pve-installation.adoc

   1 Installing Proxmox VE
   2 =====================
   3 ifndef::manvolnum[]
   4 :pve-toplevel:
   5 endif::manvolnum[]
   6 ifdef::wiki[]
   7 :title: Installation
   8 endif::wiki[]
   9
  10 {pve} is based on Debian, therefore the disk image (ISO file) provided
  11 by us includes a complete Debian system ("stretch" for version 5.x) as
  12 well as all necessary {pve} packages.
  13
  14 Using the installer will guide you through the setup, allowing
  15 you to partition the local disk(s), apply basic system configurations
  16 (e.g. timezone, language, network) and install all required packages.
  17 Using the provided ISO will get you started in just a few minutes,
  18 that's why we recommend this method for new and existing users.
  19
  20 Alternatively, {pve} can be installed on top of an existing Debian
  21 system. This option is only recommended for advanced users since
  22 detailed knowledge about {pve} is necessary.
  23
  24 ifndef::wiki[]
  25
  26 include::pve-system-requirements.adoc[]
  27
  28 endif::wiki[]
  29
  30
  31 Using the {pve} Installer
  32 -------------------------
  33
  34 You can download the ISO from {website}en/downloads.
  35 It includes the following:
  36
  37 * Complete operating system (Debian Linux, 64-bit)
  38
  39 * The {pve} installer, which partitions the local disk(s) with ext4,
  40   ext3, xfs or ZFS and installs the operating system.
  41
  42 * {pve} kernel (Linux) with LXC and KVM support
  43
  44 * Complete toolset for administering virtual machines, containers and
  45   all necessary resources
  46
  47 * Web based management interface for using the toolset
  48
  49 NOTE: During the installation process, the complete server
  50 is used by default and all existing data is removed.
  51
  52 Please insert the installation media (e.g. USB-Stick, CD-ROM) and boot
  53 from it.
  54
  55 [thumbnail="screenshot/pve-grub-menu.png"]
  56
  57 After choosing the correct entry (e.g. Boot from USB) the {pve} menu
  58 will be displayed, you can now select one of the following options:
  59
  60 Install Proxmox VE::
  61
  62 Start normal installation.
  63
  64 TIP: It is possible to only use the keyboard to progress through the
  65 installation wizard. Buttons can be pressed by pressing down the `ALT`
  66 key, combined with the underlined character from the respective Button.
  67 For example, `ALT + N` to press a `Next` button.
  68
  69 Install Proxmox VE (Debug mode)::
  70
  71 Start installation in debug mode. It opens a shell console at several
  72 installation steps, so that you can debug things if something goes
  73 wrong. Please press `CTRL-D` to exit those debug consoles and continue
  74 installation. This option is mostly for developers and not meant for
  75 general use.
  76
  77 Rescue Boot::
  78
  79 This option allows you to boot an existing installation. It searches
  80 all attached hard disks and, if it finds an existing installation,
  81 boots directly into that disk using the existing Linux kernel. This
  82 can be useful if there are problems with the boot block (grub), or the
  83 BIOS is unable to read the boot block from the disk.
  84
  85 Test Memory::
  86
  87 Runs `memtest86+`. This is useful to check if your memory is
  88 functional and error free.
  89
  90 [thumbnail="screenshot/pve-select-target-disk.png"]
  91
  92 You normally select *Install Proxmox VE* to start the installation.
  93 After that you get prompted to select the target hard disk(s). The
  94 `Options` button lets you select the target file system, which
  95 defaults to `ext4`. The installer uses LVM if you select `ext3`,
  96 `ext4` or `xfs` as file system, and offers additional option to
  97 restrict LVM space (see <<advanced_lvm_options,below>>)
  98
  99 You can also use ZFS as file system. ZFS supports several software RAID
 100 levels, so this is specially useful if you do not have a hardware RAID
 101 controller. The `Options` button lets you select the ZFS RAID level, and
 102 you can choose disks there. Additionally you can set additional options (see
 103 <<advanced_zfs_options,below>>).
