pve-docs/pve-installation.adoc

[[chapter_installation]]
Installing {pve}
================
ifndef::manvolnum[]
:pve-toplevel:
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ifdef::wiki[]
:title: Installation
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{pve} is based on Debian. This is why the install disk images (ISO files)
provided by Proxmox include a complete Debian system as well as all necessary
{pve} packages.

TIP: See the xref:faq-support-table[support table in the FAQ] for the
relationship between {pve} releases and Debian releases.

The installer will guide you through the setup, allowing you to partition the
local disk(s), apply basic system configurations (for example, timezone,
language, network) and install all required packages. This process should not
take more than a few minutes. Installing with the provided ISO is the
recommended method for new and existing users.

Alternatively, {pve} can be installed on top of an existing Debian system. This
option is only recommended for advanced users because detailed knowledge about
{pve} is required.

ifndef::wiki[]

include::pve-system-requirements.adoc[]

include::pve-installation-media.adoc[]

endif::wiki[]


[[installation_installer]]
Using the {pve} Installer
-------------------------

The installer ISO image includes the following:

* Complete operating system (Debian Linux, 64-bit)

* The {pve} installer, which partitions the local disk(s) with ext4, XFS,
  BTRFS (technology preview), or ZFS and installs the operating system

* {pve} Linux kernel with KVM and LXC support

* Complete toolset for administering virtual machines, containers, the host
  system, clusters and all necessary resources

* Web-based management interface

NOTE: All existing data on the selected drives will be removed during the
installation process. The installer does not add boot menu entries for other
operating systems.

Please insert the xref:installation_prepare_media[prepared installation media]
(for example, USB flash drive or CD-ROM) and boot from it.

TIP: Make sure that booting from the installation medium (for example, USB) is
enabled in your server's firmware settings. Secure boot needs to be disabled
when booting an installer prior to {pve} version 8.1.

[thumbnail="screenshot/pve-grub-menu.png"]

After choosing the correct entry (for example, 'Boot from USB') the {pve} menu
will be displayed, and one of the following options can be selected:

Install {pve} (Graphical)::

Starts the normal installation.

TIP: It's possible to use the installation wizard with a keyboard only. Buttons
can be clicked by pressing the `ALT` key combined with the underlined character
from the respective button. For example, `ALT + N` to press a `Next` button.

Install {pve} (Terminal UI)::

Starts the terminal-mode installation wizard. It provides the same overall
installation experience as the graphical installer, but has generally better
compatibility with very old and very new hardware.

Install {pve} (Terminal UI, Serial Console)::

Starts the terminal-mode installation wizard, additionally setting up the Linux
kernel to use the (first) serial port of the machine for in- and output. This
can be used if the machine is completely headless and only has a serial console
available.

[thumbnail="screenshot/pve-tui-installer.png"]

Both modes use the same code base for the actual installation process to
benefit from more than a decade of bug fixes and ensure feature parity.

TIP: The 'Terminal UI' option can be used in case the graphical installer does
not work correctly, due to e.g. driver issues. See also
xref:nomodeset_kernel_param[adding the `nomodeset` kernel parameter].

Advanced Options: Install {pve} (Graphical, Debug Mode)::

Starts the installation in debug mode. A console will be opened at several
installation steps. This helps to debug the situation if something goes wrong.
To exit a debug console, press `CTRL-D`. This option can be used to boot a live
system with all basic tools available. You can use it, for example, to
xref:chapter_zfs[repair a degraded ZFS 'rpool'] or fix the
xref:sysboot[bootloader] for an existing {pve} setup.

Advanced Options: Install {pve} (Terminal UI, Debug Mode)::

Same as the graphical debug mode, but preparing the system to run the
terminal-based installer instead.

Advanced Options: Install {pve} (Serial Console Debug Mode)::

Same the terminal-based debug mode, but additionally sets up the Linux kernel to
use the (first) serial port of the machine for in- and output.

Advanced Options: Install {pve} (Automated)::

Starts the installer in unattended mode, even if the ISO has not been
appropriately prepared for an automated installation. This option can be used to
gather hardware details or might be useful to debug an automated installation
setup. See xref:installation_unattended[Unattended Installation] for more
information.

Advanced Options: Rescue Boot::

With this option you can boot an existing installation. It searches all attached
hard disks. If it finds an existing installation, it boots directly into that
disk using the Linux kernel from the ISO. This can be useful if there are
problems with the bootloader (GRUB/`systemd-boot`) or the BIOS/UEFI is unable to
read the boot block from the disk.

Advanced Options: Test Memory (memtest86+)::

Runs `memtest86+`. This is useful to check if the memory is functional and free
of errors. Secure Boot must be turned off in the UEFI firmware setup utility to
run this option.

You normally select *Install {pve} (Graphical)* to start the installation.

[thumbnail="screenshot/pve-select-target-disk.png"]

The first step is to read our EULA (End User License Agreement). Following this,
you can select the target hard disk(s) for the installation.

CAUTION: By default, the whole server is used and all existing data is removed.
Make sure there is no important data on the server before proceeding with the
installation.

