Proxmox VE Setup Guide¶

A comprehensive guide for Proxmox Virtual Environment configuration, optimization, and management.

Post-Install Setup¶

Remove Subscription Notice and Update Repositories¶

Run the community post-install script or configure manually:

# Add no-subscription repository
echo "deb http://download.proxmox.com/debian/pve $(grep 'VERSION_CODENAME' /etc/os-release | cut -d= -f2) pve-no-subscription" \
  | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pve-no-subscription.list

# Disable enterprise repository
sed -i 's/^deb/#deb/' /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pve-enterprise.list

# Update system
apt-get update && apt-get dist-upgrade -y

Network Configuration¶

Edit Network Interfaces¶

nano /etc/network/interfaces

Bridge Configuration (Standard)¶

auto vmbr0
iface vmbr0 inet static
    address 10.0.0.100/24
    gateway 10.0.0.1
    bridge_ports eth0
    bridge_stp off
    bridge_fd 0

VLAN Configuration¶

auto vmbr1
iface vmbr1 inet static
    address 10.0.1.100/24
    gateway 10.0.1.1
    bridge_ports eth0.10
    bridge_stp off
    bridge_fd 0
    vlan-raw-device eth0

Apply Network Changes¶

# Standard restart
systemctl restart networking

# Without full restart
ifreload -a

# Restart a specific bridge
ifdown vmbr0 && ifup vmbr0

Warning: Changing IP remotely via SSH may disconnect you. Ensure you have console access (IPMI, physical) before modifying network settings.

Verify Configuration¶

ip addr show
ping -c 4 10.0.0.1

ZFS Optimization for SSD¶

Disable Unnecessary HA Services (Single Node)¶

systemctl disable pve-ha-lrm.service
systemctl disable pve-ha-crm.service

Store Logs in RAM¶

Edit /etc/systemd/journald.conf:

[Journal]
Storage=volatile

systemctl restart systemd-journald

Enable Autotrim¶

zpool set autotrim=on rpool

Disable atime¶

zfs set atime=off rpool

Use Raw Disk Images¶

qm set <VMID> --scsihw virtio-scsi-pci --virtio0 /dev/zvol/rpool/vm-<VMID>-disk-0

Keep Pool Below 80% Capacity¶

ZFS performance degrades significantly above 80% usage. Monitor regularly:

zpool list

ZRAM Instead of Swap on SSD¶

apt install zram-tools -y
systemctl enable --now zramswap.service

# Verify ZRAM is active
swapon --show

Monitoring¶

# Check SSD wear
smartctl -a /dev/sda

# Real-time ZFS I/O
watch -n 1 zpool iostat rpool

Firewall Configuration¶

Enable Firewall¶

pvecm set --firewall 1

Add Rules via CLI¶

# Allow SSH on VM 101
pvesh set /cluster/firewall/rules \
  -type in -action accept -dport 22

# View rules
pvesh get /nodes/<node_name>/firewall/rules

Firewall Config File¶

nano /etc/pve/firewall/cluster.fw

Disk Passthrough (HDD/SSD to VM)¶

Identify Disks by ID¶

ls -l /dev/disk/by-id/ | grep -v part

Attach Disk to VM¶

# Attach disk by-id to VM (recommended over /dev/sdX)
qm set <VMID> -scsi1 /dev/disk/by-id/ata-VENDOR_MODEL_SERIAL
qm set <VMID> -scsi2 /dev/disk/by-id/ata-VENDOR_MODEL_SERIAL

Important: Always use /dev/disk/by-id/ paths instead of /dev/sdX as device letters can change after reboot.

List Hardware¶

lshw -class disk -class storage
lshw -C disk

GPU Passthrough¶

GRUB Configuration for IOMMU¶

Edit /etc/default/grub:

Intel CPU:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet intel_iommu=on iommu=pt"

AMD CPU:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet amd_iommu=on"

update-grub
reboot

Verify IOMMU¶

dmesg | grep -i iommu

Ceph Storage Cluster¶

Note: Only configure Ceph after establishing a reliable network mesh between nodes.

Install Ceph (All Nodes)¶

pveceph install --repository no-subscription

Initialize Ceph (First Node)¶

pveceph init --network 10.0.0.0/24

Create Monitors¶

# Node 1
pveceph mon create --mon-address 10.0.0.1

# Node 2
pveceph mon create --mon-address 10.0.0.2

# Node 3
pveceph mon create --mon-address 10.0.0.3

Add Managers¶

Via GUI: Datacenter > Node > Ceph > Monitor > Create Manager

Add OSDs¶

Via GUI: Datacenter > Node > Ceph > OSD > Create OSD

Tip: If no disks are available, wipe old filesystems via Datacenter > Node > Disks.

Create Pool¶

Via GUI: Datacenter > Node > Ceph > Pools > Create

Example pool name: vm-disks

Configure HA¶

Set Cluster Resource Scheduling to ha-rebalance-on-start=1
Set HA Settings > shutdown_policy to migrate
Leave migration settings as default

Batch VM Management¶

Delete Multiple VMs in a Loop¶

for i in $(seq 9001 9050); do
    if qm list | awk '{print $1}' | grep -q "^$i$"; then
        echo "Deleting VM $i"
        qm destroy $i --purge --skiplock
    fi
done

Preview Only (Dry Run)¶

for i in $(seq 9001 9050); do
    if qm list | awk '{print $1}' | grep -q "^$i$"; then
        echo "Would delete VM $i"
    fi
done

Upgrade Proxmox (8.x to 9.x)¶

Prerequisites¶

Proxmox VE 8.4.1 or higher
At least 10GB free disk space
Root access
Internet connectivity

Upgrade Steps¶

Update current installation:
```
apt update && apt dist-upgrade -y
```
Run pre-upgrade checks:
```
pve8to9 --full
```

Update repositories for PVE 9:

sed -i 's/bookworm/trixie/g' /etc/apt/sources.list
sed -i 's/bookworm/trixie/g' /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*.list

Perform the upgrade:
```
apt update && apt dist-upgrade -y
```
Reboot:
```
systemctl reboot
```

Warning: Always create backups before upgrading. Test on a non-production node first. Known issues include GRUB UEFI changes and network interface naming changes.