1 [[chapter_installation]]
11 {pve} is based on Debian. This is why the install disk images (ISO files)
12 provided by Proxmox include a complete Debian system as well as all necessary
15 TIP: See the xref:faq-support-table[support table in the FAQ] for the
16 relationship between {pve} releases and Debian releases.
18 The installer will guide you through the setup, allowing you to partition the
19 local disk(s), apply basic system configurations (for example, timezone,
20 language, network) and install all required packages. This process should not
21 take more than a few minutes. Installing with the provided ISO is the
22 recommended method for new and existing users.
24 Alternatively, {pve} can be installed on top of an existing Debian system. This
25 option is only recommended for advanced users because detailed knowledge about
30 include::pve-system-requirements.adoc[]
32 include::pve-installation-media.adoc[]
37 [[installation_installer]]
38 Using the {pve} Installer
39 -------------------------
41 The installer ISO image includes the following:
43 * Complete operating system (Debian Linux, 64-bit)
45 * The {pve} installer, which partitions the local disk(s) with ext4, XFS,
46 BTRFS (technology preview), or ZFS and installs the operating system.
48 * {pve} Linux kernel with KVM and LXC support
50 * Complete toolset for administering virtual machines, containers, the host
51 system, clusters and all necessary resources
53 * Web-based management interface
55 NOTE: All existing data on the for installation selected drives will be removed
56 during the installation process. The installer does not add boot menu entries
57 for other operating systems.
59 Please insert the xref:installation_prepare_media[prepared installation media]
60 (for example, USB flash drive or CD-ROM) and boot from it.
62 TIP: Make sure that booting from the installation medium (for example, USB) is
63 enabled in your servers firmware settings and secure boot is disabled.
65 [thumbnail="screenshot/pve-grub-menu.png"]
67 After choosing the correct entry (e.g. Boot from USB) the {pve} menu will be
68 displayed and one of the following options can be selected:
72 Starts the normal installation.
74 TIP: It's possible to use the installation wizard with a keyboard only. Buttons
75 can be clicked by pressing the `ALT` key combined with the underlined character
76 from the respective button. For example, `ALT + N` to press a `Next` button.
78 Advanced Options: Install {pve} (Debug mode)::
80 Starts the installation in debug mode. A console will be opened at several
81 installation steps. This helps to debug the situation if something goes wrong.
82 To exit a debug console, press `CTRL-D`. This option can be used to boot a live
83 system with all basic tools available. You can use it, for example, to
84 xref:chapter_zfs[repair a degraded ZFS 'rpool'] or fix the
85 xref:sysboot[bootloader] for an existing {pve} setup.
87 Advanced Options: Rescue Boot::
89 With this option you can boot an existing installation. It searches all attached
90 hard disks. If it finds an existing installation, it boots directly into that
91 disk using the Linux kernel from the ISO. This can be useful if there are
92 problems with the boot block (grub) or the BIOS is unable to read the boot block
95 Advanced Options: Test Memory::
97 Runs `memtest86+`. This is useful to check if the memory is functional and free
100 [thumbnail="screenshot/pve-select-target-disk.png"]
102 After selecting *Install {pve}* and accepting the EULA, the prompt to select the
103 target hard disk(s) will appear. The `Options` button opens the dialog to select
104 the target file system.
106 The default file system is `ext4`. The Logical Volume Manager (LVM) is used when
107 `ext4` or `xfs` is selected. Additional options to restrict LVM space
108 can also be set (see <<advanced_lvm_options,below>>).
110 {pve} can be installed on ZFS. As ZFS offers several software RAID levels, this
111 is an option for systems that don't have a hardware RAID controller. The target
112 disks must be selected in the `Options` dialog. More ZFS specific settings can
113 be changed under `Advanced Options` (see <<advanced_zfs_options,below>>).
115 WARNING: ZFS on top of any hardware RAID is not supported and can result in data
118 [thumbnail="screenshot/pve-select-location.png", float="left"]
120 The next page asks for basic configuration options like the location, the time
121 zone, and keyboard layout. The location is used to select a download server
122 close by to speed up updates. The installer usually auto-detects these settings.
123 They only need to be changed in the rare case that auto detection fails or a
124 different keyboard layout should be used.
126 [thumbnail="screenshot/pve-set-password.png"]
128 Next the password of the superuser (root) and an email address needs to be
129 specified. The password must consist of at least 5 characters. It's highly
130 recommended to use a stronger password. Some guidelines are:
132 - Use a minimum password length of 12 to 14 characters.
134 - Include lowercase and uppercase alphabetic characters, numbers, and symbols.
136 - Avoid character repetition, keyboard patterns, common dictionary words,
137 letter or number sequences, usernames, relative or pet names, romantic links
138 (current or past), and biographical information (for example ID numbers,
139 ancestors' names or dates).
141 The email address is used to send notifications to the system administrator.
144 - Information about available package updates.
146 - Error messages from periodic CRON jobs.
148 [thumbnail="screenshot/pve-setup-network.png"]
150 The last step is the network configuration. Please note that during installation
151 you can either use an IPv4 or IPv6 address, but not both. To configure a dual
152 stack node, add additional IP addresses after the installation.
