Migrate Squadron Server to Proxmox, best practise OS

[MarkP]

Hello,

for now i was / am running our squadron dedicated on a seperate machine. I got myself a workstation with a i9-10900k, 32gb ram and a RTX4000. I want to host some homelab stuff (mostly DMS, homeautomation, maaaybe AI) and ofc also host now the DCS on this. All will be on a Proxmox.

Since there is no linux version for DCS dedicated i wanted to ask what you guys think would be the best OS for this. Thanks!

 

[HC_Official]

I use windows server 2022 to host my DCS server (FYI legit keys only cost 25 quid)

[Actium]

With "only" 32 GB RAM on the Proxmox host, you may run out of RAM with a Windows VM in addition to – presumably – a few more Linux VMs (or containers?) running the other services you mentioned. A single DCS_server.exe process with an empty Caucasus map loaded allocates around 10 GB. Add a Windows VM with 20~24 GB of RAM on top and you're already almost out of RAM. Of course, your mileage may vary.

As you're using Proxmox, you may be comfortable with using Wine to run your DCS server on Linux, obviating the RAM overhead of a Windows (Server) VM. Here's a forum post on how to run the DCS server via Docker. I run a DCS server on Debian stable with Wine 8.0 without problems, using self-written systemd user services to administer multiple server instances. If you do opt for Wine: A Proxmox container will likely yield better performance (and less RAM usage) than a VM. I have no hard data on this, but I have read post on the forum that state this, corroborated by my own gut feeling.

If you want to dive even deeper, using a recent Linux Kernel with NTSYNC support as well as a Wine version with the NTSYNC patch might deliver performance on par with Windows. I haven't had the time to try it, so take this with a huge grain of salt! However, judging from the server's mediocre multi-threading performance, I would not be surprised if NTSYNC actually delivers noteworthy performance improvements.

[MarkP]

17 hours ago, Actium said:

With "only" 32 GB RAM on the Proxmox host, you may run out of RAM with a Windows VM in addition to – presumably – a few more Linux VMs (or containers?) running the other services you mentioned. A single DCS_server.exe process with an empty Caucasus map loaded allocates around 10 GB. Add a Windows VM with 20~24 GB of RAM on top and you're already almost out of RAM. Of course, your mileage may vary.

As you're using Proxmox, you may be comfortable with using Wine to run your DCS server on Linux, obviating the RAM overhead of a Windows (Server) VM. Here's a forum post on how to run the DCS server via Docker. I run a DCS server on Debian stable with Wine 8.0 without problems, using self-written systemd user services to administer multiple server instances. If you do opt for Wine: A Proxmox container will likely yield better performance (and less RAM usage) than a VM. I have no hard data on this, but I have read post on the forum that state this, corroborated by my own gut feeling.

If you want to dive even deeper, using a recent Linux Kernel with NTSYNC support as well as a Wine version with the NTSYNC patch might deliver performance on par with Windows. I haven't had the time to try it, so take this with a huge grain of salt! However, judging from the server's mediocre multi-threading performance, I would not be surprised if NTSYNC actually delivers noteworthy performance improvements.

thanks for the insight. I saw the docker post but figured that it might be a hassle to use it since you then also need a docker for SRS, LOTATC and so on.

I actually never worked with Wine since all what i use on my homelab is linux (beside me gaming pc obv), but willing to give it a shot.

[Actium]

Personally, I'm not using docker for DCS and SRS installation. I wrote a bunch of shell scripts that install DCS and SRS from scratch as well as systemd unit files for service orchestration. I wanted to release these files on Github, eventually (in a couple of weeks/months), but if you're interested, I'll try to expedite the release. Will save you the hassle of going through the docker stuff. Also, AFAIK, there's currently no docker image for running SRS.

[Maverick87Shaka]

I can confirm, our "prodcution" DCS server are running on Windows server 2022 as a VM on Proxmox, and it's rock solid for the use case.
Just pass to the VM the full cpu accelleration (HOST) to guarantee some extra hardware coding cabability and you'll be fine (works well even in default x86-64-v2-aes to run DCS, SRS and this tasks).

Just keep your eyes on RAM, since even simple server are now buring a LOT of RAM; and despite my concerns and warns raised to ED, situation is not getting better.

[MarkP]

21 hours ago, Maverick87Shaka said:

I can confirm, our "prodcution" DCS server are running on Windows server 2022 as a VM on Proxmox, and it's rock solid for the use case.
Just pass to the VM the full cpu accelleration (HOST) to guarantee some extra hardware coding cabability and you'll be fine (works well even in default x86-64-v2-aes to run DCS, SRS and this tasks).

Just keep your eyes on RAM, since even simple server are now buring a LOT of RAM; and despite my concerns and warns raised to ED, situation is not getting better.

