Proxmox VE Installation Guide

Update 09/2024: the article has been re-edited for Proxmox VE 8.2, adding an instructional video and an illustration set from the original post by Thuan Bui.

Proxmox VE is an open-source virtualization platform based on Debian, used to manage KVM virtual machines and LXC containers via a web interface. This is a reasonable choice if you want to utilize an old computer, mini PC, or small server to run multiple operating systems, self-hosting services, Home Assistant, NAS, lab network, or software testing environments.

[https://youtu.be/cXIJ-pd1ZVs](https://youtu.be/cXIJ-pd1ZVs)

What is Proxmox?

Proxmox VE is a bare-metal hypervisor. After installing it on physical hardware, you can create and manage multiple independent virtual machines on the same hardware. Some notable points:

• Manage KVM virtual machines and LXC containers.
• Has a Web UI to create VMs, mount ISOs, and monitor CPU/RAM/disk/network.
• Supports snapshot, backup, restore, cluster, and HA if there are multiple nodes.
• Can be used for free; subscriptions are mainly for technical support and the enterprise repository.

If you are just setting up a home lab or personal server, the free version is enough to get started.

Preparation before installation

You need to prepare:

• A computer or server to install Proxmox.
• A USB drive of at least 2 GB to create the installation media.
• The Proxmox VE ISO file from the official download page: Proxmox VE Downloads.
• A USB boot creation tool like Rufus on Windows or balenaEtcher on Windows/macOS/Linux.
• A static IP address in the LAN to assign to the Proxmox machine.

When using Rufus, if the machine cannot boot into the installer, recreate the USB and select DD mode to write.

Install on a physical or virtual machine

The most common way is to install Proxmox directly onto a physical machine. You create a bootable USB from the ISO file, plug the USB into the machine to be installed, enter the BIOS/UEFI, and choose to boot from the USB.

If you don't have a spare machine yet, you can still test Proxmox inside a virtual machine on Hyper-V, VMware, VirtualBox, or XCP-ng. In this case, nested virtualization needs to be enabled, otherwise, Proxmox may run the management interface but won't be able to use KVM properly.

After the machine boots into the Proxmox ISO, start following the steps below.

Install Proxmox VE

On the first screen of the installer, select Install Proxmox VE.

Read the terms of use, then select I agree to continue.

Select the target hard disk to install Proxmox. Note that this step will erase data on the selected drive, so check carefully if the machine has multiple disks.

If you want to adjust the filesystem or partition size, click Options. For beginners, you can keep the defaults for Proxmox to allocate automatically.

Advanced options like swapsize, maxroot, minfree, maxvz should only be changed when you clearly understand your storage needs. You can refer for more at Proxmox Installation Wiki.

Next, select the country, time zone, and keyboard layout. If in Vietnam, usually choose the corresponding country/timezone and U.S. English keyboard layout.

Enter the password for the root account and an admin email. This is the account you will use to log into the Web UI after installation is complete.

In the network configuration step, set a hostname and static IP for the Proxmox machine. A fixed IP should be used so that later access to the Web UI, SSH, backups, or internal services won't have changed addresses.

Example:

• IP address: 192.168.0.15
• Gateway: Main router IP, for example 192.168.0.1
• DNS server: can use the router, 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8

Review all configurations on the summary screen. If you want the machine to automatically restart upon completion, check Automatically reboot after successful installation, then click Install.

The installation process usually takes a few minutes, depending on drive speed and machine specifications.

When finished, the machine will reboot and boot into the Proxmox command-line interface.

You can log in directly at the console using:

• Login: root
• Password: the password set during installation

Access Proxmox Web UI

From another machine in the same LAN, open a browser and access:

https://:8006

Example:

[https://192.168.0.15:8006](https://192.168.0.15:8006)

The browser may warn of an untrusted certificate because Proxmox uses a self-signed certificate. Choose to proceed, then log in using the root account and the Linux PAM standard authentication realm.

After logging in, Proxmox may display a no subscription notice. If using the free version, click OK to ignore it.

The main administration interface of Proxmox will appear. From here you can upload ISOs, create virtual machines, create containers, configure storage, bridge networks, and set up backups.

What to do after installation?

Once Proxmox is running stably, you should do a few more basic steps:

• Check the static IP and hostname again.
• Update the system via the Web UI or command line.
• Configure the appropriate repository if using the free version.
• Upload the operating system ISO to be installed.
• Create the first VM to test CPU, RAM, disk, and network bridge.
• Plan backups before running critical services.

At this point, Proxmox VE is ready to be used as a virtualization platform for a home lab or personal server. The next step is usually creating the first virtual machine and configuring storage/network to fit operational needs.

References and illustrations: Proxmox VE 8.2 Installation Guide - Thuan Bui.