tux2lab helps turn a Linux Mac mini into a virtual lab
tux2lab is an tool for building a small virtual datacenter inside one Linux computer. It uses KVM to create and manage Linux for learning, testing, and experiments. It creates a private virtual network, its own domain, and a central server .
That central server provides lab services such as DHCP, DNS, PXE, HTTP, NTP, and NFS. With golden images prepared for each , new can be deployed in under a minute, and full PXE installs are also supported. One CLI handles the whole lifecycle: install, reimage, resize CPU, memory, and disks, add or remove disks and network cards, create snapshots, run health checks, and manage DNS.
Multiple hostnames can be passed at once, so the same action can run across several . Supported systems include Alma, Rocky, Oracle, CentOS Stream, and RHEL 10/9/8, Ubuntu LTS 26.04/24.04/22.04, and openSUSE Leap 16.0/15.6/15.5.
Key points
- It builds a private virtual network and inside one Linux machine.
- A central server provides DHCP, DNS, PXE, HTTP, NTP, and NFS.
- Golden images can create new Linux in under a minute.
- One CLI manages installs, reimages, resource changes, snapshots, health checks, and DNS.
- It supports several Red Hat-family systems, Ubuntu LTS versions, and openSUSE Leap versions.