Fix LXC container creation: unprivileged, nesting/keyctl, swap sizing
Check NixOS configurations / eval-hosts (push) Failing after 10m48s

Found and fixed live against a real test container (VMID 100, lxc-nix-cache
on pve.sweet.home) after the previous pct-restore-to-pct-create fix still
produced a container that booted into garbled console output:

1. pct create's own CLI default for --unprivileged is privileged (unlike
   the web UI, whose checkbox defaults the other way), but
   modules/platforms/lxc.nix sets proxmoxLXC.privileged = false, so the
   image assumes it's running unprivileged. Real mismatch -- now passes
   --unprivileged 1 explicitly.

2. The actual root cause of the garbled console: modern (v247+) systemd
   routinely uses nested user namespaces and credential mounts (even
   plain getty units, via LoadCredential=-style mechanisms), which
   AppArmor's default LXC confinement denies without --features
   nesting=1,keyctl=1. Confirmed via the host's kernel audit log: every
   getty unit was crash-looping on a denied /run/credentials/* mount
   every ~3s, and core services like nsncd failed userns_create the same
   way -- the system never finished activating. Fixed live (pct set +
   restart on the running test container) before committing the script
   change: systemctl is-system-running went from never completing to
   "running" with zero failed units.

3. --memory doesn't touch swap -- confirmed live it silently stayed at
   Proxmox's own 512M default with --memory 2048. Now defaults --swap to
   whatever --memory resolves to.

docs/auto-installer.md's manual pct create walkthrough gets the same
fixes, with the "why" for each flag, since a human following it by hand
would hit the identical bugs.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01La55Nsss8jZ7ZuzUV9mfot
This commit is contained in:
2026-07-20 11:33:53 +10:00
co-authored by Claude Sonnet 5
parent a3e85b5079
commit 7e7e294371
3 changed files with 68 additions and 4 deletions
+24 -2
View File
@@ -45,15 +45,37 @@ of its own:
```sh
pct create <vmid> local:vztmpl/<file>.tar.xz \
--rootfs local-lvm:8 --hostname <name> --cores 2 --memory 2048 \
--unprivileged 1 --features nesting=1,keyctl=1 \
--rootfs local-lvm:8 --hostname <name> --cores 2 --memory 2048 --swap 2048 \
--net0 name=eth0,bridge=vmbr0,ip=dhcp
pct start <vmid>
```
Every one of those extra flags is load-bearing, confirmed by actually
booting one:
- `--unprivileged 1``modules/platforms/lxc.nix` sets
`proxmoxLXC.privileged = false`, so the image assumes it's running
unprivileged. `pct create`'s own CLI default for this flag is
privileged (unlike the web UI, whose checkbox defaults the other way)
— omit it and you get a privileged container running a NixOS config
that assumes unprivileged, a real mismatch.
- `--features nesting=1,keyctl=1` — required for a modern (v247+)
systemd guest to boot unprivileged at all. Without it, AppArmor denies
the nested user namespaces and credential mounts systemd routinely
uses (even plain getty units) — every getty crash-loops on a denied
`/run/credentials/*` mount every ~3s (this is what garbage on the
console turns out to be) while core services like `nsncd` fail the
same way, and the system never finishes activating.
- `--swap 2048``--memory` doesn't touch swap; it silently stays at
Proxmox's own 512M default otherwise. Match it to `--memory` unless
you deliberately want otherwise.
First boot runs `boot.postBootCommands` (registers the Nix store DB and
system profile) — there's no separate activation step to run yourself.
`scripts/create-proxmox-resource.sh --type lxc --host <name>` automates all
of this (build, host-key handling, upload, `pct create`) — see its `--help`.
of this (build, host-key handling, upload, `pct create` with the flags
above) — see its `--help`.
Host keys still need pre-seeding the same way as any other host (see "Host
keys" below) — the sops-nix activation-vs-first-boot race is identical