this post was submitted on 20 Feb 2025
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I run a small server with Proxmox, and I'm wondering what are your opinions on running Docker in separate LXC containers vs. running a specific VM for all Docker containers?

I started with LXC containers because I was more familiar with installing services the classic Linux way. I later added a VM specifically for running Docker containers. I'm thinking if I should continue this strategy and just add some more resources to the docker VM.

On one hand, backups seem to be easier with individual LXCs (I've had situations where I tried to update a Docker container but the new container broke the existing configuration and found it easiest just to restore the entire VM from backup). On the otherhand, it seems like more overhead to install Docker in each individual LXC.

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[–] MangoPenguin@lemmy.blahaj.zone 11 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (8 children)

Regardless of VM or LXC, I would only install docker once. There's generally no need to create multiple docker VMs/LXCs on the same host. Unless you have a specific reason; like isolating outside traffic by creating a docker setup for only public services.

Backups are the same with VM or LXC on Proxmox.

The main advantages of LXC that I can think of:

  • Slightly less resource overhead, but not much (debian minimal or alpine VM is pretty lightweight already).
  • Ability to pass-through directories from the host.
  • Ability to pass-through hardware acceleration from a GPU, without passing through the entire GPU.
  • Ability to change CPU cores or RAM while it's running.
[–] Oisteink 1 points 3 months ago

There are differences in high availability, startup-time and cpu compatibility between hosts. As you are not emulating hardware

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