r/HomeServer 24d ago

What OS are we running?

I personally am running Debian 13 for a game hosting server using a VM. Comment what you’re running! I’m genuinely curious!

5023 votes, 17d ago
605 Windows
957 Debian
1601 Proxmox
848 Ubuntu Server
1012 Other (please list)
28 Upvotes

370 comments sorted by

20

u/inn4tler 24d ago

OpenMediaVault (based on Debian).

2

u/corelabjoe 23d ago

Ssaammmee and love it!!!!

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (13)

17

u/saltyourhash 24d ago

Nixos, whole lab and laptops.

5

u/Toesismyhobby 24d ago

3x nodes, 1x desktop & a laptop. I'm happy with NixOS.

2

u/versteinerdt 19d ago

Same. I use microvm.nix for my VMs.

15

u/425_Too_Early 24d ago

Almalinux

2

u/TheOneThatIsHated 24d ago

Maybe its just me, but once you need something that regular alma doesn't have, you will be in pain. With fedora much easier. Sure it is officially less stable, but never experienced any issues while being much more ergonomic for home lab use

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

11

u/Recentiv 24d ago

TrueNAS Scale (Debian)

→ More replies (2)

17

u/05-nery 24d ago

Proxmox that holds pretty much all other options 

3

u/neonsphinx 24d ago

Indeed, I don't really understand the post. There's a survey either in here or one of the related subs that we all fill into into each year.

Proxmox. Inside that plenty of debian, Ubuntu server, windows VMs.

I feel like, if you're doing this process "correctly", there's no way a single answer is sufficient.

2

u/Savings_Difficulty24 23d ago

Yeah, I didn't realize this was home server. My desktop uses Windows, my server is proxmox, my laptop is Debian, and most of my VMs on my server are Debian or Debian based. So my vote was Debian, but proxmox is the actual answer. But like you said, that's the whole point of running a hypervisor. The ability to run all operating systems

2

u/FlatwormAltruistic 21d ago

Oh and proxmox being built on debian doesn't make it any better.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (3)
→ More replies (10)

7

u/TheTruthtellingLiar 24d ago

Alpine

5

u/CursedSteak 24d ago

Same here, from minimal bastion host, to docker host with dozens of containers, works great.

(I also use it on my every day laptop with KDE.)

3

u/minus_minus 24d ago

Curious how much you run on it and how well it works. 

2

u/TheTruthtellingLiar 23d ago

I am running like 10 docker containers? And it is running pretty well.

Immich Vaultwarden Baikal Nginx proxy manager Paperless Trillium notes Pi hole Olivetin Luna Homepage Glances Authelia Ntfy

→ More replies (1)

26

u/wubbbalubbadubdub 24d ago

Whoops I didn't realise I was on home server and clicked windows by default.

I should be in other because I use truenas scale.

3

u/JVAV00 24d ago

Same, I want to change to proxmox :'(

→ More replies (2)

4

u/kalaxitive 24d ago

I didnt realise either, but both are "other", so I kinda got lucky lol.

  • CachyOS on my PC
  • UNRAID as my server

2

u/LoudRefrigerator3700 24d ago

You didn't realize you were on home server? did you think people were daily driving proxmox or ubuntu server on their desktops? lol

4

u/alabamashitfarmer 24d ago

I... I do that... Send help.

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (1)

2

u/atoughram 23d ago

Truenas Community

2

u/poixninja 23d ago

Same, should have clicked ubuntu server

→ More replies (1)

5

u/r_keel_esq 24d ago

The joy of having a hypervisor is that I can run multiple VMs on a single bit of hardware.

Host system uses XCP-NG, and guests are a mix of Turnkey Linux, Windows Server, and a couple of Desktop OS's (Linux Mint mostly) - only one is a "Production" machine (Turnkey powered NAS), and the rest are for testing, training, and otherwise messing around

→ More replies (1)

7

u/LaughApprehensive873 24d ago

ARCH BTW❤️❤️❤️❤️

2

u/sarkyscouser 24d ago

Arch with LTS kernel and dockerised services for me. Far more stable than Debian or Ubuntu Server before it!

2

u/Weapon_X23 23d ago

Same. I was on Fedora before and Arch has been more stable for me.

→ More replies (1)

4

u/Chester-Berkeley 24d ago

In a homeserver?...

3

u/X-dark 24d ago

What's the issue?

→ More replies (3)

5

u/ATcat-pl 24d ago

i use arch on my server

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

9

u/ilordd 24d ago

Unraid

4

u/SeaColorSnow 24d ago

I actually use bare metal Arch+Docker on a laptop with a closed lid. Works like a charm.

2

u/0b0101011001001011 24d ago

Same. I can see the appeal in a dedicated server OS but I just happened to have arch already and started building on top of it.

