pve-docs/pve-gui.adoc

[[chapter_gui]]
Graphical User Interface
========================
ifndef::manvolnum[]
:pve-toplevel:
endif::manvolnum[]

{pve} is simple. There is no need to install a separate management
tool, and everything can be done through your web browser (Latest
Firefox or Google Chrome is preferred). A built-in HTML5 console is
used to access the guest console. As an alternative,
https://www.spice-space.org/[SPICE] can be used.

Because we use the Proxmox cluster file system (pmxcfs), you can
connect to any node to manage the entire cluster. Each node can manage
the entire cluster. There is no need for a dedicated manager node.

You can use the web-based administration interface with any modern
browser. When {pve} detects that you are connecting from a mobile
device, you are redirected to a simpler, touch-based user interface.

The web interface can be reached via https://youripaddress:8006
(default login is: 'root', and the password is specified during the
installation process).


Features
--------

* Seamless integration and management of {pve} clusters

* AJAX technologies for dynamic updates of resources

* Secure access to all Virtual Machines and Containers via SSL
  encryption (https)

* Fast search-driven interface, capable of handling hundreds and
  probably thousands of VMs

* Secure HTML5 console or SPICE

* Role based permission management for all objects (VMs, storages,
  nodes, etc.)

* Support for multiple authentication sources (e.g. local, MS ADS,
  LDAP, ...)

* Two-Factor Authentication (OATH, Yubikey)

* Based on ExtJS 6.x JavaScript framework


Login
-----

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

When you connect to the server, you will first see the login window.
{pve} supports various authentication backends ('Realm'), and
you can select the language here. The GUI is translated to more
than 20 languages.

NOTE: You can save the user name on the client side by selection the
checkbox at the bottom. This saves some typing when you login next
time.


GUI Overview
------------

[thumbnail="gui-datacenter-summary.png"]

The {pve} user interface consists of four regions.

[horizontal]

Header:: On top. Shows status information and contains buttons for
most important actions.

Resource Tree:: At the left side. A navigation tree where you can select
specific objects.

Content Panel:: Center region. Selected objects displays configuration
options and status here.

Log Panel:: At the bottom. Displays log entries for recent tasks. You
can double-click on those log entries to get more details, or to abort
a running task.

NOTE: You can shrink and expand the size of the resource tree and log
panel, or completely hide the log panel. This can be helpful when you
work on small displays and want more space to view other content.


Header
~~~~~~

On the top left side, the first thing you see is the Proxmox
logo. Next to it is the current running version of {pve}. In the
search bar nearside you can search for specific objects (VMs,
containers, nodes, ...). This is sometimes faster than selecting an
object in the resource tree.

[thumbnail="gui-my-settings.png"]

To the right of the search bar we see the identity (login name). The
gear symbol is a button opening the 'My Settings' dialog. There you
can customize some client side user interface setting (reset the saved
login name, reset saved layout).

The rightmost part of the header contains four buttons:

[horizontal]
Help :: Opens a new browser window showing the reference documentation.

Create VM :: Opens the virtual machine creation wizard.

Create CT :: Open the container creation wizard.

Logout :: Logout, and show the login dialog again.


Resource Tree
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is the main navigation tree. On top of the tree you can select
some predefined views, which changes the structure of the tree
below. The default view is *Server View*, and it shows the following
object types:

[horizontal]
Datacenter:: Contains cluster wide setting (relevant for all nodes).

Node:: Represents the hosts inside a cluster, where the guests runs.

Guest:: VMs, Containers and Templates.

Storage:: Data Storage.

Pool:: It is possible to group guests using a pool to simplify
management.


The following view types are available:

[horizontal]
Server View:: Shows all kind of objects, grouped by nodes.

Folder View:: Shows all kind of objects, grouped by object type.

Storage View:: Only show storage objects, grouped by nodes.

Pool View:: Show VMs and Containers, grouped by pool.


Log Panel
~~~~~~~~~

The main purpose of the log panel is to show you what is currently
going on in your cluster. Actions like creating an new VM are executed
in background, and we call such background job a 'task'.

Any output from such task is saved into a separate log file. You can
view that log by simply double-click a task log entry. It is also
possible to abort a running task there.

Please note that we display most recent tasks from all cluster nodes
here. So you can see when somebody else is working on another cluster
node in real-time.

NOTE: We remove older and finished task from the log panel to keep
that list short. But you can still find those tasks in the 'Task
History' within the node panel.

