--- title: The best way to run Docker on Proxmox depends entirely... description: Running Docker on Proxmox has three main approaches: inside a VM, inside an LXC, or directly on the host. VM-based Docker is the officially recommended and... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/the-best-way-to-run-docker-on-proxmox-depends-entirely-on-your-hardware-and-use-case-and-it-took-me-m1nxrk1cv twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: The best way to run Docker on Proxmox depends entirely on your hardware and use-case, and it took me years to realize that | daily.dev og:description: Running Docker on Proxmox has three main approaches: inside a VM, inside an LXC, or directly on the host. VM-based Docker is the officially recommended and... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/the-best-way-to-run-docker-on-proxmox-depends-entirely-on-your-hardware-and-use-case-and-it-took-me-m1nxrk1cv og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/m1nxRK1CV.png og:image:alt: The best way to run Docker on Proxmox depends entirely on your hardware and use-case, and it took me years to realize that og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # The best way to run Docker on Proxmox depends entirely on your hardware and use-case, and it took me years to realize that **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 3 min read · 1 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Running Docker on Proxmox has three main approaches: inside a VM, inside an LXC, or directly on the host. VM-based Docker is the officially recommended and safest method, isolating containers from the Proxmox kernel, but it requires more resources (8-core CPU, 8GB RAM suggested). LXC-based Docker works better on weaker or older hardware and makes sharing PCI/GPU devices across multiple containers easier, though it carries security risks since containers can access the host kernel, and AppArmor issues after the Proxmox 9.1 upgrade broke some LXC-based Docker setups. Running Docker directly on the PVE host is discouraged as risky despite its simplicity. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### Why did my Docker containers inside Proxmox LXCs break after upgrading to Proxmox 9.1? AppArmor-related problems introduced after the Proxmox 9.1 upgrade have caused Docker containers running inside LXCs to break for many users. This is one of the key security and stability risks cited against running Docker nested inside LXC containers, alongside the fact that even unprivileged LXCs can still access the Proxmox kernel. _Homelabbers debugging Proxmox and Docker compatibility issues can track fixes and workarounds on daily.dev._ ### Should I run Docker in a VM or an LXC on Proxmox? Running Docker inside a virtual machine is the Proxmox-recommended and generally safer approach because it isolates the Docker daemon from the host kernel, and works well with at least an 8-core CPU and 8GB RAM. LXCs are a better choice on weak or old hardware since they have lower overhead and allow multiple containers to share a single GPU or PCI device, though they carry more security risk for production use. _Anyone weighing VM versus LXC tradeoffs for Docker on Proxmox can compare real setups on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Your Proxmox server can handle 10 times the workload if you stop treating everything like a virtual machine](https://daily.dev/posts/your-proxmox-server-can-handle-10-times-the-workload-if-you-stop-treating-everything-like-a-virtual--dlyllfspt) · XDA Developers · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Finally, run Docker containers natively in Proxmox 9.1 \(OCI images\)](https://daily.dev/posts/finally-run-docker-containers-natively-in-proxmox-9-1-oci-images--lr5rkf2zd) · Hacker News · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [My Proxmox server became more useful when I stopped treating LXCs as Docker containers](https://daily.dev/posts/my-proxmox-server-became-more-useful-when-i-stopped-treating-lxcs-as-docker-containers-7oqfdczwk) · XDA Developers · 8 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#infrastructure](https://daily.dev/tags/infrastructure), [#docker](https://daily.dev/tags/docker), [#self-hosting](https://daily.dev/tags/self-hosting), [#proxmox](https://daily.dev/tags/proxmox) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/the-best-way-to-run-docker-on-proxmox-depends-entirely-on-your-hardware-and-use-case-and-it-took-me-m1nxrk1cv) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"The best way to run Docker on Proxmox depends entirely on your hardware and use-case, and it took me years to realize that","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-best-way-to-run-docker-on-proxmox-depends-entirely-on-your-hardware-and-use-case-and-it-took-me-m1nxrk1cv","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-best-way-to-run-docker-on-proxmox-depends-entirely-on-your-hardware-and-use-case-and-it-took-me-m1nxrk1cv"},"datePublished":"2026-08-20T00:03:04.204Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T08:37:03.578Z","description":"Running Docker on Proxmox has three main approaches: inside a VM, inside an LXC, or directly on the host. VM-based Docker is the officially recommended and...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/f2773695393127915c77d64dc5679728?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/f2773695393127915c77d64dc5679728?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"XDA Developers","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"XDA Developers","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--kCg6yyAP--/f_auto,q_auto/v1774964407/logos/xda-developers?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-best-way-to-run-docker-on-proxmox-depends-entirely-on-your-hardware-and-use-case-and-it-took-me-m1nxrk1cv","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"infrastructure,docker,self-hosting,proxmox","timeRequired":"PT3M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"XDA Developers","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The best way to run Docker on Proxmox depends entirely on your hardware and use-case, and it took me years to realize that"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-best-way-to-run-docker-on-proxmox-depends-entirely-on-your-hardware-and-use-case-and-it-took-me-m1nxrk1cv#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Why did my Docker containers inside Proxmox LXCs break after upgrading to Proxmox 9.1?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"AppArmor-related problems introduced after the Proxmox 9.1 upgrade have caused Docker containers running inside LXCs to break for many users. This is one of the key security and stability risks cited against running Docker nested inside LXC containers, alongside the fact that even unprivileged LXCs can still access the Proxmox kernel. Homelabbers debugging Proxmox and Docker compatibility issues can track fixes and workarounds on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Should I run Docker in a VM or an LXC on Proxmox?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Running Docker inside a virtual machine is the Proxmox-recommended and generally safer approach because it isolates the Docker daemon from the host kernel, and works well with at least an 8-core CPU and 8GB RAM. LXCs are a better choice on weak or old hardware since they have lower overhead and allow multiple containers to share a single GPU or PCI device, though they carry more security risk for production use. Anyone weighing VM versus LXC tradeoffs for Docker on Proxmox can compare real setups on daily.dev."}}]} ```