Switching from Solusvm to Proxmox and confused

[todeem]

We have a 30+ node environment running on KVM Solusvm, and are considering switching to Proxmox KVM. However, I was shocked to notice that our sysadmin came back with the following after installing a big Epyc KVM node with Proxmox:

1. In order to create a vm, he needs to clone an existing vm (that was shutdown) for the purpose of os templates?
2. You need to install libguest packages in each vm in order to be able to change the password and assign an ip to the vm newly created from the os template?
3. There is no ip management part inside proxmox, in fact we were unable to search by ip for vm's, which is a real necessity if you end up managing thousands of vm's?
4. There is no way I can list all vm's with their full details the same way I am used to do this in solusvm?
5. SSH key exchange is not happening the way we expected it, the user's ssh keys are automatically inserted into the vm's he/she owns. The SSH key exchange is the main reason why we were considering the switch to Proxmox.

Am I missing something or is there some module missing or is the paid version the fix to above points?

 

[aaron]

AFAIU Solusvm, it is a platform that is catering especially to hosting companies.

Proxmox VE does not have this focus, and therefore you will need to build some things yourself, especially integrations specific to configuring things inside the VMs.

First and foremost:

Am I missing something or is there some module missing or is the paid version the fix to above points?

There is no difference regarding features between an installation with an active subscription and one without.

1. In order to create a vm, he needs to clone an existing vm (that was shutdown) for the purpose of os templates?

You have a few options. Install freshly, clone an existing VM or clone from a VM that has been converted to a template.

2. You need to install libguest packages in each vm in order to be able to change the password and assign an ip to the vm newly created from the os template?

Well, that is where templates come in handy. Install everything that needs to be there for your environment to work before you convert it to a template. There are no officially provided templates as for Solusvm. User management inside the VM as well as static IP configuration is something that is done inside the VM. Again, if you configure something that works for you, be it utilizing the guest agent or using a config mgmt tool, you can get something like that working. Or, set the MAC address of the VMs NICs to a matching reservation in the DHCP server that you run so the VM gets the correct IP assigned.

3. There is no ip management part inside proxmox, in fact we were unable to search by ip for vm's, which is a real necessity if you end up managing thousands of vm's?

That is correct. If the guest agent is installed, the IP addresses can be queried, but Proxmox VE is not inherently aware of which IP is configured as this is something that can and usually needs to be changed from inside the VM if static IPs are used.

4. There is no way I can list all vm's with their full details the same way I am used to do this in solusvm?

I have no experience with Solusvm and don't know how they handle this. But it is possible to build your own tooling fairly easily. More on that a bit later.

5. SSH key exchange is not happening the way we expected it, the user's ssh keys are automatically inserted into the vm's he/she owns. The SSH key exchange is the main reason why we were considering the switch to Proxmox.

Pretty much the same answer as for 2.


Everything that is possible with Proxmox VE is exposed via its API. In fact, the GUI works solely via the API. This means that you can build your own tooling and interfaces that match your specific needs.
The PVE wiki has a page with basic examples on how to authenticate and interact with the API.
Then there is the API Viewer which shows all the possible API endpoints with details. The one on the PVE wiki might not always be up to date. If you have a PVE installation and click on the Documentation button in the GUI (top right) and scroll down all the way, you will have the API viewer matching exactly your installation.
If you want to use the guest agent to issue commands inside a VM, take a look at this forums thread that explains how to format them to work as expected.


TL;DR: Proxmox VE is not specifically targeted at hosting companies, therefore you might have to build some tooling yourself. With the API it is possible to easily interact with PVE and build custom interfaces.

 

[tjk]

You can also look at the Proxmox plugin from Modules Garden that works with WHMCS and may do some of this for you, since folks use that to sell VPS servers with WHMCS and Prox.