IT 3300 : Virtualization

Proxmox VE — Introduction

What is Proxmox VE?

  • Open-source Type-1 virtualization platform
  • Based on Debian Linux
  • Runs two kinds of workloads:
    • KVM — full virtual machines
    • LXC — lightweight system containers

Why Proxmox for this course

  • Free and open source; runs on our physical servers
  • One tool for both VMs and containers
  • Built-in clustering, HA, backups, firewall, and SDN
  • Manage by web UI, CLI, or REST API

Architecture

  • KVM turns the Linux kernel into a hypervisor
  • QEMU provides the emulated hardware for each VM
  • LXC provides OS-level containers sharing the host kernel
  • A web service (port 8006) ties it together

Storage options (preview)

  • Local — disk on the node
  • NFS / iSCSI — shared network storage
  • Ceph — distributed storage across the cluster

We'll go deep on storage in a later deck.

Installation

  • Boot the Proxmox VE ISO (write it with Rufus/balenaEtcher)
  • Install to the server's local disk
  • Note: not every NIC is patched in — if you have no connectivity after
    install, try a different physical port and wait a minute for a ping

First login

  • Browse to https://<your-ip>:8006
  • Default user is root (the password you set at install)
  • Accept the self-signed certificate warning
  • You'll see the datacenter / node / VM tree on the left

The web UI tour

  • Datacenter — cluster-wide settings, storage, users
  • Node — a physical server (your box)
  • VMs / CTs — your virtual machines and containers
  • Shell — a browser terminal into the node

Getting an OS to install

  • Upload an ISO to a storage location (e.g. local)
  • Or use the built-in template downloads for LXC
  • Datacenter -> node -> local -> ISO Images -> Upload

Lab goals

  • Install Proxmox on one of your servers
  • Reach the web UI over the network
  • Upload an Ubuntu Server ISO, ready to build a VM next class