Proxmox VE Administration

Overview

Proxmox VE is a server virtualization platform built on Debian. It manages KVM virtual machines and LXC containers through a web UI or CLI tools. This skill covers CLI-based administration using qm (VMs), pct (containers), and supporting utilities.

When to Use

•Creating, configuring, or managing KVM virtual machines
•Spawning and administering LXC containers
•Managing Proxmox storage, networking, or clustering
•Automating VM/container provisioning via scripts
•Troubleshooting Proxmox host or guest issues

Not for: Web UI-only workflows (use the CLI equivalents below).

Quick Reference

Tool	Purpose
`qm`	Manage KVM virtual machines
`pct`	Manage LXC containers
`pvesm`	Manage storage
`pvecm`	Manage cluster
`pveam`	Manage appliance/template downloads
`pvesh`	Access the Proxmox API from the shell
`pveperf`	Benchmark host performance

VM Management with `qm`

Creating a VM

bash

# Create a VM with ID 100
qm create 100 --name my-vm --memory 2048 --cores 2 --sockets 1 \
  --net0 virtio,bridge=vmbr0 --ostype l26

# Create with SCSI disk on local-lvm storage (32GB)
qm create 100 --name my-vm --memory 4096 --cores 4 \
  --scsi0 local-lvm:32 --scsihw virtio-scsi-pci \
  --net0 virtio,bridge=vmbr0 --ostype l26

# Attach an ISO for installation
qm set 100 --cdrom local:iso/ubuntu-22.04-server.iso --boot order=ide2

VM Lifecycle

Command	Purpose
`qm start <vmid>`	Start a VM
`qm shutdown <vmid>`	Graceful ACPI shutdown
`qm stop <vmid>`	Force stop (like pulling power)
`qm reboot <vmid>`	Reboot a VM
`qm reset <vmid>`	Hard reset
`qm suspend <vmid>`	Suspend to RAM
`qm resume <vmid>`	Resume from suspend
`qm destroy <vmid>`	Delete VM and its disks
`qm destroy <vmid> --purge`	Delete VM, disks, and all related jobs

VM Configuration

bash

# Show current config
qm config 100

# Modify hardware
qm set 100 --memory 8192
qm set 100 --cores 4
qm set 100 --balloon 2048          # dynamic memory (min)
qm set 100 --cpu cputype=host      # pass through host CPU features
qm set 100 --machine q35           # use Q35 chipset (for PCIe passthrough)

# Add/resize disks
qm set 100 --scsi1 local-lvm:50    # add 50GB disk
qm disk resize 100 scsi0 +20G      # grow existing disk by 20GB

# Networking
qm set 100 --net0 virtio,bridge=vmbr0,tag=10   # VLAN tagged
qm set 100 --net1 virtio,bridge=vmbr1           # second NIC

# Cloud-init (for automated provisioning)
qm set 100 --ide2 local-lvm:cloudinit
qm set 100 --ciuser admin --cipassword 'secret'
qm set 100 --ipconfig0 ip=10.0.0.50/24,gw=10.0.0.1
qm set 100 --sshkeys ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
qm set 100 --boot order=scsi0

# EFI / UEFI boot
qm set 100 --bios ovmf --efidisk0 local-lvm:1,efitype=4m,pre-enrolled-keys=1

# Serial console (headless)
qm set 100 --serial0 socket --vga serial0

# PCI passthrough (GPU, NIC, etc.)
qm set 100 --hostpci0 0000:01:00.0,pcie=1

Snapshots and Cloning

bash

# Create a snapshot
qm snapshot 100 before-upgrade --description "Before kernel upgrade"

# List snapshots
qm listsnapshot 100

# Rollback to snapshot
qm rollback 100 before-upgrade

# Delete a snapshot
qm delsnapshot 100 before-upgrade

# Clone a VM (full copy)
qm clone 100 101 --name cloned-vm --full

# Clone as linked clone (shares base disk, faster)
qm clone 100 101 --name linked-vm

Templates

bash

# Convert VM to template (irreversible)
qm template 100

# Create VM from template (linked clone)
qm clone 100 200 --name from-template

# Create VM from template (full clone)
qm clone 100 200 --name from-template --full

Migration

bash

# Online migration to another node
qm migrate 100 node2 --online

# Offline migration
qm migrate 100 node2

Monitoring

bash

# VM status
qm status 100

# List all VMs
qm list

# Show running processes/agent info
qm agent 100 ping
qm agent 100 get-osinfo

# Monitor interface (QEMU monitor)
qm monitor 100

Container Management with `pct`

Creating a Container

bash

# Download a template first
pveam update
pveam available --section system
pveam download local debian-12-standard_12.2-1_amd64.tar.zst

