Proxmox Containers vs Running a VM and using Docker

[reynolpe]

Probably a basic question but what is the best way to go for someone that is new to Proxmox (and linux for that matter)? Use containers in proxmox or build a Linux VM and just run docker from it? Docker to me seems easier to deploy stuff then containers in Proxmox but that doesn't mean I shouldn't be using containers just that I'm too ignorant on them at this point. Just looking for the best way to go about this. I also have a TrueNAS server running as a container on Proxmox which I could run docker containers from there as well I guess but as soon as I upgrade my TrueNAS I think the containers will start having issues because I have SMB shares on the NAS and the next version of TrueNAS doesn't like that.

I'm in such mess now that I have Portainer running as a container in Proxmox but I don't know it's IP. Been moving too fast trying to get everything I want setup done that I didn't slow down and document some of it like I should have.

 

[Dunuin]

Linux Containers (= LXCs) and docker containers are something completely different. LXCs are system containers. These contain a full OS except for the kernel which is shared with the host. You will have to administrate them like you would do it with a VM.
Docker containers are application containers where you containerize a single appliance. You don't individualize/upgrade them. You just throw them away and create a new one. So you are quite limited what you can do with them, as all you can configure is what the container creator wants you to be able to change.

So if you want a service as secure and independent as possible, or if you want to use Win/Mac/FreeBSD, use a VM.
If you want something like a VM running Linux, but you want less overhead, at the cost of security, use a LXC.
If you just want to run some services but you don't want to invest time on learning how they work or administrating them, then running a VM with docker would be a good choice.

And I personally don't like running docker/plugins/jails in a TrueNAS VM. Lets say for example you later want to switch from TrueNAS to OMV. Would be way easier to do that, if TrueNAS is just providing the NFS/SMB shares with the containers running in a dedicated VM.

 

[reynolpe]

Linux Containers (= LXCs) and docker containers are something completely different. LXCs are system containers. These contain a full OS except for the kernel which is shared with the host. You will have to administrate them like you would do it with a VM.
Docker containers are application containers where you containerize a single appliance. You don't individualize/upgrade them. You just throw them away and create a new one. So you are quite limited what you can do with them, as all you can configure is what the container creator wants you to be able to change.

So if you want a service as secure and independent as possible, or if you want to use Win/Mac/FreeBSD, use a VM.
If you want something like a VM running Linux, but you want less overhead as the cost of security, use a LXC.
If you just want to run some services but you don't want to invest time on learning how they work or administrating them, then running a VM with docker would be a good choice.

And I personally don't like running docker/plugins/jails in a TrueNAS VM. Lets say for example you later want to switch from TrueNAS to OMV. Would be way easier to do that, if TrueNAS is just providing the NFS/SMB shares with the containers running in a dedicated VM.

Thanks for the quick response. LXC just seems more complicated to me but I'm sure that is just my lack of knowledge so far with Proxmox and LXC.

 

[davemcl]

LXD is actively having new features added all the time - I recommend you go through their tutorial online to get a better sense for it.
https://linuxcontainers.org/lxd/try-it/

 

[reynolpe]

LXD is actively having new features added all the time - I recommend you go through their tutorial online to get a better sense for it.
https://linuxcontainers.org/lxd/try-it/

Thanks I will go through that even if I don't use LXD's.

 

[pille99]

if you want to run more container, setup openshift or kubernetes.