Can Install Proxmox with other OS in the same computer?

[crep83]

Hi all's.

I tried to install proxmox in the same computer with a Windows 10 Pro, but the promox install always attempt to erase all the disk before install proxmox, I tried to install promox over Debian 8 but in the middle of the install fails for dependencies and the grub is replaced for the proxmox install.

Is possible this kind of installation?

 

[dietmar]

Is possible this kind of installation?

Not if you use our installation CD, and in general such setup is not recommended.

But I guess it is possible if you install using the Debian installer:

http://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Install_Proxmox_VE_on_Debian_Jessie

 

[LnxBil]

Done that (Debian-Way) multiple times and it works great. Your need of course more "knowledge" of Debian to do that. And yes, grub is replaced during the Proxmox VE on Debian installieren. That is right.

 

[Q-wulf]

disclaimer: unless you use proxmox for testing the following is not advised: It works quite well, but you can not run both systems concurrently in native mode.

1. get 2 Disks. Lets call em sda and sdb.
2. Install Poxmox as acustomed to via the installer.
3. Make sure your bios auto boots from the disk that you installed proxmox on.
4. Setup a KVM based Vm for Windows 10.
5. Pass disk sdb through to the virtual machine as the only drive available to the VM. see: https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Physical_disk_to_kvm
6. setup windows 10 from within this VM. install windows 10's bootloader on its virtual drive (which happens to be your physical sdb)
7. Once done, reboot your Server
8. During boot of your server, decide what OS you wanna boot into_
   1. Windows ? press the Key corresponding to the "select boot drive " option. Boot from disk sdb. You are now in windows 10 bypassing the virtualization layer.
   2. If you now feel like running proxmox, you simply do nothing. You then end up in Proxmox and can run windows 10 in the virtual machine at the same time if you want to.

ps.: it works, i've done this at home on occasion (when i was short a physical machine and had a software i needed to run on a physical OS compared to a Virtual one)
pps.: get 2 machines build for the task or use Windows 10 as a virtual machine.

 

[k1lerbee]

disclaimer: unless you use proxmox for testing the following is not advised: It works quite well, but you can not run both systems concurrently in native mode.

1. get 2 Disks. Lets call em sda and sdb.
2. Install Poxmox as acustomed to via the installer.
3. Make sure your bios auto boots from the disk that you installed proxmox on.
4. Setup a KVM based Vm for Windows 10.
5. Pass disk sdb through to the virtual machine as the only drive available to the VM. see: https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Physical_disk_to_kvm
6. setup windows 10 from within this VM. install windows 10's bootloader on its virtual drive (which happens to be your physical sdb)
7. Once done, reboot your Server
8. During boot of your server, decide what OS you wanna boot into_
   1. Windows ? press the Key corresponding to the "select boot drive " option. Boot from disk sdb. You are now in windows 10 bypassing the virtualization layer.
   2. If you now feel like running proxmox, you simply do nothing. You then end up in Proxmox and can run windows 10 in the virtual machine at the same time if you want to.

ps.: it works, i've done this at home on occasion (when i was short a physical machine and had a software i needed to run on a physical OS compared to a Virtual one)
pps.: get 2 machines build for the task or use Windows 10 as a virtual machine.

seems to be a nice idea...how well does this work long term?

 

[Q-wulf]

seems to be a nice idea...how well does this work long term?

disclaimer: unless you use proxmox for testing the following is not advised

should be self evident, no ?

 

[k1lerbee]

What could go wrong? Why is it not advised?

p.s. I am a Linux and Proxmox beginner

 

[jim.bond.9862]

What could go wrong? Why is it not advised?

p.s. I am a Linux and Proxmox beginner

well, you need to understand the purpose for doing this.

Proxmox is a Type 1 Hypervisor, and is used for virtualization only.
as such it needs/must be in control of the whole hardware it is installed on.
hence you really can not run anything else on the hardware, alongside of Proxmox.
so what would be the use of other OS installed if you can not run both of them.

furthermore, you can not really run any 2 OS side by side on the same hardware.
usually you have, a host OS, that is the main OS running on bare metal and the second is virtualized in some way, depending on the host.


so the 64 million dollars question is !!! WHY DO YOU WANT TO DO WHAT YOU ASK US HOW TO DO IT ????

what would be the use case?

 

[k1lerbee]

I have a windows machine running blueiris which is a Security Camera software program ...
I want to setup a homeserver running different services/VMs : NAS, pfsense and eventually move my blueiris windows to a VM

But as I will not be very comfortable with proxmox at the beginning, I want to be able to very quickly switch back to blueiris Windows "standalone" with minimal downtime if I mess up with proxmox since I will experiment a lot at the beginning.

I could have a separate bare metal with blueiris windows but I can only afford one pc atm.

 

[k1lerbee]

that's why the solution #4 seems interesting for me... I can just switch my boot drive to sdb if my proxmox gets messed up

 

[jim.bond.9862]

I figured it was something like that

well the #4 solution would work, but it is not exactly running 2 OS at the same time.
also it is a bit difficult to setup safely.
Proxmox by default wants to be the only one on the hardware so it may disrupt your windows install.
not exactly destroy but make it unusable.
to be safe I say invest in a hard drive dock where you can pluck the drive in and out at will.
pull the windows drive out, put new drive in and install proxmox. play with it as you want.
when needed shut down switch disks and you are good.
while it is possible to have 2 bootable disks in the machine it is too easy to destroy one by mistake.

just remember Proxmox is a Hypervisor for virtualization.
so if you want to use it, your hardware needs to be up to the challenge.

depending on your needs,but because you need windows VM, I would recommend to start with a good quad-core machine with at least 8GB RAM but 16 is prefered. and try to have separate OS and storage drives if possible.

check out some Linux based soft like Xeoma or bluecherrydvr

 

[k1lerbee]

ok thx for all the infos.

I am planning to invest in a dual xeon 6-core build with 24gb of ECC ram in the future.. will try an intermediary build testing some stuff before being more comfortable switching everything to VMs

 

[jim.bond.9862]

That is a good goal.
Gives you enough room to run a good number of VMs.

So for now just try to keep the system load manageable based on your current system resources.

And read all the manuals and how-to you can find.
The community here is very helpful.