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ProxLB 1.1.11 Released – Intelligent Load Balancing for Proxmox VE

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ProxLB is a lightweight load-balancing and placement helper designed for Proxmox VE environments, helping operators make smarter scheduling and availability decisions for virtual machines and containers. It provides advanced features such as pinning, affinity and anti-affinity rules, maintenance mode, and intelligent node selection to keep workloads where they belong. With a strong focus on simplicity and native integration, ProxLB enhances cluster resilience while remaining easy to deploy and operate.

ProxLB 1.1.11 Release

Today (2026-01-12), I released version 1.1.11 of ProxLB, a release that focuses on deeper integration, smarter decision-making, and more predictable operations in Proxmox VE clusters. This version introduces a streamlined integration with Proxmox’s native HA rules and affinity/anti-affinity stack (currently in beta), allowing ProxLB to work more naturally with existing placement constraints instead of re-implementing them. As a result, operators can combine native Proxmox concepts with ProxLB's balancing logic in a more transparent and consistent way.

Beyond HA and affinity improvements, release 1.1.11 significantly enhances the balancing behavior itself. Operators can now influence placement decisions by preferring smaller or larger virtual machines first, making it easier to optimize for consolidation or distribution scenarios depending on operational goals. In addition, ProxLB now respects and keeps memory reservations of nodes in mind, reducing the risk of overcommitment and improving stability during rebalancing operations. Altogether, version 1.1.11 is an important step toward making ProxLB a more intelligent and production-ready companion for Proxmox VE clusters. It brings better control, improved safety, and more flexibility for day-to-day operations, while laying the groundwork for further enhancements to HA-aware scheduling in future releases.

ProxLB 1.1.11 Changelog

Below, you can find the full changelog for ProxLB release 1.1.11.

Added

The following features have been added to ProxLB:

Fixed

The following issues have been fixed in ProxLB:

Changed

The following changes have been performed to ProxLB:

External Contributors to ProxLB

ProxLB is driven not only by its core maintainers, but also by the valuable input, testing, ideas, and code contributions from the community. External contributors play an essential role in improving stability, functionality, and overall quality of the project.

A special thank you goes out to the following community members for their contributions, feedback, and continued support of ProxLB:

Their involvement helps ensure that ProxLB evolves in a practical and reliable way, addressing real-world use cases and challenges.

In addition, sincere thanks go to credativ GmbH (Germany) for sponsoring the ProxLB project and for providing the time and resources required to actively maintain, improve, and extend the project. This support is fundamental in enabling continuous development and long-term sustainability.

ProxLB 1.1.11 Download & Upgrade

Installing and upgrading ProxLB remains as simple and consistent as ever. No special migration steps or complex procedures are required when moving to a newer release.

When running ProxLB as a container, upgrading is straightforward: simply replace the currently used container image with the newer version. Configuration files and runtime behavior remain unchanged, allowing for a seamless update process.

For APT-based installations, upgrades can be performed just as easily. You can update ProxLB directly via the Debian package repository using your regular system upgrade workflow, or by installing a newer .deb package manually.

This consistent upgrade path ensures that operators can adopt new features and fixes quickly and reliably, without disrupting existing setups.

ProxLB Debian Repository

When using the Debian repository, keeping ProxLB up to date is straightforward. If you already have ProxLB installed, you can simply upgrade to the latest version by running apt-get upgrade. The package will be updated automatically as part of your regular system upgrade process.

For new installations, just add the ProxLB Debian repository to your system and install the package using APT. Once installed, all that is required is to add your Proxmox API credentials to the ProxLB configuration file. After configuring the API access, ProxLB is ready to be used immediately without any additional setup steps. 


echo "deb https://repo.gyptazy.com/stable /" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/proxlb.list
wget -O /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/proxlb.asc https://repo.gyptazy.com/repository.gpg
apt-get update && apt-get -y install proxlb
cp /etc/proxlb/proxlb_example.yaml /etc/proxlb/proxlb.yaml
# Adjust the config to your needs
vi /etc/proxlb/proxlb.yaml
systemctl start proxlb

ProxLB Debian Packages

When using the Debian package directly, simply download the provided .deb file and install it using dpkg -i. This method allows for a quick installation or manual upgrade without relying on a repository.

ProxLB Container Image

When using the container image, ProxLB can be run with Docker, Podman, or similar container runtimes. To upgrade, simply replace the currently used image with the newer version and restart the container to apply the update.

ProxLB in Action

ProxLB is not just a theoretical concept — it is actively used, discussed, and shared within the Proxmox community. A major milestone was ProxLB having its own dedicated talk at the Dutch Proxmox Day 2025, hosted by Tuxis. The session demonstrated real-world use cases, design decisions, and operational benefits of ProxLB in Proxmox VE–based clusters.

If you missed the talk, there is no need to worry. You can find the slides as well as a recording of a similar ProxLB talk [YouTube] in the tech-talks section. These materials provide deeper insights into how ProxLB works, why it was built, and how it can be integrated into existing environments.

This ongoing exchange with the community helps shape ProxLB’s development and ensures that it continues to solve real operational challenges in production environments.

ProxLB in the Proxmox Ecosystem: What’s Next

ProxLB already effectively closes a long-standing gap in Proxmox VE–based clusters by providing a dedicated resource scheduler. Long before affinity and anti-affinity rules were natively available in Proxmox VE 8, ProxLB already offered support for these concepts, enabling more intelligent and predictable workload placement across cluster nodes. Even with native support now available, ProxLB continues to extend these capabilities significantly. It does not force operators to rely on the Proxmox HA stack, which brings major advantages for VPS hosters, staging environments, and all scenarios where high availability is not required or intentionally avoided. This flexibility allows ProxLB to be used in a much broader range of environments without adding unnecessary complexity.

By introducing features such as node and guest pinning, maintenance mode handling, and the ability to migrate virtual machines based on actual resource consumption, ProxLB adds further operational benefits. These capabilities help operators maintain balanced clusters while retaining full control over placement and behavior.

Looking ahead, upcoming ProxLB versions will introduce automated security patch management for Proxmox VE nodes. This includes the full lifecycle of update handling, from evaluating pending updates to orchestrating installation, integration, and required node reboots.

Additionally, power management is on the roadmap. ProxLB will be able to fully shut down or start nodes either on static schedules or dynamically based on cluster resource usage, further optimizing efficiency and operational costs.

Alongside ProxLB, I also created a complementary project called ProxCLMC, which addresses one of the most common and risky pitfalls in Proxmox VE clusters: unsafe live migrations caused by mismatched CPU capabilities across heterogeneous nodes. ProxCLMC automatically inspects all cluster nodes, determines the highest CPU compatibility level supported by every system, and provides a deterministic baseline that can be safely used for VM CPU models—eliminating guesswork, manual flag comparisons, and broken migrations (GitHub).