Turnkey Linux Templates - Proxmox VE Helper Scripts

Overview

Turnkey Linux provides pre-configured container templates that are ready to use out of the box. These templates include optimized configurations, security hardening, and common applications pre-installed.

What are Turnkey Templates?

Turnkey Linux appliances are pre-integrated, pre-configured solutions that work right out of the box:

Ready to Use

Fully configured applications with sensible defaults

Security Hardened

Best practices applied, regular security updates

Web Management

Webmin and Webshell included for easy management

Available Templates

Turnkey Linux offers 100+ appliances. Popular templates include:

Web Applications

Content Management (CMS)

WordPress - Popular blogging platform and CMS
Drupal - Powerful enterprise CMS
Joomla - Flexible content management system
Ghost - Modern publishing platform
MediaWiki - Wiki software powering Wikipedia
DokuWiki - Simple wiki without database
Concrete5 - User-friendly CMS

E-Commerce

Magento - Professional e-commerce platform
PrestaShop - Open source e-commerce solution
OpenCart - Free shopping cart system
WooCommerce - WordPress e-commerce plugin

Forums & Communities

phpBB - Flat-forum bulletin board software
Simple Machines Forum - Free forum software
Vanilla Forums - Modern community platform
Discourse - Modern forum and community platform

Development

Development Platforms

GitLab - Complete DevOps platform
Redmine - Flexible project management
Trac - Enhanced wiki and issue tracking
Jenkins - Continuous integration server
Observium - Network monitoring platform

Collaboration Tools

Mattermost - Open source Slack alternative
Rocket.Chat - Team communication platform
Nextcloud - File sync and collaboration
ownCloud - File sharing and collaboration

Databases

Database Servers

PostgreSQL - Advanced relational database
MySQL - Popular database server
MongoDB - NoSQL document database
Redis - In-memory data structure store

Networking & Infrastructure

Web Servers

LAMP Stack - Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP
LAPP Stack - Linux, Apache, PostgreSQL, PHP
Nginx - High-performance web server
Tomcat - Java servlet container

File Services

File Server - Samba file sharing
Fileserver - Comprehensive file server
Syncthing - Continuous file synchronization
Rsync Server - Remote file synchronization

Network Services

OpenVPN - Virtual private network
Domain Controller - Samba Active Directory
DHCP Server - Dynamic host configuration
DNS Server - BIND domain name service

Business Applications

CRM & ERP

Odoo - Business management suite
SuiteCRM - Open source CRM
CiviCRM - Constituent relationship management
Vtiger CRM - Customer relationship platform

Project Management

Redmine - Project management web application
ProjectPier - Project management and collaboration
Tracks - GTD web application

Finance & Accounting

Invoice Ninja - Invoicing and time tracking
Simple Invoices - Invoice management
Odoo Accounting - Complete accounting suite

Media & Entertainment

Media Servers

Plex - Media server platform
Subsonic - Media streaming server
Ampache - Web-based audio streaming
MediaWiki - Collaborative documentation

Communication

Mail & Messaging

Mail Server - Postfix mail server
Zimbra - Email and collaboration
Roundcube - Webmail interface
Mattermost - Team messaging

Analytics & Monitoring

Monitoring Tools

Observium - Network monitoring
Nagios - Infrastructure monitoring
Icinga - Monitoring and alerting
LibreNMS - Network monitoring system
Munin - Resource monitoring

Installation Methods

Via Proxmox Web UI
Via Command Line
Via Helper Script

Navigate to your storage in Proxmox web interface
Click CT Templates
Click Templates button
Select desired Turnkey template from list
Click Download
Create container using downloaded template

Note: This downloads official Turnkey LXC templates from Proxmox template repository.

Download template directly:

pveam update
pveam available --section turnkeylinux
pveam download local debian-XX-turnkey-appname_VERSION_amd64.tar.gz

Create container:

pct create 100 local:vztmpl/debian-XX-turnkey-appname_VERSION_amd64.tar.gz \
  --hostname turnkey-app \
  --memory 2048 \
  --net0 name=eth0,bridge=vmbr0,ip=dhcp \
  --storage local-lvm

Use the interactive Turnkey selector script:

bash -c "$(wget -qLO - https://github.com/community-scripts/ProxmoxVE/raw/main/turnkey/turnkey.sh)"

This script provides:

Interactive menu to select from available Turnkey templates
Automatic template download from official repository
Guided container creation with sensible defaults
Password generation and configuration

First-Time Configuration

All Turnkey appliances include a first-boot initialization:

Initial Boot

Start the container and access console or SSH

Set Passwords

You’ll be prompted to set:

Root password
MySQL/PostgreSQL password (if applicable)
Application admin password

Configure Email

Optional: Configure email relay for notifications

Security Updates

Choose automatic security updates preference

Access Web Interface

Navigate to container IP to complete application setup

Built-in Features

Every Turnkey appliance includes:

Webmin

Web-based system administration interface at port 12321

Webshell

Web-based shell access at port 12320

Auto-Updates

Automated security updates (configurable)

Configuration Console

Text-based configuration utility (confconsole)

Accessing Management Tools

# Webmin
https://YOUR-IP:12321

# Webshell  
https://YOUR-IP:12320

# Configuration Console (in container)
confconsole

Security Features

Automatic Security Updates

Turnkey appliances can automatically install security updates:

