_Workstations_with_Proxmox_VE_and_X11
• you'll then use a DE (I do use Sway on Wayland) with one (or more) local user
• install and test your three VMs - with a single Spice display each

To start the whole shebang you would need to

• boot the machine
• login as a local user
• start a web browser
• login to localhost:8006 as root
• for all those three VMs, one after another
  • start the VM (or let it autostart)
  • open a separate console window - as already stated I prefer Spice for this
  • make it fullscreen and move it to the next free Display; the last started VM will use this display, we are already using
• goal reached

Disclaimer: this is by far outside of the official scope of a sane PVE installation!

I do have a Mini-PC, set up similarly. The downside is: the steps listed above are manual steps, no automation available.

Good luck

 

[enoch85]

It's not possible (unless each output is from a different GPU and then it's not always possible either): https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/using-gpu-ports-to-different-vms-possible.168330/post-783046

EDIT: Alternatively, install a desktop environment on the Proxmox host (or in a VM with GPU passthrough) and show the virtual screens of the 3 VM using 3 windows (move each window to each display) on the one GPU.

Hmm, based on this, maybe a better option is to run 3 different kiosks in one single VM? In that case I would be able to pass the entire GPU to the VM, and select the specific port for each kiosk in the kiosk script..?

https://medium.com/@yann.cardaillac/ubuntu-22-04-in-simple-kiosk-mode-8d1379fa7b4a

https://superuser.com/a/155132

https://ubuntu.com/blog/creating-gr...”,with “ multipass delete --purge mir-demos ”.

 

[MarkusKo]

if you don't want all the hassle you could buy 3 rpi5 with pcie nvme base and nvme ssd's with better tbw values, should last way longer ...

 

[enoch85]

if you don't want all the hassle you could buy 3 rpi5 with pcie nvme base and nvme ssd's with better tbw values, should last way longer ...

Great suggestion, but the hassle is kind of fun though.

 

[jasonsansone]

If you want an unnecessary project that will cause major headaches, you can assign each DP to a different LXC container running a desktop environment.

 

[cwt]

Another very simple approach: a small LXC/VM which hosts a PXE for booting and running the Raspis. No more bricked SD cards.

 

[enoch85]

If you want an unnecessary project that will cause major headaches, you can assign each DP to a different LXC container running a desktop environment.

So I actually can split the DP ports into different LXC containers? Care to share some more details on that?