Proxmox VE with ZFS Encryption

Encrypting ZFS in Proxmox is not supported out-of-the-box with Proxmox.

In this guide we will not encrypt the entire installation but only the rpool/data where the vm disks are stored. The goal is to have a user friendly but still a secure solution.

Therefor you are still able to power on or reboot the server and log into proxmox without the need for rmm of simular software solution like Dropbear to decrypt your drive first.

Log into Proxmox, start the shell and decrypt the rpool/data with your encryption key.

Your VM's won't start untill you decrypt the rpool/data.

This guide will explain how to encrypt the rpool/data on a Proxmox Server with already VM's running on it and also for a newly installed proxmox server.

Import VM's from Microsoft Hyper-V to Proxmox VE 6.x

Import a vhdx disk image into Proxmox VE.

Updating Proxmox 5.x to 6.x (no subscription)

Updating proxmox from 5.x to 6.x

Updating Proxmox 4.x to 5.x (no subscription)

Updating proxmox from 4.x to 5.x

Updating Proxmox 3.4 to 4.x (no subscription)

Updating proxmox from 3.4 to 4.x

Proxmox crash clean install with vm disks still on iSCSI VM-Storage

Your proxmox server crashed and the only way to get it running is a clean install.
All configs are gone and the only thing you have are the vm-disks on your iSCSI storage.

No worries, follow this guide and you will be up and running in no time.

Ofcourse i can not held responsable for any damages or data loss ;)

Tested with:

Proxmox 3.2
iSCSI storage where the vm's are stored.
MS Windows 2008R2 VM ( stored on iSCSI storage )

Installation:

Install proxmox

-       Go in the webinterface click in the directory Datacenter and then click on tab Storage.

-       Click Add – iSCSI target

o    Fill in an ID number

o    Portal: Type in the IP number of your iSCSI server

o    Target: Choose the iSCSI share

o    Uncheck Use Luns Directly ( this is very important! )

The iSCSI target has now been added to Proxmox

Now add the iSCSI share:

-       Click on the directory Datacenter en and then click on the  tab Storage

-       Click Add – LVM group

o    Type in an ID Number

o    Base storage: Choose the iSCSI share

o    Base Volume: Choose the Volume

o    Volume Group: Type in a Volume Group Name

The iSCSI store is now ready for use.

Go your iscsi store you just created on the left and verify the vm image is present.

When it's present create a new VM.

Configure the VM as close as you can to the orginal one.

Open the proxmox shell

type: nano /etc/pve/qemu-server/VM_ID_NEW_CREATED_VM.conf

change the diskname and size to the orginal vm-disk

Press CRTL+X and then Y to save.

Your VM should now boot with the orginal vm-disk and everything is up and running again.

Updating Proxmox from 3.x to 3.4 (no subscription)

Updating proxmox from 3.x to 3.4

APC UPS monitoring on Proxmox with automatic shutdown

an APC UPS is connected to the Proxmox VE server locally by USB or COM.
In case of a power failure Proxmox VE will not shutdown when the battery is getting to low.
Simple because there is nothing installed on the server to tell that Proxmox VE should make a clean shutdown for the VM's and then shutdown the server properly.

With apcupsd this can be done.
It is also reachable by browser so you can see the remaining battery and more.

Nearly every APC UPS should work with apcupsd.

LSI / Intel RAID monitoring with LSI MegaRAID Storage Manager remotely

Remotely access your LSI based Hardware RAID with MegaRAID Storage Manager.

This how-to requires a bit of experience because i won't explain everything in detail how to use programs like WinSCP.

VGA Passthrough in a VM (Experimental) with Proxmox 3.x

It has been awhile, but a new post.
Been busy trying to get passthrough working on Proxmox.
Finally i managed to get it working.

 
Purpose:

Creating a VGA Passthrough to a VM.
The VM will see the Hardware VGA Card instead of the emulated VGA Card.
This will increase GPU Performance.

I tested this only with an Intel CPU.

Note that this is only for testing purpose.
If you put it in production, the risks are all yours !!!
I can't be held responsible in anyway.

Proxmox First Server Installation Guide

This will be like an ultimate guide (guideline) to get an optimal running Proxmox on your first server. We will assume a Windows VM (MS Windows 2012 with GUI) be installed on this proxmox installation.

We won't go in detail like creating network bridges, resource pools, etc.

This guide will be work in progress.

Any tips to add in this guide would be appriciated. Please leave a comment.

Install Proxmox VE with custom partition size and format

Purpose:

Proxmox will be installed with default settings.
Like 8GB for swap and much more for the root directory.

In this case i want a bigger swap of 20GB and the root of 10GB (more then enough for default proxmox VE installation, my default installation takes only 1GB of space)

When doing this you will also have more storage left to use for local storage.

Also Proxmox is using EXT3 as default but can use EXT4.
We are going to change it from EXT3 to EXT4 but if you want as default you can leave that part out.

LSI based RAID Monitoring using MegaCli Tool Locally

Purpose:

With the basic installation of Proxmox VE there are no RAID management software installed.

When you have a RAID controller based on LSI you can install tools monitor a little bit.

Adding a SMTP Server Host in Proxmox VE

Purpose:

With the basic installation of Proxmox VE the smtp server is not configured.
When making backups for example no log will be send.

By configuring the smtp server in Proxmox VE, mail will be send.

How to add extra local storage in Proxmox VE

Purpose:

Adding more local hard drives to Proxmox for storage purposes.

CIFS share on Proxmox with FreeNAS as storage solution.

Purpose:

An CIFS share on a FreeNAS server which will be available in the Proxmox server to be used for example as Backup for VM's, ISO image storage or VM Storage.

iSCSI share on Proxmox with FreeNAS as storage solution.

Purpose:

An iSCSI share on a FreeNAS server which will be available in the Proxmox server to be used for example as Backup for VM's, ISO image storage or VM Storage.