Proxmoxx Game Server¶

I installed Zsh + Oh My Zsh on Fedora as I usually do.
However, I had no syntax highlighting, no autosuggestions, and tab completion was case-sensitive.

This setup had worked previously on Arch and Nix, so at first I assumed Fedora was behaving differently.

It wasn’t.

The Issue¶

My .zshrc never sourced Oh My Zsh.

I had:

```
plugins=(
  git
  zsh-autosuggestions
  zsh-syntax-highlighting
)
```

…but without sourcing Oh My Zsh, this does nothing.

The plugins were cloned correctly, but never loaded.

The Fix¶

Define the Oh My Zsh path
Source oh-my-zsh.sh after defining plugins

export ZSH="$HOME/.oh-my-zsh"

plugins=(
  git
  zsh-autosuggestions
  zsh-syntax-highlighting
)

source $ZSH/oh-my-zsh.sh

After reloading (source ~/.zshrc), plugins worked immediately.

Proxmox and Passwords¶

The first obstacle was self-inflicted: I’d forgotten the root password to my Proxmox machine.

That led me down a rabbit hole I probably should have gone down earlier. Using GRUB, I learned how trivial it is to drop into a root shell on an unencrypted Linux system if you have physical access. No exploit, no vulnerability, just expected behaviour.

That was slightly unsettling, but also clarifying.
Physical access is root access unless you encrypt the disk.

Lesson logged. Mental note: LUKS everywhere.

Password reset done, Proxmox back online.

VM Planning (and the First Wrong Turn)¶

The plan was to spin up a lightweight VM and run the Skyrim Together server in Docker.

I started with Debian, because that’s usually my instinct for servers. Installed it headless, got SSH working, and started reading the Skyrim Together server docs.

Immediately noticed something I should have read sooner, this guide assumes Ubuntu.

Docker instructions, package names, repos, all Ubuntu-centric. Debian would work, but if the guide is for Ubuntu I may as well just make a Ubuntu VM.

I deleted the VM.

Created a fresh Ubuntu Server VM on Proxmox instead.

Set up SSH so I could paste commands from my Fedora laptop instead of typing everything.

Docker: Calm Before the Storm¶

Installed Docker following the official guide.

Immediately hit:

GPG key errors
Docker repo refusing to update
Packages “not available”

Classic.

Fixed the repo keys, re-ran updates, installed Docker properly. Then I ran straight into another gotcha:

permission denied while trying to connect to the docker socket

Right, forgot the part where adding a user to the docker group doesn’t apply until you log out.

Logged out, logged back in, tried again.

Docker worked.

Skyrim Together Server: Actually Running¶

Created directories under /opt/docker/skyrimserver for config, data, and logs.

Ran the container.

It started cleanly. No crashes. No errors.

Port forwarding configured on the router.

Server online.

Fedora: The FPS Horror Show¶

Then I launched the game.

And immediately noticed something was very wrong.

FPS was awful.

This was confusing because: - Same hardware - Same game - Worked fine on Arch and Nix previously

So I checked the obvious things.

nvidia-smi

Command not found.

Ah.

NVIDIA Drivers (or Lack Thereof)¶

Fedora, as it turns out, does not ship NVIDIA drivers by default.
I had somehow been gaming on Intel integrated graphics without realising it.

Installed RPM Fusion. Installed akmod-nvidia. Waited for the kernel modules to build. Rebooted.

Ran:

nvidia-smi

There it was. RTX 3050, alive and well.

Checked Vulkan devices, NVIDIA showed up correctly.

Launched Steam again.

FPS fixed instantly.

Proton, GE-Proton, and One Last Hurdle¶

The Skyrim Together guide used GE-Proton, which wasn’t in Steam’s dropdown.

Installed ProtonUp-Qt. Installed the correct GE-Proton version.

Launched Skyrim.

Connected to the server.

It worked.

Proxmox recovered
Ubuntu Server VM running clean
Docker hosting Skyrim Together
Port forwarded
Friends connected
Fedora GPU drivers fixed
Game playable
If a guide assumes Ubuntu, just use Ubuntu.
Docker errors are usually permissions or repos.
Fedora will happily let you game on the wrong GPU without telling you.
Physical access without disk encryption means root access.
Nothing works first try, but everything leaves a paper trail if you write it down.