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Installation

This article walks through downloading the Proxmox VE ISO, creating a bootable USB drive, and installing Proxmox on your server hardware.

Note: Proxmox VE is a bare-metal installer. The entire target drive will be erased. Back up any important data before proceeding.

 

Creating Bootable Drive

  1. Download the Proxmox VE ISO
  2. Visit the official Proxmox download page
  3. Select the latest Proxmox VE ISO Installer and download it to your computer.
  4. Create a Bootable USB Drive Using Rufus or Etcher
  5. Open Rufus, select your USB device, select the Proxmox ISO, and click Start
  6. Accept any format warnings- all data on the USB will be erased

 

First Boot and Install

 

  1. Insert the USB into your Proxmox server and power it on
  2. Enter BIOS/UEFI (usually F2, F12, DEL, or ESC at boot) and set USB as the first boot device
  3. At the Proxmox boot menu, select: Install Proxmox VE (Graphical)
    Note: If the graphical installer hangs or fails, try 'Install Proxmox VE (Terminal UI)' — it has better hardware compatibility.
  4. Accept the End User License Agreement (EULA)
  5. Select Target Hard Disk — click Options to choose the filesystem:
        • ext4 (default) — simple, reliable, good for most setups
        • ZFS — advanced, supports RAID, snapshots, data integrity checksums (requires more RAM)
  6. Configure Location & Time Zone — select your country, time zone, and keyboard layout
  7. Set the Administrator Password — set a strong root password and enter an email address for alerts
  8. Configure Network Settings:
        • Select your network interface (NIC)
        • Hostname: e.g., pve.localdomain
        • IP Address: set a static IP (e.g., 192.168.1.100)
        • Netmask: typically 255.255.255.0
        • Gateway: your router's IP (e.g., 192.168.1.1)
        • DNS Server: e.g., 8.8.8.8 or your router's IP
  9. Review the summary and click Install
  10. Once installation completes, remove the USB drive and click Reboot

 

First Access via Web Browser

  1. On another computer, open a web browser
  2. Navigate to your Proxmox server's IP and port 8006:
    https://192.168.1.100:8006
  3. Accept the self-signed SSL certificate warning in your browser
  4. Log in with:
        • Username: root
        • Password: (the password you set during installation)
        • Realm: Linux PAM standard authenticatio

Note: You will see a 'No valid subscription' popup — this is normal for the free/community version. Click OK to dismiss it.

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