Welcome back to another blog! If you caught the last blog, we talked about switching to Proxmox as my main hypervisor. Today, we're going one step further. This blog post kicks off a three-part series designed to break down some of the things you need to know after installing Proxmox—starting with a deep dive into its interface and core components.
Whether you’re new to Proxmox or just want a better understanding of what’s under the hood, this guide will help you confidently navigate your environment.
What Is Proxmox?
Proxmox VE (Virtual Environment) is a powerful, open-source, Type 1 hypervisor designed for running both virtual machines (KVM) and Linux containers (LXC). Here's a quick breakdown:
- KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine): Runs full VMs like Windows or Linux with their own kernel.
- LXC (Linux Containers): Lightweight environments that share the host kernel but have isolated file systems and processes—ideal for running services without the overhead of full VMs.
- Type 1 Hypervisor: Runs directly on hardware (not on an OS like VirtualBox), making it faster and more efficient.
- Why I Use It: Flexibility, control, and the ability to experiment freely outside of work constraints.
Navigating the Proxmox Interface
Let’s walk through the main interface starting from the left sidebar, which organizes everything into three layers:
- Data Center
- This is the top-level container and acts like your global workspace. Anything set here affects all nodes in the environment.
- Summary: See overall system stats and live usage.
- Search: Global search across VMs, containers, storage, and nodes.
- Cluster: Link multiple nodes together for centralized management and high availability.
- Ceph: (Advanced) Set up distributed, self-healing storage for large clusters.
- Options: Set defaults like language, backup retention, timezone.
- Storage: Add/manage shared storage (NFS, ZFS, iSCSI, etc.).
- Backup & Replication: Schedule backups or replicate VMs across nodes.
- Permissions: Manage users, groups, roles (e.g., admin, read-only).
- HA (High Availability): Auto-failover setup for critical VMs (only in a cluster).
- SDN (Software Defined Networking): Advanced virtual networking (VLANs, zones, firewalls).
- ACME: Automatically generate and renew Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates.
- Firewall: Set up network-level protection—even without a physical firewall.
- Metric Server: Integrate with tools like InfluxDB for visual metrics.
- Notifications: Configure alerts for failures or critical events.
- Support: View logs, system info, and access help (if you’re licensed).
- Node Level
- A node is a physical server running Proxmox. In my case, it's the AOOSTAR WTR Pro, nicknamed lab-zeal.
- Shell: Direct terminal access to the server.
- System Settings: Configure hostname, IP, DNS, time zone, etc.
- Updates: Manage repo settings (we’ll cover this in part 3).
- Firewall: Node-specific firewall rules.
- Disks: View, wipe, or partition physical disks.
- Storage Pools: Set up ZFS, LVM, thin provisioning, etc.
- Replication: Configure per-node VM replication.
- Tasks & Logs: Track actions and view system logs.
Reminder: Changes made at the node level affect only that node.
Virtual Machine (VM) & Container Level
Virtual Machines
- Summary: Overview of system resource usage.
- Console: Access the VM directly.
- Hardware: Adjust CPU, memory, storage, etc.
- Cloud-Init: Preconfigure VMs with SSH keys, hostnames, networks.
- Options: Boot order, time sync, etc.
- Backup: Manual or scheduled backups.
- Snapshots: Capture the state before changes—great for testing.
- Replication: VM-level replication across nodes.
- Firewall & Permissions: Set rules and access control for each VM.
- Tags: Organize VMs with labels for quick filtering.
Containers
- Setup is similar to VMs but faster and more lightweight.
- Choose a template, configure CPU, memory, disk, and network.
- Great for running individual services like NGINX, MariaDB, etc.
Interface Customization Tips
Make the dashboard yours:
•Change language or theme (dark mode FTW).
•Enable 2FA with apps like Google Authenticator.
•Use “tree settings” to adjust sidebar view when your setup grows.
Documentation and Help
Proxmox offers excellent documentation—don’t sleep on it! Access it directly from the interface (the little “book” icon) or via Proxmox Docs.
Final Thoughts
Proxmox is more than just a hypervisor—it’s a full-stack platform that gives you enterprise-level control from your home lab or small business setup. Now that you understand the layout, next up, we’ll tackle networking and storage—two areas where Proxmox really shines. Stay geeking—and I’ll see you in the next one!
