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Is there a Container or some way to run a standalone Windows Desktop app without using a VM first to run Windows? (alien.top)
submitted 2 years ago by [B] to c/main@selfhosted.forum
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I have Proxmox VE OS installed on two connected desktops in my apartment, I also have the ability to VPN into apartment router remotely and operate as if I where physically there.

The desktop app I want to run is AlfaBooks, they're like a better version of Calibre, only they cost like $40.00 for one time fee, which I am not opposed to. It also comes with their web server app, which acts like a Calibre Content Server.

However in the future, I may find othet desktop apps that I'd like to run on Proxmox without a VM in the middle.

Any ideas?

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[–] 1 point 2 years ago

Closest you're gonna get I believe is a thin client, a cutdown OS that invisibly hosts your application

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    [–] [B] 1 point 2 years ago

    A containerized app does not need a VM because it shares the kernel with the host OS. You an run Linux apps in a container on Proxmox because Proxmox has a Linux kernal. But if you want to run Windows apps, you need a Windows kernel.

    There is a thing called Windows Container, but it can only run on a Windows host.

    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/virtualization/windowscontainers/about/

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    [–] 1 point 2 years ago

    Well, there's WINE, but it's relatively hit or miss, whether specific applications will work in it.

    Containers can't work conceptually, because they use the kernel of your host system and a Windows application expects a Windows kernel (or at least an interface like WINE, which answers its calls).

    Theoretically, there's also the option of a VM with ReactOS, but my impressions has been that it works less often than WINE.

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    [–] [B] 1 point 2 years ago

    If the app runs correctly in Wine you might be able to rig something together with that.

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