Or another container type if there’s a better one?
My server was originally connected to my TV to run Kodi and play some games while serving files, so it’s running Xubuntu. While it works well for the most part, I want to set it up properly, and be able to move the services to a new system when the time comes.
I was thinking that Docker, or another container system, would probably be best, because as well as hopefully being able to be moved, installing new software shouldn’t affect anything else.
Am I on the right track? Can containers be moved to another system without needing to be set up again?
I’m running the *arr suite two Java Minecraft servers Plex media server Two copies of qBittorent NZBGet Ombi Mylar Codex and probably some others that I’ve forgotten.
While I’m at it, is there a best OS to base everything on? Preferably free. The server is a 4th generation i5 with 32GB RAM, and currently about 10TB of HDD space, with a small SSD for boot, and a Quadro graphics card for transcoding.
Thanks in advance :)
@Tippon That is a big part of the point behind containers, you don’t have any long term state inside them. Migration is just a case of copying the configuration over along with the contents of any persistent volumes.
It’s worth looking into Podman instead of Docker, the daemon-less architecture makes it more lightweight and secure as it’s easier to have rootless containers. Management can also be easer as being a Red Hat project it integrates well into Systemd.
With your existing server on Xubuntu you may as well stick with Ubuntu Server or Debian for the familiarity.
Brilliant :)
I’ve just been reading some of the other replies, and, yeah, it looks like containers are the way to go. I’ve got my data on separate drives, so that’s easy enough to deal with, it’s just the container side of things that’s been confusing me.
I’ll have a look at Podman, thanks :)
Like you say, I’m probably better off with a Debian fork, especially as I’m using Mint on my laptop, and should be on my PC if I can find alternatives to a few programs :)
I’ve been working with podman for a few weeks, and it’s functional but a bit harder. If you’re a noobie I would recommend you stick to docker. If you’re a FOSS enthusiast and up for a little more challenge podman is pretty cool.
Extremely easy if you’ve set your projects up using docker compose files.
Just copy the compose file and data volumes over to the new host, run
docker compose up -dand you’re all set.While I’m at it, is there a best OS to base everything on? Preferably free.
Debian, or Proxmox if you want a webUI for containers and VMs.
Docker is helpful, but won’t be perfect since there’s no built-in migration. You’ll have to move any mounted directories like config and data and stuff. Docker is designed to be able spin up and down constantly, so it doesn’t really hold any persistent data in the image itself.
Also, I know you want free, but have you considered unraid? If you really need free you can try truenas or freenas or whatever, but a user friendly linux distro isn’t usually going to be too much overhead. I’d highly recommend unraid as a good option for users who need an easier way to work with all of their containers but don’t want to go as far as setting up a kubernetes cluster or something.
Thanks for replying, sorry about the delay in replying back :)
That’s a shame about Docker. I haven’t used it properly yet, and was under the impression that it works like a virtual machine, so could be moved or cloned to another system.
I’ve just had a look at Unraid, and while it does look good, it’s not right for me for now. My drives are full of media and I can’t afford a spare for now (the media is replaceable if anything goes wrong)
Docker is very easy to migrate, all you do is copy the data and compose file over.
What he said ^. There’s no automation, you just have to make sure you catch everything is all. I may have made it sound more difficult than I intended, sorry about that!
