Proxmox

Proxmox Virtual Environment (Proxmox VE) is a powerful, open-source platform for managing virtual machines (VMs) and containers. It integrates enterprise-class features with ease of use, making it an excellent choice for virtualization. Here’s an all-in-one guide to help you understand and get started with Proxmox.

Author

Benedict Thekkel

Proxmox
- jupyter docker
- windows
- ubuntu
- pihole
- home assistant
- NAS - trueNAS
- prometheous and grafana
- blueiris - camera
gpu hdmi pass through for ubuntu

Things to do before setup up proxmox

Video Tutorials

What is Proxmox?

Type 1 Hypervisor: Runs directly on hardware for better performance.
Based on Debian: Uses a Linux kernel with KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) and LXC (Linux Containers) for virtualization.
Web-Based Management: Administer everything through an intuitive web interface.
Free & Open Source: Enterprise features available for free; optional support subscription for updates.

Key Features

Virtualization Options:
- KVM: Full virtualization for running any operating system.
- LXC: Lightweight containers for running Linux-based applications.
High Availability (HA):
- Create clusters with multiple nodes for redundancy and failover.
Backup and Restore:
- Built-in backup solutions (full and incremental backups).
- Supports external storage for backups.
Storage Options:
- Local storage, NFS, iSCSI, Ceph, or ZFS file systems.
Networking:
- Virtual networking with VLAN support and bonding.
- Bridged networking for external connectivity.
Proxmox VE Cluster:
- Manage multiple nodes from a single interface.
Integrated Web Interface:
- Manage VMs, storage, networking, and clusters through a single dashboard.
Flexible Storage:
- Mix and match storage technologies (ZFS, Ceph, local disks, etc.).
Live Migration:
- Move running VMs between nodes without downtime.
Support for Templates and Clones:
- Easily deploy new VMs from existing templates.

System Requirements

CPU: 64-bit processor with virtualization support (Intel VT-x or AMD-V).
RAM: Minimum 2 GB (8 GB or more recommended for multiple VMs).
Storage: SSDs recommended for faster I/O.
Network: At least 1 Gbps for high-performance clusters.

Getting Started

agree to end user license
Target Harddisk: choose /dev/nvme0n1, ext4
Location and Time Zone selection: Country: Australia, Time Zone: Australia/Brisbane, Keyboard Layout: U.S. English
Password:
- bthek1 login: root
- password: YME (classic)
Management Network Configuration
- Managemen Interface: eno1
  - eno1, eno2, etc. (on-board devices)
  - enp10s0, enp3s0, etc. (PCI devices)
  - wlp3s0 (wireless card on PCI), etc.
- Hostname (FQDN): bthek1.thekkel.com
- IP: 192.168.2.70/24
- Gateway: 192.168.2.1
- DNS: 127.0.0.1

Storage and Paritioners in Proxmox

lsblk -o NAME,FSTYPE,SIZE,MOUNTPOINT,TYPE

NAME               FSTYPE        SIZE MOUNTPOINT TYPE
sda                            111.8G            disk
nvme0n1                        931.5G            disk
├─nvme0n1p1                     1007K            part
├─nvme0n1p2        vfat            1G /boot/efi  part
└─nvme0n1p3        LVM2_member 930.5G            part
  ├─pve-swap       swap            8G [SWAP]     lvm
  ├─pve-root       ext4           96G /          lvm
  ├─pve-data_tmeta               8.1G            lvm
  │ └─pve-data                 794.3G            lvm
  └─pve-data_tdata             794.3G            lvm
    └─pve-data                 794.3G            lvm

/boot/efi is your EFI partition for system boot.
pve is the Proxmox volume group on the NVMe drive.
pve-root (ext4) is your main OS partition mounted at /.
pve-data (thin pool) is for VM/container storage.
pve-swap is your swap space.
/dev/sda is unpartitioned/unused in this listing, so it’s effectively free if you want to set it up for additional storage.

Adding User in Proxmox

1. Create the User Account

SSH into your Proxmox host as root or log in via console.
Create a new user (replace ben with the desired username):
```
adduser ben
```
- You’ll be prompted to set a password and (optionally) fill in some personal info.
(Optional) Give the user sudo privileges (if you want them to be able to run administrative commands):
- Install sudo if it’s not already installed:
```
apt update
apt install sudo
```
- Add the user to the sudo group:
```
usermod -aG sudo ben
```
- Now, user ben can run sudo <command> when necessary.

