Proxmox VE (Virtual Environment)

Summary

Proxmox VE is an open-source virtualization platform that combines KVM hypervisor and LXC containers with a web-based management interface. It’s ideal for homelab environments, providing enterprise-grade features without licensing costs.

Key concepts

• KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine): Full virtualization for running complete operating systems
• LXC (Linux Containers): Lightweight OS-level virtualization for Linux systems
• ZFS/LVM storage: Advanced storage management with snapshots and replication
• High Availability (HA): Automatic VM failover in cluster configurations
• Backup and restore: Built-in backup solutions with Proxmox Backup Server
• Clustering: Multiple Proxmox nodes working as a single system

Details

Installation and initial setup

System requirements:

• 64-bit CPU with virtualization extensions (Intel VT-x or AMD-V)
• Minimum 2GB RAM (8GB+ recommended)
• Storage for host OS and VM/container data
• Network interface(s)

Installation:

# Download ISO from proxmox.com/downloads
# Boot from ISO and follow installer
# Access web interface: https://proxmox-ip:8006

Post-installation:

# Update system
apt update && apt full-upgrade
 
# Remove enterprise repository (if not subscribed)
rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pve-enterprise.list
 
# Add no-subscription repository
echo "deb http://download.proxmox.com/debian/pve bookworm pve-no-subscription" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pve-no-subscription.list
 
# Update again
apt update

Web interface management

Access points:

• Web UI: https://proxmox-ip:8006
• Default credentials: root with installation password
• Shell access via web terminal or SSH

Navigation:

• Datacenter → Cluster-wide settings and overview
• Node → Individual server management
• VM/CT → Virtual machine or container management

Virtual machine management

Creating VMs via CLI:

# Create VM
qm create 100 --name ubuntu-vm --memory 2048 --cores 2 --net0 virtio,bridge=vmbr0
 
# Import disk image
qm importdisk 100 ubuntu-22.04.qcow2 local-lvm
 
# Attach disk to VM
qm set 100 --scsi0 local-lvm:vm-100-disk-0
 
# Set boot order
qm set 100 --boot order=scsi0
 
# Start VM
qm start 100
 
# Stop VM
qm stop 100
 
# List all VMs
qm list
 
# Show VM config
qm config 100
 
# Delete VM
qm destroy 100

VM operations:

# Clone VM
qm clone 100 101 --name cloned-vm
 
# Create snapshot
qm snapshot 100 pre-update
 
# Rollback snapshot
qm rollback 100 pre-update
 
# Delete snapshot
qm delsnapshot 100 pre-update
 
# Migrate VM to another node
qm migrate 100 node2
 
# Resize disk
qm resize 100 scsi0 +10G

Container (LXC) management

Creating containers:

# Download container template
pveam update
pveam available
pveam download local ubuntu-22.04-standard_22.04-1_amd64.tar.zst
 
# Create container
pct create 200 local:vztmpl/ubuntu-22.04-standard_22.04-1_amd64.tar.zst \
  --hostname web-server \
  --memory 1024 \
  --cores 2 \
  --net0 name=eth0,bridge=vmbr0,ip=dhcp
 
# Start container
pct start 200
 
# Enter container
pct enter 200
 
# List containers
pct list
 
# Stop container
pct stop 200
 
# Delete container
pct destroy 200

Container operations:

# Create snapshot
pct snapshot 200 backup-point
 
# Restore snapshot
pct rollback 200 backup-point
 
# Clone container
pct clone 200 201 --hostname cloned-container
 
# Resize container disk
pct resize 200 rootfs +5G
 
# Execute command in container
pct exec 200 -- apt update

Storage management

Storage types:

• Directory: Simple directory-based storage
• LVM: Logical Volume Manager
• LVM-thin: Thin provisioned LVM
• ZFS: Advanced filesystem with snapshots and compression
• NFS: Network File System
• CIFS/SMB: Windows file shares
• iSCSI: Block-level storage over network

Storage commands:

# List storage
pvesm status
 
# Add NFS storage
pvesm add nfs nfs-storage --server 192.168.1.10 --export /mnt/nfs
 
# Add directory storage
pvesm add dir backup-storage --path /mnt/backups
 
# Scan storage
pvesm scan nfs 192.168.1.10
 
# Remove storage
pvesm remove storage-name

ZFS management:

# Create ZFS pool
zpool create tank /dev/sdb
 
# List pools
zpool list
 
# Check pool status
zpool status
 
# Create dataset
zfs create tank/vms
 
# Enable compression
zfs set compression=lz4 tank/vms
 
# Create snapshot
zfs snapshot tank/vms@backup1
 
# List snapshots
zfs list -t snapshot

Networking

Network configuration:

