In recent months I have been looking at several systems with a similar aim including Yunohost, CasaOS, UmbrelOS and Freedombox. Having enjoyed trying CasaOS installed on top of Ubuntu server – which I called Casabuntu – I decided to try ZimaOS 1.5.0 after seeing it featured on Distrowatch.com.
My first challenge was to get the image in a format I could use in Virtualbox because there is no iso file or ova file. This was as simple as running the following command in a terminal:
I added a hard disk and attached the vdi file to it and created another to install onto. After a successful installation, I removed the installer disk and kept the other. I created a user and looked in the app store. I thought I would try Monica which installed OK but refused to run giving a message saying that the app might not be available. Not the best start.
Next I shut down the VM and added two more 50GB virtual drives. At the log on screen I was offered the chance to create a new user as if it had forgotten I’d created one already. After backing out I could log on as my original user. Weird! In the storage section I tried to combine the two 50GB drives into a RAID-1 array and it failed every time, at one point saying there was already data present. How? Instead I tried to set up two single disks which I had to format. Once I’d done that, I returned to the ‘combined’ section and created a RAID-1 mirror just fine. If this is the ‘right’ way to do it, it should be clearer.
Since I understood ZimaOS to be a multi-user system, I thought I would set up anothert user but I didn’t find where to do that. By this point I wasn’t willing to spend any more time on it and deleted the entire VM.
I think ZimaOS looks great and has enormous potential which I hope is realised in the near future. Compared with Freedombox, for example, the range of apps is huge and they are well-known programs. The IceWhale developers have great talent and have made great leaps forward in terms of functionality and ease of use. Imagine trying to add all that functionality on top of a plain vanilla Ubuntu server installation. The very thought gives me the shivers.
I will come back to ZimaOS a few releases down the road but I wouldn’t want to entrust any valuable data to it yet, like some forums users seem to have done.
Best regards,
Mark B
It’s still a young platform but evolving incredibly fast and that’s part of what makes it exciting. Once you get past the first install, it’s honestly one of the smartest and most user-friendly home server systems out there. The UI is clean and modern, the app store is huge (and keeps growing), and the way it hides most of the tricky Linux/Docker setup makes life so much easier.
Storage and RAID management are improving release by release, and multi-user features are on the roadmap. The developers are very active and listen closely to community feedback like yours. The forums are also super active, with lots of people ready to help troubleshoot or share new ideas, which makes experimenting a lot easier.
Day-to-day, ZimaOS feels stable, simple, and much less intimidating than setting everything up manually on Ubuntu or other DIY stacks. Stick around, it’s already great for home labs and personal servers, and each update makes it even smarter and more polished. We love it here because it’s quick to get running, friendly to use, and keeps getting better every release.
I used Virtual Box for quite awhile, seeing Proxmox posted everywhere, knowing what it was, wanting the Browser based GUI, I finally switched.
I wanted more control over partitions/files (because Proxmox wipes all partitions when installing standalone), So I installed Proxmox over Debian 13, which basically gave me full control of both. It is a learning curve, but it is well worth it. Now, using ZimaOS in a Proxmox VM, over Debian can be tricky in some aspects, it is well worth it!
Try Proxmox out, take a little time to learn it, and… a lot of people think you have to purchase Proxmox, but you don’t. There are even “helper scripts” that help with some NAG screens after installing it.
Once it’s all setup, I promise, you won’t regret it.
I have also taken the time to install numerous Cloud Os distros, and I am here to say, ZimaOS is 200% what I have been looking for, everything needed for a Home Lab Server setup, is here. I love it.
Hi,
Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.
It’s certainly pretty well covered on YouTube, I see.
I’m glad it was for you. I’m just not sure it’s worth the effort for me, simply because I can’t learn like I used to and that in itself can be mighty frustrating and demoralising. As I age I’m becoming acutely aware of my limitations and that’s not fun.
I’m glad about that too. It’s very apparent that the guys from IceWhale have great talent and vision. The other systems I mentioned are also impressive in their own ways. I love tinkering but I sometimes have to remind myself that I’m very happy with the setup I have now - OpenMediaVault NAS, Mint XFCE server with Emby & Navidrome running on it, Daphile music server/player on a laptop so old it only has 1GB of RAM and it works perfectly. Nothing I have is less than 12 years old…
These home cloud OS systems could become more and more popular with the advent of mini PCs and cheaper SSDs.
