CollabVM Server 1.x

This article documents an unsupported version of the CollabVM Server software.
If you are planning to set up the CollabVM Server, please do NOT use this version!
Current stable: 1.x (TS)

CollabVM Server 1.x has so many problems that we cannot even list them. It is recommended that you use the TypeScript rewrite that has been started as of February 2023.

CollabVM Server

Developer(s)	Cosmic Sans, Dartz, Geodude; other various contributors
License	Apache License 2.0
Platforms	Windows, Linux, Android, BSD, MacOS, Haiku, GNU/Hurd, ReactOS
Architectures	x86, x86-64, ARM32, ARM64
Release date	First release: July 28, 2015 (1.1.0) Final release: March 16, 2021 (1.2.11)
Successor	CollabVM Server 1.x (TypeScript)

The CollabVM Server 1.2 (collab-vm-server), latest version 1.2.11, is the last version of the "classic" CollabVM Server before being rewritten in TypeScript. It is an open source server that powered CollabVM from 2015 to 2023 and most instances of CollabVM. It can be considered the "heart" of CollabVM.

Currently, the server runs on Linux, BSD, and Windows-based operating systems. It is known to work on Debian, Ubuntu Server and Desktop, as well as the Red Hat (CentOS), openSUSE and Arch Linux line of Linux distributions.

Version 1.2.8 adds support for FreeBSD and Windows XP and up. It should also work on Android (using Termux), MacOS, Haiku, GNU/Hurd, and ReactOS. Version 1.2.9 reintroduced a cut feature (admin username colors), a crash vulnerability (Kit and lastmeasure) fix and improvements against automated attacks. Version 1.2.10 completely turns the CollabVM core back on its head with a whole slew of new admin abuse features, core bugfixes, improvements, et cetera. Version 1.2.11 replaces some core libraries, and maybe some bugfixes here and there.

As of 2023, CollabVM Server 1.x is considered obsolete and is no longer supported. It has been replaced with CollabVM Server 1.x (TypeScript).

Sections

• Getting Started with CollabVM Server 1.x
• Unused/Removed Features
• Administrator Panel
• CollabVM Server Ports
  • CollabVM Server Windows Port
  • CollabVM Server ARM Port
• Problems/Known Issues

Downloads

You can take a look at the collab-vm-server 1.x releases by clicking here. NOTE: It is not recommended to use these builds as they are often outdated, and for a couple reasons CVM1 builds tend to be unstable when used on computers other than the one they were built on. For this reason it is recommended that you compile it yourself.

Releases

All of the releases are compiled as 64-bit unless specified otherwise.

CollabVM Server 3.0.x

CollabVM Server 3.0 is not production-ready. You are advised to use 1.2.11 instead.

1. Latest (Actions)

CollabVM Server 1.2.11

1. Alpine
2. Debian
3. NetBSD
4. Windows

Every version below is unsupported and should not be used for production.

CollabVM Server 1.2.10

1. Linux (JPEG)
2. Linux (PNG)
3. Windows (JPEG)

CollabVM Server 1.2.9

1. Linux

CollabVM Server 1.2.8

1. FreeBSD
2. Linux
3. Cygwin (32bit)
4. Windows (32bit)

CollabVM Server 1.2.7 and lower

1. Linux
2. Linux (ArmHF)
3. Linux (i386)

CollabVM Server 1.2.6

1. Ubuntu (Trusty)
2. Ubuntu (32bit)

CollabVM Server 1.2.5

1. Ubuntu
2. Ubuntu (32bit)

Automated builds

Or alternatively, you can grab automatically built versions of CollabVM Server 1.x here:

• Computernewb Jenkins interface (deprecated)
• Github Actions (Login to download)

Minimum Requirements

• RAM:
  • Linux: 128 MB of free RAM on the server (2 GB of free RAM for VMs)
  • Windows: 32 MB of free RAM on the server (2 GB of free RAM for VMs)

• Processor:
  • Any modern CPU of any architecture should work. AMD-V/VT-x is recommended (not required).
• Space: 40 MB for collab-vm-server (4 GB of free space for VMs)

• QEMU:
  • QEMU 0.10 (Recommended: At least QEMU 5.0 or whatever's the latest version)

Operating systems

It is recommended that you run the server on Linux.

Linux

collab-vm-server 1.2.11 will run on any distribution, as long as it is running Linux kernel version 2.6 or above. If your distro version was released after 2006, you are absolutely running something beyond this version.

Arch Linux

Use whatever's the latest version.

CentOS

• Requires at least CentOS 2.1. CentOS 7 or above is required for any support.

Debian

• Requires at least Debian 3.1. Debian 8 or above is required for support.

Fedora

• Requires at least Fedora 2. Fedora 30 or above is required for support.

Gentoo

• Use whatever's the latest version.

Linux Mint

• Requires at least Linux Mint version 1.

Slackware

• Requires Slackware 12.0 to run. 13.37 or above is required for full technical support.

Ubuntu

• Runs on every Ubuntu version from 4.10 to 22.10. At least 14.04 is required for technical support.

BSD

FreeBSD

• Use FreeBSD 12 or above.

NetBSD

• Use NetBSD 9.1 or 8.2. Older versions may have problems. 1.2.11 without any source code modifications will throw an error on QEMUController.cpp.

Haiku

• collab-vm-server <1.2.11 runs on the latest nightly build of Haiku, but it is rather difficult to build and very unstable. Some libraries need to be compiled and linked manually.

Solaris

OpenIndiana/Oracle Solaris

• collab-vm-server <1.2.11 should be possible to compile and run on OpenIndiana and Oracle Solaris. I'm not sure what the oldest version that would work is so it's probably safe to use the latest version.

Windows

There will be no official binary for CollabVM Server 3.0 on Windows.

• Currently the oldest Windows version known to run CollabVM Server is Windows NT 4. There is currently an experimental Windows port that requires Windows Vista SP2 and above, compiled from MSYS2. There also exists a Cygwin package which will run on Windows XP SP2, but the versions for XP require the IPv6 stack to be installed. Windows 7 or 10 is recommended.

• collab-vm-server can be compiled and run on MSYS2, which is what the current experimental Windows port is compiled with. This requires Windows Vista SP2 or above.
• collab-vm-server can be compiled and run on Visual Studio 2017, which requires Windows XP SP2 or above and the Visual Studio 2010 and Visual Studio 2015 runtimes installed.
• collab-vm-server can be compiled and run on Cygwin, which requires Windows Vista SP2 or above, although its also possible to compile it on older versions, the oldest of which runs on Windows NT 4.0 SP6. The public Cygwin build needs Windows XP SP2 or higher.
• collab-vm-server can also run on the Windows Subsystem for Linux, which is included in Windows 10, Windows Server 2016, and Windows Server 2019.

ReactOS/Wine

• ReactOS: Use the Cygwin collab-vm-server package. Use 0.4.13 or the latest debug build for the best results.
• Wine: Not sure what the minimum version is but it will at least run on the Wine provided in Ubuntu 18.04.

MacOS

• collab-vm-server builds on MacOS. Minimum version unknown

See also

• CollabVM
• CollabVM Agent
• CollabVM Instances
• Sub-sections