Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!


1 gig ram vps ~ 30 gigs which will support archlinux/be compatible for manual setup for ~$2 per mont
New on LowEndTalk? Please Register and read our Community Rules.

All new Registrations are manually reviewed and approved, so a short delay after registration may occur before your account becomes active.

1 gig ram vps ~ 30 gigs which will support archlinux/be compatible for manual setup for ~$2 per mont

As per the title. I used openvz til now but it will no longer work for installing arch due to kernel too old errors.

So I would look for something in the same price range for same specs but will allow me to install arch. It wouldn't need to have arch images out of the box- though that would surely be a bonus but just have architechture which allows me to install arch succesfully.

Comments

  • uptimeuptime Member
    edited January 2018

    Scratching my head just a bit to come up with suggestions that meet your stated ~$2 monthly budget for KVM 1 GB RAM / 30 GB disk supporting custom ISO.

    Given that KVM generally commands a premium over OpenVZ since it is not so easily oversold ... not sure it's at all likely to find same specs for same price when going to KVM - at least not without taking some chances regarding reliability / sustainability.

    At the $2 monthly price point for KVM I'd generally expect 512 MB RAM (or less) and something like 10 GB disk - which can be actually just fine for running Arch depending on ehat you're doing with it.

    That said, I have managed to find a few rare deals for KVM with 1 or more GB RAM approaching $2 but wouldn't expect to see this pricing outside of special offer sale event.

    Would definitely recommend either reducing requested specs or increasing budget closer to $5 monthly to actually get some decent offers from providers on LET ... You usually get just what you pay for and it's worth it to support better quality in the long run.

    Anyway here's what comes to mind for KVM providers supporting custom ISO

    HostHatch - standard pricing begins at $5 for 2 GB RAM / 20 GB NVMe, supports custom ISO ... @Abdullah has in the past occasionally made some very attractive special offers at lower prices with incentives for annual payment - but you may have to wait for next Black Friday or similar sale if you can hold out that long.

    Virmach offers $5 standard monthly price for 1 GB RAM / 20 GB SSD - you might find coupon such as LEB30 (or I've heard LEB35 might also work) csn get monthly price below $4, with further discount possible for paying quarterly or annually. Sometimes @Virmach has deeper discounts but those special offers may entail explicitly limiting support which may or may not impact requests for custom ISO support

    IonSwitch offers custom ISO and 1 GB RAM / 10 GB SSD for $3.50 monthly. Might check with @IonSwitch for info about discount for annual payment or more disk space etc given that they are active on LET.

    UltraVPS.eu (may not) support custom ISO - their "UltraKVM-30" plan is €3 for 1 GB RAM / 30 GB RAID-10 but you have to pay 6 months in advance. May be worth it for high-quality service anyway.

    Not sure how much Hetzner's new hourly cloud offering supports custom ISO but ~€2.5 monthly rate approaches your stated budget and gets you 2 GB RAM / 20 GB SSD. Quite possibly other ways to finagle an Arch install via pivot-root etc even without custom ISO support, if you're up for that level of hackery.

    Also check netcup for similar pricing as Hetzner - but you'll have to prepay 6 months. They do say they support custom ISO however.

    Finally, Lunanode offers Arch install out of the box - strongly recommended! Whatever modest increase in budget may be offset by hourly billing and resizable storage options.

  • @uptime said: UltraVPS.eu supports custom ISO

    I believe that I asked UltraVPS a couple of years ago about custom ISOs and they said no, but perhaps this has changed in the meantime (or perhaps I misremember). Perhaps @UltraVPS could confirm or disconfirm.

    uptime said: Not sure how much Hetzner's new hourly cloud offering supports custom ISO but

    From what I hear about Hetzner's cloud, there's no possibility of custom ISOs (and any trickery to work around this probably won't work).

    Otherwise a very detailed reply!

    Thanked by 1uptime
  • @angstrom thanks for correction (?) re UltraVPS custom ISO support - not sure where I got that notion, had service with them last year but not currently otherwise I'd login and check details ...

    The (possibly ill-advised) method I had in mind for finagling an ArchLinux install is described in https://github.com/marcan/takeover.sh

    Thanked by 1angstrom
  • @uptime gave an answer that is as powerfull as 8 answers.

    Thanked by 1uptime
  • @uptime said:
    @angstrom thanks for correction (?) re UltraVPS custom ISO support - not sure where I got that notion, had service with them last year but not currently otherwise I'd login and check details ...

    I'm pretty sure that I asked them at one point about custom ISOs and they said no, but hopefully @UltraVPS will shed light on this.