# Create container with ID 200
pct create 200 local:vztmpl/debian-12-standard_12.2-1_amd64.tar.zst \
  --hostname my-ct --memory 1024 --cores 2 \
  --rootfs local-lvm:8 \
  --net0 name=eth0,bridge=vmbr0,ip=dhcp \
  --password 'secret' --unprivileged 1

# Create with static IP
pct create 201 local:vztmpl/debian-12-standard_12.2-1_amd64.tar.zst \
  --hostname web-ct --memory 2048 --cores 2 \
  --rootfs local-lvm:16 \
  --net0 name=eth0,bridge=vmbr0,ip=10.0.0.51/24,gw=10.0.0.1 \
  --nameserver 1.1.1.1 --unprivileged 1

Container Lifecycle

Command	Purpose
`pct start <ctid>`	Start container
`pct shutdown <ctid>`	Graceful shutdown
`pct stop <ctid>`	Force stop
`pct reboot <ctid>`	Reboot container
`pct destroy <ctid>`	Delete container and its volumes
`pct enter <ctid>`	Open a shell inside the container
`pct exec <ctid> -- <cmd>`	Run a command inside the container
`pct console <ctid>`	Attach to container console

Container Configuration

bash

# Show config
pct config 200

# Modify resources
pct set 200 --memory 4096
pct set 200 --cores 4
pct set 200 --swap 1024

# Add mount point (bind mount from host)
pct set 200 --mp0 /mnt/data,mp=/data

# Add additional storage volume
pct set 200 --mp1 local-lvm:50,mp=/var/lib/data

# Networking
pct set 200 --net0 name=eth0,bridge=vmbr0,ip=10.0.0.60/24,gw=10.0.0.1
pct set 200 --net1 name=eth1,bridge=vmbr1,ip=dhcp

# Features (nesting, FUSE, NFS)
pct set 200 --features nesting=1
pct set 200 --features nesting=1,fuse=1,mount=nfs

# DNS
pct set 200 --nameserver "1.1.1.1 8.8.8.8" --searchdomain example.com

# Start on boot
pct set 200 --onboot 1 --startup order=1,up=30

Container Snapshots and Cloning

bash

# Snapshot
pct snapshot 200 clean-install

# Rollback
pct rollback 200 clean-install

# Clone
pct clone 200 201 --hostname cloned-ct --full

Storage Management

bash

# List storage pools
pvesm status

# List content of a storage
pvesm list local
pvesm list local-lvm

# Add storage (examples)
pvesm add dir my-backup --path /mnt/backup --content backup
pvesm add nfs nfs-share --server 10.0.0.5 --export /exports/pve --content images,vztmpl
pvesm add lvm my-lvm --vgname my-vg --content rootdir,images
pvesm add zfspool my-zfs --pool rpool/data --content rootdir,images

# Remove storage
pvesm remove my-backup

# Download ISO
wget -P /var/lib/vz/template/iso/ https://example.com/image.iso

Networking

bash

# List network interfaces
cat /etc/network/interfaces

# Common bridge configuration (in /etc/network/interfaces)
# auto vmbr0
# iface vmbr0 inet static
#     address 10.0.0.1/24
#     bridge-ports eno1
#     bridge-stp off
#     bridge-fd 0

# Apply network changes
ifreload -a

Cluster Management

bash

# Create a new cluster
pvecm create my-cluster

# Join an existing cluster
pvecm add 10.0.0.1

# Show cluster status
pvecm status

# List cluster nodes
pvecm nodes

# Remove a node (run from a remaining node)
pvecm delnode nodename

# Check quorum
pvecm expected 1    # force quorum (dangerous, single-node recovery only)

Firewall

bash

# Enable/disable firewall at datacenter level
pve-firewall start
pve-firewall stop
pve-firewall status

# Manage rules via config files
# Datacenter: /etc/pve/firewall/cluster.fw
# Node:       /etc/pve/nodes/<node>/host.fw
# VM/CT:      /etc/pve/firewall/<vmid>.fw

