One main design goal was to make administration as easy as
possible. You can use {pve} on a single node, or assemble a cluster of
-many nodes. All management task can be done using our web-based
+many nodes. All management tasks can be done using our web-based
management interface, and even a novice user can setup and install
{pve} within minutes.
large set of clustered nodes. The cluster stack is fully integrated
and ships with the default installation.
-.Unique Multi-master Design
+Unique Multi-Master Design::
The integrated web-based management interface gives you a clean
overview of all your KVM guests and Linux containers and even of your
whole cluster. You can easily manage your VMs and containers, storage
or cluster from the GUI. There is no need to install a separate,
-complex, and pricy management server.
+complex, and pricey management server.
-.Proxmox Cluster File System (pmxcfs)
+Proxmox Cluster File System (pmxcfs)::
Proxmox VE uses the unique Proxmox Cluster file system (pmxcfs), a
database-driven file system for storing configuration files. This
persistent database on disk, nonetheless, a copy of the data resides
in RAM which provides a maximum storage size is 30MB - more than
enough for thousands of VMs.
-
++
Proxmox VE is the only virtualization platform using this unique
cluster file system.
-.Web-based Management Interface
+Web-based Management Interface::
Proxmox VE is simple to use. Management tasks can be done via the
-included web based managment interface - there is no need to install a
+included web based management interface - there is no need to install a
separate management tool or any additional management node with huge
databases. The multi-master tool allows you to manage your whole
cluster from any node of your cluster. The central web-based
and syslogs of each single node. This includes running backup or
restore jobs, live-migration or HA triggered activities.
-.Command Line
+Command Line::
For advanced users who are used to the comfort of the Unix shell or
Windows Powershell, Proxmox VE provides a command line interface to
line interface has intelligent tab completion and full documentation
in the form of UNIX man pages.
-.REST API
+REST API::
Proxmox VE uses a RESTful API. We choose JSON as primary data format,
and the whole API is formally defined using JSON Schema. This enables
fast and easy integration for third party management tools like custom
hosting environments.
-.Role-based Administration
+Role-based Administration::
-You can define granular access for all objects (like VM´s, storages,
+You can define granular access for all objects (like VMs, storages,
nodes, etc.) by using the role based user- and permission
management. This allows you to define privileges and helps you to
control access to objects. This concept is also known as access
control lists: Each permission specifies a subject (a user or group)
and a role (set of privileges) on a specific path.
-.Authentication Realms
+Authentication Realms::
Proxmox VE supports multiple authentication sources like Microsoft
Active Directory, LDAP, Linux PAM standard authentication or the
built-in Proxmox VE authentication server.
-Flexible Storage
+Flexible Storage
----------------
The Proxmox VE storage model is very flexible. Virtual machine images
* Directory (storage on existing filesystem)
* ZFS
+
Integrated Backup and Restore
-----------------------------
-The integrated backup tool (vzdump) creates consistent snapshots of
+The integrated backup tool (`vzdump`) creates consistent snapshots of
running Containers and KVM guests. It basically creates an archive of
the VM or CT data which includes the VM/CT configuration files.
optimized for storing VM backups fast and effective (sparse files, out
of order data, minimized I/O).
+
High Availability Cluster
-------------------------
proven Linux HA technologies, providing stable and reliable HA
services.
+
Flexible Networking
-------------------
complex, flexible virtual networks for the Proxmox VE hosts,
leveraging the full power of the Linux network stack.
+
Integrated Firewall
-------------------
-The intergrated firewall allows you to filter network packets on
-any VM or Container interface. Common sets of firewall rules can be grouped into 'security groups'.
+The integrated firewall allows you to filter network packets on
+any VM or Container interface. Common sets of firewall rules can
+be grouped into ``security groups''.
+
Why Open Source
---------------
Open source software also helps to keep your costs low and makes your
core infrastructure independent from a single vendor.
+
Your benefit with {pve}
-----------------------
* Huge active community
* Low administration costs and simple deployment
+include::getting-help.adoc[]
+
+
Project History
---------------
The project started in 2007, followed by a first stable version in
-2008. By that time we used OpenVZ for containers, and KVM for virtual
+2008. At the time we used OpenVZ for containers, and KVM for virtual
machines. The clustering features were limited, and the user interface
was simple (server generated web page).
single node.
We also introduced a new REST API, with a complete declarative
-spezification written in JSON-Schema. This enabled other people to
-integrate {pve} into their infrastructur, and made it easy provide
+specification written in JSON-Schema. This enabled other people to
+integrate {pve} into their infrastructure, and made it easy to provide
additional services.
Also, the new REST API made it possible to replace the original user
When we started we were among the first companies providing
commercial support for KVM. The KVM project itself continuously
-evolved, and is now a widely used hypervisor. New features arrives
+evolved, and is now a widely used hypervisor. New features arrive
with each release. We developed the KVM live backup feature, which
makes it possible to create snapshot backups on any storage type.
https://linuxcontainers.org/[LXC]. Containers are now deeply
integrated, and they can use the same storage and network features
as virtual machines.
+
+Improving the {pve} documentation
+---------------------------------
+
+Depending on which issue you want to improve, you can use a variety of
+communication mediums to reach the developers.
+
+If you notice an error in the current documentation, use the·
+http://bugzilla.proxmox.com[Proxmox bug tracker] and propose an·
+alternate text/wording.
+
+If you want to propose new content, it depends on what you want to
+document:
+
+* if the content is specific to your setup, a wiki article is the best
+option. For instance if you want to document specific options for guest
+systems, like which combination of Qemu drivers work best with a less popular
+OS, this is a perfect fit for a wiki article.
+
+* if you think the content is generic enough to be of interest for all users,
+then you should try to get it in the reference documentation. The reference
+documentation is written in the easy to use asciidoc document format.
+Editing the official documentation requires to clone the git repository at
+`git://git.proxmox.com/git/pve-docs.git` and then follow the
+https://git.proxmox.com/?p=pve-docs.git;a=blob_plain;f=README.adoc;hb=HEAD[REAME.adoc] document.
+
+Improving the documentation is just as easy as editing a Wikipedia
+article and is an interesting foray in the development of a large
+opensource project.
+
+NOTE: If you are interested in working on the {pve} codebase, the
+https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Developer_Documentation[Developer
+Documentation] wiki article will show you where to start.
projects / pve-docs.git / blobdiff