    The (possibly ill-advised) method I had in mind for finagling an ArchLinux install is described in https://github.com/marcan/takeover.sh

    Looks ingenious. Perhaps it would work on Hetzner's cloud. :-)

    I guess that my philosophy is that if I need to use a custom ISO (I don't always need to), then I simply choose a provider that supports custom ISOs, which (in a small way) also has the effect of supporting providers who allow custom ISOs. Maybe it's just me, but I simply don't see the point or interest of putting a lot of effort into working around a provider's restriction against custom ISOs.

    Thanked by 1uptime
  • UltraVPSUltraVPS Member, Patron Provider
    edited January 2018

    angstrom said: I asked UltraVPS a couple of years ago about custom ISOs

    A couple of years ago, we used a completely different platform (XenPV/OpenVZ managed with SolusVM). Today we support boot images. However, new images must currently be integrated by our support. Please just open a ticket. An Arch Linux ISO is already available.

    Thanked by 3uptime angstrom cece
  • WSSWSS Member

    Don't forget to check the control panel, and enable virtio devices where available (network, disk), it'll be faster, and less time consuming for both your KVM and the host.

    Thanked by 2uptime MichaelCee
  • another way is just chroot to archlinux, or switch_root if you feel expert

  • WSSWSS Member

    @kassle said:
    another way is just chroot to archlinux, or switch_root if you feel expert

    Because Kernel 2.6 supports everything he handbuilt to roll into. You fuckpocket. Read the goddamn thread.

  • @WSS said:

    Because Kernel 2.6 supports everything he handbuilt to roll into. You fuckpocket. Read the goddamn thread.

    oops my bad, sorry.

    thought chroot to another didn't care about kernel version

  • WSSWSS Member

    @kassle said:

    @WSS said:

    Because Kernel 2.6 supports everything he handbuilt to roll into. You fuckpocket. Read the goddamn thread.

    oops my bad, sorry.

    thought chroot to another didn't care about kernel version

    You can have a local instance, with currently running daemons/et al, but no, it's not the same thing.

    Thanked by 2kassle uptime
  • uptimeuptime Member
    edited January 2018

    more useful background on the archlinux wiki: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Install_from_existing_Linux ... it's been a while since I've played with this but can say for sure it's a great learning experience but probably not so much fun for the impatient or easily frustrated ...

  • WSSWSS Member

    @uptime For what it's worth, most of this shit can't/won't work with recent daemons/init replacements. Just chrooting and setting up some useful things is plausible for many things, but you're not going to become a direct template loadable system without a hell of a lot of daemon-and-kernel work.

    It's not that far off from a literal 2.6 kernel in the userspace. It's a little better, but you can't hope for much. Hell, even getting a working LIBC for precompiles is unlikely to be possible.

    Long story short: OVZ considered harmful.

    Thanked by 1uptime
  • @WSS - thanks for that clarification - I've just been assuming context is KVM without custom ISO support. Probably a few other approaches one might consider as well to get to an Arch install ISO, ie via netboot.xyz ...? (I recall seeing some posts from you along those lines before.)

  • WSSWSS Member

    @uptime It goes like this: OpenVZ < LXC < Xen < KVM

    OpenVZ is a simple way to oversell things, and it rarely gets overused because it's trivial to find nasty clients, binaries, et al. LXC is Linux only, and, well, shittastic at best. Xen is LXC, but not LXC, and only about 8 years out of date. KVM givers you what you want.

    If it was KVM, you can do a netinst/netboot installation, or even break into iPXE and handroll it. The rest (other than Xen, which is a bit more abstract) aren't a real VPS, they're just a subkernel.

    Thanked by 1uptime
  • williewillie Member
    edited January 2018

    Hetzner Cloud has an arch iso:

    Arch Linux 2017.12.01   archlinux-2017.12.01-x86_64.iso
    

    There is a little bit of rigamarole required to mount an iso and boot it, but it is fairly straightforward through the web console. You don't have to do any cockamamie thing like making a disk image and booting it through the rescue system. There are a bunch of other isos available as well, though I don't see a way to upload custom ones.

    Thanked by 3uptime WSS angstrom
  • WSSWSS Member

    Keep in mind that Hetzner Cloud is a bit less accessable than @vmhaus ' own homerolled setup. If you can deal with it, it's surely going to become better- for both. I still prefer @vmhaus to Hetzners' abilities, but I prefer the @Hetzner OS builds, because they usually do it right, and are what I'm used to after their rented dedis.