154 [thumbnail="screenshot/pve-installation.png", float="left"]
156 The next step shows a summary of the previously selected options. Re-check every
157 setting and use the `Previous` button if a setting needs to be changed. To
158 accept, press `Install`. The installation starts to format disks and copies
159 packages to the target. Please wait until this step has finished; then remove
160 the installation medium and restart your system.
162 [thumbnail="screenshot/pve-install-summary.png"]
164 If the installation failed, check out specific errors on the second TTY
165 (`CTRL + ALT + F2') and ensure that the systems meets the
166 xref:install_minimal_requirements[minimum requirements]. If the installation
167 is still not working, look at the xref:getting_help[how to get help chapter].
169 Further configuration is done via the Proxmox web interface. Point your browser
170 to the IP address given during installation (https://youripaddress:8006).
172 NOTE: Default login is "root" (realm 'PAM') and the root password was defined
173 during the installation process.
175 [[advanced_lvm_options]]
176 Advanced LVM Configuration Options
177 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
179 The installer creates a Volume Group (VG) called `pve`, and additional Logical
180 Volumes (LVs) called `root`, `data`, and `swap`. To control the size of these
185 Defines the total hard disk size to be used. This way you can reserve free space
186 on the hard disk for further partitioning (for example for an additional PV and
187 VG on the same hard disk that can be used for LVM storage).
191 Defines the size of the `swap` volume. The default is the size of the installed
192 memory, minimum 4 GB and maximum 8 GB. The resulting value cannot be greater
195 NOTE: If set to `0`, no `swap` volume will be created.
199 Defines the maximum size of the `root` volume, which stores the operation
200 system. The maximum limit of the `root` volume size is `hdsize/4`.
204 Defines the maximum size of the `data` volume. The actual size of the `data`
207 `datasize = hdsize - rootsize - swapsize - minfree`
209 Where `datasize` cannot be bigger than `maxvz`.
211 NOTE: In case of LVM thin, the `data` pool will only be created if `datasize` is
214 NOTE: If set to `0`, no `data` volume will be created and the storage
215 configuration will be adapted accordingly.
219 Defines the amount of free space left in the LVM volume group `pve`. With more
220 than 128GB storage available the default is 16GB, else `hdsize/8` will be used.
222 NOTE: LVM requires free space in the VG for snapshot creation (not required for
225 [[advanced_zfs_options]]
226 Advanced ZFS Configuration Options
227 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
228 The installer creates the ZFS pool `rpool`. No swap space is created but you can
229 reserve some unpartitioned space on the install disks for swap. You can also
230 create a swap zvol after the installation, although this can lead to problems.
231 (see <<zfs_swap,ZFS swap notes>>).
235 Defines the `ashift` value for the created pool. The `ashift` needs to be set at
236 least to the sector-size of the underlying disks (2 to the power of `ashift` is
237 the sector-size), or any disk which might be put in the pool (for example the
238 replacement of a defective disk).
242 Defines whether compression is enabled for `rpool`.
246 Defines which checksumming algorithm should be used for `rpool`.
250 Defines the `copies` parameter for `rpool`. Check the `zfs(8)` manpage for the
251 semantics, and why this does not replace redundancy on disk-level.
255 Defines the total hard disk size to be used. This is useful to save free space
256 on the hard disk(s) for further partitioning (for example to create a
257 swap-partition). `hdsize` is only honored for bootable disks, that is only the
258 first disk or mirror for RAID0, RAID1 or RAID10, and all disks in RAID-Z[123].
264 ZFS works best with a lot of memory. If you intend to use ZFS make sure to have
265 enough RAM available for it. A good calculation is 4GB plus 1GB RAM for each TB
268 ZFS can use a dedicated drive as write cache, called the ZFS Intent Log (ZIL).
269 Use a fast drive (SSD) for it. It can be added after installation with the
273 # zpool add <pool-name> log </dev/path_to_fast_ssd>
278 Install {pve} on Debian
279 -----------------------
281 {pve} ships as a set of Debian packages and can be installed on top of a standard
283 xref:sysadmin_package_repositories[After configuring the repositories] you need
284 to run the following commands:
288 # apt-get install proxmox-ve
291 Installing on top of an existing Debian installation looks easy, but it presumes
292 that the base system has been installed correctly and that you know how you want
293 to configure and use the local storage. You also need to configure the network
296 In general, this is not trivial, especially when LVM or ZFS is used.
298 A detailed step by step how-to can be found on the
299 {webwiki-url}Install_Proxmox_VE_on_Debian_11_Bullseye[wiki].
309 See the list of all official tutorials on our
310 https://www.youtube.com/proxmoxve[{pve} YouTube Channel]
316 * link:/wiki/Prepare_Installation_Media[Prepare Installation Media]
318 * link:/wiki/Install_Proxmox_VE_on_Debian_Buster[Install Proxmox VE on Debian Buster]
320 * link:/wiki/System_Requirements[System Requirements]
322 * link:/wiki/Package_Repositories[Package Repositories]
324 * link:/wiki/Host_System_Administration[Host System Administration]
326 * link:/wiki/Network_Configuration[Network Configuration]
328 * link:/wiki/Installation:_Tips_and_Tricks[Installation: Tips and Tricks]