Proxmox VE with ZFS

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Preparations

Getting Proxmox

Download the Proxmox VE ISO Installer Image version 7.0 or later. https://www.proxmox.com/en/downloads/category/iso-images-pve

Place the ISO file into your isos share on your Unraid server.

Create the VM

In the predefined template section, under Linux, click on Debian to open a new template (proxmox is based on the Debian distribution)

Let's adjust the new template to our needs:

Name: Give your Proxmox VM a name (the name will also be the folder Unraid will create for you and put the virtual disk file in) Description: (optional) CPU Mode: Leave the CPU Mode on Host Passtrough Logical CPUs: Minimum 2 threads Initial Memory: / Max Memory: Set to at least 2048 MB Machine: Leave as Q35-5.1 or higher BIOS: Leave as OVMF USB Controller: Keep at default OS Install ISO: Choose the ISO image we downloaded earlier OS Install CDRom Bus: Keep the SATA selection

vDisk Configuration

Now we need to configure the disks for our Proxmox installation. In total we will be configuring four drives. One for the Proxmox operating system and three for the storage. We will be using a ZFS array with RAIDZ-1, which gives us single parity and requires a minimum of three drives.

Primary vDisk:

Location: Auto (or choose Manual if you know what you are doing) Size: 32G Type: qcow2 Bus: SATA

2nd, 3rd, and 4th vDisk:

Click the little + sign at the bottom left of the Primary vDisk section to add three more drives. They all get the same settings and size of your choice, which has to be the same for all three drives. For this guide, we will go with 100G.

Location: Auto (or choose Manual if you know what you are doing) Size: 100G Type: qcow2 Bus: SATA

Continuing with the template:

Graphics Card section: Leave everything as is, but make sure the keyboard fits your local environment. Sound Card: Leave as None Network section: Leave as is

No USB Devices to choose and leave the checkmark to start the VM after creation.

Click create and a vnc window will open, booting your proxmox for the first time.

Proxmox Installation

On the Proxmox boot screen, leave the selected line on Install Proxmox VE and hit Enter

Wait for Proxmox Install to boot till you are presented with the End User License Agreement (EULA).

Read and agree by clicking I agree at the bottom right.

On the next screen, Proxmox Virtual Envoronment (PVE), make sure that the correct target disk for the Proxmox OS is selected. It will be the 32GiB sized drive you configured as primary vDisk.

Click Next.

Adjust Location and Time Zone if needed. Click Next.

Enter a Password and valid Email address. Click Next.

On the next screen we configure the network. We will see for the Management Interface the one virtual network card we have given the Proxmox VM.

Choose a Hostname or leave it as is, if you are not sure.

For the IP Address choose a fixed address that is not in use in your local area network (LAN).

The Gateway and DNS Server should be auto-detected. If not, change them to fit your LAN. Click Next.

Summary. Check that everything on the Summary page is correct. If not, you can go back to any previous screen by clicking Previous. If all checks out ok, click Install.

Watch Proxmox install everything needed. The Install will extract and copy the necessary files and automatically reboot once it is done. Depending on the speed of the drives you put your vDisk on, this process can take a couple of minutes.

Once done, you will see the pve login:

Above the login, you should see the login address in the format of https:// x.x.x.x/8006/

Go back to your web browser and open a new window/tab. Enter the URL exactly as shown into the URL bar of your browser and hit enter.

Your browser will (or should) warn you, that the connection is not private (we use a https connection without a valid certificate). Choose to proceed, as we know it is the server you just installed.

You will be presented with the Proxmox VE Login prompt.

User name: root Password: The password you have given your system during the install

Click on login.

Subscription Warnings

You will get a warning about not having a valid subscription. Don't worry. Proxmox is open source and free. However, they would like for you to purchase a subscription. With a subscription, you will get access to the paid repository for updates. Further down we will change to the free repository. Expect more reminders like that. Unless you want to go into production with a Proxmox server and choose to purchase a subscription, stick to the free edition.

Click OK.

You made it!

Proxmox Updates

Proxmox starts in the Datacenter view. It differentiates between your "datacenter" and individual servers in the datacenter. First step, select the server you just installed:

In the menu tree, select Repositories und Updates:

It might take a few seconds to update the view. You should see the following screen:

Click on Add and click OK on the "No valid subscription" warning.

In the Repository dropdown, choose No-Subscription and click Add.

Now select the enterprise repository (last line) by clicking on it and clicking Disable.

In the left menu tree, select Updates.

Click on Refresh and (yet again) OK for the "No valid subscription" warning. Proxmox will now check the software archives against the repositories. Wait till you see "TASK OK". Close the box by clicking the X top right.

Click on the >_ Upgrade button. A terminal window will open. It will show you the necessary updates and the space it needs. Choose Y to confirm (The capital choice is the default choice and pressing Enter will work to choose the default).

There might be a question about the encoding of the console. UTF-8 is the default, press the tab key to get to the OK and press enter. Same for the keyboard layout.

Wait till all the downloads and upgrades are finished.

Updates/Upgrades

It is always a good idea to check for updates/upgrades by going into the Updates section and clicking Refresh to check. If there are new packages you can click the Upgrade button to pull and install them.

Once the process is finished, you should see "Your System is up-to-date". If the update/upgrade included a kernel update it will say "Seems you installed a kernel update - Please consider rebooting this node to activate the new kernel." We should do this in a second.

In the terminal windows type exit and press enter. Close the window.

With the server still selected in the Server view, click on Reboot (top right) and confirm by clicking Yes, to reboot the server.

There will be no visible cue after that, but you can follow the progress of the reboot in the vnc window of the Proxmox VM. Once you see the login prompt there, you can go back to the web admin interface (no login required).

We are now up-to-date and have set up the Proxmox server to pull all updates from public sources.