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What distro do you use for your servers? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 3 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I've only ever used desktop Linux and don't have server admin experience (unless you count hosting Minecraft servers on my personal machine lol). Currently using Artix and Void for my desktop computers as I've grown fond of runit.

I'm going to get a VPS for some personal projects and am at the point of deciding what distro I want to use. While I imagine that systemd is generally the best for servers due to the far more widespread support (therefore it's better for the stability needs of a server), I have a somewhat high threat model compared to most people so I was wondering if maybe I should use something like runit instead which is much smaller and less vulnerable. Security needs are also the reason why I'm leaning away from using something like Debian, because how outdated the packages are would likely leave me open to vulnerabilities. Correct me if I'm misunderstanding any of that though.

Other than that I'm not sure what considerations there are to make for my server distro. Maybe a more mainstream distro would be more likely to have the software in its repos that I need to host my various projects. On the other hand, I don't have any experience with, say, Fedora, and it'd probably be a lot easier for me to stick to something I know.

In terms of what I want to do with the VPS, it'll be more general-purpose and hosting a few different projects. Currently thinking of hosting a Matrix instance, a Mastodon instance, a NextCloud instance, an SMTP server, and a light website, but I'm sure I'll want to stick more miscellaneous stuff on there too.

So what distro do you use for your server hosting? What things should I consider when picking a distro?

(page 2) 50 comments

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Dietpi.. For no particular/proper reason other than its (extreme) focus on minimalism.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

Love me some dietpi! Was pleasantly surprised of how smart and easy it was to use 🙌

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

Debian with Docker containers works well for my needs.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

Personally, I use Rocky Linux on my servers. It’s stable, and has plenty of support since it’s RHEL-based. It’s supported until 2030 or so, and it doesn’t have any of the cloud-init or netplan stuff that Ubuntu Server has.

It’s also pretty simple to set up docker/podman containers, although you need the EPEL for podman-compose and for a lot of other packages, but once you get your setup the way you like it, it just keeps running and running.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I use Alpine Linux. It's exceptionally stable, great for pretty much any device and is best for small VPS with limited space/ram. Nice package manager too, but it is limited in packages.

It works great for me since I only use docker containers, but some things outside docker may require something like Debian instead.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Alpine Linux

Alpine is so great for so many reasons. I don't like its packaging format, but its composition otherwise is just top-notch. I'm a huge fan when the one nit isn't an issue. It also avoid cancers like systemd, and it makes it a joy to use.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

Downvotes for recommending alpine? This is my baffled face.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

Debian if you are new to Linux servers and self-hosting. Alpine if you get more advanced and just want something very light-weight and minimal.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

Debian but mostly Ubuntu LTS with the free Ubuntu Pro that gives 10-year support. If I get hit by a bus, chances are the self-hosted systems I've setup would continue to work for years till my family can get someone to support or migrate the data. 😅

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

@communism
I use alpine, but void is a good option too, for me the host should be minimal and lightweight. At the end I have all on containers

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

Ubuntu server, though I am thinking of using arch even though it is a rolling distro. It doesn't really matter. As long as docker is supported, I am fine using any.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

I wouldn't personally use Arch on a server. The rolling release could cause a lot of problems, especially since you lack the ability to seamlessly integrate older versions of packages like with gentoo masking.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Do you have a plan on how you’d do version controlling on Arch? It’d be annoying to upgrade, something breaks, and you can’t easily roll back.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

Snapper.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

Used to be CentOS until the stream debacle. Now Debian.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

Been running Ubuntu LTS releases on all my server VMs for 8 years and haven't had a single problem. Absolutely solid as a rock. Fantastic support, loads of guides to do anything. Plus you can get 10years of support as a home user with a free Ubuntu Pro subscription.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (2 children)

I always use Rocky Linux or Alma Linux, since I have extensive experience with enterprise Linux and RPM packages. I have Fedora on my main desktop computer. Both Rocky Linux and Alma Linux are rock-solid and are ideal for any kind of workload.

Also, Debian is a good choice if you know how to manage DEB packages and you feel comfortable with APT.

Fedora is a good choice if you want fresh packages and are willing to upgrade your server every 6 months (following the Fedora release cycle).

Rocky Linux and Alma Linux follow a similar slow release cycle of RHEL, wherein you can install your server and not have to worry for years (as long as the packages are updated with dnf update) Debian is also a slow release distribution, which makes it good for servers.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

Arch. With testing repos. And somehow, it also just works.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

Mint on the Desktop, FreeBSD on the server. Amazingly stable.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Red Hat, because it's free for developers and used by a lot of enterprises.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Red Hat, because it’s free for developers

Not really.

and used by a lot of enterprises.

Not really. We're moving to a surprising alternative, but the source for a paid enterprise Linux is drifting away collectively from RedHat. It started with 7 - ironically people choosing a 7 equivalent from a clone, like a paid centos almost, just because they were so pissed at the quality free-fall that began with 7. In short, paying a competitor for their clone of a bad release because they're so pissed at RedHat for making that release. Really weird.

Now that RH is starting to wobble and falter, these also-rans are trying to get into the lead as flagship. If RH post-Lennart can't get its quality back up to EL6 level, the cracks will get noticeable. As they keep on pitching every product under the sun except linux, we worry their focus won't get back to it in time and they'll lose the flag - if not already - to someone else.

It's not SuSE. That combination of Slackware and (I wanna say SLS) is an experience, but not a joy. It seems like a good idea, but their culture is still weird for the west.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Devuan. If you need stable, and you like runit, thats the easiest option.

Debian isn't unsecure because security updates for packages are still received.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

Seonding the security point. It's probably riskier to use bleeding edge distros because the "old" Debian packages are well cured and don't have a lot of new issues. And as you said also old packages get security updates. Even in debian.

Been running Debian on my server for 10+ years.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I won't say which one, but I'll give you a hint as to why:

rpm -Vp https://...

It's what got me off Slackware, and it's true today. If the distro can't support that kind of check, it's dead to me.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

Rocky and now moving too OpenSuse leap micro to move into immutable OS deployments.

Its all RKE2 (a k8s distro) on top anyways, so its very minor mods underneath, and base updates so I really want to maximize reproducibility and minim8ze attack surface.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I guess you could use something like those new immutable distros to move away from state and related vulnerabilities. TBH there are plenty of hardening guides for Debian.

Or you could use any hardened version of Fedora which gets security fixes quicker, and then harden it some more yourself. The good part about Debian is that you are free to use SysVInit, I do not know if you could do that on Fedora. I do not think Systemd is a massive risk (if they have reached Systemd you have many other, bigger problems to think of).

I think I should study some more about Fedora. I run k3s on top and will go through their CISA hardening guide at some point to round things out.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

openSUSE Leap - YaST is the greatest thing since sliced bread, and works great on command line over SSH. Yes, sometimes installing some software is difficult, but generally most stuff you would want is there and a lot of stuff runs on Docker anyway now. Very stable too, have had nearly zero issues.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

I use proxmox and run Debian containers and VMs

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