How much RAM is your server using? I was jsut checking, my DCS Server instance uses about 15gb and the Host itself Win 10 Pro so overall 28gb of RAM usage  
DCS is running on a machine at my work, i9 9900k, 64gb ram, 2080ti.

 

 

Also i think i will disregard switching to the workstation with i9-10900k, 32gb ram and a RTX4000.

This is all hosted at a smarthome, my current proxmox host is a minipc with i5-8500T 16gb ram and it uses 7w.
The workstation with 10900k uses 50w on idle which is a bit hefty, im in germany so the difference is € per year is  like 30€ to 170€. So might think about how i tackle this. Do you guys think the minipc i5-8500t could run the dedicated if i increase ram to 32gb?

Edited February 17 by MarkP

[303_Kermit]

I swear I came here because I read: "Mirage Squadron Server blblablah best blablah ...." then I red your post about 3x searching for what type of Mirage you fly....

Edited February 17 by 303_Kermit

[MarkP]

On 2/15/2025 at 6:19 PM, Actium said:

Personally, I'm not using docker for DCS and SRS installation. I wrote a bunch of shell scripts that install DCS and SRS from scratch as well as systemd unit files for service orchestration. I wanted to release these files on Github, eventually (in a couple of weeks/months), but if you're interested, I'll try to expedite the release. Will save you the hassle of going through the docker stuff. Also, AFAIK, there's currently no docker image for running SRS.

dont stress yourself. I think alot of dedicated hosters would love to host on linux obviously. For myself i am still debating on what to do with the hardware.

[Actium]

11 hours ago, 303_Kermit said:

I swear I came here because I read: "Mirage Squadron Server blblablah best blablah ...." then I red your post about 3x searching for what type of Mirage you fly....

Hahaha, made my day Thank you for sharing!

 

11 hours ago, MarkP said:

So might think about how i tackle this. Do you guys think the minipc i5-8500t could run the dedicated if i increase ram to 32gb?

Depends on what kind of missions you plan on running on the server. The CPU in questions weighs in at about 40% of the single thread performance of the current top notch CPUs. Multi-thread performance doesn't really matter, as the dedicated server is bottlenecked by its main thread. I run Caucasus on a Linux VM with 16 GB RAM and a couple of 2,4 GHz AMD EPYC cores (somewhat comparable to your i5-8500T). Large missions with >100 AI units fighting will quickly bring the server to its knees, but it works well for smaller missions. Your i5-8500T may work out with modestly sized mission, particularly when running the DCS dedicated server unvirtualized. Depending on the map, even 16 GB may be enough, e.g., on Caucasus.

[MarkP]

yea i got myself a RAM update to 32gb and our missions are not that complex. So i hope it will turn out.

Question is if i should use windows server or try out the wine.

@Actium what would you think, how much work is it? As i said i have lets say basic knowledge with linux so its no prob to install and manage stuff from the CLI, but i think i would try windows first if its too much to hassle with

[Actium]

@MarkP If you have the prerequisites (Debian 12 "Bookworm" or comparable, e.g. Ubuntu), running it via Wine is fairly straightforward. Mileage may vary with other distros, but systemd is a hard requirement. You would have to install a few packages (fonts-liberation, wine, wine32, wine64, sway, wayvnc, xwayland). DCS and SRS installation and everything else should work automagically. If all works out, it'll be less work than setting it up on Windows. Do you happen to have a Github account I can share the repo with?

[MarkP]

Sounds good!
I do: https://github.com/6nfanatic 

Sounds like i should give it a try

[Actium]

@MarkP Just invited you to the repo. Added a small README with the instructions required to get it up and running. Let me know if you have any problems.

[Actium]

@MarkP Another heads up: ED messed up the master server login in version 2.9.13. At least for me with Wine 8.0, attempting to start the server fails 10 out of 10 times.
Workaround: echo "185.195.197.4 api.digitalcombatsimulator.com" >>~/.wine/drive_c/windows/system32/drivers/etc/hosts

 

 

[MarkP]

8 hours ago, Actium said:

@MarkP Another heads up: ED messed up the master server login in version 2.9.13. At least for me with Wine 8.0, attempting to start the server fails 10 out of 10 times.
Workaround: echo "185.195.197.4 api.digitalcombatsimulator.com" >>~/.wine/drive_c/windows/system32/drivers/etc/hosts

 

 

i see. am trying the install right now. Im not that good with linux yet. Mostly doing terminal. Now have to deal with GUI and i want to get back to cli already ;_;

[Actium]

24 minutes ago, MarkP said:

Now have to deal with GUI and i want to get back to cli already ;_;

I feel you. Fortunately, almost everything works via CLI/SSH. The only point you need the GUI stuff is to mess with the DCS updater/server and the SRS server, which, unfortunately, both refuse to work without a GUI. Good hunting!