Hey folks,

I'm new to self-hosting and Linux, but I recently got a server up and running on some spare hardware that I had lying around. It's been a fun journey so far, and I have a few docker containers running things like AdGuard, Jellyfin, Portainer, etc.

I'm interested in trying out more Linux distributions like Arch and NixOS (all thanks to r/unixporn) and was wondering what my options are for hosting virtual machines on Ubuntu Server. They'll likely be for pure experimentation and light use, so I'm hoping to find a solution that would be easy to spin up or reconfigure frequently (maybe that's a non-issue and all virtual machines are flexible like this).

Could it be as simple as grabbing a docker image and running the VM inside a container?

I've also started reading about QEMU and KVM but wanted to get input before going down that route which seems pretty extensive.

Are there other options I should check out?

Also if there's a better sub to post this in, let me know

Thanks!