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I’m in UTC+1 time zone and have already finished work for the day. Wishing everyone a great weekend!
@Not_Oles By the way, could you tell me know when the free subscription on AlexHost expires? I’ll make sure to release resources before it ends.Thanks!
As you certainly know, there are multiple ways to make the host's live performance data available.
What way would you guys prefer?
The current expiration date is October 30.
Alexhost said they might renew their server donation, so we will see.
Thanks to @alexhost for all this server fun!
Thanks also to @dan_onlyservers and @fmxm for additional server donations!
Thanks to @babywhale for BashVM!
If I could choose, root access to the host so I could also run other tools to investigate. E.g., I mostly use atop for its more comprehensive overview of other performance aspects as well, or htop for other aspects. Open to learn about other tools as well, even interested in other suggestions.
But I guess root access is out of the question (would surprise me if it wasn't), that's why I asked. And overkill.
At the end of the day, anything that can give some insight into what is going on on the host while poking around in the guest, and that can be made available so you are still comfortable with the security and stability side of things, and without too much effort to you.
Hetrixtools, netdata or maybe the script @lukast__ made on LET
netdata certainly should do it, maybe already too polished, but I wouldn't complain. (I usually prefer simpler, more "direct" tools, where I can more easily assess what they are actually doing. With a fancy GUI, I sometimes feel (but it usually isn't much more than that) that "something" might get lost in translation.)
I am not sufficiently familiar with either HetrixTools or the script you refer to, but happy to give either, or both, a try.
Links for @lukast__'s script mentioned by @BasToTheMax:
https://lowendtalk.com/discussion/194088/minimal-load-steal-and-memory-usage-logger-needs-only-52-kib-memory/p1
https://github.com/lukastautz/cpu_logger
One approach would be to give everyone an ssh shell account on the Node.
Or maybe export the output of top via telnet.
Another possible approach could be to serve the output of top on the web with something like netcat.
That would be an easy starting point. Doesn't have to be privileged for most things, provided tools are already available, or can be installed upon suggestion (atop, htop).
After looking at the
cpu_logger, it looks good, and I'll add that to the list of data sources the VM could expose. At the same time, for troubleshooting the specific issue with trafficserver, less of a wholesale performance view at the host level would be needed, rather than a specific look at "my" VPS seen from the host system.Those would be very attractive, too, I personally wouldn't know where to start on those, though, e.g., not sure how the dynamic output of top could best be reflected/captured for those approaches.
I.e., to get started quickly, a non-privileged ssh access to the host might be easiest and fastest. Those other options could be explored thereafter, with more leisure, after the current more immediate desire to get to the bottom of the trafficserver issue is out of the way.
Any objections to giving @Starnberg an unprivileged shell account on the node?
Does anyone else want an unprivileged shell account on the node?
Me, for testing and learning.
Free VPS Inventory
As of August 15, 2025
Thanks to all the donors, and @Not_Oles et al. for making the VPSes available!!
I've used OpenWRT before with LXC in a Proxmox setup, works great except some container settings aren't passed into the CT. For example, the networking information doesn't get applied automatically in the CT and requires manually editing then inside.
Why openwrt? It's very light, 128MB RAM and 500MB disk is plenty for it. It's got support for a lot of services like VPNs, docker, NAS etc etc. The only issue is updating, it's not as straightforward with x86 as updating on routers, and LXC makes it even worse.
Not really suggesting that as an OS to be available, but just an idea.
@spiderhr
Your previous request can be seen at https://lowendtalk.com/discussion/comment/4494372/#Comment_4494372
A list of all your comments is available on your profile.
Not trying to give you a hard time, but hoping to see more investment into the community.
Best wishes!
How To Get Your Request Approved
When somebody posts a request, and they have stuff like:
This isn't a list of rules or requirements. Just a few ideas to consider when writing your request.
More, or different stuff, might be okay. . . . Even brand new LETizens might be okay.
The more effort you invest in your request, the more likely your request will be approved.
Once you are in, it's lovely to post a little about what you are doing and how everything is going. Your contributions to higher quality discussion make it more likely that Providers will continue to donate servers and that FOSSVPS will continue giving away free VPSes to the community.
Thanks, I'll try it out. Maybe I could make my own system/script to make updating easier!
Just for fun, what someone could try to do is deploy qemu inside an LXC/LXD container.
Maybe check Running QEMU/KVM Virtual Machines in Unprivileged LXD Containers.
