IT 3300 : Virtualization

Proxmox — Virtual Machines

Creating a VM

• Click Create VM (top right)
• Walk the wizard:
  • General — name, VM ID
  • OS — the ISO to boot
  • System — BIOS/UEFI, machine type
  • Disks / CPU / Memory / Network

Sizing a VM

• CPU — cores (start small: 1–2)
• Memory — RAM in MB; don't over-commit blindly
• Disk — size and storage location; format (qcow2 vs raw)
• You can change most of these later

Disk formats

• qcow2 — thin-provisioned, supports snapshots (good default)
• raw — best performance, no snapshot features by itself
• Choose based on whether you need snapshots vs. raw speed

Running the VM

• Select the VM -> Start
• Open the Console (noVNC) to interact
• Install the guest OS as you would on real hardware

Snapshots

• Capture the exact state of a VM at a point in time
• Roll back after a bad change or risky experiment
• Requires a snapshot-capable format/storage (e.g. qcow2)
• Not a backup — snapshots live with the VM

Templates

• Configure a VM once (OS, updates, tools), then convert to a template
• Clone new VMs from it in seconds
  • Linked clone — fast, shares base disk
  • Full clone — independent copy

Cloud-init

• Automates first-boot configuration of a cloud image
• Set hostname, user, SSH keys, network — no manual install
• The modern way to stamp out consistent VMs quickly

Cloud-init workflow

• Download a cloud image (e.g. Ubuntu .img)
• Import it as a VM disk, add a Cloud-Init drive
• Set user, SSH key, IP in the Cloud-Init tab
• Convert to a template, then clone on demand

Backups

• Snapshots protect against your mistakes
• Backups protect against disk/host loss
• Proxmox can back up to local, NFS, or Proxmox Backup Server
• Schedule them; test a restore

Lab goals

• Build one VM by hand from the ISO
• Turn it into a template and clone two more from it
• Take a snapshot, break something, and roll back