OpenVZ is container-based virtualization for Linux. OpenVZ creates multiple secure, isolated containers (otherwise known as VEs or VPSs) on a single physical server enabling better server utilization and ensuring that applications do not conflict. Each container performs and executes exactly like a stand-alone server; a container can be rebooted independently and have root access, users, IP addresses, memory, processes, files, applications, system libraries and configuration files. For more information about the technology and how it differs from the others like Xen, VMware etc., see introduction to virtualization, doc/openvz-intro.pdf (73 KB) or Wikipedia's OpenVZ (source: openvz).

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OpenVz was introduced in Lenny (packages vzctl, vzquota, http://packages.debian.org/linux-image-2.6.26-2-openvz-686 for instance ), supported by the i386 and amd64 architectures.

In 2.6.29, openvz was included in the Debian linux source package (no need for extra linux-patch-openvz package)

The Debian 6.0 release notes include a warning that for Debian 7.0 (wheezy) it is planned to no longer support OpenVZ.

See also :