Proxmox

cronbase runs well in a Proxmox LXC container — it's lightweight and doesn't need a full VM. This guide sets up an unprivileged LXC container running cronbase as a systemd service.

Prerequisites

• Proxmox VE 7 or later
• A Debian or Ubuntu LXC template downloaded to Proxmox

Create the LXC container

In the Proxmox web UI:

1. Click Create CT
2. Set a hostname (e.g., cronbase)
3. Choose Debian 12 or Ubuntu 22.04 template
4. Disk: 4 GB minimum (SQLite stays small, but leave room for job output)
5. CPU: 1 core (sufficient for most workloads)
6. Memory: 256 MB minimum, 512 MB recommended
7. Network: assign an IP or use DHCP
8. Leave Unprivileged container checked

Or create it via CLI on the Proxmox host:

pct create 200 local:vztmpl/debian-12-standard_12.7-1_amd64.tar.zst \
  --hostname cronbase \
  --memory 512 \
  --swap 0 \
  --cores 1 \
  --net0 name=eth0,bridge=vmbr0,ip=dhcp \
  --rootfs local-lvm:4 \
  --unprivileged 1 \
  --start 1

Start the container:

pct start 200
pct exec 200 -- bash

Install cronbase

Option 1: Docker (simplest)

Install Docker in the container and run cronbase from the official image.

Note: Docker inside an unprivileged LXC requires nesting. In the Proxmox UI, go to the container's Options → Features and enable Nesting. Or via CLI:

pct set 200 --features nesting=1

# Inside the container
apt-get update && apt-get install -y curl
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh

docker run -d \
  --name cronbase \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  -p 7433:7433 \
  -v cronbase-data:/data \
  -v /etc/cronbase/cronbase.yaml:/app/cronbase.yaml \
  ghcr.io/paperkite-hq/cronbase start \
    --db /data/cronbase.db \
    --config /app/cronbase.yaml

Option 2: Bun (native, no Docker overhead)

# Inside the container
apt-get update && apt-get install -y curl git unzip

# Install Bun
curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash
source ~/.bashrc

# Install cronbase
git clone https://github.com/paperkite-hq/cronbase.git /opt/cronbase
cd /opt/cronbase
bun install

Systemd service

Create a service unit so cronbase starts automatically when the container boots.

mkdir -p /etc/cronbase /var/lib/cronbase
nano /etc/systemd/system/cronbase.service

[Unit]
Description=cronbase job scheduler
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=root
WorkingDirectory=/opt/cronbase
ExecStart=/root/.bun/bin/bun run src/cli.ts start \
  --db /var/lib/cronbase/cronbase.db \
  --config /etc/cronbase/cronbase.yaml
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5
Environment=CRONBASE_LOG_LEVEL=warn
Environment=CRONBASE_LOG_FORMAT=json

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Enable and start:

systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl enable cronbase
systemctl start cronbase
systemctl status cronbase

Config file

Create /etc/cronbase/cronbase.yaml:

jobs:
  - name: backup-pve
    schedule: "0 2 * * *"
    command: vzdump 100 --storage local --mode snapshot --compress zstd
    timeout: 3600
    description: Nightly VM backup

  - name: prune-backups
    schedule: "0 3 * * 0"
    command: >
      find /var/lib/vz/dump -name '*.tar.zst' -mtime +14 -delete
    description: Remove backups older than 2 weeks

  - name: apt-upgrade
    schedule: "0 4 * * 0"
    command: apt-get update && apt-get upgrade -y
    timeout: 600
    description: Weekly system updates

Auto-start with Proxmox

To have the container start automatically when Proxmox boots:

In the web UI: Container → Options → Start at boot → Enable.

Or via CLI on the Proxmox host:

pct set 200 --onboot 1

Accessing the dashboard

Find the container's IP:

pct exec 200 -- hostname -I

Then open http://<container-ip>:7433 from any machine on your network.

Set an API token for network-accessible dashboards:

# In /etc/systemd/system/cronbase.service, add:
Environment=CRONBASE_API_TOKEN=your-secret-token

systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl restart cronbase

Bind mount for shared access

If your jobs need access to files on the Proxmox host or another container, use a bind mount.

On the Proxmox host:

# Mount host directory /mnt/data into the container at /mnt/data
pct set 200 --mp0 /mnt/data,mp=/mnt/data

Jobs in cronbase can then reference /mnt/data directly:

jobs:
  - name: backup-data
    schedule: "0 1 * * *"
    command: tar -czf /mnt/data/backups/data-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz /mnt/data/files

Viewing logs

journalctl -u cronbase -f

Or filter by time:

journalctl -u cronbase --since "1 hour ago"

Troubleshooting

Container won't start Docker (permission denied):

Enable nesting on the container:

# On the Proxmox host
pct set 200 --features nesting=1
pct restart 200

Bun install fails (architecture mismatch):

Confirm the container is running a 64-bit template:

dpkg --print-architecture   # should be amd64 or arm64

Port not reachable from other hosts:

Check the container firewall:

ufw allow 7433/tcp

And confirm cronbase is listening on all interfaces (it does by default — verify with ss -tlnp | grep 7433).