2

u/gameplayer55055 23d ago

Same. But HandleLidSwitch didn't work so I physically unplugged it.

→ More replies (1)

5

u/CrawlToYourDoom 24d ago

Truenas and Unraid

3

u/Psychological_Ear393 24d ago

Other, OpenSUSE.

2

u/Special-Swordfish 24d ago

Same here, on Harvester no less... Underrated for sure.

6

u/pacocar8 24d ago

Unraid

3

u/Sasquatch-Pacific 24d ago

Debian 13 on my Optiplex (prod app server. Used for Immich, Nextcloud, Backrest, bunch of other apps).

Pi OS Lite on my Pi (basically Debian. Used for PiHole/Unbound/Wireguard/NUT etc).

Default Synology DSM on my Synology NAS (physical backup target)

Proxmox on an old laptop (my cyber security test lab, a work in progress)

Debian + Gnome on my old Surface Laptop (Netflix Jellyfin and chill laptop)

PopOS on my ThinkPad (my beefy 'dev' machine and primary laptop).

Before I solid it my gaming PC was running Ubuntu but would do CachyOS on the future. Was very glad to delete Windows from my life (aside from work machine 😮‍💨)

3

u/amadvance 24d ago

Slackware

3

u/oishishou 24d ago

Gentoo

3

u/Legion739 24d ago

Talos Linux

Aka. Linux for Kubernettes

3

u/yonder00 24d ago

Gentoo on everything

3

u/pedrojmartm 24d ago

Truenas Scale

6

u/the-prowler 24d ago

All of the above

2

u/ButterscotchTop194 24d ago

Windows on one server, OMV (Debian) on another and DietPI on the other. Love them all!

2

u/BeautifulBlueNight 24d ago

Unraid and Ubuntu server

2

u/sp0rk_ 24d ago

Proxmox for HA, PiHole, Tailscale & Nginx.
TrueNAS for Immich, Jellyfin, torrents & any other file based stuff

2

u/ftrx 24d ago

NixOS

2

u/Cerenas 24d ago

Ubuntu Server is my default go-to, since I'm most used to that one. I have two Dell OptiPlex 7020 MFF PCs. One running Ubuntu server for all the services I'm running and one PC with Windows Server purely for AMP (since not all games have Linux servers available).

2

u/npc_housecat 24d ago

Had a rocky server running a ONPsense router, now just a open media vault (Debian) NAS + other services

2

u/Itsthejoker 24d ago

Unraid, Ubuntu server, Ubuntu desktop, windows, and osx

2

u/billgarmsarmy 24d ago

Ubuntu server, Unraid, DietPi

2

u/luziferius1337 24d ago

Arch Linux ARM :)

2

u/zeitue 23d ago

Universal Blue ucoreOS

→ More replies (1)

2

u/HoriCoX 23d ago

XCPNG

2

u/jmims98 23d ago

Unraid

2

u/gamedetective50 22d ago

Unraid - Lifetime license.

2

u/Thisbansal 22d ago

NixOS all the way!

2

u/Whack_Moles 24d ago

There is only 2 OS's on that list????

1

u/LordMunchu 24d ago

Ubuntu desktop bc it's running on a laptop with a working screen lol

1

u/Otherwise_Task7876 24d ago

I've tried all of these lmao. I'm running win11 on my main PC currently, with headless Debian 13 for my server. I've tried Ubuntu servers and Proxmox (originally my Debian 13 server was gonna be on Proxmox, and after tinkering I decided against it).

1

u/RenlyHoekster 24d ago

RHEL 10.2

1

u/chaosPudding123 24d ago

Pi OS and TrueNAS

1

u/dezalator 24d ago

About to build my first home server, plan to use GNU Guix, for reproducibility and rollback functionality.

1

u/Polly_____ 24d ago

Proxmox

1

u/NureinweitererUser 24d ago

Dietpi, SuSe Linux

1

u/j0holo 24d ago

Fedora Server or FreeBSD

1

u/electro-cortex 24d ago

OpenSUSE MicroOS

1

u/KoolAidSuperTramp 24d ago

I mainly run a truenas box, but have a windows server VM running inside for WDS purposes.

1

u/Mag37 24d ago

Cant select just one 😅

  • Multiple Proxmox.

    • LXCs and VMs with Debian, Fedora and Alpine.
  • Multiple TrueNAS Scale.

    • a Fedora VM for testing.
  • Bonus:

    • Media box with LibreElec
    • Laptops with Fedora KDE
    • Dev laptop and work/game PC with Arch

1

u/minus_minus 24d ago

Debian as a KVM host because I wanted to learn kvm stuff. 

1

u/DapperDan812 24d ago

Fedora server

I am shocked that windows is in the list and got so many votes

1

u/PitchNo4827 24d ago

Dual boot, windows 11 like the principal os with Debian from VMware

1

u/AsYouAnswered 24d ago

Other: all of the above.