# Edit network config
nano /etc/network/interfaces
 
# Apply network changes
ifreload -a
 
# View network config
cat /etc/network/interfaces

Bridge configuration example:

auto vmbr0
iface vmbr0 inet static
    address 192.168.1.10/24
    gateway 192.168.1.1
    bridge-ports enp1s0
    bridge-stp off
    bridge-fd 0

# VLAN-aware bridge
auto vmbr1
iface vmbr1 inet manual
    bridge-ports enp2s0
    bridge-stp off
    bridge-fd 0
    bridge-vlan-aware yes
    bridge-vids 2-4094

Firewall management:

# Enable firewall
pvesh set /cluster/firewall/options --enable 1
 
# Configure via web UI: Datacenter → Firewall
# Or edit files: /etc/pve/firewall/

Backup and restore

Backup commands:

# Backup VM
vzdump 100 --compress zstd --mode snapshot --storage backup-storage
 
# Backup all VMs
vzdump --all --compress zstd --mode snapshot --storage backup-storage
 
# List backups
ls -lh /var/lib/vz/dump/
 
# Restore from backup
qmrestore /var/lib/vz/dump/vzdump-qemu-100-*.vma.zst 100
 
# Delete old backups (keep last 3)
vzdump 100 --remove 1 --maxfiles 3

Backup modes:

• snapshot: Live backup using VM snapshots (best for most cases)
• suspend: Suspend VM, backup, resume
• stop: Stop VM, backup, restart

Clustering

Create cluster:

# On first node
pvecm create cluster-name
 
# Get join information
pvecm status
 
# On additional nodes
pvecm add 192.168.1.10
 
# View cluster status
pvecm nodes
pvecm status
 
# Remove node from cluster
pvecm delnode node-name

Cluster features:

• Shared configuration across nodes
• Live migration of VMs between nodes
• High availability (automatic failover)
• Distributed storage with Ceph

High Availability (HA)

Enable HA:

# Add VM to HA group (via web UI or CLI)
ha-manager add vm:100
 
# Set HA parameters
ha-manager set vm:100 --state started --group ha-group1
 
# View HA status
ha-manager status
 
# Remove from HA
ha-manager remove vm:100

Command-line tools reference

System:

pveversion                        # Show Proxmox version
pvesh                            # Proxmox VE Shell (API access)
journalctl -u pve*               # View Proxmox logs
systemctl status pve*            # Check Proxmox services

Monitoring:

pvesh get /nodes/nodename/status  # Node status
pvesh get /cluster/resources      # Cluster resources
top                               # System resources
htop                              # Interactive process viewer

Examples

Quick VM deployment:

# Download cloud image
wget https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/jammy/current/jammy-server-cloudimg-amd64.img
 
# Create VM
qm create 100 --name ubuntu-cloud --memory 2048 --cores 2 --net0 virtio,bridge=vmbr0
 
# Import and attach disk
qm importdisk 100 jammy-server-cloudimg-amd64.img local-lvm
qm set 100 --scsi0 local-lvm:vm-100-disk-0 --boot order=scsi0
 
# Add cloud-init
qm set 100 --ide2 local-lvm:cloudinit
qm set 100 --serial0 socket --vga serial0
qm set 100 --ipconfig0 ip=dhcp
 
# Start VM
qm start 100

Automated backup script:

#!/bin/bash
# Backup all VMs with zstd compression
vzdump --all --compress zstd --mode snapshot --storage backup-storage --remove 1 --maxfiles 7

VM template creation:

# Create and configure VM
qm create 9000 --name template --memory 2048 --cores 2
 
# Convert to template
qm template 9000
 
# Clone from template
qm clone 9000 100 --name new-vm --full

Bulk container creation:

#!/bin/bash
for i in {1..5}; do
  pct create $((200+i)) local:vztmpl/ubuntu-22.04-standard.tar.zst \
    --hostname web-$i \
    --memory 1024 \
    --cores 1 \
    --net0 name=eth0,bridge=vmbr0,ip=dhcp
  pct start $((200+i))
done

Resources

• Proxmox VE Documentation
• Proxmox VE Wiki
• Proxmox Community Forum
• Proxmox VE on Reddit
• Learn Linux TV - Proxmox Tutorials
• TechnoTim - Proxmox Guides
• Proxmox Helper Scripts

Related

• vsphere
• linux-networking
• cli-tricks
• hardware-inventory
• install-jupyterlab-vm
• fixing-immich-installation
• de-project-1-1-hello-docker