I tried it a while back. The qemu I made didn't pass all the tests, probably because I was trying not to use systemd to start the containers. The official LXC tutorial uses systemd to start LXC containers:
I ran apt-get update and apt-get upgrade on the node. Then I installed atop. htop already was installed.
qemu also was updated, so it probably would be a good idea to reboot the node. Let's say tomorrow, August 16, about 22:00 UTC, which is 3:00 PM my time (UTC - 7:00). Unless someone needs the reboot to be deferred.
Thanks everyone!
I will do that soon. My VPS is currently is stuck in a reinstall process and is also kinda slow so that will take a while.
I'm using Incus to manage my containers.
And afaik, incus can also manage virtual machines. I could try that instead? That will probably be way easier too!
I would like to apply for a free VPS.
I am working on Copernicus CDSAPI WebUI, a simple downloader for Copernicus ERA5 Datasets.
I plan to use the VPS to test and improve the usability of my code, monitor Copernicus services, and try out automation workflows.
I hope to be a positive member of the community by sharing feedback, reporting issues, and contributing improvements back to open source projects when possible.
Preferred Location: Chisinau, Moldova
NAT IPv4 is fine for my needs.
SSH Public Key
ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAILDwlNXD6OVrTfVcQmFqlGYs5wVIrzan/U0VWjTgiid0
Thank you for considering my request.
Hi @rickey
Looking back at
https://lowendtalk.com/discussion/comment/4484557/#Comment_4484557 it seems like you want to be on the London Node for which I thank OnlyServers
Here is the current inventory:
Free VPS Inventory
As of August 16, 2025
If you would let me know which location you want, I will assign it if it's still available and PM you login credentials. If you pick Chisinau, I need your ed25519 ssh public key. London and Los Angeles are Debian 12. Chisinau is Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.
Thanks and welcome to FOSSVPS! I look forward to reading your posts about your progress on your free FOSSVPS instance.
Hi @seoky!
Welcome to FOSSVPS!
There aren't yet any NAT IPv4s in Chisinau, so I guess you are stuck with a dedicated IPv4.
Later today I will PM you login information. I will post here again after the login information is sent. Please be patient since I am slow. After you get in, and when you have time, please post here to let us know about your progress. If you can't get in, please post here to let us know.
Hope you enjoy your free FOSSVPS virtual machine!
Thanks to Alexhost for their kind donation of the server node!
Best!
Tom
Hi @Not_Oles,
My preffered location from these is Chisinau. My ed25519 public key is:
ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIGmjOeyYp/dPXoXeTbk0KK2QhC7WoPo8bBPREx7BlS1H [email protected]I'm very thankful for the server and I'm ready to contribute to the community and share my progress
Hi @Not_Oles,
I hope you are doing well.
I would like to run Laravel on a VPS: https://github.com/laravel/laravel
My preffered location from these is London.
I plan to use it for my new app: https://github.com/alimosavifard/Civitas
My ed25519 public key is: ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIANO1eCijtXzTITSSjp/QJQe86hRrxrpTLBPWRNKxlAj [email protected]
Thank you very much for considering my request.
Best regards,
After the reboot, Chisinau VPSes will be assigned to @rickey and @seoky. Also, @Starnberg will receive his unprivileged node shell account. These assume nobody says they need stability and nobody objects to the shell account. Does anyone else want a shell account?
Anybody else want a free FOSSVPS VPS?
Free VPS Inventory
As of August 16, 2025
Thanks to our wonderful donors: @fmxm, OnlyServers, and Alexhost!
Thanks to @babywhale and BashVM! 
Hi @thenet! Nice to meet you!
From just looking at your request, I would say, "Yes, of course! Welcome!"
I have to double check everything, so possibly later today or more likely tomorrow. I will PM you login info and post here when the PM is sent.
Thanks for your applcation! I look forward to seeing you on the server! And to your posts here in this thread. And to your progress with Laravel.
Always best wishes!
Tom
Here's comes the Chisinau reboot. I will post again when it is done. Thanks!
Excellent! We have a fun opportunity to figure out why the server isn't responding to ping!
The last word I have is
I'm not aware of having remote console access.
So I opened a low priority ticket with Alexhost. I told them "No rush. No worries!"
They responded saying that the ticket had been accepted and asking me to wait.
It's late where they are, so I hope they are sleeping! Which is what I am about to do.
We will see what happens tomorrow.
Apologies for the inconvenience!
Thanks to Alexhost and to all our users!