The `Options` button lets you select the target file system, which
defaults to `ext4`. The installer uses LVM if you select
`ext4` or `xfs` as a file system, and offers additional options to
restrict LVM space (see xref:advanced_lvm_options[below]).

{pve} can also be installed on ZFS. As ZFS offers several software RAID levels,
this is an option for systems that don't have a hardware RAID controller. The
target disks must be selected in the `Options` dialog. More ZFS specific
settings can be changed under xref:advanced_zfs_options[`Advanced Options`].

WARNING: ZFS on top of any hardware RAID is not supported and can result in data
loss.

[thumbnail="screenshot/pve-select-location.png"]

The next page asks for basic configuration options like your location, time
zone, and keyboard layout. The location is used to select a nearby download
server, in order to increase the speed of updates. The installer is usually able
to auto-detect these settings, so you only need to change them in rare
situations when auto-detection fails, or when you want to use a keyboard layout
not commonly used in your country.

[thumbnail="screenshot/pve-set-password.png", float="left"]

Next the password of the superuser (`root`) and an email address needs to be
specified. The password must consist of at least 5 characters. It's highly
recommended to use a stronger password. Some guidelines are:

- Use a minimum password length of at least 12 characters.

- Include lowercase and uppercase alphabetic characters, numbers, and symbols.

- Avoid character repetition, keyboard patterns, common dictionary words,
  letter or number sequences, usernames, relative or pet names, romantic links
  (current or past), and biographical information (for example ID numbers,
  ancestors' names or dates).

The email address is used to send notifications to the system administrator.
For example:

- Information about available package updates.

- Error messages from periodic 'cron' jobs.

[thumbnail="screenshot/pve-setup-network.png"]

All those notification mails will be sent to the specified email address.

The last step is the network configuration. Network interfaces that are 'UP'
show a filled circle in front of their name in the drop down menu. Please note
that during installation you can either specify an IPv4 or IPv6 address, but not
both. To configure a dual stack node, add additional IP addresses after the
installation.

[thumbnail="screenshot/pve-installation.png", float="left"]

The next step shows a summary of the previously selected options. Please
re-check every setting and use the `Previous` button if a setting needs to be
changed.

After clicking `Install`, the installer will begin to format the disks and copy
packages to the target disk(s). Please wait until this step has finished; then
remove the installation medium and restart your system.

[thumbnail="screenshot/pve-install-summary.png"]

Copying the packages usually takes several minutes, mostly depending on the
speed of the installation medium and the target disk performance.

When copying and setting up the packages has finished, you can reboot the
server. This will be done automatically after a few seconds by default.

.Installation Failure

If the installation failed, check out specific errors on the second TTY
('CTRL + ALT + F2') and ensure that the systems meets the
xref:install_minimal_requirements[minimum requirements].

If the installation is still not working, look at the
xref:getting_help[how to get help chapter].


Accessing the Management Interface Post-Installation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[thumbnail="screenshot/gui-login-window.png"]

After a successful installation and reboot of the system you can use the {pve}
web interface for further configuration.

. Point your browser to the IP address given during the installation and port
  8006, for example: https://youripaddress:8006

. Log in using the `root` (realm 'PAM') username and the password chosen during
  installation.

. Upload your subscription key to gain access to the Enterprise repository.
  Otherwise, you will need to set up one of the public, less tested package
  repositories to get updates for security fixes, bug fixes, and new features.

. Check the IP configuration and hostname.

. Check the timezone.

. Check your xref:chapter_pve_firewall[Firewall settings].

[[advanced_lvm_options]]
Advanced LVM Configuration Options
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The installer creates a Volume Group (VG) called `pve`, and additional Logical
Volumes (LVs) called `root`, `data`, and `swap`, if `ext4` or `xfs` is used. To
control the size of these volumes use:

`hdsize`::

Defines the total hard disk size to be used. This way you can reserve free space
on the hard disk for further partitioning (for example for an additional PV and
VG on the same hard disk that can be used for LVM storage).

`swapsize`::

Defines the size of the `swap` volume. The default is the size of the installed
memory, minimum 4 GB and maximum 8 GB. The resulting value cannot be greater
than `hdsize/8`.
+
NOTE: If set to `0`, no `swap` volume will be created.

`maxroot`::

Defines the maximum size of the `root` volume, which stores the operation
system. The maximum limit of the `root` volume size is `hdsize/4`.

`maxvz`::

Defines the maximum size of the `data` volume. The actual size of the `data`
volume is:
+
`datasize = hdsize - rootsize - swapsize - minfree`
+
Where `datasize` cannot be bigger than `maxvz`.
+
NOTE: In case of LVM thin, the `data` pool will only be created if `datasize` is
bigger than 4GB.
+
NOTE: If set to `0`, no `data` volume will be created and the storage
configuration will be adapted accordingly.

`minfree`::

Defines the amount of free space that should be left in the LVM volume group
`pve`. With more than 128GB storage available, the default is 16GB, otherwise
`hdsize/8` will be used.
+
NOTE: LVM requires free space in the VG for snapshot creation (not required for
lvmthin snapshots).