    Thanked by 1vmhaus
  • uptimeuptime Member
    edited January 2018

    ah ... hmmm ... just dug up another thread from OP going into gory details of noodling with Arch on aruba not too long ago ... https://lowendtalk.com/discussion/125729/have-trouble-installing-arch-to-linux-arubacloud-vps/p1 (lulz) .... Just to avoid re-hashing too much of that!

    Anyway from what @willie has shared re Hetzner cloud providing Arch install ISO, that seems to me to be closest to OP's requested budget and specs, and probably least up-front cost to try it out and see how it works.

    I've had positive experience with all the other providers mentioned above - though not doing anything with Arch on them - so am inclined to suggest that any of them would be worth looking into as well if Hetzner doesn't work out.

    Also found synopsis from @WSS re netboot.xyz in a few recent posts, ie
    https://lowendtalk.com/discussion/comment/2590324/#Comment_2590324

  • williewillie Member
    edited January 2018

    WSS said:

    Keep in mind that Hetzner Cloud is a bit less accessable than @vmhaus ' own homerolled setup.

    I haven't tried vmhaus so would be interested to hear more. I haven't found Hetzner Cloud to be difficult, except for an actual custom install you have to do something crazy-sounding that I haven't particularly wanted to try. Using one of their official templates is dead simple. Mounting and booting an iso from their library is not too bad. The rescue system custom image thing, probably blecch. The API looks ok though I haven't tried it yet.

    Once you get a server set up the way you want it, you can take a snapshot, then install more servers from that snapshot. So you could install the Arch iso, customize the system, then make a snapshot. I've been booting bare servers and initializing them to my setup with an ansible script, but I just tried the snapshot approach and it works nicely.

    My only gripe is it's slower to install (not more work, you just have to wait longer for it to finish) than the official templates. I think it's writing out the whole disk partition even though it's mostly empty. That's on the order of a minute for the 2GB server, not too bad, but it could be much worse on the bigger ones.

    Thanked by 1uptime
  • WSSWSS Member

    @willie said:
    I haven't found Hetzner Cloud to be difficult, except for an actual custom install you have to do something crazy-sounding that I haven't particularly wanted to try.

    Thanks for playing along. This is precisely what is being discussed.

    Using one of their official templates is dead simple. Mounting and booting an iso from their library is not too bad. The rescue system custom image thing, probably blecch. The API looks ok though I haven't tried it yet.

    Me neither.

    Once you get a server set up the way you want it, you can take a snapshot, then install more servers from that snapshot. So you could install the Arch iso, customize the system, then make a snapshot. I've been booting bare servers and initializing them to my setup with an ansible script, but I just tried the snapshot approach and it works nicely.

    So does NetCup, honestly. It just costs more to get into the game.

    My only gripe is it's slower to install (not more work, you just have to wait longer for it to finish) than the official templates. I think it's writing out the whole disk partition even though it's mostly empty. That's on the order of a minute for the 2GB server, not too bad, but it could be much worse on the bigger ones.

    Possibly. Still, early game; Early game.

  • @UltraVPS said:

    angstrom said: I asked UltraVPS a couple of years ago about custom ISOs

    A couple of years ago, we used a completely different platform (XenPV/OpenVZ managed with SolusVM). Today we support boot images. However, new images must currently be integrated by our support. Please just open a ticket. An Arch Linux ISO is already available.

    Okay, good to know that this has changed in the meantime! I'll put UltraVPS back on my list of possible providers. :-)

    Thanked by 1UltraVPS
  • @willie said:
    Hetzner Cloud has an arch iso:

    Arch Linux 2017.12.01 archlinux-2017.12.01-x86_64.iso

    There is a little bit of rigamarole required to mount an iso and boot it, but it is fairly straightforward through the web console. You don't have to do any cockamamie thing like making a disk image and booting it through the rescue system. There are a bunch of other isos available as well, though I don't see a way to upload custom ones.

    I wasn't aware that Hetzner Cloud also offers some real original ISOs. I thought that they only offered templates. Good to know.

  • williewillie Member
    edited January 2018

    angstrom said:

    I wasn't aware that Hetzner Cloud also offers some real original ISOs. I thought that they only offered templates. Good to know.

    They also have an HTML5 VNC client(?) that works pretty well so you can do all the necessary console stuff during your install. You just click on it, no weird addresses or ports to connect to.

    Thanked by 1angstrom
  • Haha. Ye I was really proud at that though since I did actually get it working on aruba in the end. Took me about a week but was a great learning experience.

    Anyhow I didn't check this thread till now. Funnily enough I got myself a hetzer one a few minutes after making the post though I didn't get round to updating it to say so but appreciate the replies still since I was interested in what else was around.