Configured during first boot
Updates applied daily by default
Reboot scheduled if required
Can be disabled or customized via Webmin

Firewall Configuration

Basic firewall rules pre-configured:

Only necessary ports open
SSH access enabled by default
Customizable via confconsole or Webmin

SSL/TLS Certificates

Many appliances include:

Self-signed certificates by default
Let’s Encrypt integration available
Easy certificate management via Webmin

Backup Integration

Built-in backup tools:

TKLBAM (Turnkey Linux Backup and Migration)
Encrypted incremental backups
Cloud storage support
Disaster recovery ready

Advantages of Turnkey Templates

Time Saving

Pre-configured and ready to use in minutes

Best Practices

Security and performance optimizations applied

Regular Updates

Official templates updated regularly

Documentation

Extensive docs at turnkeylinux.org

Community Support

Active community forums and support

Consistency

Standardized configuration across deployments

Comparison: Turnkey vs Helper Scripts

Turnkey Templates
Helper Scripts

Pros:

Official, well-tested configurations
Comprehensive management tools included
Backed by Turnkey Linux organization
Regular security updates
Extensive documentation

Cons:

May include extra packages you don’t need
Slightly larger footprint
Update cycle may lag latest app versions
Limited customization during install

Resource Requirements

Typical Turnkey template requirements:

Category	RAM	Storage	CPU
Small apps (Wiki, Blog)	512MB - 1GB	4-8GB	1 core
Medium apps (CRM, CMS)	1-2GB	8-16GB	2 cores
Large apps (GitLab, Odoo)	4-8GB	20-40GB	4 cores
Database servers	2-4GB	10-20GB	2 cores
Mail servers	1-2GB	10-20GB	1-2 cores

Backup & Migration

Turnkey’s TKLBAM tool provides:

# Initialize backup profile
tklbam-init

# Create backup
tklbam-backup

# Restore backup
tklbam-restore

# List backups
tklbam-list

Backup Best Practices

Enable automatic daily backups
Store backups offsite (cloud or remote server)
Test restore procedures regularly
Document custom configurations
Exclude temporary files and caches

Common Tasks

Change Passwords

# Root password
passwd

# MySQL root password
mysqladmin -u root -p password newpassword

# PostgreSQL password
sudo -u postgres psql
\password postgres

Update System

# Update package lists
apt update

# Upgrade all packages
apt upgrade

# Full distribution upgrade
apt dist-upgrade

Configure SSL

Via Webmin:

Navigate to Webmin → Webmin Configuration → SSL Encryption
Upload certificate or use Let’s Encrypt
Apply and restart services

Via Command Line:

# Install Let's Encrypt
apt install certbot

# Obtain certificate
certbot certonly --standalone -d your-domain.com

Access Logs

# System logs
journalctl -f

# Apache logs
tail -f /var/log/apache2/error.log

# Application logs (varies by app)
tail -f /var/log/appname/error.log

Troubleshooting

Can't Access Web Interface

Verify container is running: pct status VMID
Check IP address: pct exec VMID -- ip addr
Verify firewall allows connection
Check service status: pct exec VMID -- systemctl status apache2
Review logs for errors

First Boot Configuration Didn't Run

Manually trigger initialization:

pct enter VMID
/usr/lib/inithooks/firstboot.d/run

Forgot Admin Password

Reset via console:

# Enter container
pct enter VMID

# Reset root password
passwd

# Reset application password (varies by app)
# WordPress example:
mysql wordpress -e "UPDATE wp_users SET user_pass=MD5('newpass') WHERE ID=1;"

External Resources

Turnkey Linux

Official Turnkey Linux website

Appliance Library

Browse all available appliances

Documentation

Comprehensive guides and docs

Community Forums

Get help and share knowledge

Debian Scripts

Custom Debian-based containers

Alpine Scripts

Lightweight Alpine containers

Container Overview

All container options

Container Scripts

VM Scripts

Management Tools

Function Libraries

​Overview

​What are Turnkey Templates?

Ready to Use

Security Hardened

Web Management

​Available Templates

​Web Applications

​Development

​Databases

​Networking & Infrastructure

​Business Applications

​Media & Entertainment

​Communication

​Analytics & Monitoring

​Installation Methods

​First-Time Configuration

​Built-in Features

Webmin

Webshell

Auto-Updates

Configuration Console

​Accessing Management Tools

​Security Features

​Advantages of Turnkey Templates

Time Saving

Best Practices

Regular Updates

Documentation

Community Support

Consistency

​Comparison: Turnkey vs Helper Scripts

​Resource Requirements

​Backup & Migration

​Common Tasks

​Troubleshooting

​External Resources

Turnkey Linux

Appliance Library

Documentation

Community Forums

​See Also

Debian Scripts

Alpine Scripts

Container Overview

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

What are Turnkey Templates?

Available Templates

Web Applications

Development

Databases

Networking & Infrastructure

Business Applications

Media & Entertainment

Communication

Analytics & Monitoring

Installation Methods

First-Time Configuration

Built-in Features

Accessing Management Tools

Security Features

Advantages of Turnkey Templates

Comparison: Turnkey vs Helper Scripts

Resource Requirements

Backup & Migration

Common Tasks

Troubleshooting

External Resources

See Also