Blog

Proxmox Cloud Image and Bare-Metal Auto Installation Image

(2025-07-17):
Over the last few months, I’ve been asked quite a few times how I test my Ansible modules and ProxLB setup in an automated, reproducible way. Especially when working on new features or debugging something deeper, having a clean and quickly deployable Proxmox instance is incredibly useful. The same question often comes up in another form too: “How can I spin up Proxmox on a bare-metal machine without going through the ISO installer step by step?” or “Is there a Proxmox Cloud Image that I can just boot up like with Ubuntu or Debian?” Testing & Automating Proxmox Deployments Up until now, there hasn’t really been a good out-of-the-box solution for this: at least not one that is quick, reliable, and can be integrated easily into automation pipelines. That’s why I went ahead and built exactly that: a prebuilt, ready-to-use Proxmox 8.4 image for both bare-metal auto-installations and cloud environments .... [read more]

Proxmox Subscription Management via New Ansible Module

(2025-07-12):
Managing Proxmox subscription licenses at scale has always been a challenge. Especially in enterprise environments, manual assignment of licenses across hundreds of nodes can be inefficient and error-prone. Until now, there wasn't a supported, API-driven way to integrate license management directly into Ansible workflows. The proxmox_node Module The new proxmox_node module (merged into the community.proxmox collection) allows you to manage Proxmox nodes programmatically. Key features include: Bulk license import Power state control (shutdown / start / WoL) DNS configuration SSL certificate management Fully supports Ansible check_mode This module integrates seamlessly into your automation pipelines, making licensing, node configuration, and other administrative tasks fully API-driven and repeatable. Examples Add a Subscription License Adding a subscription license to a Proxmox VE node can be done like this: - name: Place a subscription license on a Proxmox VE Node community.proxmox.node: api_host: proxmoxhost api_user: root@pam api_password: password123 validate_certs: false node_name: de-cgn01-virt01 subscription: state: present .... [read more]

NFSv3 vs NFSv4 on Proxmox: The Latency Showdown

(2025-07-04):
When it comes to virtualization, many people still think that NFS isn’t suitable for serious workloads in their enterprise environment and that you need to rely on protocols like iSCSI or Fibre Channel to get proper performance. That mindset might have made sense years ago, but times have changed. Today, we have access to incredibly fast networks and not only in enterprise but even at home. It’s not uncommon to see 10 Gbit networking in home labs, and enterprises are already moving to 25, 40, 100, or even 400 Gbit infrastructure. So the bottleneck is no longer bandwidth rather than the protocol overhead and hardware interaction that really matters. NFS, despite being around for decades, is often underestimated. Many still think of it as a basic file-sharing protocol, not realizing how far it’s come and how capable it is when properly configured and used with the latest versions. Especially in .... [read more]

Build Your PKI with Step-CA and Proxmox ACME Integration

(2025-06-29):
Running your own on-prem PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) can be a game-changer and it’s not just for enterprises, but also for advanced homelabs. Whether it’s about securing internal services, managing client certificates for S/MIME email encryption, or just having full control over certificate issuance, operating your own root CA brings a lot of flexibility and independence. There are many ways to set up a basic CA, even just using OpenSSL on the command line. But as soon as your setup grows, you’ll quickly run into limitations. Things like revoking certificates, publishing CRLs, using OCSP, or automating issuance via the ACME protocol become essential. And that’s where more powerful tools come in. Popular solutions like FreeIPA, HashiCorp Vault, or EJBCA offer robust PKI functionality, but they can be overkill for some environments or tricky to integrate with specific workflows. One tool that’s gained a lot of traction in recent years is .... [read more]

Proxmox Cluster Setup Right with New Ansible Module

(2025-06-18):
Until now, automating Proxmox cluster setups with Ansible often meant relying on hacky shell or command module usages within playbooks/roles and dealing with poor error handling. That changes with my new Ansible modules, proxmox_cluster and proxmox_cluster_info . If you're following me, you might have already found this as a sneak peek in my post about how BoxyBSD boosted the Proxmox ecosystem. These tools leverage the official Proxmox API, enabling direct and reliable cluster creation and joining. Already available in the upstream Ansible Community Proxmox collection, they include robust error handling and support for both user and token-based authentication. Usage Using these new modules is straightforward and simply requires one task for creating or joining a Proxmox cluster. Create a Proxmox VE Cluster - name: Create a Proxmox VE Cluster community.proxmox.proxmox_cluster: state: present api_host: proxmoxhost api_user: root@pam api_password: password123 api_ssl_verify: false link0: 10.10.1.1 link1: 10.10.2.1 cluster_name: "devcluster" Join a Proxmox VE .... [read more]