Some short running actions simply sends logs to all cluster
members. You can see those messages in the 'Cluster log' panel.


Content Panels
--------------

When you select something in the resource tree, the corresponding
object displays configuration and status information in the content
panel. The following sections give a brief overview of the
functionality. Please refer to the individual chapters inside the
reference documentation to get more detailed information.


Datacenter
~~~~~~~~~~

[thumbnail="gui-datacenter-search.png"]

On the datacenter level you can access cluster wide settings and information.

* *Search:* it is possible to search anything in cluster
,this can be a node, VM, Container, Storage or a pool.

* *Summary:* gives a brief overview over the cluster health.

* *Options:* can show and set defaults, which apply cluster wide.

* *Storage:* is the place where a storage will add/managed/removed.

* *Backup:* has the capability to schedule Backups. This is
   cluster wide, so you do not care about where the VM/Container are on
   your cluster at schedule time.

* *Permissions:* will manage user and group permission, LDAP,
   MS-AD and Two-Factor authentication can be setup here.

* *HA:* will manage the {pve} High-Availability

* *Firewall:* on this level the Proxmox Firewall works cluster wide and
   makes templates which are cluster wide available.

* *Support:* here you get all information about your support subscription.

If you like to have more information about this see the corresponding chapter.


Nodes
~~~~~

[thumbnail="gui-node-summary.png"]

All belongs of a node can be managed at this level.

* *Search:* it is possible to search anything on the node,
 this can be a VM, Container, Storage or a pool.

* *Summary:* gives a brief overview over the resource usage.

* *Shell:* log you in the shell of the node.

* *System:* is for configuring the network, dns and time, and also shows your syslog.

* *Updates:* will upgrade the system and informs you about new packets.

* *Firewall:* on this level is only for this node.

* *Disk:* gives you an brief overview about you physical hard drives and
   how they are used.

* *Ceph:* is only used if you have installed a Ceph sever on you
   host. Then you can manage your Ceph cluster and see the status
   of it here.

* *Task History:* here all past task are shown.

* *Subscription:* here you can upload you subscription key and get a
   system overview in case of a support case.


Guests
~~~~~~

[thumbnail="gui-qemu-summary.png"]

There are two differed kinds of VM types and both types can be converted to a template.
One of them are Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) and the other one are Linux Containers (LXC).
General the navigation are the same only some option are different.

In the main management center the VM navigation begin if a VM is selected in the left tree.

The top header contains important VM operation commands like 'Start', 'Shutdown', 'Rest',
'Remove', 'Migrate', 'Console' and 'Help'.
Two of them have hidden buttons like 'Shutdown' has 'Stop' and
'Console' contains the different console types 'SPICE' or 'noVNC'.

On the right side the content switch white the focus of the option.

On the left side.
All available options are listed one below the other.

* *Summary:* gives a brief overview over the VM activity.

* *Console:* an interactive console to your VM.

* *(KVM)Hardware:* shows and set the Hardware of the KVM VM.

* *(LXC)Resources:* defines the LXC Hardware opportunities.

* *(LXC)Network:* the LXC Network settings.

* *(LXC)DNS:* the LXC DNS settings.

* *Options:* all VM options can be set here, this distinguishes between KVM and LXC.

* *Task History:* here all previous task from this VM will be shown.

* *(KVM) Monitor:* is the interactive communication interface to the KVM process.

* *Backup:* shows the available backups from this VM and also create a backupset.

* *Snapshots:* manage VM snapshots.

* *Firewall:* manage the firewall on VM level.

* *Permissions:* manage the user permission for this VM.


Storage
~~~~~~~

[thumbnail="gui-storage-summary-local.png"]

In this view we have a two partition split view.
On the left side we have the storage options
and on the right side the content of the selected option will shown.

* *Summary:* show you important information about your storage like
'Usage', 'Type', 'Content', 'Active' and 'Enabled'.

* *Content:* Here all contend will listed grouped by content.

* *Permissions:* manage the user permission for this storage.


Pools
~~~~~

[thumbnail="gui-pool-summary-development.png"]

In this view we have a two partition split view.
On the left side we have the logical pool options
and on the right side the content of the selected option will shown.

* *Summary:* show the description of the pool.

* *Members:* Here all members of this pool will listed and can be managed.

* *Permissions:* manage the user permission for this pool.


ifdef::wiki[]

See Also
--------

* link:/wiki/Central_Web-based_Management

endif::wiki[]

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TODO:

VM, CT, Storage, Pool section

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