Tips for setting up and configuring a Virtual Machine

When setting up VMs it’s good to have a process, there’s a set of common steps that I typically follow detailed below.

Because a lot of services used in a home lab can be run using Docker, it makes sense to me to have a lightweight setup that lets you boot up a Virtual Machine, configure it, install Docker, and then download a Docker Compose file and to get all the services running.

And the bonus is – if you follow a Linux, Docker, services approach, most of this process can be automated with scripts, which will make you more efficient over time.

Preparations for Proxmox

Download to Proxmox

When I first started creating VMs I’d download the ISO image to my local computer, then click upload to upload it to the Proxmox server.

A much quicker and simpler way is to click the Download from URL button

The best thing to do after you find an ISO image for an operating system you want, is to copy the link address.

https://www.debian.org/download

Copy it into the URL field on the form and click Query URL and it’ll download much quicker, and can be renamed from here also.

Optionally, If you’re an advanced user and/or worried about the source, you can often copy the checksums to verify the download is legitimate.

Once you have an ISO downloaded it’s time to create it and set it up.

Preparations for an SBC or barebones install

Download to USB Stick

If you’re installing directly onto the computer (maybe a Raspberry Pi or SBC), download the file to your local machine and then use Balena Etcher to flash it to a USB stick for installation.

Plug it in and install, easy as Pi!

Installation

Hard drive space

For virtual machines, I always try to use a small amount of space. For file servers and media centres, I think it’s ultimately best to store that data on a NAS server with backups in place.

But either way, I make sure to use LVM because if I need to increase that later on then LVM makes it a trivial task.

Logging in

If you installed a server operating system, you can connect a couple of different ways.

• Going through Proxmox and opening Shell will take you straight into the Virtual Machine
• If you install SSH Server during installation, you can open Terminal on another computer and login with a Username and Password (maybe setup a private key?)

Common Setup Steps

SSH Private Key setup

I hate accessing my VMs through a browser window, copy paste doesn’t work right, zooming in and out is difficult.

Using SSH Server, after setting up a Private Key to login is convenient, and super easy to get started:

# Generate keys
ssh-keygen

# Copy public key to server
ssh-copy-id user@server
# enter password

# Login
ssh user@server

Purpose based configuration

At this point we have:

• Computer/Virtual Machine
• Auto start up options are set
• It’s running a version of Linux
• We can terminal in to do stuff on it

The following configuration now varies depending upon what the VM is to be used for.

Types of VM you might find useful

Docker – for a service based machine

Most of my VMs are setup to offer types of services – networking, media centre, home automation.

Install Docker

When taking this route firstly I install the Docker suite:

# Add Docker's official GPG key:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ca-certificates curl gnupg -y
sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg
sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg

# Add the repository to Apt sources:
echo \
  "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu \
  $(. /etc/os-release && echo "$VERSION_CODENAME") stable" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null
sudo apt-get update

# Install
sudo apt-get install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin -y

For future savings, I’ve uploaded this code to GitHub here. https://github.com/TechnicallyShaun/Homelab/blob/main/InstallDocker.sh

This allows me to install Docker with a single command:

source <(curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ssmithy/Homelab/main/InstallDocker.sh)

Download Compose configuration

Once Docker is installed I do a similar thing to setup my services:

I download the compose file, and rename it. This is so it fits the convention when using locally, but I can stick all my compose files in the same folder on GitHub.

# Download the docker compose file and rename for convention
sudo curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ssmithy/Homelab/main/docker-compose.testing.yml --create-dirs -o /docker/docker-compose.yml

If I need any environment variables, I’ll download those and the replace the values.

# Download environment vars files
sudo curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ssmithy/Homelab/main/firefly.env --create-dirs -o /docker/.env

Then I move to the folder I downloaded the compose file to and run

cd /docker/
sudo docker compose up -d

Et voila!

GitHub Runner – for development and pulling services into your network

Another type of VM I’ll use are GitHub runners. They are one of the most simple and secure yet powerful tools to perform actions within your home lab network.

Typically GitHub runners are used to build code for programmers and then upload the artifacts so tests can be monitored or the software can be downloaded. But as Home Labbers we can utilize this for automation purposes.

For example, I have a service called NetDaemon and when I make changes to it the final step is to download my changes, connect into the VM where it’s running (Making use the Private Key configuration from above).

The runner then copies the new files across to where it’s running and restarts the services for me.

You can view the file that does it here: https://github.com/TechnicallyShaun/NetDaemon/blob/main/.github/workflows/CD.yml

You could run actions on a schedule or some other event and then update services, clean up files etc.

Testing – VMs that are safe to destroy

Setting up a Virtual Machine is so easy, it doesn’t make sense to mess around with ones that are running services.

We have scripts to setup new machines quickly, you can use the backup and restore feature in Proxmox to copy environments.

I’ve learned this the hard way far too many times!

Conclusions

Nobody likes performing repetitive tasks, therefore spending a bit of time to save time later on can be a real useful tool.

Establishing a systematic approach to setting up virtual machines (VMs) not only streamlines the process but also enhances efficiency and reliability in managing your home lab environment.

If you made it this far and commonly perform some tasks I haven’t mentioned, then please do let me know!