Proxmox Home Lab — Install & First Steps

Step‑by‑step tutorial to install Proxmox VE, configure networking and storage, and create your first VM.

Proxmox VE 8
vmbr0 Bridge
Local‑LVM

Prerequisites

x86‑64 machine with 16GB+ RAM, SSD recommended
Proxmox VE ISO & a bootable USB
Static IP from your LAN

Install Proxmox VE

Boot from USB, choose Install Proxmox VE.
Accept EULA, select target disk (prefer SSD/NVMe), set strong root password.
Hostname: pve.local; set static IP, gateway, DNS.
Finish install; reboot and open https://IP:8006.

Networking (vmbr0)

# Example: bridge with physical NIC enp3s0
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto enp3s0
iface enp3s0 inet manual

auto vmbr0
iface vmbr0 inet static
  address 192.168.1.50/24
  gateway 192.168.1.1
  bridge-ports enp3s0
  bridge-stp off
  bridge-fd 0

Apply in Datacenter → Node → System → Network or edit /etc/network/interfaces with care.

Updates & Repos

# Optional: use no-subscription repo
echo "deb http://download.proxmox.com/debian/pve bookworm pve-no-subscription" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pve-no-subscription.list
sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade -y

Storage

Default local-lvm for VM disks; local for ISOs/containers.
Add NFS or CIFS share via Datacenter → Storage for backups/templates.

Create Your First VM

Upload an ISO to local → ISO Images.
Create VM → pick OS type; set CPU/RAM; select disk on local-lvm.
Attach network to vmbr0; install OS; install guest tools.

Backups & Snapshots

Set a scheduled backup (vzdump) to NFS/CIFS.
Snapshot before major changes; test restores.