[gentoo-user] gentoo for a virtual server in the cloud?

n952162

unread,

Mar 18, 2022, 2:50:03 PM3/18/22

to

I rent a low-cost virtual server in the cloud. The platform offers me
some choices in linux distributions, but I'm wondering if I can compile
gentoo to run on it. Anybody have experience doing this?

n952162

unread,

Mar 18, 2022, 3:10:03 PM3/18/22

to

tastytea

unread,

Mar 18, 2022, 3:30:03 PM3/18/22

to

If the platform offers you access to the VGA output via VNC or whatever
and lets you mount an ISO in a virtual DVD drive, it pretty much works
like any other Gentoo install.

Another option is to shrink your filesystem and partition, make a new
partition and install Gentoo from the old install.

You could also try to make Grub boot into an ISO in your /boot
partition. If you don't have access to the VGA output, you could try to
find a ISO that starts an SSH server automatically and lets you set the
password via the kernel cmdline.

Kind regards, tastytea

Raphael Mejias Dias

unread,

Mar 18, 2022, 3:40:03 PM3/18/22

to

I've read this question and now I'm curious about how much it would cost to compile a Gentoo system into cloud. Anyone know this?

Regards, Raphael

Matthias Hanft

unread,

Mar 18, 2022, 3:50:03 PM3/18/22

to

n952162 schrieb:

> I rent a low-cost virtual server in the cloud. The platform offers me
> some choices in linux distributions, but I'm wondering if I can compile
> gentoo to run on it. Anybody have experience doing this?

Yes. I have a Remote Console using a Java Applet (via VPN) where I can
select an ISO image on my local disk (also for boot). So the Gentoo
installation was just as straight forward as at home - no problem.

The prerequisite is, of course, that the provider does offer a Remote
Console and the ISO option. I was lucky enough :-)

-Matt

Ralph Seichter

unread,

Mar 18, 2022, 4:00:03 PM3/18/22

to

* Raphael Mejias Dias:

> I've read this question and now I'm curious about how much it would
> cost to compile a Gentoo system into cloud. Anyone know this?

The cheapest Gentoo VMs of mine are based on Hetzner's CX11 [1] which
cost 3,49 EUR per month (plus VAT, but no setup fees). Gentoo can be
installed by booting Hetzner's custom "rescue image" Linux which comes
will full network support, which is all that is required.

[1] https://www.hetzner.com/cloud?country=ot

Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with Hetzner beyond having used their
services for more than 15 years.

-Ralph

n952162

unread,

Mar 18, 2022, 4:00:03 PM3/18/22

to

You booted the minimal install ISO and went through the steps of
partitioning the disk, network, etc?

I was thinking that there were special drivers necessary for the virtual
devices offered by the platform. Maybe even proprietary....

Maybe I don't understand it correctly.

tastytea

unread,

Mar 18, 2022, 4:20:04 PM3/18/22

to

Most providers just use the virtualization that is built into the Linux
kernel, the same QEMU/KVM that you can setup yourself with libvirt. You
need to select some VIRTIO drivers but that's about the only difference
to a “normal” system. As far as I know sys-kernel/gentoo-kernel{,-bin}
has everything needed built in.

See also <https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/QEMU/Linux_guest#Guest>.

n952162

unread,

Mar 18, 2022, 4:40:03 PM3/18/22

to

Good link, thank you.

Grant Taylor

unread,

Mar 18, 2022, 5:00:03 PM3/18/22

to

I've got a Gentoo image running in Linode without any problem.

I'm fairly certain that they offer Gentoo as an option when creating the
VPS. It's been too long and I've messed with too many things since then.

--
Grant. . . .
unix || die

Matthias Hanft

unread,

Mar 19, 2022, 4:10:03 AM3/19/22

to

n952162 wrote:
>
> You booted the minimal install ISO and went through the steps of
> partitioning the disk, network, etc?

Yes. Exactly the same way as I did for my server at home.

> I was thinking that there were special drivers necessary for the virtual
> devices offered by the platform. Maybe even proprietary....

Not in my case. The provider uses VMware for his virtual servers,
and Gentoo didn't need any special drivers or something.

Here's the output of "lspci":

--- cut here ---

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX Host bridge (rev 01)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX AGP bridge (rev 01)
00:07.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ISA (rev 08)
00:07.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE (rev 01)
00:07.3 Bridge: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI (rev 08)
00:07.7 System peripheral: VMware Virtual Machine Communication Interface (rev 10)
00:0f.0 VGA compatible controller: VMware SVGA II Adapter
00:10.0 SCSI storage controller: Broadcom / LSI 53c1030 PCI-X Fusion-MPT Dual Ultra320 SCSI (rev 01)
00:11.0 PCI bridge: VMware PCI bridge (rev 02)
00:15.0 PCI bridge: VMware PCI Express Root Port (rev 01)
[the same for 00:15.0..7, 00:16.0..7, 00:17.0..7, and 00:18.0..7]
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82545EM Gigabit Ethernet Controller (Copper) (rev 01)

--- cut here ---

Gentoo could handle all this just out of the box.

-Matt

n952162

unread,

Mar 19, 2022, 6:00:04 AM3/19/22

to

:thumbsup: Thank you.

Jeremy Hendricks

unread,

Mar 19, 2022, 2:00:03 PM3/19/22

to

If you want to save time (and probably money), compile packages into binary packages on another server and set the virtual server to only use binary.

Matt Connell

unread,

Mar 20, 2022, 10:30:03 PM3/20/22

to

On Fri, 2022-03-18 at 14:57 -0600, Grant Taylor wrote:
> I've got a Gentoo image running in Linode without any problem.
>
> I'm fairly certain that they offer Gentoo as an option when creating
> the VPS. It's been too long and I've messed with too many things
> since then.

They do. I have happily run a Gentoo Linode VM for years now.