You may have heard of Proxmox Virtual Environment (VE), or may even know what it is or have used it. For those who haven't heard of it, barely used it , or just want to know more, here are a series of articles to cover Proxmox VE in more detail.
Proxmox is an open-source substitute for VMware, which is offered as a free version.
Proxmox Basics
As I stated, Proxmox is open-source and is a free solution for virtualization. Of course, there is a subscription-based version that allows for more security updates that have been thoroughly tested. Not that the free version is buggy or has issues; it seems quite stable, but the updates for the subscribers have been tested more than those for the free version.
With the subscription, you have access to technical support, which the free version does not have except through the Proxmox Community.
With the free version, there are pop-ups that occur to let you know you are using the free version.
The cost of the subscription will change as time goes by, but the costs can be found at 'https://www.proxmox.com/en/products/proxmox-virtual-environment/pricing'. Prices are given in Euros and you will need to convert the current value to your local currency.
So, Proxmox VE can support KVM Virtual Machines (VM) as well as Linux Containers (LXC).
Proxmox VE runs on a Debian System and the Kernel is a Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) so the Linux Host can act as a Hypervisor to allow for Virtual systems to be made with varying Operating Systems. So, even though the base kernel is Linux, you can virtualize Windows. It is possible to virtualize an Apple system, but it is not supported by Apple or Proxmox.
The LXC is a container-based system that runs over the local Host's kernel, so the container must be some form of Linux. Do not get the mention of 'container' confused with Docker. Once you create a Linux Container, you can install Docker within it. If set to 'Nest', you can install a container within a container.
For further support in keeping your virtual machines and containers running, Proxmox supports High Availability (HA) with clustering. The ability of clustering will be covered later in the series, since we will cover Virtualization and Containers first.
It should be noted here that the Virtualization is done through QEMU and has more available configuration than other virtualization systems like VirtualBox.
Like VirtualBox, you can create snapshots and be able to go back to the snapshot causing all changes to be reverted to when the snapshot was made.
Unlike VirtualBox, you can specify the CPU type to use when running the VM. Since the base system is an x86-64 then any emulation must be x86 or x86-64. The different types are:
Proxmox Information
There are a few things you may need to know about Proxmox VE before you decide to install it.
Proxmox is a server and is meant to be headless. It still has a Command-Line Interface (CLI) after it is installed and rebooted, but you can perform all actions remotely from a web browser. You can still issue commands on the command-line, but you cannot install a Graphical User Interface (GUI).
For this series of articles, I am covering Proxmox VE version 8.4. Version 9 was released, but it seems too new to get into yet. Version 8.4 should have fewer problems, and learning version 9 after version 8 should not be too difficult, since I am sure most things have not changed.
Each version of Proxmox VE has a base of a different version of Debian:
Proxmox 8.4 has an end-of-life of August 2026. By this time, users are expected to update to the newest version of Proxmox since updates are only supported for one year after the initial release.
Proxmox VE Documentation
All the details can be found on the Proxmox website at 'https://www.proxmox.com'. Here you can download the ISO file, read up on any information you wish and look at the subscription options.
Just know that for testing, you can install Proxmox within VMware or VirtualBox, but I will say it is better to run it on actual hardware.
The hardware requirements are:
For my systems, I am using two systems that are identical:
Conclusion
I know this article will be short, but this is only the basic information to hopefully make you interested in learning more.
We have a lot of information and examples to work with to make this information easier to learn. If you plan on learning Proxmox, look into having at least a single hardware box to use for learning to make Virtual Machines and Containers. Creating a cluster is not mandatory for making Proxmox work, but if you want to use one in a production environment, then you will need to learn to set up a cluster.
Proxmox is an open-source substitute for VMware, which is offered as a free version.
Proxmox Basics
As I stated, Proxmox is open-source and is a free solution for virtualization. Of course, there is a subscription-based version that allows for more security updates that have been thoroughly tested. Not that the free version is buggy or has issues; it seems quite stable, but the updates for the subscribers have been tested more than those for the free version.
With the subscription, you have access to technical support, which the free version does not have except through the Proxmox Community.
With the free version, there are pop-ups that occur to let you know you are using the free version.
The cost of the subscription will change as time goes by, but the costs can be found at 'https://www.proxmox.com/en/products/proxmox-virtual-environment/pricing'. Prices are given in Euros and you will need to convert the current value to your local currency.
So, Proxmox VE can support KVM Virtual Machines (VM) as well as Linux Containers (LXC).
Proxmox VE runs on a Debian System and the Kernel is a Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) so the Linux Host can act as a Hypervisor to allow for Virtual systems to be made with varying Operating Systems. So, even though the base kernel is Linux, you can virtualize Windows. It is possible to virtualize an Apple system, but it is not supported by Apple or Proxmox.
The LXC is a container-based system that runs over the local Host's kernel, so the container must be some form of Linux. Do not get the mention of 'container' confused with Docker. Once you create a Linux Container, you can install Docker within it. If set to 'Nest', you can install a container within a container.