[[advanced_zfs_options]]
Advanced ZFS Configuration Options
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The installer creates the ZFS pool `rpool`, if ZFS is used. No swap space is
created but you can reserve some unpartitioned space on the install disks for
swap. You can also create a swap zvol after the installation, although this can
lead to problems (see xref:zfs_swap[ZFS swap notes]).

`ashift`::

Defines the `ashift` value for the created pool. The `ashift` needs to be set at
least to the sector-size of the underlying disks (2 to the power of `ashift` is
the sector-size), or any disk which might be put in the pool (for example the
replacement of a defective disk).

`compress`::

Defines whether compression is enabled for `rpool`.

`checksum`::

Defines which checksumming algorithm should be used for `rpool`.

`copies`::

Defines the `copies` parameter for `rpool`. Check the `zfs(8)` manpage for the
semantics, and why this does not replace redundancy on disk-level.

`ARC max size`::

Defines the maximum size the ARC can grow to and thus limits the amount of
memory ZFS will use. See also the section on
xref:sysadmin_zfs_limit_memory_usage[how to limit ZFS memory usage] for more
details.

`hdsize`::

Defines the total hard disk size to be used. This is useful to save free space
on the hard disk(s) for further partitioning (for example to create a
swap-partition). `hdsize` is only honored for bootable disks, that is only the
first disk or mirror for RAID0, RAID1 or RAID10, and all disks in RAID-Z[123].

[[advanced_btrfs_options]]
Advanced BTRFS Configuration Options
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No swap space is created when BTRFS is used but you can reserve some
unpartitioned space on the install disks for swap. You can either create a
separate partition, BTRFS subvolume or a swapfile using the `btrfs filesystem
mkswapfile` command.

`compress`::

Defines whether compression is enabled for the BTRFS subvolume. Different
compression algorithms are supported: 'on' (equivalent to 'zlib'), 'zlib', 'lzo'
and 'zstd'. Defaults to 'off'.

`hdsize`::

Defines the total hard disk size to be used. This is useful to save free space
on the hard disk(s) for further partitioning (for example, to create a
swap partition).

ZFS Performance Tips
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ZFS works best with a lot of memory. If you intend to use ZFS make sure to have
enough RAM available for it. A good calculation is 4GB plus 1GB RAM for each TB
RAW disk space.

ZFS can use a dedicated drive as write cache, called the ZFS Intent Log (ZIL).
Use a fast drive (SSD) for it. It can be added after installation with the
following command:

----
# zpool add <pool-name> log </dev/path_to_fast_ssd>
----

[[nomodeset_kernel_param]]
Adding the `nomodeset` Kernel Parameter
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Problems may arise on very old or very new hardware due to graphics drivers. If
the installation hangs during boot, you can try adding the `nomodeset`
parameter. This prevents the Linux kernel from loading any graphics drivers and
forces it to continue using the BIOS/UEFI-provided framebuffer.

On the {pve} bootloader menu, navigate to 'Install {pve} (Terminal UI)' and
press `e` to edit the entry. Using the arrow keys, navigate to the line starting
with `linux`, move the cursor to the end of that line and add the
parameter `nomodeset`, separated by a space from the pre-existing last
parameter.

Then press `Ctrl-X` or `F10` to boot the configuration.

[[installation_unattended]]
Unattended Installation
-----------------------

It is possible to install {pve} automatically in an unattended manner. This
enables you to fully automate the setup process on bare-metal. Once the
installation is complete and the host has booted up, automation tools like
Ansible can be used to further configure the installation.

The necessary options for the installer must be provided in an answer file. This
file allows the use of filter rules to determine which disks and network cards
should be used.

To use the automated installation, it is first necessary to prepare an
installation ISO.
https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Automated_Installation[Visit our wiki] for more
details and information on the unattended installation.

ifndef::wiki[]

Install {pve} on Debian
-----------------------

{pve} ships as a set of Debian packages and can be installed on top of a standard
Debian installation.
xref:sysadmin_package_repositories[After configuring the repositories] you need
to run the following commands:

----
# apt-get update
# apt-get install proxmox-ve
----

Installing on top of an existing Debian installation looks easy, but it presumes
that the base system has been installed correctly and that you know how you want
to configure and use the local storage. You also need to configure the network
manually.

In general, this is not trivial, especially when LVM or ZFS is used.

A detailed step by step how-to can be found on the
{webwiki-url}Install_Proxmox_VE_on_Debian_12_Bookworm[wiki].


endif::wiki[]

ifdef::wiki[]

Video Tutorials
---------------

See the list of all official tutorials on our
https://www.youtube.com/proxmoxve[{pve} YouTube Channel]


See Also
--------

* link:/wiki/Prepare_Installation_Media[Prepare Installation Media]

* link:/wiki/Install_Proxmox_VE_on_Debian_12_Bookworm[Install Proxmox VE on Debian 12 Bookworm]

* link:/wiki/System_Requirements[System Requirements]

* link:/wiki/Package_Repositories[Package Repositories]

* link:/wiki/Host_System_Administration[Host System Administration]

* link:/wiki/Network_Configuration[Network Configuration]

* link:/wiki/Installation:_Tips_and_Tricks[Installation: Tips and Tricks]

endif::wiki[]