 104
 105 [thumbnail="screenshot/pve-select-location.png", float="left"]
 106
 107 The next page just ask for basic configuration options like your
 108 location, the time zone and keyboard layout. The location is used to
 109 select a download server near you to speed up updates. The installer is
 110 usually able to auto detect those settings, so you only need to change
 111 them in rare situations when auto detection fails, or when you want to
 112 use some special keyboard layout not commonly used in your country.
 113
 114 [thumbnail="screenshot/pve-set-password.png"]
 115
 116 You then need to specify an email address and the superuser (root)
 117 password. The password must have at least 5 characters, but we highly
 118 recommend to use stronger passwords - here are some guidelines:
 119
 120 - Use a minimum password length of 12 to 14 characters.
 121
 122 - Include lowercase and uppercase alphabetic characters, numbers and symbols.
 123
 124 - Avoid character repetition, keyboard patterns, dictionary words,
 125   letter or number sequences, usernames, relative or pet names,
 126   romantic links (current or past) and biographical information (e.g.,
 127   ID numbers, ancestors' names or dates).
 128
 129 It is sometimes necessary to send notifications to the system
 130 administrator, for example:
 131
 132 - Information about available package updates.
 133
 134 - Error messages from periodic CRON jobs.
 135
 136 All those notification mails will be sent to the specified email
 137 address.
 138
 139 [thumbnail="screenshot/pve-setup-network.png"]
 140
 141 The last step is the network configuration. Please note that you can
 142 use either IPv4 or IPv6 here, but not both. If you want to configure a
 143 dual stack node, you can easily do that after installation.
 144
 145 [thumbnail="screenshot/pve-installation.png", float="left"]
 146
 147 If you press `Next` now, installation starts to format disks, and
 148 copies packages to the target. Please wait until that is finished,
 149 then remove the installation media and restart your system.
 150
 151 Further configuration is done via the Proxmox web interface. Just
 152 point your browser to the IP address given during installation
 153 (https://youripaddress:8006).
 154
 155 NOTE: Default login is "root" (realm 'PAM') and the root password is
 156 defined during the installation process.
 157
 158
 159 [[advanced_lvm_options]]
 160 Advanced LVM Configuration Options
 161 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 162
 163 The installer creates a Volume Group (VG) called `pve`, and additional
 164 Logical Volumes (LVs) called `root`, `data` and `swap`. The size of
 165 those volumes can be controlled with:
 166
 167 `hdsize`::
 168
 169 Defines the total HD size to be used. This way you can save free
 170 space on the HD for further partitioning (i.e. for an additional PV
 171 and VG on the same hard disk that can be used for LVM storage).
 172
 173 `swapsize`::
 174
 175 Defines the size of the `swap` volume. The default is the size of the
 176 installed memory, minimum 4 GB and maximum 8 GB. The resulting value cannot
 177 be greater than `hdsize/8`.
 178 +
 179 NOTE: If set to `0`, no `swap` volume will be created.
 180
 181 `maxroot`::
 182
 183 Defines the maximum size of the `root` volume, which stores the operation
 184 system. The maximum limit of the `root` volume size is `hdsize/4`.
 185
 186 `maxvz`::
 187
 188 Defines the maximum size of the `data` volume. The actual size of the `data`
 189 volume is:
 190 +
 191 `datasize = hdsize - rootsize - swapsize - minfree`
 192 +
 193 Where `datasize` cannot be bigger than `maxvz`.
 194 +
 195 NOTE: In case of LVM thin, the `data` pool will only be created if `datasize`
 196 is bigger than 4GB.
 197 +
 198 NOTE: If set to `0`, no `data` volume will be created and the storage
 199 configuration will be adapted accordingly.
 200
 201 `minfree`::
 202
 203 Defines the amount of free space left in LVM volume group `pve`.
 204 With more than 128GB storage available the default is 16GB, else `hdsize/8`
 205 will be used.
 206 +
 207 NOTE: LVM requires free space in the VG for snapshot creation (not
 208 required for lvmthin snapshots).