2. Configure SSH Key-Based Authentication (Recommended)

Using SSH keys is more secure than a password-based login. Here are the steps:

Generate an SSH key pair (on your local machine not on Proxmox) if you don’t already have one:
```
ssh-keygen -t ed25519
```
or
```
ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096
```
- Press Enter to accept the default file location (e.g., ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 or ~/.ssh/id_rsa).
- Optionally protect the key with a passphrase.
Copy your public key to the Proxmox server for user ben:
```
ssh-copy-id ben@<Proxmox_IP_Address>
```
- If prompted for a password, provide the one you created for ben.
- This will create the ~ben/.ssh/authorized_keys file on the server and put your public key there.
If ssh-copy-id is not available, do it manually:
- On your local machine, view your public key:
```
cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub
```
- On Proxmox (logged in as root, or via su - ben):
```
su - ben
mkdir -p ~/.ssh
chmod 700 ~/.ssh
nano ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
```
  - Paste the public key line into the file.
  - Save and exit.
  - Set proper permissions:
```
chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
```
(Optional) Disable password authentication for extra security:
- Edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config:
```
nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config
```
- Find (or add) and set:
```
PasswordAuthentication no
ChallengeResponseAuthentication no
UsePAM yes
```
- Make sure key-based auth is on:
```
PubkeyAuthentication yes
```
- Restart SSH:
```
systemctl restart ssh
```
- Important: Only do this after confirming key-based login works, or you might lock yourself out if something is misconfigured.

3. Test the New User’s SSH Login

From your local machine, attempt to SSH in:
```
ssh ben@<Proxmox_IP_Address>
```
If you used key-based auth, you should not be asked for a password (or only for the passphrase of your SSH key if you set one).
If you didn’t disable password authentication, you can also login with ben’s password.

4. Verify Sudo (Optional)

If you added ben to the sudo group, verify you can run administrative commands:

sudo apt update

Enter ben’s password if prompted (for the sudo prompt).

Summary

Create user: adduser ben
(Optional) Add to sudo: usermod -aG sudo ben
Setup SSH:
- Generate SSH keys on local machine: ssh-keygen
- Copy the public key to the Proxmox server: ssh-copy-id ben@<Proxmox_IP>
- (Optionally) Disable password auth in /etc/ssh/sshd_config for enhanced security.
Test: ssh ben@<Proxmox_IP>

Using Proxmox

1. Creating VMs

In the web interface, navigate to Create VM.
Configure resources:
- CPU, RAM, storage, and network interfaces.
Install the operating system from an ISO image.

Example Configuration for a Modern VM

Graphics Card: VirtIO GPU (or PCI Passthrough for gaming).
SCSI Controller: VirtIO SCSI.
Machine Type: q35.
BIOS: OVMF (UEFI).
QEMU Agent: Enabled.
TPM: Add TPM 2.0 for Windows 11 or enhanced security needs.

2. Using Containers (LXC)

Navigate to Create CT for creating lightweight Linux containers.
Select the Linux distribution template and configure resources.

3. Storage Management

Add storage under Datacenter > Storage:
- Local disks, shared storage (NFS/iSCSI), or distributed storage (Ceph, ZFS).

4. Backup and Restore

Set up backup jobs for VMs and containers.
Backups can be stored locally or on external storage.

5. Networking

Configure virtual bridges under Datacenter > Network.
Use VLANs for isolated networks or create NAT for external access.

6. Clustering

Add nodes to a cluster for centralized management:
- Run pvecm add <IP_ADDRESS> on new nodes.
Ensure consistent storage and networking configuration across nodes.

Adding GPU

use display: none

sudo apt install qemu-guest-agent

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa
sudo apt update


ubuntu-drivers devices

apt search nvidia-driver

sudo apt install nvidia-driver-560

Cloud init

sudo apt install cloud-init

Getting devices

Getting USB ports

lspci | grep -i usb

Getting Audio ports

lspci | grep -i audio

Advanced Features

1. Proxmox VE Cluster

High availability across nodes.
Shared storage (Ceph or NFS) is recommended for live migration.

2. ZFS Integration

Proxmox includes ZFS for advanced storage management:
- Snapshots, compression, and RAID-like redundancy.

3. Ceph Storage

Use Ceph for scalable, distributed storage:
- Install Ceph packages and create a Ceph cluster.

4. PCI Passthrough

Pass hardware devices directly to a VM for bare-metal performance.
Requires a CPU with IOMMU support (Intel VT-d/AMD-Vi).

5. Cloud-Init

Automate VM deployment with preconfigured settings (e.g., hostname, networking).

Maintenance

Updates:
- Regularly update Proxmox (apt update && apt upgrade) for security and feature improvements.
Subscriptions:
- Optional enterprise subscription for support and access to stable update repositories.
- Free repositories are available but may include testing features.
Logs:
- Monitor logs under Syslog for troubleshooting.

Best Practices

Use ZFS or Ceph for resilient storage solutions.
Schedule Regular Backups of all critical VMs.
Allocate Resources Wisely:
- Ensure sufficient CPU and RAM are allocated to each VM or container.
Secure Proxmox:
- Use strong passwords and enable two-factor authentication (2FA).
- Restrict web interface access to trusted IPs.
Networking:
- Use VLANs for better isolation and scalability.
Monitor Performance:
- Check CPU, memory, and storage usage under the Dashboard.

Common Issues and Troubleshooting

VM Won’t Start:
- Check if sufficient resources are available.
- Review logs in /var/log/pve/tasks.
Storage Issues:
- Ensure correct permissions for shared storage.
Cluster Problems:
- Use pvecm status to check cluster health.
- Sync time across nodes using ntpd or chrony.