Proxmox VE Overview and Install

Proxmox VE is an open source virtualisation platform (KVM virtual machines and LXC containers) based on Debian, with a web UI, clustering, ZFS and Ceph. PVE 9.x is based on Debian 13 (trixie), PVE 8.x on Debian 12 (bookworm).

Documentation: Proxmox VE Docs · Package Repositories

Verification: repository, upgrade and certificate details were read against the official docs (PVE 9.2 era). No command on this sheet was executed. Not verified: pvenode acme option names, pveam details. Check man pages on your node before relying on them.

Other sheets in this section: Proxmox qm and pct · Proxmox Storage · Proxmox Disk Image Formats · Proxmox Networking · Proxmox Backup and Restore · Proxmox Clustering and HA · Proxmox Cloud-Init Templates · Proxmox GPU and PCIe Passthrough · Proxmox Users, Permissions, API Tokens and pvesh · Proxmox Firewall · Proxmox Troubleshooting and One-Liners

First Run #

Install from the ISO, then open https://<NODE-IP>:8006 (log in as root, realm Linux PAM).
Fix repositories (below), then update.
Check the hostname resolves to the node IP: hostname --ip-address (see Proxmox Troubleshooting and One-Liners).
Optional: ACME certificate, backup job, firewall (Proxmox Firewall).

COMMAND	DESCRIPTION
`pveversion`	Short PVE version
`pveversion -v`	All package versions
`hostname --ip-address`	Must return the node’s real IP, not `127.0.0.1`
`pvesm status`	Storages (see Proxmox Storage)
`pveam update && pveam available --section system`	Refresh and list LXC templates
`pveam download <STORAGE> <TEMPLATE>`	Download a template (for example `local`)

Repositories Without a Subscription #

PVE 9 (trixie, deb822 `.sources` format) #

Disable the enterprise repositories (they return 401 without a subscription):

/etc/apt/sources.list.d/pve-enterprise.sources
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/ceph.sources

Set Enabled: false in each file, or delete them. Then create /etc/apt/sources.list.d/proxmox.sources:

Types: deb
URIs: http://download.proxmox.com/debian/pve
Suites: trixie
Components: pve-no-subscription
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/proxmox-archive-keyring.gpg

The Ceph repository has its own no-subscription component, see the wiki page above for the current release name.

PVE 8 (bookworm, one-line format) #

deb http://download.proxmox.com/debian/pve bookworm pve-no-subscription

Put it in /etc/apt/sources.list (or a file in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/) and comment out the line in pve-enterprise.list.

The no-subscription repository is not recommended for production. It is fine for a home lab.

COMMAND	DESCRIPTION
`apt modernize-sources`	Convert old `.list` files to `.sources` (Debian 13)

Updates #

COMMAND	DESCRIPTION
`apt update`	Refresh package lists
`apt dist-upgrade`	Upgrade PVE (use this or `apt full-upgrade`, not plain `apt upgrade`)
`pve8to9 --full`	Pre-upgrade checker for 8 to 9 (run until it is clean)
`reboot`	Needed after a kernel update

Major upgrade guide: Upgrade from 8 to 9. In a cluster, upgrade one node at a time and migrate guests off it first (Proxmox Clustering and HA). Take backups first (Proxmox Backup and Restore).

ACME Certificates #

GUI:

Datacenter -> ACME -> add account
Datacenter -> ACME -> add challenge plugin (for DNS challenges)
Node -> Certificates -> ACME -> select account and add domain
Node -> Certificates -> ACME -> order certificates now

CLI form:

bash
pvenode acme account register default <EMAIL>
pvenode config set --acme domains=<FQDN>
pvenode acme cert order

For a comparable flow on another platform, see TrueNAS Community Edition. Compare hypervisors in Hypervisors Compared.

Useful Host Basics #

COMMAND	DESCRIPTION
`pvesh get /version`	API version
`pvesh get /nodes`	Nodes and status
`pvenode config get`	Node options
`systemctl status pveproxy pvedaemon pvestatd`	Core service state
`ssh root@<NODE>`	Shell access, general Linux tips in Linux

Further information #

Ansible playbook that automates Linux VM updates running on Proxmox (including snapshots): TheDatabaseMe - update_proxmox_vm. See also Ansible Cheat-Sheet.
Manage Proxmox VM templates with Packer: Use Packer to build Proxmox images
Provision with Terraform using a Proxmox provider (not covered here).
Running Docker: prefer a VM, or an LXC with nesting enabled, see Docker.