 209
 210 [[advanced_zfs_options]]
 211 Advanced ZFS Configuration Options
 212 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 213 The installer creates a ZFS pool `rpool`. When selecting ZFS, no swap space is
 214 created by default. You can leave some unpartitioned space for swap or create
 215 a swap zvol after installation, though the latter can lead to problems
 216 (see <<zfs_swap,ZFS swap notes>>).
 217
 218 `ashift`::
 219
 220 Defines the `ashift` value for the created pool. The `ashift` needs
 221 to be set at least to the sector-size of the underlying disks (2 to
 222 the power of `ashift` is the sector-size), or any disk,
 223 which might be put in the pool (e.g. during replacing a defective disk).
 224
 225 `compress`::
 226
 227 Defines whether compression is enabled for `rpool`.
 228
 229 `checksum`::
 230
 231 Defines which checksumming algorithm should be used for `rpool`.
 232
 233 `copies`::
 234
 235 Defines the `copies` parameter for `rpool`. Check the `zfs(8)` manpage for the
 236 semantics, and why this does not replace redundancy on disk-level.
 237
 238 `hdsize`::
 239
 240 Defines the total HD size to be used. This way you can save free
 241 space on the HD(s) for further partitioning (e.g. for creating a swap-partition).
 242 `hdsize` is only honored for bootable disks, i.e., only the first disk or
 243 mirror for RAID0, RAID1 or RAID10, and all disks in RAID-Z[123].
 244
 245
 246 ZFS Performance Tips
 247 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 248
 249 ZFS uses a lot of memory, so it is best to add additional RAM if you
 250 want to use ZFS. A good calculation is 4GB plus 1GB RAM for each TB
 251 RAW disk space.
 252
 253 ZFS also provides the feature to use a fast SSD drive as write cache. The
 254 write cache is called the ZFS Intent Log (ZIL). You can add that after
 255 installation using the following command:
 256
 257  zpool add <pool-name> log </dev/path_to_fast_ssd>
 258
 259
 260 ifdef::wiki[]
 261
 262 link:/wiki/Install_from_USB_Stick[Install from USB Stick]
 263 ---------------------------------------------------------
 264
 265 link:/wiki/Install_Proxmox_VE_on_Debian_Stretch[Install Proxmox VE on Debian Stretch]
 266 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 267
 268 endif::wiki[]
 269
 270 ifndef::wiki[]
 271
 272 include::pve-usbstick.adoc[]
 273
 274 Install {pve} on Debian
 275 -----------------------
 276
 277 {pve} ships as a set of Debian packages, so you can install it
 278 on top of a standard Debian installation. xref:sysadmin_package_repositories[After configuring the repositories], you need to run:
 279
 280 [source,bash]
 281 ----
 282 apt-get update
 283 apt-get install proxmox-ve
 284 ----
 285
 286 Installing on top of an existing Debian installation looks easy, but
 287 it presumes that you have correctly installed the base system, and you
 288 know how you want to configure and use the local storage. Network
 289 configuration is also completely up to you.
 290
 291 In general, this is not trivial, especially when you use LVM or
 292 ZFS.
 293
 294 You can find a detailed step by step how-to guide on the
 295 {webwiki-url}Install_Proxmox_VE_on_Debian_Stretch[wiki].
 296
 297
 298 endif::wiki[]
 299
 300 ifdef::wiki[]
 301
 302 Video Tutorials
 303 ---------------
 304
 305 * List of all official tutorials on our
 306   http://www.youtube.com/proxmoxve[Proxmox VE YouTube Channel]
 307
 308 * Tutorials in Spanish language on
 309   http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUULBIhA5QDBdNf1pcTZ5UXhek63Fij8z[ITexperts.es
 310   YouTube Play List]
 311
 312
 313 See Also
 314 --------
 315
 316 * link:/wiki/System_Requirements[System Requirements]
 317
 318 * link:/wiki/Package_Repositories[Package Repositories]
 319
 320 * link:/wiki/Host_System_Administration[Host System Administration]
 321
 322 * link:/wiki/Network_Configuration[Network Configuration]
 323
 324 * link:/wiki/Installation:_Tips_and_Tricks[Installation: Tips and Tricks]
 325
 326 endif::wiki[]