    Compared to my aruba debacle setting up on hetzner was a dream and the price is really worth that little extra to not constantly having to be locking horns with the setup.

    It wouldn't be a problem if it was a one off thing but when you are always one system update away from things going tits up it is not really worth it.

    @uptime said:
    ah ... hmmm ... just dug up another thread from OP going into gory details of noodling with Arch on aruba not too long ago ... https://lowendtalk.com/discussion/125729/have-trouble-installing-arch-to-linux-arubacloud-vps/p1 (lulz) .... Just to avoid re-hashing too much of that!

    Anyway from what @willie has shared re Hetzner cloud providing Arch install ISO, that seems to me to be closest to OP's requested budget and specs, and probably least up-front cost to try it out and see how it works.

    I've had positive experience with all the other providers mentioned above - though not doing anything with Arch on them - so am inclined to suggest that any of them would be worth looking into as well if Hetzner doesn't work out.

    Also found synopsis from @WSS re netboot.xyz in a few recent posts, ie
    https://lowendtalk.com/discussion/comment/2590324/#Comment_2590324

    Thanked by 2uptime WSS
  • If you pay $2/month yearly ($24/year) we can do 1GB KVM with 40GB HDD in Los Angeles.

    [Full Spec / Order]

    Thanked by 1uptime
  • AnthonySmithAnthonySmith Member, Patron Provider

    just an FYI for this thread, any host using virtualizor as the control panel supports custom ISO's now, this feature has been available for months.

  • @AnthonySmith said:
    just an FYI for this thread, any host using virtualizor as the control panel supports custom ISO's now, this feature has been available for months.

    As an end-user, I quite like Virtualizor, and the support of custom ISOs is a great feature.

  • uptimeuptime Member
    edited January 2018

    @lowendguy7 said:

    [...] one system update away from things going tits up

    that's the crux of the biscuit right there - well put. As it is to begin with, Arch can likewise be (rarely but not rarely enough) just one missing keyring required for update or whatever away from a possibly non-trivial session of hold-my-hand-and change-my-diaper ....

    I've kept my original installation of Arch updated over 4 years on an old laptop (Arch running smoothly in a "generous" 3 GB of RAM) - it''s usually super simple to keep the rolling release updated more-or-less weekly. But on the rare occasion when I do have to dig into some details to fix some specific incompatibility introduced by an update ... well, I'm glad it's just on my laptop.

    running Arch on a server - like anything else - can be done but requires some level of wherewithal, so maybe better to avoid too many complications in terms of what is supported. Thumbs up to providers who make Arch available - they tend to deserve more good business in my opinion.

    @lowendguy7 - thanks for updating with outcome, interesting to see how this kind of thing can work out.

    Thanked by 1angstrom
  • Weekly? fuck no! :)

    I wait several months. Usually only when I am getting shared object error popping up left and right which forces me to or I need some really important new program to work which isn't working and have to haul the whole system along with it.

    People say why don't I go to a 'stable' distro like centos or debian but their repos suck compared to pacman. Always having to root around for that occult repo to activate it and only then you find out it didn't have the version of the package you wanted. Arch everything is either in community 9/10 or aur the other 1.

    I have to keep it to myself that I don't update the system often as 'the community' heavily frown upon it :). I have been keeping things more ship shape lately though since i was learning unprivileged containers and needed the most latest kernel - that endeavor turned out to be a real red herring though- unpriv lxc is in such an unfinished wonky state- which would be fine but there is no interest or community around it. So I was banging my head against a wall trying to get things running. Loved the idea but shame no1 else seems to care about them. Privileged containers working fine.

    @uptime said:
    @lowendguy7 said:

    [...] one system update away from things going tits up

    that's the crux of the biscuit right there - well put. As it is to begin with, Arch can likewise be (rarely but not rarely enough) just one missing keyring required for update or whatever away from a possibly non-trivial session of hold-my-hand-and change-my-diaper ....

    I've kept my original installation of Arch updated over 4 years on an old laptop (Arch running smoothly in a "generous" 3 GB of RAM) - it''s usually super simple to keep the rolling release updated more-or-less weekly. But on the rare occasion when I do have to dig into some details to fix some specific incompatibility introduced by an update ... well, I'm glad it's just on my laptop.

    running Arch on a server - like anything else - can be done but requires some level of wherewithal, so maybe better to avoid too many complications in terms of what is supported. Thumbs up to providers who make Arch available - they tend to deserve more good business in my opinion.

    @lowendguy7 - thanks for updating with outcome, interesting to see how this kind of thing can work out.

    Thanked by 1uptime
Sign In or Register to comment.