Proxmox VE guide (1): what it is and how to install it step by step

Where this guide comes from: at work I administer a Proxmox VE cluster every day, with Ceph storage and backups to Proxmox Backup Server. This series is the version for starting from scratch at home, with a single server, and follows the official Proxmox VE 9.2 documentation.

What Proxmox VE is

Proxmox Virtual Environment is an operating system built for one thing: running many machines inside one computer. It’s what’s called a type 1 hypervisor: it installs directly on the hardware, with no Windows or other system underneath.

Under the hood it’s Debian (version 9 is based on Debian 13), with two virtualisation technologies:

• Virtual machines (KVM/QEMU): fully simulated computers, each with its own operating system. You can run Windows, Ubuntu and a lab server at the same time.
• LXC containers: lightweight Linux systems that share the host’s kernel. They start in seconds and use very little memory.

Everything is managed from a very complete web interface. It’s free and open source; the paid subscription gives access to a more tested update repository and support, but isn’t required to use it.

Why would you want it at home?

• Build a lab for studying (Windows and Linux servers, networking) without filling the house with computers.
• Keep several services separate on one machine: if one breaks, the others keep running.
• Take snapshots before changing something and roll back in seconds if it goes wrong.

What you need

Component	Minimum	Recommended for home
CPU	64-bit with Intel VT-x or AMD-V	4 cores or more
RAM	2 GB for Proxmox + whatever your machines need	16 GB or more
Disk	Anything	SSD; two if you want a mirror (RAID 1)
Network	Ethernet	Wired, not Wi-Fi

Three important details:

• Enable virtualisation in the BIOS/UEFI (usually called Intel VT-x, Intel Virtualization Technology, SVM or AMD-V). Without it, no accelerated VMs.
• Use a network cable. Proxmox connects VMs to the network through a “bridge”, and that doesn’t work well over Wi-Fi.
• Proxmox wipes the disk you install it on. Use a dedicated disk.

If you plan to use ZFS (a very robust filesystem the installer offers), budget more RAM: the usual rule is 1 GB per TB of storage.

A second-hand mini PC or an old desktop with 16 GB of RAM is a great starting point.

Step 1: download the ISO and prepare the USB stick

1. Download the Proxmox VE ISO from the official website (proxmox.com, Downloads section).
2. Write it to a USB stick of at least 2 GB:
   • On Windows: Rufus (choose DD mode when asked) or balenaEtcher.
   • On Linux: dd or balenaEtcher.

With Rufus, if you pick ISO mode instead of DD, the stick may not boot. If that happens, write it again in DD mode.

Step 2: boot the installer

Boot the computer from the USB stick (usually F11, F12 or Esc at power-on) and choose Install Proxmox VE (Graphical).

Step 3: the installer screens

Target disk

Choose the disk to install on. Under Options you can pick the filesystem:

• ext4 (default): simple, with LVM-thin for VM disks. Perfect for starting with a single disk.
• ZFS (RAID1): if you have two identical disks, it mirrors them. If one dies, everything keeps working.

Country, time zone and keyboard

Set your country, time zone and keyboard layout. The keyboard matters: you’ll use it on the console.

Password and email

• The root password, the all-powerful admin. Make it long and keep it in your password manager.
• An email: Proxmox sends alerts there (failed backups, disk problems…).

Management network

This is the most important screen:

• Interface: the wired network card.
• Hostname (FQDN): a full name, for example pve.home.lan.
• IP address: a fixed IP for the server, for example 192.168.1.70/24. Keep it out of the range your router hands out, or use a DHCP reservation.
• Gateway: your router’s IP (usually 192.168.1.1).
• DNS: your router or a public DNS.

Summary

Check everything and press Install. After a few minutes it finishes, reboots, and you remove the USB stick.

Step 4: first login

On boot, the server’s screen shows the admin address:

https://192.168.1.70:8006/

Open it from another computer on the network:

1. The browser will warn that the certificate isn’t trusted. That’s normal: Proxmox uses a self-signed certificate. Accept the risk to continue.
2. User root, the password you set, and realm Linux PAM standard authentication.
3. You’ll get a “No valid subscription” notice. Also fine: I explain it in the next part.

And Proxmox is up and running. In part 2 we set it up properly: update repositories, users, two-factor authentication and networking.