For further support in keeping your virtual machines and containers running, Proxmox supports High Availability (HA) with clustering. The ability of clustering will be covered later in the series, since we will cover Virtualization and Containers first.
It should be noted here that the Virtualization is done through QEMU and has more available configuration than other virtualization systems like VirtualBox.
Like VirtualBox, you can create snapshots and be able to go back to the snapshot causing all changes to be reverted to when the snapshot was made.
Unlike VirtualBox, you can specify the CPU type to use when running the VM. Since the base system is an x86-64 then any emulation must be x86 or x86-64. The different types are:
- 486
- Athlon
- Broadwel-IBRS
- Broadwell
- Broadwell-noTSX
- Broadwell-noTSX-IBRS
- Cascadelake-Server
- Cascadelake-Server-noTSX
- Cascadelake-v2
- Cascadelake-v4
- Cascadelake-v5
- Conroe
- Cooperlake
- Cooperlake-v2
- core2duo
- coreduo
- EPYC
- EPYC-Genoa
- EPYC-IBPB
- EPYC-Milan
- EPYC-Milan-v2
- EPYC-Rome
- EPYC-Rome-v2
- EPYC-Rome-v3
- EPYC-Rome-v4
- EPYC-v3
- EPYC-v4
- GraniteRapids
- Haswell
- Haswell-IBRS
- Haswell-noTSX
- Haswell-noTSX-IBRS
- host
- Icelake-Client
- Icelake-Client-noTSX
- Icelake-Server
- Icelake-Server-noTSX
- Icelake-Server-v3
- Icelake-Server-v4
- Icelake-Server-v5
- Icelake-Server-v6
- IvyBridge
- IvyBridge-IBRS
- KnightsMill
- kvm32
- kvm64
- max
- Nehalem
- Nehalem-IBRS
- Opteron_G1
- Opteron_G2
- Opteron_G3
- Opteron_G4
- Opteron_G5
- Penryn
- pentium
- pentium2
- pentium3
- phenom
- qemu32
- qemu64
- SandyBridge
- SandyBridge-IBRS
- SapphireRapids
- SapphireRapids-v2
- Skylake-Client
- Skylake-Client-IBRS
- Skylake-Client-noTSX-IBRS
- Skylake-Client-v4
- Skylake-Server
- Skylake-Server-IBRS
- Skylake-Server-noTSX-IBRS
- Skylake-Server-v4
- Skylake-Server-v5
- Westmere
- Westmere-IBRS
- x86-64-v2
- x86-64-v2-AES
- x86-64-v3
- x86-64-v4
Proxmox Information
There are a few things you may need to know about Proxmox VE before you decide to install it.
Proxmox is a server and is meant to be headless. It still has a Command-Line Interface (CLI) after it is installed and rebooted, but you can perform all actions remotely from a web browser. You can still issue commands on the command-line, but you cannot install a Graphical User Interface (GUI).
For this series of articles, I am covering Proxmox VE version 8.4. Version 9 was released, but it seems too new to get into yet. Version 8.4 should have fewer problems, and learning version 9 after version 8 should not be too difficult, since I am sure most things have not changed.
Each version of Proxmox VE has a base of a different version of Debian:
- Proxmox VE 6.x: Debian 10 "Buster"
- Proxmox VE 7.x: Debian 11 "Bullseye"
- Proxmox VE 8.x: Debian 12 "Bookworm"
- Proxmox VE 9.x: Debian 13 "Trixie"
Proxmox 8.4 has an end-of-life of August 2026. By this time, users are expected to update to the newest version of Proxmox since updates are only supported for one year after the initial release.
Proxmox VE Documentation
All the details can be found on the Proxmox website at 'https://www.proxmox.com'. Here you can download the ISO file, read up on any information you wish and look at the subscription options.
Just know that for testing, you can install Proxmox within VMware or VirtualBox, but I will say it is better to run it on actual hardware.
The hardware requirements are:
- 64-bit CPU
- CPU supporting VT-x or AMD-v
- Minimum of 2 GB of RAM for the Host
- Additional RAM is needed for each Virtual Machine or Container
- Minimum of 8 GB of drive space for the Operating System
- Additional drive space is needed for each Virtual Machine or Containers
- Network connection
For my systems, I am using two systems that are identical:
- Hp EliteDesk 705 G5
- AMD Ryzen 5 Pro (quad-core)
- 3 GHz
- Storage comprises a 1 TB NVMe; the other is a 1 TB SATA hard drive
- RAM 24 GB
Conclusion
I know this article will be short, but this is only the basic information to hopefully make you interested in learning more.
We have a lot of information and examples to work with to make this information easier to learn. If you plan on learning Proxmox, look into having at least a single hardware box to use for learning to make Virtual Machines and Containers. Creating a cluster is not mandatory for making Proxmox work, but if you want to use one in a production environment, then you will need to learn to set up a cluster.