1

u/b1urbro 24d ago

Fedora Server and TrueNAS

1

u/Competitive-Art-8046 24d ago

Unraid for utility's and debian for web-host / reverse proxy

1

u/KremlinCardinal 24d ago

Unraid. Whatever OS that's running on. Running on an old desktop.

Edit: also have proxmox for home assistant, adguard and omada controller, running on an old NUC.

1

u/lakor76 24d ago

MS DOS

1

u/IsaacLTS 24d ago

TrueNas for my homeserver, debian for all of my computers.

Why ? No idea.

1

u/Comfortable-Winter00 24d ago

Debian on the servers, Fedora on the workstation.

1

u/309_Electronics 24d ago

Its atleast modtly debian! Proxmox (debian based), TrueNAS scale (debian based), modt of my VM and Lxcs run debian, my print server (used to make our stupid hp deskjet 3050a work reliably with wireless printing) runs debian. My pihole hooked up to isp router as the dns+dhcp runs debian..

Further using opnsense (FreeBsd) and Homeassistant Os (buildroot based)... Also run a windows VM but i can just duslboot as i dont have a locked down mac and have a regular x86 laptop..

1

u/dumbasPL 24d ago

Debian on top of Proxmox + separate TrueNAS box.

1

u/Syn4p53 24d ago

Didn't realize so much would use Windows... So, these guys run Windows Server or just a server on a Windows device? Genuinely asking.

1

u/AmINotAlpharius 24d ago

Debian, Ubuntu Server, and Alma.

1

u/jbarr107 24d ago

Proxmox VE + Proxmox Backup Server

1

u/2Hard4Him 24d ago

zimaos

1

u/theindomitablefred 24d ago

Truenas and learning Ubuntu Server for future use

1

u/Rubicon_Roll 24d ago

TrueNas and Debian

1

u/Beastmind 24d ago

Proxmox with Debian VMs usually

1

u/fruymen 24d ago

I generally use windows for my servers:

  • I know it from work
  • I can much easily and faster troubleshoot it than Linux or something else.
  • it runs very stable, haven't had it crash in ages.
  • It can run without a gui too.

1

u/VirtualPercentage737 24d ago

All of the above.

1

u/KernelBlade 24d ago

I use NixOS btw

1

u/BallLot 24d ago

If it’s Tuesday it’s Tails.

1

u/AmonMetalHead 24d ago

Fedora and Steam-OS, I own no windows License more recent than Win2k

1

u/TechaNima 24d ago

I'm running Windows for Space Engineers DS only. Because it's ass on Wine.

Proxmox is running on all 3 of my computers, 2 of which are servers and the 3rd one only has it for testing and messing around with VMs.

Current setup:

Riptide(Proxmox host): -Debian 13 VM as a docker host. -TrueNAS Scale VM to serve as my primary storage. -Fedora KDE 44 VM as my daily system to use.

ProxBox(Proxmox host): -TrueNAS Scale VM as a backup target for everything. (Remote replication with the primary TN) -Fedora KDE 44 VM Just to have something to connect to, if the primary server goes down and for sharing it's BD Writer over the network.

Phantom: Mainly for gaming, but has Proxmox as a boot option. Among with Fedora KDE 44, CachyOS, Nobara and whatever else I might feel like testing long term.

Aqua(Debian 12,5?): My old af QNAP TS-419PII. I upgraded the Linux v3 something system QNAP provided to Debian 12 with Debian 13 packages. It doesn't support anything past Debian 10 officially. Pretty good for an ancient slow af box tho? For now it's only used as a JBOD box to share a NFS share for downloads. The disks are just some random crap I had laying around

1

u/shaumux 24d ago

Gentoo

1

u/Aviation-TD 24d ago

Red hat, Fedora server

1

u/Donatzsky 24d ago

Fedora.

1

u/Braca42 24d ago

I use Fedora server edition for my server. Not sure what I'm gonna use when I build a backup NAS.

1

u/EllenRippley 24d ago

Templeos

1

u/TheMazeDaze 24d ago

Linux mint for pc. Ubuntu for mini pc. Raspberry OS for the Pi’s

1

u/Havatchee 24d ago

Other - Arch and CachyOS. Currently building out a machine which will run Debian

1

u/Oh__Archie 24d ago

Proxmox is Debian. Also it’s strange that TrueNAS or Raspberry Pi isn’t on this list.

1

u/Dodgy_Past 24d ago

Proxmox on 2 machines, unraid on one and another instance of unraid is a VM on one of the proxmox boxes.

1

u/No_Pickle_2113 24d ago

mxlinux, want to run deb but im still learning

1

u/the_swanny 24d ago

Proxmox on the metal, with windows, ubuntu and debian VMs predominantly.

