The Linux physical machines

[afbjorklund]

I was experimenting with attaching a physical server, to serve as the "Lima" (linux machine)

Normally you would use an existing server, but it is also possible to use a small local device...

• Experiment with managing external machines with lima #2000

• https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-zero-2-w/ ($15*)

* excluding case, sdcard, cables, etc

This looks nice: https://zerostem.io/

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For instance, you can use a Raspberry Pi Zero and both connect to and power it over the USB:

https://learn.adafruit.com/turning-your-raspberry-pi-zero-into-a-usb-gadget/ethernet-gadget

dtoverlay=dwc2

modules-load=dwc2,g_ether

The Raspberry Pi OS makes it easy to get started, you only need to edit some text files on the SD.

https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/remote-access/ssh/

For headless setup, SSH can be enabled by placing a file named ssh, without any extension, onto the boot partition of the SD Card.

For headless setup in addition to the ssh file you need a userconf.txt file, which contains a string username:encryptedpassword.

Then you can use ssh-copy-id (one time), to install the key you want to use.

The IP address of the device is automatically available as raspberrypi.local

If something goes wrong, it is possible to connect a display (much like virtual)

For updating the OS, it has wireless connectivity so you can use the local wifi.

[afbjorklund]

The original models are unfortunately not enough, you need the ones supporting arm-v7 (not arm-v6).

• https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/raspberry-pi-zero/ (from 8 years ago)

• https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/raspberry-pi-2-on-sale/ <- arm/v7

• https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/raspberry-pi-3-on-sale/ <- arm64/v8

It is of course possible to use the high-end models, but then it needs a fan and might be more expensive...

The OS is available for both arm32 (armv7l) and arm64 (aarch64), depending on which image you flash.

It is based on Debian bookworm, and most software just works out of the box.

$ arch
x86_64
$ lima arch
aarch64
$ nerdctl.lima version
Client:
 Version:	v1.6.2
 OS/Arch:	linux/arm64
 Git commit:	e3dc23be348efded17d2cd244397b4f7018e0794
 buildctl:
  Version:	v0.12.2
  GitCommit:	567a99433ca23402d5e9b9f9124005d2e59b8861

Server:
 containerd:
  Version:	v1.7.7
  GitCommit:	8c087663b0233f6e6e2f4515cee61d49f14746a8
 runc:
  Version:	1.1.9
  GitCommit:	v1.1.9-0-gccaecfcb

Using an old PC would of course also work... But then you might want to use a VM.

[afbjorklund]

When using a PC, you can use https://virt-manager.org/ and the regular ISO.

[afbjorklund]

This is my NUC setup for the Intel, but you could probably use any old server hardware:

It uses libvirt for access, currently using Vagrant Libvirt but using Lima is a work-in-progress:

• Libvirt driver, for hypervisors on remote machines  #2031

[afbjorklund]

This is an alternative, for hosting the VMs: https://www.proxmox.com/en/proxmox-virtual-environment