How My BoxyBSD Project Boosted the Proxmox Ecosystem

(2025-06-06):
When I first started BoxyBSD, I had a fairly straightforward goal in mind: Build a completely free VPS hosting platform with full IPv6 support aimed at beginners and small open-source projects. Something simple, lightweight, and accessible. But as the project evolved, I realized it was becoming much more than just a small personal project and BoxyBSD started giving back - not only to open-source in general but also to the Proxmox community in ways I hadn't anticipated. What surprised me the most was how deep I had to dive into architectural decisions that I initially thought wouldn't matter that much - surprisingly it also changed my whole initial idea running everything on FreeBSD with bhyve - and let me say - it should become completely different! Managing resources efficiently across multiple VMs, fully automated deployment, monitoring system including all guests, clustering across different locations and live migrations of guests - .... [read more]

Proxmox VE and Authentik OIDC: Install and Connect

(2025-05-22):
When exploring secure and efficient authentication options for a Proxmox setup, Authentik paired with OpenID Connect (OIDC) emerges as a compelling choice, particularly for those who prioritize open-source tools and in-house data control. Authentik, an open-source identity provider, empowers administrators to customize authentication flows without the constraints of proprietary systems, avoiding escalating costs or rigid limitations. By integrating OIDC, it enables seamless single sign-on, allowing users to access Proxmox with a single, secure login, eliminating the hassle of managing multiple credentials. For those wary of external cloud services, Authentik’s ability to run on local servers ensures that sensitive data, such like user credentials, access logs, and more, remain fully in-house, a critical advantage for privacy and regulatory compliance. Setting up Authentik with Proxmox is straightforward; configuring the OIDC realm with a client ID and secret delivers a robust, secure authentication layer for managing virtual machines and containers. The open-source nature .... [read more]

Run FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD VMs in Incus

(2025-05-05):
Not too long ago, I published a blog post all about Incus. In it, I gave an overview of the project, explained how it works, and showed how to create a cluster with it. After sharing it on social media, I started getting a lot of questions, and one in particular kept coming up: is it easy to run BSD-based virtual machines with Incus? Some people were even surprised to learn that Incus now supports virtual machines thanks to its QEMU backend. So I thought, why not follow up and walk through just how simple it is to get FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD running using cloud images? It’s actually a pretty smooth experience. The Incus tooling makes it fairly straightforward to work with VMs, and the BSD community provides ready-to-use cloud images that fit right into this workflow. This means there’s no need to manually install or configure these systems .... [read more]

Discover Incus: Next-Level Container and VM Management

(2025-05-04):
Incus is a versatile and efficient tool for managing both system containers and virtual machines, offering a unified way to run full Linux systems. It supports a wide range of Linux distributions and relies on a simple but powerful REST API. Whether you’re running a single machine or scaling across a full data center, Incus adapts easily to your needs. It can transform your setup into something that feels like a lightweight private cloud, letting you run various workloads with optimized resource usage. If you’re looking for a cost-effective way to manage infrastructure, containerize environments, or deploy VMs, Incus is definitely worth considering. Note: Sounds interesting so far? You can also try Incus immediately online right here. Table of Contents Incus vs Proxmox – The Main Differences Core Technologies: QEMU and LXC Clustering and High Availability Load Balancing and Rebalancing Ease of Use and Web Interfaces ARM64 Support General Usage .... [read more]

ProxLB 1.1: Next-Level Load Balancing for Proxmox

(2025-04-01):
April, April! No, even it’s the first of April – this is real! After months of development, I’m thrilled to announce the release of ProxLB 1.1.0 – thanks to my company credativ GmbH for sponsoring this project where I could work on this during my work time! It’s been quite the journey since I started this project in mid-2024, and this latest version marks a significant milestone. With a complete code refactor, improved load balancing behavior, and numerous bug fixes, ProxLB is now more stable and capable than ever. ProxLB Origins and Purpose ProxLB was born out of a need for a straightforward load balancing solution for Proxmox clusters for my BoxyBSD project, something akin to VMware’s DRS. Also several customers at my company – credativ GmbH – asked for DRS alike features when migrating to Proxmox. This made me polish it up and release it as an opensource project .... [read more]

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