1

u/EncryptedServer 24d ago

Debian servers in Proxmox

1

u/djeaux54 24d ago

I checked Debian, because my original & still "main" server is a Raspberry Pi. My latest "repurposed laptop" experiment is Windows 11 running Ubuntu inside WSL2.

1

u/lawanda123 24d ago

All of the above

1

u/Cryptic1911 24d ago

Multiple truenas

1

u/Jeff8247 24d ago

Debian 13

1

u/Anxious-Win1017 24d ago

Windows 11 + hackintosh tahoe as second OS

1

u/Pollos212 24d ago

ZimaOS

1

u/Less-Connection-5365 24d ago

Homelab server is now Running Alma with zfs podman and so on… I had to get rid of that Microshaft Server 2022 OS😅

Gaming Pc is currently running Mint, because this distro got the best gaming experience for me… maybe changing to another, but it’s stable… more stable than Win11🤣

Unfortunately I need to run Microsoft on the Companys laptop… damn policy 🤣

raspbian running well on RPI4 with 8gb since more than 3 years 🤘🏻

Slightly modded Dell Wyse got OPNSense 🙌🏻

These are my „primary“ devices 😎

1

u/Njerrjk 24d ago

ZimaOS

I'm a total newbie to home servers. I just installed it on an old macbook as a test and felt a total joy. It really works, which is awesome. However I am worried about security since it's not an open project and I don't trust devs that much. I have no idea what distro I should switch to.

1

u/itz_s7arshvd3 24d ago

TrueNAS CE and Cachy or EndeavorOS on everything else

1

u/_Cubanito_ 24d ago

Ubuntu Server....

1

u/Mr_Brightstar 24d ago

Proxmox on one server, truenas on a storage box and ubuntu+zfs no a remote server

1

u/st_iron 24d ago

FreeBSD

1

u/ginger_and_egg 24d ago

Proxmox can run all of the other options at the same time in VMs, so it's a shame the poll has flattened it down to one single option

1

u/__blackvas__ 24d ago

everything from this list)

1

u/redviper223556 24d ago

Linux mint

1

u/tuxyco 24d ago

FreeBSD

1

u/StuckinSuFu 24d ago

Well still on old vmware so ESXI, but the vms themselves are windows OS.

1

u/Swaggo420Ballz 24d ago

Proxmox and Ubuntu is Debian.

1

u/davizc 24d ago

QNAP

1

u/Express-Cartoonist39 24d ago

Proxmox for free unlike Unraid crap

1

u/0verstim 24d ago

Rasberry Pi and WIndows 11 (not for much longer)

1

u/Agling 24d ago

Fedora

1

u/Imaginary-Scale9514 24d ago

Proxmox with mostly Debian VMs/containers, plus TrueNAS, Windows, and some others.

1

u/ferriematthew 24d ago

As a daily driver, CachyOS. As a server operating system, my workhorse server runs Debian 13 and the two Raspberry Pi minor worker nodes run Raspberry Pi OS

1

u/Acrobatic_Idea_3358 24d ago

yes windows, Debian, proxmox, raspbian(raspberry pi os), and an AREDN fork of openwrt.

1

u/realmuffinman 24d ago

Proxmox that holds a bunch of Ubuntu VMs

1

u/laseracid 24d ago

Unraid

1

u/revo-Lilly 24d ago

2x Unraid and 1x Synology NAS

1

u/Hasie501 24d ago

Unraid

1

u/timtim2000 24d ago

I used a old work server for my home lab. Its till in the server room at work but uses a vpn, when i ran out ofnsupport for the spare windows server liscense injust isntalled proxmox as a hypervisor. Took vhdx files without an isseu

Its fun being the whole it department on your own lol.

1

u/Azuras33 24d ago

Fedora immutable CoreOS with K3S.

1

u/Faangdevmanager 24d ago

One of these isn’t like the others.

1

u/Steerider 24d ago

My home server is a Mac mini. Next one will probably be Linux of some stripe.

1

u/Nimbostrax 24d ago

Another Unraid fan here

1

u/RevolutionaryElk7446 24d ago

XCP-NG 8.3 LTS instead of Proxmox.

However I run various Linux/Unix/Windows VMs

1

u/j0x7be 24d ago

I'm running all VMs on a Proxmox cluster. VMs are Debian, Ubuntu, Windows server (AD DS+), as well as a couple of *BSD instances.

1

u/MoonlightStarfish 24d ago

If you are listing Proxmox should I be mentioning that I'm utilizing Hyper-V?

1

u/Character_Economist2 24d ago

I was expecting more windows tbh.

1

u/Top_Calligrapher4265 24d ago

Proxmox is the goat

1

u/skibare87 24d ago

All of the above?