Backup and Restore

bash

# Backup a VM
vzdump 100 --storage local --mode snapshot --compress zstd

# Backup a container
vzdump 200 --storage local --mode stop --compress zstd

# Backup all guests
vzdump --all --storage local --mode snapshot --compress zstd --mailto admin@example.com

# Restore a VM
qmrestore /var/lib/vz/dump/vzdump-qemu-100-*.vma.zst 100

# Restore a container
pct restore 200 /var/lib/vz/dump/vzdump-lxc-200-*.tar.zst

# Restore to different storage
qmrestore /var/lib/vz/dump/vzdump-qemu-100-*.vma.zst 100 --storage local-lvm

Common Provisioning Patterns

Cloud-Init VM from Template

bash

# 1. Create base VM and install OS, then convert to template
qm template 9000

# 2. Clone and customize with cloud-init
qm clone 9000 110 --name web-server --full
qm set 110 --ciuser deploy --sshkeys ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
qm set 110 --ipconfig0 ip=10.0.0.110/24,gw=10.0.0.1
qm set 110 --nameserver 1.1.1.1
qm start 110

Batch Create Containers

bash

for i in $(seq 1 5); do
  CTID=$((300 + i))
  pct create $CTID local:vztmpl/debian-12-standard_12.2-1_amd64.tar.zst \
    --hostname "worker-${i}" --memory 1024 --cores 2 \
    --rootfs local-lvm:8 \
    --net0 name=eth0,bridge=vmbr0,ip=10.0.0.$((60 + i))/24,gw=10.0.0.1 \
    --unprivileged 1 --start 1
done

Import Disk Image (e.g., cloud image)

bash

# Download a cloud image
wget https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/jammy/current/jammy-server-cloudimg-amd64.img

# Import to a VM
qm importdisk 100 jammy-server-cloudimg-amd64.img local-lvm

# Attach the imported disk
qm set 100 --scsi0 local-lvm:vm-100-disk-0
qm set 100 --boot order=scsi0

Troubleshooting

Problem	Solution
VM won't start	Check `qm config <vmid>`, verify storage exists with `pvesm status`
"TASK ERROR: can't lock file"	`rm /run/lock/qemu-server/lock-<vmid>.conf` (verify VM is not running first)
Container has no network	Check bridge exists: `brctl show`; verify firewall rules
Disk full on storage	`pvesm status` to check usage; `lvs` for LVM thin pools
Cluster quorum lost	`pvecm expected 1` on surviving node (single-node recovery only)
Migration fails	Ensure same CPU type or use `--online` with live migration; check network between nodes
Backup fails with lock error	`qm unlock <vmid>` or `pct unlock <ctid>`
Slow disk I/O in VM	Use `virtio-scsi-pci` controller with `iothread=1` and `discard=on`
Guest agent not responding	Install `qemu-guest-agent` in the VM and enable: `qm set <vmid> --agent 1`

Useful Paths

Path	Contents
`/etc/pve/`	Cluster-wide config (pmxcfs)
`/etc/pve/qemu-server/<vmid>.conf`	VM configuration files
`/etc/pve/lxc/<ctid>.conf`	Container configuration files
`/etc/pve/storage.cfg`	Storage definitions
`/etc/pve/nodes/`	Per-node configuration
`/var/lib/vz/`	Default local storage root
`/var/lib/vz/template/iso/`	ISO images
`/var/lib/vz/template/cache/`	Container templates
`/var/lib/vz/dump/`	Backup files
`/var/log/pve/tasks/`	Task logs

Proxmox VE Administration

Overview

When to Use

Quick Reference

VM Management with qm

Creating a VM

VM Lifecycle

VM Configuration

Snapshots and Cloning

Templates

Migration

Monitoring

Container Management with pct

Creating a Container

Container Lifecycle

Container Configuration

Container Snapshots and Cloning

Storage Management

Networking

Cluster Management

Firewall

Backup and Restore

Common Provisioning Patterns

Cloud-Init VM from Template

Batch Create Containers

Import Disk Image (e.g., cloud image)

Troubleshooting

Useful Paths

VM Management with `qm`

Container Management with `pct`